Chapter Text
Davey stared out of the bus window with a scowl on his face. He put a hand on his chin while watching trees go by. An entire summer was about to be wasted at some stupid summer camp he hadn't even wanted to go to. So for the time being, Davey was going to relish every moment in the stupid bus just before camp.
The boy had a cd player at his side and headphones in his ears. The cd skipped occasionally because of the bumps the old bus went over. Davey knew that the items were likely going to be taken away once he arrived. He just wanted a last listen to his tunes before then.
The bus soon slowed down in front of a house. Davey hoped it wasn't the last stop so he could drag out his music sesh for longer. His eyes soon trailed to the boy leaving the old-country looking house. He watched as he walked up to the bus with a backpack slouching on his shoulders.
With narrowed eyes at the kid's fashion, Davey could tell this guy was going to be the cool and popular kid at camp. Meaning that he was also an asshole. The boy's eyebrows scrunched as he looked back to the trees once the kid entered the bus.
Davey was considering taking a nap the rest of the way until he was interrupted by said cool kid sitting right next to him. His head swiftly turned to look at the boy and tell him to sit somewhere else. That was until he noticed this was the only open seat. He just sighed to himself and looked away again.
Just a moment later he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned his head to the boy again with an irritated look on his face. The boy next to him had dirty blonde hair, cloudy blue eyes, and a bit of a nervous smile on his face. He also had a walkman and headphones to match.
The boy chuckled before speaking, "Sorry, I was just wondering what you were jamming to."
Davey's eyes went wide as he stared at him for a moment. His irritated look faded. He could NOT let the cool kid know that he was listening to Weird Al Yankovich. "Metallica." He shrugged, trying to pretend like what he was saying didn't matter in the slightest.
"Oh, dang. Your parents let you listen to that stuff?" The boy's eyes widened as he spoke.
"Nah, I stole the CD." Davey lied. God he wasn't even at camp yet and he was building a bad boy persona.
It seemed to be working though as the boy's eyes lit up slightly. "That's pretty rad."
Davey nodded and was confused over the fact this kid just called him rad. Even if it was over a lie.
"I'm Jasper." The cool boy said with a finger gun that turned to an outstretched hand.
"Davey." The redhead said as he shook Jasper's hand.
Jasper smiled when the two pulled their hands apart. The cool boy pulled his own pair of headphones over his ears and closed his eyes.
The redhead slid his headphones back over his ears too, though he turned the volume down just in case Jasper would try to hear what he was listening to.
Davey cursed to himself in his mind at what just happened. Why the hell was he suddenly trying to act like the bad boy type? Davey was the farthest from tough, and hardly mean. He was just in a shitty mood that was making him act weird. His eyebrows scrunched as he bit the inside of his cheek. Maybe not though considering he was yelling at Momma before he'd left. Something he'd never ever do on any other day.
Maybe he was changing. His mom sending him here was just awakening what she called "teen angst," even if he was only 10. That must be what his teachers meant when they said he was mature for his age. If this camp was going to turn him into the cool bad-boy then so be it. His Mom would regret it once he got back.
The redhead looked at himself in the bus's reflection. He tried to make a tough guy sort of face but it didn't look right, or tough for that matter. He should probably go for a more cool, not caring approach. His expression flattened and eyebrows lowered into a new face. Yeah, that was perfect.
The new Davey was here, and ready to be the worst kid at this camp.
Jasper blasted Blink-182 as loud as he could through his headphones. With closed eyes he imagined the music video of the song playing in his head. Man, he was gonna hate having to give up listening to music for the summer. Still he was more than excited about being able to go to Camp Campbell.
He'd practically begged his mom to let him go after seeing an ad for it in the newspaper. He told her it'd be educational and fun and all that jazz. Really what excited him the most was just being able to hang out with other kids his age during the summer. Adventures were gnarly and all, but they were even better with friends.
Considering the blondie lived in the middle of nowhere with hardly any kids, it seemed like a dream come true for Jasper. He just needed a way to make sure he wouldn't be left out of anything. Cause a summer at camp with nobody who liked you sounded horrible.
So Jasper also had to beg his mom to get him a fresh new pair of kicks. Fresh shoes that'd no doubt make him the coolest kid at camp from day 1. Not that the boy thought he was uncool, far from it. He was rad, dope, and awesome! He just had to make sure everyone else could tell just from looking at him.
He supposed it had already worked. The boy next to him kept glancing over for whatever reason. Jasper wasn't quite sure what to think of him yet. He seemed like the rebel type of kid. The blondie pondered to himself about why this kid would want to go to summer camp. Maybe learning survival skills enticed him? After a moment Jasper realized he'd opened his eyes and was staring at the fluffy red hair next to him.
