Chapter Text
Five Years Ago- Keith’s First Summer
Keith ran his fingers through his hair, pulling apart the tangles that had formed at the base of his neck. He stared ahead, at the advancing road, blatantly avoiding looking over to his right where he knew Shiro was casting him worried glances from the driver's seat.
Concrete overpasses and high-speed freeways had since given over to dusty rural highways, and Keith watched in a trance-like state as the forest materialised out the window, trees speeding past until beyond the road became a haze of green. A born-and-raised Texan, the novelty of dense woodland was yet to have worn off on him. He loved the verdant kaleidoscope of the canopy, sunlight filtering through the leaves. He loved the relief the forest offered from said sunlight, shady and cool. He loved the earthy, musty aroma when he picked up a rock, finding the soil delightfully damp and dark underneath, crawling with earthworms. He loved getting his hands dirty, returning with the knees of his jeans stained green and brown and dirt somehow smeared across his face.
But what Shiro and his foster parents didn't seem to understand was that he only enjoyed these things alone. Nature was his refuge from company. Six whole weeks in the forest, hours from home and totally isolated from civilization sounded, in theory, like his perfect summer. However, factor in icebreakers, sports, campfire sing-alongs, bunk beds and, of course, roughly 200 other kids, and this summer was shaping up to be more like something out of Keith’s worst nightmares. His foster parents had practically had to wrestle him into the passenger side of Shiro’s Ford Escape.
It wasn't unlike Keith to be quiet, but he’d hardly said more than three words the entire five-hour journey and Shiro was starting to worry. The comic, which Keith was only pretending to occupy himself with, hadn't had a page turned in over thirty minutes, but he still gave it a tap with his free hand.
“How’s The Flash?”
“Fine.”
“He’s my favourite superhero, you know.”
“Cool.” Keith was still pointedly staring ahead.
“Let me guess, yours is…” Shiro paused thoughtfully. “Aquaman?”
At that, Keith could no longer avoid his gaze. He turned to Shiro with an expression that was somewhere between horrified and insulted, drawing an involuntary bark of laughter from the driver’s seat. “Okay, okay! Seriously though, who's your favourite?”
Keith’s eyes dropped back to the comic in his lap. “Batman,” he muttered, so quietly Shiro almost didn’t catch it. The older boy offered a soft smile.
“Makes sense. He's super cool. Plus, you’ve both got that whole emo thing going on.”
We’re both orphans, too, Keith thought, but decided that was best left unsaid. He didn't need Shiro any more concerned for him than he already was. Instead, he shrugged his shoulders.
“The Flash is lame.”
Shiro gasped, affronted. “The Flash is not lame!”
“His stories are gimmicky, and sometimes it feels like he’s only there for comic relief. He has hardly anything going for him other than his superspeed.”
“Well, superspeed happens to be awesome. Besides, his character growth is done brilliantly– don't discount him before he’s even had a chance to outgrow Barry’s shadow, just keep reading and you’ll see.”
“Defensive, much.” Keith mumbled, but he picked the comic back up with renewed interest.
The rest of the journey passed quickly, with Keith engrossed in The Flash, and Shiro adjusting the radio every so often until he found a song he liked. When he pulled off the highway onto a dirt track, the car bouncing over the uneven terrain finally roused Keith from his reading. He looked up and realised with a sinking stomach that they’d arrived. A felled tree trunk at the side of the road had been carved out to display the name Camp Quiznak, and in between trees he glimpsed flashes of quaint log cabins, a stone amphitheatre, a glittering lake, and several kids in bright coloured t-shirts running after each other through the woods.
“Prepare yourself for the best summer of your life, shrimpy,” Shiro announced. Keith studied the fond, warm smile that had settled on his face as they crossed into the camp grounds. Shiro had apparently been attending Camp Quiznak every summer since he was eight, and this was his second as a counsellor. He’d been trying to convince Keith to come for years, but this time, to Keith’s mortification, he’d brought it up in front of his foster parents who had immediately pounced on the idea.
