Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

A looming wooden gate and a familiar, worn-down, rusty sign reading “Camp Stoneridge” fill my sights.

I cast a glance over at Xaden, who’s grinning, hand on the wheel, half of his face covered by those sunglasses he said he “needed” for the summer.

Cheers erupt from the backseat where Liam, Rhiannon, and Sawyer sit. Two honks sound behind us from the car that contains Ridoc, Bodhi, Garrick, and Imogen. All of our other friends are scattered around in the line.

Markham, who’s wearing a ridiculous matching set of tan cargo shorts and a polo and holding a clipboard, smiles as he sees us.

“Riorson, Violet, always a pleasure to see you,” He peers into the back of the car, giving a small wave at the others, then returns his attention to his clipboard. He crosses off a few things, then looks back up. “Just head around the loop, drop the men and their stuff off at Boy’s Camp, then you can head to Girl’s. You can park your car on the grass outside of Girl’s Camp. Have a good summer, you all!”

Xaden nods and I give a small smile, before we drive out. He rolls all the windows down, sending gusts of air whipping through my hair. 

We pass the Dining Hall and the lower part of camp, reaching Boy’s Camp. We all clamber out of the car, the others pulling up behind us.

Ridoc falls out of his car and onto the gravel, screaming at Bodhi who is watching with a smug grin that’s so similar to the one Xaden wears most of the time.

“Bodhi! I’ll kill you! This shirt is new!” He scrambles up from the ground and begins chasing him down. I try for two, hard seconds before bursting out into laughter. The others follow suit, and we all practically start crying when Ridoc trips on a root and falls again.

“Stop laughing! My shirt is ruined!” He stands to reveal a gash from his armpit to his waist in his shirt, though he’s luckily unscathed underneath.

“How much did that cost you?” I ask, grinning and planting a hand on my hip.

“Uhm-” He chokes out. “4 dollars.” I hear him mumble under his breath.

Bodhi yells, “I knew it! It’s from SHEIN like all your other shit!”

Ridoc opens his mouth to protest, but is cut off by a loud, familiar voice. 

“Boys, let’s control our language before the campers get here! Can’t have that happening around the littles!”

My head whips to the source of the yell, and I break into a grin. “Dad!”

“Hi, Violet. Fancy seeing you here.” He pretends to tip an invisible hat to me.

I laugh softly. 

“And you,” His face hardens instantly, eyes locked on Xaden. “Take care of my girl. If you break her heart, I have rope, shovels, and chemicals in the gardening shed. I won’t hesitate to use them.”

Xaden nods, lips pressed into a tight line. “Trust me, if I ever broke her heart,” His arm winds around my shoulders. “I’d let you kill me.”

A smile tugs at the corners of my dad’s lips. “Good. Keep it that way.”

Garrick, who’s tugging duffels out of both cars, lets out a low whistle. “Can’t believe you, Xaden. Getting all soft.”

“For her? Of course I would.”

My heart practically melts. Dad gives him one last glare, before walking off.

“So, about these bags. Is anyone going to help me, or am I doing all the labor?” Garrick chimes.

The next hour is spent hauling the boys' bags out of the trunk, dumping them on the porches of their bunks, and doing the same at Girl’s Camp. We eventually have to split ways to pack, but we’ll see each other soon.

The others eventually arrive, and we all squeal when Rhiannon, Sloane, Cat, and I are all in the cabin together. We made hard negotiations with my mother, the director of Camp Stoneridge, to get us all in the same bunk, but it somehow worked.

Rhiannon sets her speaker in the middle of the room and starts the playlist she made specifically for the cabin.

We spend the three hours until lunch, unpacking, singing, and sometimes pausing for dance breaks. All in all, it’s an amazing time, and gets me excited to be living with them for the next 8 weeks.

The only downside? Not being able to sleep in the same bed as Xaden.

Of course, there’s a few downsides to being a counselor, but the fact that I get to spend even more time in the place I love with all of my heart makes me forget about those problems.

Eventually, the clock hits 1:00, lunch, which could quite possibly be the best time of day. The 4 of us make our way down the road, down to the Dining Hall.

The second we walk in, we’re hit with cold air and the sound of conversations echoing through the large, empty space. There are a few tables actually set up, just enough to sit all of the staff.