Forest green eyes met his hazy blue ones. He should probably just ask instead of wondering.
"So." Jasper started, turning his headphones down before continuing. "What are you most psyched for at camp?"
The redhead raised an eyebrow. "Why do you wanna know?"
"Just curious." The blondie shrugged. That really is all there was to it. A curiosity for what this kid was all about.
The other boy stared for a moment like he himself didn't have an answer to that and was coming up with it. "Well it's nunya." He said as he crossed his arms with a pout.
"Nunya?" Jasper questioned.
"Nun of ya buisness." The redhead said as he rolled his eyes.
God Jasper hoped nobody heard that. He just got totally psyched out by this kid. The blondie crossed his arms and smiled. He just had to play it cool. "Hah, that's pretty funny." He said with a laugh.
The other boy's eyes widened and the pouting face changed to something a bit more surprised. Jasper wasn't completely sure what the face was for, but it was kind of amusing to look at. He only smiled more.
The boy just turned away at the sight and looked back to the bus's window.
Davey didn't stop looking out of the window until the bus had reached its destination. He took his headphones off and shoved both them and his cd player into his backpack. Soon enough every kid on the bus was standing at the sign, along with three adults.
The two wearing green shirts wasted no time in introducing themselves.
"Hello kids! I'm Darla." Said the lady.
"And I'm Gregg." Said the man.
The other man, who was quite strong looking stood between them with a smug grin on his face spoke last. "And I'm Cameron Campbell, here to welcome you all to Camp Campbell!"
A handful of the kids cheered excitedly. Davey was already over it.
"These two here will be your camp councelors over the summer." Campbell said as he pat the two on the shoulders.
"Today we'll show you kids around the place, answer any questions you have, and of course have some fun!" Darla explained.
"First we'll all head to the mess hall to check your bags and pick who you'll be staying with in your tents." Gregg continued.
Davey held one of his backpack straps as it leaned off of his shoulder. Great, he was going to have to share a tent with someone. He really would rather sleep alone. He followed behind the group as Campbell lead them all to the mess hall.
He noticed how Jasper was at the front of the group as well, chatting to some of the other kids about something he couldn't hear.
The group reached the mess hall, and all set their bags on a table so they could be inspected. Davey watched as his precious walkman with headphones was taken away for the rest of the summer. He could probably find a way to get them back, and then show everyone how much of a rulebreaker he was that way. That was a plan to formulate later though.
For now the councelors were asking the kids to pick someone to share a tent with. A big decision considering none of them really knew eachother. Davey looked around the room and just figured he would just be stuck with someone who didn't really want to share with him. He would've been fine with that since it meant they likely wouldn't want to talk to him. He just grabbed his bag and rearranged everything inside to how he wanted it to be.
When he glanced up after zipping it shut, he was met with hazy blue eyes staring.
"Have you picked a tent-mate yet, duderino?" The boy asked as he leaned against the table.
Davey blinked a few times. Why was this kid asking him so many questions? "Uh. No?" He said with a bit of confusion.
"Oh snap! Well, I'm sure you wouldn't mind if we shared the same crib then." Jasper said, leaning back just a bit further and blowing his bangs out of his face with a slight puff of breath.
"Yeah. Sure." Davey said in the least interested tone he could possibly muster. He was not expecting anyone, let alone Jasper would want to share a tent with him.
"Neat-o. I'll tell Gregg." The blondie said as he hopped to his feet and headed over to the two councelors.
Davey watched and was left still wondering what was up with Jasper.
Jasper put a hand on his hip while holding his backpacks handle in the other. Gregg smiled at him as he finished writing on a paper.
"Alright, you two are all set. We'll take everyone over to the tents in just a bit." The man said enthusiastically.
"Coolio." Jasper said as he waved and headed back over to the table where Davey was still sitting at. He plopped his bag down at the side and crossed his legs while leaning his back against the table.
In all honesty the blondie wasn't expecting Davey to agree to share a space with him. The redhead kept looking over at him like he had something to say, but he didn't say a thing. Jasper glanced back with a raised eyebrow, and the redhead immediately looked in the opposite direction.
Jeez, what was up with this kid? Jasper wondered to himself as the councelors started leading everyone outside and to the tents. He stretched as he stood up and grabbed his bag. Davey soon followed behind him.