Keith, who’d already had his fair share of time spent sharing bunks with random kids during a childhood spent jumping from group home to group home, had at first protested fiercely. However, another summer spent at home was another summer spent without Shiro. Keith may have been a self-proclaimed ‘lone wolf’, but even he got lonely without his only friend. Keith’s foster parents, on the other hand, despaired at the fact he only had one friend– their nineteen year old next-door neighbour– and hoped he might find some decent company his own age at a summer camp five hours away. They had enthusiastically thanked Shiro for suggesting it before Keith even had a chance to argue.
They parked the Escape in a dusty clearing, marked ‘Staff Only’ by a rusted sign. Jumping out the passenger side, Keith inhaled. The air was damp and earthy, with the faint aroma of wild jasmine and sun-warmed pine. The scent soothed his nerves, and he took several more deep breaths. The breeze carried sounds of birdsong and distant laughter up from the lake shore. Shiro pulled Keith’s backpack from the backseat, and tossed it to him with a soft thump. He was still rummaging for his own bags when another car pulled into the clearing, stopping next to theirs.
“YOOO!” a man yelled out the open driver’s side window. “Shiro!”
Shiro emerged from the backseat, duffel bag successfully retrieved and slung across his shoulder. He gave the newcomer a bright grin. “Matt, my man! How’s it going?”
Matt got out of the car, immediately jogging over to give Shiro one of those friendly bro-hugs that always made Keith grimace. Matt had long sandy hair, cut choppily in a way that slightly resembled Keith's own mullet. He had a strong jawline and honey brown eyes, which Shiro was gesturing to enthusiastically.
“No more glasses?”
“Nope,” Matt replied, popping the P, “consider Counsellor Matt a whole new person.”
The slamming of a door drew Keith’s attention back to Matt’s car, where a girl had just emerged from the passenger side. She looked to be a few years younger than Keith, maybe ten or eleven, and short even for her age. Appearance-wise, she looked just like Shiro’s friend– light brown hair chopped just above her shoulders, and unruly bangs. Her big brown eyes were framed by a pair of round wire-rimmed glasses.
“Pidge!” Matt called. “Come say hi!”
“I asked you not to call me that…” the little girl muttered, fiddling with a strap on her dungarees.
“Hi Katie,” Shiro greeted warmly. “Woah, you got tall!”
Keith almost let out a scoff, she couldn't have been more than four foot five, but Katie’s face lit up like that was the best compliment she could've received.
“This is Keith,” Shiro introduced him, and Keith shifted uncomfortably as their gazes snapped to him, as if they’d only just noticed him lingering behind the older boy. He offered them a tight smile.
“Ah, so this is the famous Keith! I’ve heard so much about you, neighbour-boy,” Matt said, fixing Keith with a toothy grin. He felt his cheeks redden.
Katie, who Keith had deduced must be Matt’s sister, waved kindly at him, but was clearly keen to get to registration. She tugged on her brother's shirt impatiently, until her gaze landed on The Flash, tucked under Keith’s arm. Her face lit up again.
“You like D.C.?!”
“Uh, yeah, I guess,” Keith replied shyly.
“What’s your favourite comic?” she asked eagerly, and Keith got the impression he was being tested.
“Probably Under the Red Hood.”
“Batman…” Katie nodded approvingly. “Nice.”
Matt nudged his sister, adjusting his bag strap higher up his shoulder. “Guess I’ll see you at the welcome meeting. Nice meeting you, Keith. Later Shiro!”
The sibling duo headed off through the trees, in the direction of a large wooden lodge. Shiro beckoned Keith in another direction. “Come on, I'll give you a tour of the camp before registration.”
Shiro led Keith down a dirt path, edged with logs to keep the forest undergrowth at bay, towards a large slab of concrete, where sheltered under a wooden pavilion sat plenty of long dining tables and benches fit to accommodate the whole camp. Coloured flags and string lights hung from the rafters, giving the space a cozy, whimsical feel despite its vast size. A wooden lodge sat adjacent to the pavilion, where the smells and sounds of cooking as well as the indistinct crackle of a radio emanated from the open double doors.