I spot Xaden, sitting at a table with the others, an open seat next to him. We all make our way towards the table, sliding into seats.

“So, how’d everyone's unpacking go so far?” Quinn asks from where she sits at the end of the table with her girlfriend, Jax, beside her.

Cat groans. “I didn’t realize how much shit I packed until I had to take it all out.”

I laugh. “You’re telling me. The amount of snacks I packed was insane.”

“You’re sharing some of those with us, Sorrengail.” Imogen says.

“I make no such promises. I paid for them.”

“Vi, you know that’s not true. We all know your loving boyfriend did that.” Liam quips, trying to hide his grin.

“Okay, maybe he did. But they’re still my snacks!”

“True. And you also brought about 50 books. When the hell are you going to get time to read those?” Rhiannon asks.

“I’ll figure it out. And it’s only 13 books, not 50!” 

“Same difference.”

Bodhi returns, rolling the creaky, plastic cart that’s missing a handle, up to our table.

“Mmm, crappy pizza. My fave.” Sloane says, nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Maybe it’s better than it looks?” I say, reaching for a slice.

“God, I hope so.” She says.

After lunch, we return back to our bunks, finding piles of bags dumped on our porches.

“I’m not even done unpacking yet!” Cat cries, looking at the heap.

“How the fuck are we going to be able to unpack all of this in 3 days?” Sloane asks incredulously.

“I have no clue. And we have to make all the beds.” I say.

We all let out a collective groan. Cat collapses onto the bench, Rhianno practically bangs her head into a pole, Sloane lets out a string of curses, and I pray for my sanity.

We eventually begin dragging the bags inside, placing them on or by their assigned beds. Cat and Sloane start making them, practically dropping the rails of the top bunks on their heads when they take them off so it’s easier to make the beds.

Rhiannon and I set up drawers, then unpack their toiletries to put in their bathroom cubbies.

After that, it’s mounds of shit I’m not even sure that you need at camp, including: more makeup than I even have, an American flag with a photo of Jacob Elordi (which we proudly hung up on the ceiling so everyone could see it as they fall asleep), a body pillow of a shirtless Patrick Swayze, and my personal favorite, which I screamed when I saw, a blanket filled with photos of the one and only High Lord of the Night Court.

Whoever that belonged to, I loved them already.

My phone rings as Rhiannon and I are trying to figure out where to put the 17 bottles of perfume a girl brought.

I answer it quickly, already knowing who it is.

“Hi, love. How’s it going?” Xaden asks. I can hear yelling in the background, and thumping, which sounds oddly like someone falling onto the floor.

“Good,” I smile, even though he can’t see it. “What about you?”

“It’s alright. These boys have some weird shit.”

“You’re telling me. We just hung a poster of Jacob Elordi on the ceiling.”

“We just threw out a nude photo of some random ass girl. That shit is not happening in my bunk.”

I blow out a breath. “I’m not sure what you expected when it came to 13 year old boys.”

“Maybe some more civility, that’s for sure.”

“Well, I’ve got bad news for you. Doesn’t seem like you’re going to get much of that.” I grin.

“Well the fuck aware. We’re going to be struggling over here.”

“Well, at least we get all the drama. There’s going to be a lot.”

“Oh?”

“You remember our F year, Xaden.”

I can hear his grin during his next words. “Of course I do. It was when I kissed you for the first time. Right behind the Rec Hall, with no one watching.”

“It was also when we started dating, and when many other girls from my bunk dated boys from your bunk. A lot of boys and drama.”

“Don’t I know it.” He quips.

“I’m just preparing myself for when I have a camper crying over a boy. Because it happened during my CIT year, and I was not ready. At all.”

“Violet!” Rhiannon yells. “I need your help! Stop being all mushy with Xaden for a second and help me hang up this poster.”

I look over, finding her standing there, with a fucking poster of young Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Xaden, I have to go and hang up this poster of Leonardo DiCaprio. I’ll call you back later, okay?”

“Okay, baby. See you soon.”

“See you soon.” I say, then hang up the call.

We spend the next 2 hours until shower hour setting up shit, hanging up posters of shirtless celebrities, and pausing for dance breaks about every 15 minutes when a really good song comes on.