The boys watched and waited as each pair of campers made their ways into their assigned tents. Jasper huffed at his bangs again as they kept getting in front of his eyes. Davey muttered a quiet "Sigh." right afterwards, his foot tapping impatiently against the dirt.
Gregg extended his arm out gesturing at the last tent closest to the lake. "And last but not least, here's Jasper and Davey's tent." He said.
Jasper watched as Davey rolled his eyes and ran in before he could make a step. Well dang. The blondie shrugged and made his way in after. The redhead had put his bag on the left cot and then flopped down on top of it. Jasper raised an eyebrow, wondering if the boy's attitude had been at least in part because he was tired.
"Chillax, Davey. I'm sure that once we're settled in then we'll all get to go on a radical adventure." Jasper said in an attempt to cheer up the other boy.
A muffled groan came from the cot followed by the redhead grabbing the pillow and shoving it over his head. The blondie frowned slightly as he put his bag under his cot.
"I'm gonna go look around. Catch you on the flipside, Davey." Jasper shrugged as he stepped out of the tent and went off to explore.
Davey felt a headache forming as he pressed the pillow harder against his skull. The last thing he wanted to do was go on an adventure. What he really wanted to do was leave. His hands slowly released their grip on the pillow. Through the throbbing pain going through his head, an idea had formed. If he was going to be a troublemaker, then he should try to escape!
He jumped off of the cot and slung his backback back over his shoulder. Finally a grin had formed on the boy's face as he peeked out of the tent. It was the perfect idea. He could get the heck out of this place while proving to everyone what a bad kid he really was. His eyes scanned across the area to check if it was clear. Luckily for him, it seemed that the councelors were talking to some of the kids.
In a swift move he dashed out of the tent, and didn't look back as he made a b-line for the forest. He kept running until he ran out of breath. With a few huffs he leaned against a tree. Maybe he should've left his bag behind. It would've be easier to run that way, but it was too late now. No way was he going back to camp. With determination in his eyes he continued to go deeper into the forest.
Davey wouldn't say the forest was scary. If he even thought so he'd never admit to it. It was unnerving in a way. With sounds of animals that he couldn't pinpoint, and the way shadows were almost deeper and darker despite it being mid-day. The unknown factor was what made the boy feel more uneased the further he went. This didn't dissuade him from pushing on.
In fact it made him want to go even further. Like it were a test to prove that he wasn't a baby. He was brave enough to go through the forest and get the heck out of this camp! He was quietly greatful that paying so much attention to his surroundings was blocking out thoughts of what his Momma would say or do to him when he returned home early.
The boy hopped onto a log and walked across it. His arms spread out to keep him balanced. He hopped off and swept the large tuft of hair up and out of his eyes. He held his grip tight on his backpack straps before running. He brushed past trees and bushes, some of them scratching his arms and legs as he walked by. He wondered to himself how far he had gotten. Surely civilization wasn't too far by now.
He tilted his head up to look at the undersides of the pine trees. He pressed himself against the trunk of one and gripped his hands tight against the bark. With a jump, he began to climb up the tree. He grabbed onto branches as he reached them and pulled himself on top of them. His hands rested against the wood for a moment while he looked down. It seemed he was high enough to tell. He poked his head through pine needles and looked at his surroundings below.
Wow he was high up. He ignored the way his hands began to tremble just slightly. He raised one up to his forehead to cut against the glare of the sun. He could see the camp in the distance on one side, and on the other side was just more forest. Dang, civilization must be further than he thought. He just had to climb back down and keep on going-
"Davey? Is that you?" A familiar voice chimed.
Davey looked to where it came from to see the dirty-blonde haired boy standing on top of one of those... skateboarding things. What the heck!? Was this kid following him?
"What are you doing here?" The redhead asked with an irritated tone. This kid was going to rat him out for sure.
"I told you dude, I'm lookin' around." Jasper said with a shrug and hands slipping into the pockets of his shorts.
"Well buzz off. I'm getting the heck out of this camp and you can't stop me." Davey challenged through narrowed eyes.
Jasper's eyebrow raised and he leaned forward. "Say whaaat?" He exclaimed with surprise.
"I said-" The redhead was about to repeat himself, then stopped when he saw the blondie's expression and stance change. The boy crossed his arms and a smirk appeared.
"You're on." Jasper said as he took a step back. In a matter of seconds, he jumped off of the giant half-pipe and gripped onto one of the pine tree's branches.
Davey's eyes widened as the tree shook slightly from Jasper's impact. Holy crap, he was not expecting that. He wasn't going to go down easily though. He swung himself from one of the. branches onto the nearby hill, tumbling just a bit when he landed. He shot a glare with his tongue sticking out towards Jasper before running deeper into the woods. While he didn't look behind him he could still tell Jasper wasn't going to give up easily. He heard leaves being kicked up and branches crunched over by the blonde boy's huge shoes.