“This is the mess hall. We usually come here three times a day to eat, but sometimes if you're doing a certain activity, your counsellor will bring packed lunches to eat outside. The kitchen’s through there.” Keith nodded along to Shiro’s commentary, craning his neck to read the flags above them. “You don’t have to sit with your cabinmates at mealtimes, but most people do.”
Keith followed Shiro down another path, winding through the trees. On their way towards the lake they passed two giggling girls with the same brown hair and blue eyes, dressed in matching blue t-shirts, heading in the opposite direction. As they walked by, they waved coyly at Shiro, then fixed Keith with twin looks of intrigue. He watched over his shoulder as they scurried away, whispering eagerly.
Shiro raised his eyebrows suggestively at the younger boy, before continuing his explanation. “Most of the campers arrive on Saturday. Any who are already here probably have family working the summer, like Matt and Katie. You should try and meet the others while I’m at the staff welcome meeting. It might be nice to have some familiar faces you can rely on when the rest of the campers get here.” Shiro suggested. Usually, at any mention of making friends, Keith would roll his eyes on principle. However, even he supposed getting to know a few kids couldn’t hurt. Especially if Shiro would be working the whole time.
The dirt path gave way to pebbles and sand, and Shiro threw his arms up in a dramatic gesture. “Ta-da! This is the lake, my favourite place in camp. The beach is a popular hang out spot for campers in their rec time, so if you have a few minutes to spare you should head here. Otherwise, the lake is used for swimming and canoeing, and stuff,” he explained. Keith kept his mouth shut, but what he wanted to say was that if the lake was a popular place for hanging out, he’d more likely be avoiding it like the plague. It was pretty, though.
Next, Shiro took him to the amphitheatre, a big open space at the top of a hill, which offered views of the whole camp. Keith could just about make out Shiro’s black Ford Escape, parked at the back of the mess hall below. At the centre of the amphitheatre was a stone firepit, where a woman was arranging a lattice of logs for that night’s campfire.
“It’ll be super relaxed,” Shiro promised him. “No sing-alongs...yet.”
They climbed back down the hill, Keith thankful to be back under the shade of the trees, and rejoined the path, following it straight through the forest until it branched off into five different directions. Keith stopped, looking to the other boy for directions.
“Ah, these lead to the cabins.” Shiro pointed each out. “Green down the far left, then Yellow down there, then Blue, Red, and Black to the right. Three cabins per colour, with A being the six to nine year olds, B being ten to fourteen year olds, and C for the older kids.” Keith nodded, though admittedly the whole explanation had gone over his head.
“I’ll show you the Black cabins first. That’s my cabin.” He winked, and led Keith down the far right path. It opened into a meadowy clearing where three log cottages stood, as well as a sizable deck furnished with picnic benches and ping-pong tables. They were connected through the wildflowers by a winding network of stepping stones. Each cabin was identical, a black banner hanging across the porch displaying their letter. Cabin A’s porch featured a sand pit full of toy tractors, and an arts-and-crafts table with the tiniest stools Keith had ever seen pulled up. A handful of beanbags were scattered around Cabin B’s porch, and Cabin C looked like they had a pool table.
Shiro was beaming at the cabins like a proud parent, and Keith fought to keep his eyebrows under control at the older boy’s display of sentimentality. Sure, the cabins were alright, but Keith couldn’t imagine why the thought of staying in a glorified shack with thirty other kids all summer appealed to so many people.
Shiro wrapped up his tour by showing Keith the other cabins. They were all more or less the same, varying in colour scheme of course. Finally, they swung by a big lodge which Shiro referred to fondly as ‘headquarters’. Keith recognised it as the building near where they’d parked, where Matt and Katie were headed earlier.
When Keith stepped inside, he realised there was nothing particularly imposing about ‘headquarters’. It was a large, airy, pine chamber which served as some sort of reception-slash-common room, with a smattering of sofas and a big projector screen at one end, and a modest admin space at the other, featuring an oversized desk where several people were already queuing for registration. A banner hung from the rafters, reading ‘Welcome to Camp Quiznak!’.
“Lets get registered, then we can find out what cabin you’re in.” They joined the back of the queue, Shiro greeting those he recognised cheerfully.
“Um, aren’t I just gonna be in Black, with you?”