Eventually, all the duffels are unpacked and shoved on the shelves that hang from the ceiling, and we finally take a step back.

My heart swells as I look at the bunk, the excitement I had for the campers growing tenfold.

“I’m ready for a hot shower and then dinner.” Rhiannon says.

Sloane laughs. “Good luck on the hot part. And trust me, dinner is not going to be that good. I heard it was spaghetti and meatballs.” 

“But it’ll be good for us four, since I DoorDashed us Chick-Fil-A.” Rhiannon grins.

“Oh my god, you’re the best.” I groan.

“I know.” She winks at us, then strolls into the bathroom with a towel and a pair of ratty flip-flops on.

As we walk down to the Dining Hall for dinner, Rhiannon and Sloane run to the front office to grab our food. Cat and I head into the dining hall. We grab the same seats at our table.

“Where’s Sloane?” Liam asks.

“Grabbing food with Rhiannon. Rhi bought us all Chick-Fil-A.” I say.

“All of us?”

“No. Just us FG1 girls.” I grin at him. He groans, slumping back in the seat.

“I can’t believe you guys are all Co’s.” He says.

“You, Xaden, Garrick, and Bodhi are all together. You cannot be complaining.”

“You make a good point.”

Xaden slides into the chair beside me, pressing a kiss to my hair. As he sits, he slings an arm around my shoulder.

Cat grins. “You guys are sickeningly cute.” 

“You’re saying that. I’m the one who has to hear them fucking through the thin ass walls.” Garrick groans.

“We have soundproofing, and you refuse to invest in earplugs.” I quip.

“Not enough. I can hear you two declaring your undying love for each other.” 

I roll my eyes.

After dinner, which I spend devouring my Chick-Fil-A and batting away hands when they try to take my fries, we head to the fire pit.

We have a staff camp fire, where Ridoc almost lights himself on fire, and then proceeds to burn his marshmallow to a crisp, and eat it.

Eventually, we all head to our bunks for the night, and pass out the second our heads hit the pillow.

Chapter Text

June 22nd. The first day of camp.

Rhiannon wakes us up that morning blasting “Country Roads” and practically screaming it.

After that, we change into our staff shirts, make ourselves look presentable, clean up our bunk, eat a crappy breakfast that consists of packaged waffles, and head back to our bunks to get ready for our campers to arrive.

We all gather at Jyl’s Office, a small platform at the center of Girl’s Camp. Rhiannon brings her speaker, of course, and plays music while we all anxiously wait for the gates to open.

My mom shows up to check on us, and takes attendance to make sure we’re all here. After that, she lets us know that the first few cars have shown up.

It’s happening.

20 minutes later, after the kids who have driven in, got their temperature checked, and had also been checked for lice, they begin showing up in golf carts driven by leadership team members.

Another 20 minutes pass, before we hear Devera yell from a golf cart, “FG1!” 

The four of us practically squeal, immediately making our way towards the golf cart to find a girl with long, brown hair and the longest lashes I’ve ever seen, clambering out of a golf cart.

“FG1?” Rhiannon asks.
She nods. We all grin.

“Follow us. We’ll show you the bunk. I’m Rhiannon, by the way.”

“Cat.”

“Sloane.”

“Violet.”

“I’m Isabella,” She looks at me again. “I absolutely love your hair.”

“Thank you.” I smile, running a hand through it. We lead her to our bunk, Rhiannon opening the door for her. She steps inside.

“So, which bed is mine?”

“Right up here.” Sloane pats the railing of a top bunk.

“And who’s on the bottom?”

“Uhh…” Rhiannon runs to the counselor's side of the bunk and grabs the paper. “Sadie? Do you know her?”

Isabella squeals. “Yes! She’s my best friend.”

Rhiannon reads the paper, which also includes all of the scheduled arrival times for each camper, and then turns to Isabella with a grin. “Well, according to this, she should be here any second now.”

Isabella shrieks, and runs for the door, already barrelling out of the cabin and heading back to Jyl’s office.

We spend the next 3 hours meeting our new campers, learning all the gossip about the girls from FG3, which is apparently the weird bunk, and all the drama that happened during their past years. Which there seemed to be a lot involving a girl named Sasha, who, according to the girls, was a big suck up to the counselors, leadership team, and the boys, and then got kicked out for hitting on a counselor.