The redhead vaulted himself over a log and felt his hands get scraped up from the swift gesture. The blondie behind him grunted when he landed on the ground, but it didn't take him long to get up and continue the chase. The boys were both determined to be the winner in the situation. Davey wondered to himself why Jasper was even bothering this much. While he was stuck in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed a root on the ground and he tripped on it. He flailed for a moment before pushing himself up.
The next thing he knew, he was pulled back by his backpack. "Gotcha." The blondie said victoriously.
Davey elbowed Jasper as hard as he could. The blondie dropped the redhead. "Heck no!" Davey countered before he began running downhill.
"That is so not cool!" Jasper shouted as he ran after Davey.
The two boys picked up speed while running further downwards. Davey could feel himself begin to tire out yet again. This stupid backpack needed to go. He yanked it off and turned around. Without a second thought he threw it at Jasper. The blondie nearly fell over as it landed right against his chest.
Jasper grit his teeth together as he shoved the bag to the ground. He quickly changed his expression to something less angry. Even if Davey couldn't see him he had to keep his cool. The redhead clearly had no limits in what he'd do to get Jasper off of his tail. So, Jasper would have to match it. The blondie leapt forward and tackled the other boy to the ground.
"What the heck?!" Davey shouted as he pushed Jasper to the side.
"Hey, lay off!" Jasper grumbled while trying to stand back up.
"No way, you started it!" Davey said as he grabbed Jaspers legs and pulled him back to the ground.
Soon enough the two were rolling down the hill. Neither one was willing to let the other get away nor have the final say in this chase. They tumbled down the grass and into the forest. The two were shouting at eachother and their skin became scraped and bruised. The boys rolled over branches and thorns, but they ignored the pain in favor of their feud.
Davey dug his nails into the ground while lunging his knees upward in trying to get Jasper away. Jasper moved out of the way and pulled Davey's hands to his side. The two boys were so distracted in their fight that they didn't notice they were rolling right towards a tree. They collided with the pine and both kids groaned in pain before quickly standing up. They narrowed eyes at eachother, the tension between them stretching like a rubber band.
That tension was released when both heard a strange noise and looked over to it. A metal hatch in the ground had opened, and out from it stepped Cameron Campbell. The beat-up boys glanced at eachother before glancing at Campbell. The man let out a short gasp as he noticed the two boys.
"What are you kids doing here?! Nobody's supposed to be able to find this bomb shelter!" Cameron exclaimed with an angry look on his face.
Davey's face paled as he tried to think of an excuse. The owner had caught him trying to escape and he certainly didn't want to know what kind of punishment was waiting for him. He began to open his mouth, but the blondie spoke up first.
"Just taking a self-tour of the forest, ya dig?" Jasper said as he slipped his hands into his pockets, a chill expression going onto his scratched up face.
Cameron's face cycled through a few expressions before settling on a smug smile. "Since you're here, you two can help me move my things from here to the mess hall." Campbell said as he walked back over to the shelter and popped the hatch open.
"But-" Davey started before getting cut off a moment later.
"No buts. Consider this your punishment for going out this far on your own!" Cameron said with a hardened glare.
The two boys nodded quickly as they followed Campbell down into the bomb shelter.
"How much stuff can one man fit in a place like that?" Davey groaned as his arms wobbled from holding an incredibly heavy box.
"More than one man needs, that's for sure." Jasper grumbled as he pushed a box across the dirt.
Cameron held four boxes, and simply chuckled at the two's remarks. "It's not nearly enough for just one man!"
Davey tilted his head down to look at the label of his box. It read in big red marker: Documents and identities for various countries. "Riiiight." He said while raising an eyebrow.
Soon enough the three had made it back to camp. It turns out there had been a shortcut in the woods to get back and forth from the shelter to the camp. Absurdly labeled with a sign that read: Definitely not a shortcut to the bomb shelter that definitely is not there.
Once they were in the clearing of the camp, Darla and Gregg came rushing over.
"Mister Campbell, where have you been?" Gregg nearly shouted.
"And what happened to these two?" Darla exclaimed while looking at their injuries.
"Hm?" Cameron muttered before turning to look at the two boys, who were beat up and extremely exhausted by this point. "Oh, they were just helping me bring a few things to the mess hall!"
Gregg and Darla exchanged a worried look between eachother. "You can get us to do it, you know?" Gregg said slowly.