“Nah, I’m afraid that's not how it works. I suppose there's a chance you could be assigned to Black, but it's already pretty oversubscribed so I wouldn't get your hopes up.”
Keith blanched. The only reason he’d agreed to come to camp was to hang out with Shiro, and only now was he being told that they probably wouldn’t even be in the same cabin.
“Then… how do they decide where to assign you?” Keith asked, a lump forming in his throat.
Shiro hummed. “Well, I guess they factor in a few things, but they make you do a personality assessment when you enroll, and it mostly comes down to what kind of person you are. You know, like where you’d fit in best.”
“Like Hogwarts??”
“Um, yeah, kinda like Hogwarts!” Shiro laughed, clearly unaware of (or maybe just ignoring) Keith's growing horror.
“So what's the Camp Quiznak equivalent of Slytherin?” Keith muttered bitterly.
“It’s not that clear-cut,” Shiro smirked. “Besides, you’re more of a Gryffindor anyway.”
↞↞ ↡ ↠↠
Keith stared down at the slip of paper the woman at the desk had handed him. Along with a map of camp and a weekly schedule, were the details of his cabin and bunk. Red B, bunk twelve. Shiro read the slip over his shoulder.
“Red, huh? I’m pretty sure that’s Adam’s cabin. You’ll like him.”
Keith just nodded. It made no difference to him either way, if he couldn’t get Black. Headquarters was starting to fill up now, and he could hear people calling out greetings to the older boy.
“If you want to go see your friends, I think I remember the way to the cabins. I’ll go and drop off my bag.”
“Okay.” Shiro ruffled his hair, causing him to grimace. “If you’re sure. I’ll catch you later, shrimpy.”
Keith hoisted his backpack further up his shoulders, and with a final nod in his best friend’s direction, he stepped out of the air-conditioned lodge and back into the muggy afternoon of the forest.
He trod the well-worn footpaths, stopping occasionally to consult his map or move out the way of stampeding kids, who regarded him curiously as they ran past. The sun was high in the sky, and light filtered through the canopy, showering him in dappled gold and green. He recognised the call of a woodpecker somewhere above, and the distant sounds of conversation drifting through the trees. His footsteps made satisfying crunches on the dusty path, and a light breeze, carrying the faint scent of honeysuckle and suncream, tickled his cheeks. Keith thought that he could get used to this, before remembering this was merely the calm before the storm. By the weekend, the forest would be overrun with hyperactive kids, and peace would be basically non-existent.
When he arrived at Red cabin B, he found it totally empty. No sign of Adam, whoever that was, or any other campers. The cabin smelled of pine, sawdust, and fresh linen, and sunlight sifted through the gaps in the logs, bathing the space in a warm orange glow. There was a functional living area, with beanbags, sofas, and a retro television set (complete with a VCR… geez), a kitchenette where a mug reading World’s Best Camp Counsellor was sat upside-down on a draining board, and, to Keith’s delight, a well-stocked bookcase in the corner. The boys were in a room to the left, about twelve or so bunk beds lined up in a row, nothing to write home about. Out the back were the bathroom blocks, which weren't as bad as Keith expected, but still pretty rudimentary.
Keith found his bed, the number twelve etched into the wood frame, and was relieved to see he had the bottom bunk. He dropped his bag, then collapsed face-first onto the thin sheets, breathing in their washing-powder smell.
“Long journey?” a voice cut through the silence. Keith tensed, and pulled his face out his pillow. A girl was peering around the door at him, wearing a vaguely amused look of interest. She had a sharp kind of beauty– dark, cat-like eyes, high cheekbones, and her hair was dyed an indigo colour, slicked back except for a strand which hung over one side of her face.
“I– uh…”
The girl laughed, though not unkindly, and Keith noticed she was wearing purple lipstick. “I’m Acxa.”
“That's…an unusual name.” Keith replied lamely.
“If you think Acxa is unusual, you haven't heard anything yet.” She was drumming her pointy manicured nails on the door frame, eyebrows raised, and Keith realised she was waiting for him to introduce himself. His face heated up.
“Oh, right. I’m Keith.”