At noon, we sit in a circle in our bunk, introducing ourselves and doing icebreakers. Which is mostly for the counselors, since these girls have all been in the same bunk since their A year.

Sadie, a very small girl with curly brown hair and brown eyes starts. “My name is Sadie, this is my 6th year at camp, and I’m from Bucks County, Pennsylvania.”

Then, Isabella, who has been non-stop giggling with Sadie, says, “My name is Isabella, this is my 5th year at camp, and I’m from Fairfax, Virginia.”

They go around the circle, and I commit every name to memory. 

Sadie, Isabella, Noa, Georgie, Molly, Hailey, Hannah, Julia, and Livvy, and my personal favorite, sitting beside me, is Charlotte.

She’s only my favorite because of her High Lord of the Night Court blanket.

Definitely not because she’s the most fun out of all of them.

Totally.

After that, we all head to lunch, where the girls complain about the pizza, and us counselors conspire.

Rhiannon grins. “I think we all know who Violet’s favorite is.”

“Obviously,” Sloane quips, rolling her eyes. “And don’t just say it’s because she likes to read. She’s my favorite, too.”

“Same.” Rhiannon chimes in.

Cat, who is returning from the kitchen with a pitcher of water for our table, sets it down and joins our huddle. “Who are we talking about?”

“Charlotte.” Rhiannon says. “She’s our favorite.”

“Agreed.”

“So, we’re all OD tonight. What should we do?” I ask, reaching for a slice of garlic bread out of the bowl on our table.

“Hot seat?” Rhiannon requests, but I can see the mischievous look in her eyes. “It’s a good way for the campers to get to know us.”

Suddenly, our girls go silent, then all start whispering among each other.

And then I realize it’s because Xaden just walked up beside me.

“Hi, Xaden.” I grin up at him.

“Hi, baby. How was your morning?”

“Good,” I respond, fidgeting with the end of my braid. “Our campers are all really nice.”

“That’s good. Our boys managed to make a mess of the bunk within the time they all got here and lunch.”

I laugh. “Not surprised.”

“Did you get your days off?” He asks.

“Yeah. I have B days.”

“Perfect. So do I.”

I glance at my girls, who are all staring at Xaden with wide eyes. “They’re all staring at you.”

“I’m aware, Vi.” He smiles. “Good luck.”

“You need it more than me, Xade. I’ll see you later.”

He grins, giving me a small wink. “See you tonight.”

After a day filled with icebreakers and campers gossiping about their crushes, the girls shower, eat dinner, and then we head back to our bunks.

They all change into their pajamas, then we gather in the center.

Rhiannon starts. “We thought, since it's bunk night and you guys don’t know much about us yet, that we would do hot seat. So, I’m going to start. Don’t get too inappropriate with the questions, and we’re allowed to skip anything we don’t feel comfortable answering. So, fire away.”

Isabella starts. “Do you have a boyfriend?”

“No.”

Georgie chimes in with a grin. “A girlfriend?”

“Sort of.”

They squeal. 

“Sort of? What is that supposed to mean?” Sadie asks.

“It’s complicated.”

They all collectively groan.

The same variety of questions are fired at Sloane and Cat, then it’s my turn to be on the hot seat.

And of course, someone asks, “Do you have a boyfriend?”

I grin. “I do.”

A very loud shriek comes from all of them. Rhiannon smirks at me.

“What’s his name?”

“What does he look like?”

“Is he a counselor here?”

I have to lean back, because they’re all coming closer. “One at a time, please!”

Noa starts. “Does he go here?”

“Yes.” I answer. I cover my ears before they can rupture them with their screaming.

“What’s his name?” Lily asks.

“You’ll have to figure it out.”

“You mean you won’t tell us who you’re dating?” Charlotte looks taken aback. Then, her face lights up. “Oh my gosh. It’s that guy who looks like Rhys that you talked to earlier today!”

“Who?” I question, faking confusion.

“You know who. Tall, buff, tan? Hotter than the sun?”

“Xaden?”

“Yes!” She yells. “Him. Is he your boyfriend?”

“I said I’m not telling you. You’ll have to figure it out.”