"No worries, these two happened to be nearby! It would've been much more of an inconvience to bring you two." Cameron said with a hearty laugh.
Darla let out a sigh. "Come on you two, let's get some bandages on those cuts." She grabbed both boy's hands. Though both of them pulled their hands back to their sides and just followed behind her to the councelor's cabin.
"Mister Campbell, you can't keep letting these kids get in danger." Gregg huffed.
"It wasn't my fault!" Cameron said angrily. "Those two were wandering in the forest and I brought them back to camp while having them serve a punishment. You should be thanking me for letting you off the hook about them getting lost." Campbell's tone was sharp and grating.
Gregg's shoulders tensed and he nodded. "Right, sorry sir."
"Just finish their job and help me move all of this to the mess hall." Cameron grumbled.
Without a second thought, Gregg lifted the boxes.
Jasper finished putting bandages onto his scratched up face. He tossed the box over to Davey, who caught it and started putting them on as well. Darla watched the two with concern as she drummed her fingers against a dresser.
"Why were you two that far into the woods?" She questioned.
Jasper looked over to Davey, and the redhead stared back. "Oh, just having a rad time exploring." The blondie shrugged, using the same excuse as before.
Darla's eyebrows furrowed. "How did you two get so beat up?" She asked while putting the first aid kit away.
Jasper pondered for a moment, but Davey spoke up first. "We ran into a wolf, and... and we fought it off!"
Alright, if that was the story they were going with, then he'd play along. Fighting off a wolf was pretty cool, and he'd be able to show off his battle scars to the other kids too. "Yeah. It was wicked." The blondie said as he crossed his arms. Then he blew his bangs out of his face yet again.
Darla just shook her head. "You kids are lucky that you didn't get hurt worse than this. Next time get out of the forest and find an adult to help."
Both boys nodded in sync.
"Now lets get you two to the mess hall to have some dinner." Darla said with a soft smile as she led the two outside.
As soon as the three entered the building, the rest of the kids looked at the two bandaged boys. Jasper's eyes widened when he realized this was an opportunity to score some easy cred. "That wolf fight was totally off the hook, right Davey?" Jasper said loudly while putting his arms at his sides to show off all of the bandages he had.
The redhead turned to him quickly, and there was a moment of hesitance before he spoke. "Yeah, it was so scared it started barking for his mommy." Davey flipped his hand and tossed his hair tuft slightly.
In just a moment, the other kids were huddled around Jasper and Davey. Each one asking questions in rapid sucession about the wolf encounter. The two boys continued to make their story as dramatic and wild as possible. "And then I jumped on the wolf and pinned him to the ground!" Davey exclaimed as he stood on his tip toes and puffed out his chest to look tougher.
"Then I had a gnarly idea to throw a stick so we could run off. It'll live to tell the tale of how two radical kids scared him." Jasper said, holding his hands behind his head and leaning back in a chill way.
The other campers cheered with excitement in their eyes. Davey and Jasper exchanged a satisfied look to one another. Though they both looked away from eachother shortly when they remembered the truth behind their injuries. After Gregg and Darla got the kids to calm down, they all went back to eating dinner.
Jasper and Davey sat down with trays of mashed potatoes and cartons of milk. They still didn't look at eachother while eating. There was a sort of awkward silence between them now. Jasper wondered to himself how Davey was f
feeling. Davey wondered the same about Jasper.
The redhead couldn't stay quiet for long, and he spoke out the question that'd been on his mind. "Why didn't you rat me out?"
Jasper looked up from his potatoes. The redhead's forest green eyes weren't looking back, but distantly looking anywhere but at Jasper's own eyes. The blondie shrugged. "Snitches get stitches." He said simply.
"That, and the fact only losers rat people out." Jasper continued.
The two's eyes met again, and Davey just stared for a moment before he spoke. "Guess you're not a loser then." The boy said with a shrug.
Jasper smiled a bit. He figured that must be the troublemaker's way of thanking him. "Well, neither are you. That story you came up with was righteous." The boy said while leaning back in his seat.
"So, we're even then?" Davey asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yeah. We're even." Jasper nodded.
Davey smiled just a bit before shoving potatoes into his mouth to hide it. Maybe the two weren't exactly friends yet nor completely liked eachother, but they benefited from the other's antics. That was enough for the two to get along for the moment.
While Jasper was satisfied with now being known as the coolest kid at camp, Davey wasn't so happy about the result of today. He hadn't managed to escape the camp, but he wouldn't give up now. Another plan was already formulating in his head. It'd just have to wait for another day.