“Keith…” Axca rolled his name around her mouth, sounding it out. “And how old are you?”
“Thirteen”
“I’m fourteen.” Axca replied triumphantly, as if she’d won some competition Keith wasn't aware of. “Is this your first summer?” she asked. Keith nodded, and she smirked. “Great! That means I get to give you the grand tour.”
“Actually, my friend Shiro already showed me around.”
Axca huffed, but she didn't look too disappointed. “Of course you know Shiro. That guy’s practically camp royalty. Oh well. Are you coming to the bonfire tonight?”
“Like, at the amphitheatre?” Keith asked, remembering Shiro mentioned something about a ‘super-relaxed campfire’ that evening.
Axca’s eyes flashed with something mischievous. “That's the official social, but that's mostly for the counsellors and boring campers. The rest of us sneak down to the beach for a little gathering of our own. Camp tradition.”
“Oh.” Keith realised what she was getting at. A Party. Keith was not a party person by anyone's estimate, but the thought of being labelled a ‘boring camper’ his first night there had him chewing the inside of his cheek anxiously. “Yeah, okay. When’s that?”
“Don’t worry, I'll grab you from the mess hall after dinner.” She waved a manicured hand at him. “Wear something nice. And for god’s sake, don't tell your friend Shiro– It’s strictly no counsellors.”
↞↞ ↡ ↠↠
Keith spent the rest of that afternoon finishing his comic, and debating whether it was worth betraying Shiro’s trust for the sake of getting in with the ‘cool kids’. Shiro would probably answer this dilemma with an enthusiastic yell of ‘YES!’, as he was always suggesting Keith try and make new friends, but the thought still made him uncomfortable.
He’d found a majestic weeping willow by the lake to sit under, where he knew he could agonize over this in relative peace, picking at the black polish on his thumbnail. The sun hung low over the lake now, making the water look dark and iridescent as it stretched across the horizon. Suddenly, the curtain of drooping branches parted, and another person ducked under the willow.
Keith stayed quiet, tucking himself back against the trunk. The newcomer hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, and was pacing around under the shelter of the tree, cradling his face in his hands. Keith watched wide-eyed and rigid, unsure if he should make his presence known, or keep hiding and pretend he wasn't secretly intruding on what was clearly a stranger’s private moment. Already feeling like the time to announce himself had long passed, he tried to shuffle himself further back into the shadows, and accidentally snapped a twig under his palm.
The stranger spun around and came face-to-face with Keith, who was wearing his most guilty deer-caught-in-headlights expression. He was surprised to see it was a boy his own age– he was certainly much taller than Keith– with tanned skin and cropped chestnut-brown hair. His big eyes were the deepest blue Keith had ever seen, and Keith’s surprise only grew when he realised they were glistening with tears. The stranger blinked at him, horrified.
“Who th- who the hell are you??” he choked, looking dazed and slightly violated, and pointing at Keith accusingly with a trembling finger.
“I didn't mean to intrude! I mean, well, technically I was here first, so-” he trailed off. The boy was staring at him with utter bewilderment.
“What?” he hissed sharply.
“Are…are you okay?” Keith asked weakly, feeling his cheeks grow red. The stranger gave him another slow blink with his piercing blue eyes. “I- um, okay. I guess I'll leave you to it.” He picked up his comic and booked it out of the tree.
Keith was half way back to the Red cabin before he paused to catch his breath. What the hell was that kid’s problem? Yeah, he was clearly having a bad day, but there was no need to take it out on Keith. If anything, blue-eyes was the one intruding on him. He scuffed the toe of his combat boots against the dirt footpath, considering marching back to reclaim his willow tree and telling blue-eyes to take his pity party of one elsewhere.
Suddenly, a bell rang out through the forest, signalling dinner-time. Keith set off sprinting back to Red cabin to change into something nicer, remembering Acxa’s advice. He was relieved to find, when he got back to his bunk, that he was still the only one to have moved in on the boys’ side. Lifting his backpack off the floor and onto his bed, Keith began digging through its contents in search of something decent enough to wear to the bonfire. He settled on a pair of faded grey jeans and a black Star Wars t-shirt, then rushed over to the mess hall.
The mess hall was already overwhelmingly busy, and this was before the main cohort of campers had even arrived. Everyone seemed in high spirits, talking excitedly across the tables at each other, smiling and gesturing wildly. Keith immediately felt like an outsider– everyone already seemed to know each other, whether they were counsellors who’d grown up attending Camp Quiznak together, or campers who, like Katie, had family working, and had already formed little nepotism cliques. He looked for Shiro, finding him surrounded on all sides by friends and fellow counsellors. Keith felt a little silly that he’d expected him to save him a seat at dinner, especially after Acxa had referred to him as ‘camp royalty’, or whatever. He should have expected that Shiro would be this popular at the summer camp he’d literally been attending for ten years.
Without his best friend to rely on, Keith scanned the pavilion for another familiar face. He made eye contact with Acxa sitting at a table with a few other older kids, and she offered him a friendly smile, but he found her Hot-Topic-model friends far too intimidating to sit with.
He spotted Katie sitting at one of the busiest tables in the mess hall, full of fellow campers talking animatedly amongst one another. On Katie's left sat one of the prettiest girls Keith had ever seen; tall and slim, with warm brown skin and white braids piled into a bun on top of her head. Her eyes seemed to flicker several different colours like opals, and she was laughing brightly at a story another camper was telling across the table.
On Katie’s right, Keith recognised a familiar head of chestnut-brown hair, and immediately dragged his gaze away from their table. The last thing he needed was blue-eyes to accuse him of stalking, or something.
It looked like he'd be sitting alone. As usual.
He headed through to the kitchen to make himself a plate, loading it up with chicken, potatoes, and greens, before settling himself at the end of an empty bench. The pavilion rang with warm laughter and easy conversation, and Keith wondered on a scale of one to ten how much he’d screwed himself over by agreeing to subject himself to this for six whole weeks.
He’d been miserably pushing his last potato around with his fork for about five minutes, when Acxa finally tapped him on the shoulder.
“You ready?”
Keith shrugged.
“Great. Come on.” She grabbed his elbow, pulling him up from the table and away in the direction of the lake, her friends already a few paces ahead.
The forest looked different after dark. Keith was involuntarily reminded of all the ghost stories and slasher movies he’d seen that were set at summer camps, and suddenly understood the horror potential of isolating 200 kids in the great outdoors in the name of friendship and fun. He made sure not to fall too far behind the group, hugging his arms and peering warily into the black beyond the trees.
Keith had yet to be introduced to Axca’s friends, but they all looked a couple years older, sporting piercings and eyeliner and dyed hair. Axca hung close to a tall boy with long white hair, whose handsome face was spoiled by a permanent look of contempt. He was smirking at something another girl was saying, her rainbow hair scraped into a high ponytail. Leading the group with a weak flashlight was an intimidating girl with a muscular build, pink-purple hair cut short and spiky. They looked like the kids at his school that Keith was always sharing detentions with– theirs usually for smoking and cutting class, his for fighting and general dissent. He wondered if Axca and her friends were the ‘delinquent crowd’. If so, he’d probably fit right in, if it weren't for the fact they’d all been casting disdainful glances at him as he trailed behind. Keith had a sudden and terrifying thought that maybe there was no bonfire, and instead they'd lured him out to the woods at night in order to sacrifice him to some creepy evil deity.
To Keith’s relief, when they emerged from the trees onto the beach it was already full of campers, stoking a blaze and talking excitedly. Most of them looked older than Keith, probably the C group kids, but they didn't seem too phased by his presence. Axca pushed a plastic cup of dark liquid into his hand and he looked up at her questioningly.
She laughed. “It’s only root beer, Keith. You think we snuck booze into camp?”
It wouldn’t surprise me, Keith thought, but he accepted the drink with a sheepish smile. He was finally properly introduced to the others, Lotor, Ezor, and Zethid, and got what she’d meant earlier about unusual names. Somebody booted up a speaker, and a cheer went up from the crowd. The party was getting started.
Keith didn’t want to seem like he was clinging onto Axca like a lost puppy, especially with the frowns her friends were already sending his way. When the opportunity arose, he snuck away to the dock, and sat with his feet swinging above the lake. He wished Shiro was here. Shiro probably thought he’d retired to bed early, deliberately avoiding any kind of social events. In a way that was half-true. He’d actually made the effort to attend a party, yet, predictably, had ended up hiding himself away on an empty dock. The sound of a commotion behind him drew his attention back to the shore, where a group of rowdy campers were stripping down to their underwear. Christ, he thought, and Axca claimed no one was drinking booze.
Keith’s mortification only grew when the half-naked campers turned to his direction, and started racing towards him at full-throttle. He’d just about managed to jump up and out of their way before three of them pitched themselves off the dock, whooping and throwing somersaults, before plunging into the dark water. Keith’s jaw dropped, and he scrambled to the edge to watch them resurface.
“You bunch of lunatics! Is it cold?!” Someone had joined Keith at the end of the dock, shouting to her friends below. Three affirmative cries from the lake confirmed the campers had not in fact drowned or gone into shock. The girl beside him laughed disbelievingly, then offered Keith an apologetic grin. “Sorry kid, I bet those idiots gave you a real fright.”
“Not really…” he muttered, hoping she couldn't hear the waver in his voice.
“What are you doing out here by yourself, anyway? The party's that way,” she said, nodding at the shore. There was something friendly and warm in her tone which had a disarming effect on him, and Keith found himself wanting to be open with her– which was very unlike him.
“I, uh. I don’t know anyone here. Parties aren’t really my thing anyway, I don't know why I let myself be talked into coming.”
“To the bonfire?”
“To camp.”
She gave him a sympathetic smile. “First timer? I know it can be a lot at first, but trust me and give it a chance. It’ll be the best summer of your life, promise.”
“So people keep telling me…”
The other campers had swam back to the dock, and the girl helped pull them out of the lake. They set off back towards the shore, dripping water and laughing wildly. The girl inclined her head, beckoning Keith to come with them.
“I’m Veronica. These idiots are Curtis, Troy, and my brother Marco. See? Now you know three people here.”
Keith swallowed. “I’m Keith.”
“Nice to meet you. Now, are you gonna join us? I can introduce you to some kids your own age.”
“Sure.” He followed them back to the bonfire, ducking and laughing lightly as Marco shook his wet hair like a dog, spraying his sister with lake water. Back at the party, Veronica refilled their drinks, and led Keith towards a group of younger campers who’d monopolized a space by the fire to sit and play games. She tapped someone on the shoulder, a big guy with brown skin, a mop of dark hair, a wide smile and warm brown eyes.
“Hi Hunk,” Veronica greeted, “have you seen my brother?”
Hunk shrugged, grinning. “He’s probably off somewhere trying to impress Allura.” His eyes landed on Keith. “Is that a Star Wars shirt?”
“Uh, yeah.”
“Dude, I love Star Wars! Is this your first summer? What’s your name?”
“Keith. And yeah, it’s my first.”
“Hunk, would you mind introducing Keith to some of your friends? I’ve got to go round up my siblings, make sure they aren't getting into too much trouble,” Veronica said.
“No problem. Come sit, man. I’m Hunk. This is Shay.” A girl next to him waved. “What cabin are you in?”
“Red.”
Hunk nodded appreciatively. “Cool. Those guys win colour wars, like, every year, but recently Blue cabin is looking like they might be some real competition. We’re in Yellow.”
“So, do you guys have family who are counsellors, too?”
Shay nodded. “My brother Rax is head counsellor for Yellow Cabin.”
“And my uncle is the camp chef,” Hunk explained. “What about you? What’s your nepotism claim?”
“You guys know Shiro?”
“Shiro? You’re Shiro’s brother?”
“Um, not exactly.” Keith frowned, staring into the flames. “I mean, he's kind of like a brother to me. We’ve been neighbors for three years.”
“That’s sweet,” said Shay, but she seemed distracted. Keith followed her gaze across the beach, to where an impromptu dance floor had formed. “This is one of my favourite songs,” she sighed, looking at Hunk expectantly.
Hunk blushed. “Um, I suppose we could go dance. You coming, Keith?”
Keith grimaced. “I don’t really dance…”
“Come on, it’ll be fun! We’re terrible dancers, so you don’t need to worry about impressing anyone,” Shay encouraged. Keith already felt a mile out of his comfort zone, trying to make friends at a party, but now that he had more or less succeeded at that, he didn't really want to let them go and end up back at square one. With one last pained wince, he took Shay’s outstretched hand and let her and Hunk lead him to the dancefloor.
The pebbles underfoot didn't make the best surface for dancing, and people kept stumbling as they moved, but it was always laughed off. The campers persevered, jumping and twirling each other around, full of excitement and joy at being reunited for the summer. Keith moved awkwardly, nodding his head and clutching onto his root beer like it was a lifeline. Shay grabbed his hand and pulled him into a circle of her friends.
“My fellow Yellow campers,” she explained. Hunk was in the centre of the circle, showing off his best robot dance, to the whoops and cheers of his cabinmates.
“You got any moves for the dance circle?” he yelled at Keith.
Keith balked. “God, no.” The other campers laughed brightly. Suddenly, the song changed to something slower. He half-expected Hunk to make a move on Shay, there was clearly something going on there, but instead, the bigger boy just raised an amused eyebrow.
“Uh-oh. Looks like Lance is gonna ask Allura to slow dance with him.” He waggled his eyebrows, eliciting more giggles from his fellow campers. Keith followed their gaze to the tree line, where he caught sight of the beautiful girl from the mess hall who’d been sitting next to Katie. She’d changed out of her blue camp t-shirt into a white cotton dress, and affixed some gold jewellery to her braids, glinting in the moonlight. She was talking to her friend, a pretty blonde girl with pigtails, when a tall boy who must have been Lance approached them shyly from the crowd. Keith’s stomach dropped as he recognised the boy’s short brown hair and tan skin. Blue-eyes.
Keith had to admit, Blue-eyes– or Lance– scrubbed up well. Gone from his face was any sign of his earlier breakdown, and there was a softness to his expression which surprised Keith, who’d only seen him screwed-up and glaring. He was wearing blue jeans and a NASA t-shirt, with beat-up converse. He offered his hand out to the white-haired girl, Allura, who smiled at him kindly before grabbing both Lance and her blonde friend’s hands, and pulling them down to the dance floor.
“Yeesh.” Hunk winced. “Friend-zoned.” Keith’s eyes widened in horror as he realised Allura was leading them straight towards him and Hunk, and their group. He tried to duck behind the bigger boy before Blue-eyes could recognise him, but he forgot he’d been trapped in a circle of Yellow campers, with no space to make a subtle escape.
“Hey guys!” Allura greeted, and Keith was surprised to hear a British accent.
“Hey Allura! Romelle! How've you been?” Shay hugged the two girls.
“Good! We missed everyone.”
“We missed you, too.” Hunk gave Lance a commiserating pat on the back. Keith focused all his mental power on possibly shrinking to the size of a firefly, or willing a hole to open beneath the pebbles and swallow him up. The newcomers hadn’t seemed to notice him yet, so maybe there was still a chance for him to sneak away without anyone realising– it was, after all, his specialty.
“By the way, this is our friend Keith! It’s his first summer here, he’s Shiro’s neighbour.”
Keith guessed not.
Three pairs of eyes snapped to him, two purple, one impossibly blue. Keith watched Lance’s jaw go slack, as recognition flashed behind his bright irises.
“Nice to meet you,” Allura said.
“Yeah!” Romelle smiled.
Lance was still staring suspiciously. Hunk elbowed him. “Dude…”
“Lance.” Allura muttered, prodding him. He seemed to suddenly remember his surroundings, and snapped his jaw shut, regaining composure.
“Oh! Right. Nice to meet you, or whatever.” Lance barely looked at Keith as he said it, and Allura narrowed her eyes, but it seemed to please everyone else, and they finally moved on. Keith finally resolved to take his chance to slip away. His sights set on a gap in the crowd, and he had just about taken his first step towards it when a tanned hand shot out and wrapped around his wrist. He spun around, grey eyes meeting blue ones.
“Can I talk to you?”