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Merak - A deep sense of contentment found in small moments, shared laughter, warm light, and feeling fully present. (Serbian)
Hello Loves,
This is my first fic but I have always enjoyed writing and have been super inspired by some other amazing people. There is a disappointing lack of formula summer camp fics, and I've only seen “under the sunset” which is now deleted and Camp Formula by champion_at_heart. I started planning this fic around march 2026 but didn't start writing until April. I have no idea when I'll start posting and have no concept of a plan. This is roughly based on my own classic American camp experience (they ship a bunch of college age students from the UK to Cape Cod and basically not pay them for the summer and hope for the best). For the purpose of this fic all counselors are college age to late 20’s at most whereas campers are middle school highschool. This is also very historically inaccurate and it happens/exists if I say so. I was unsure whether I should make it a boys camp because those do exist but I decided it would be boring without women lmao. The nationalities stay the same but this is important that it takes place in america bcuz of our really fucking weird thiing witht he flag. I would also like to state that I live in super left & lib america so we spend a lot of time at our camps shitting on government things and its funny so international readers might miss a couple jokes. Ill prob add photos of my plans here (or in a series fic) to make it easier to understand. Sorry for the many many original characters that were necessary because women are disgustingly under-represented in motor sports and it made more sense with dynamics to make F1 academy girlies as campers. Usual RPF disclaimer, this is a work of fiction dont share this outside of RPF spaces.
Lots of love, Author
(Find me on tumblr with the same user w/o underscore!)
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Chapter 1- 6/24: Wednesday, Staff Training
Oscar stepped out of the blindingly orange bathroom and into the Dunkin Donuts, the most Cape Cod thing he could imagine as his last pit stop before his life would change forever, not that he knew it yet. He had been driving for about 20 minutes after getting off the highway and finally away from the traffic. In total the trek from Boston had taken 2 hours, and he was now only a few minutes away from the camp where he had taken his summer job. Counselors from mostly overseas would be arriving today, he was happy to not be surrounded by only Americans for the summer. He was not able to return to his home in Australia, but at least he wasn’t trapped on the MIT campus for any longer. He walked up to Logan, who had been the one to set this whole thing up.
“Hey mate, is our stuff ready yet?” They had ordered drinks and a snack before they reached their destination, they were still about 25 minutes early, less traffic than expected.
“The drinks are over there. I’m just waiting on your breakfast sandwich. Ha, crazy! We're in a town called Sandwich.” Logan responded, laughing at his own joke. Oscar went to go sit down at the table where Logan had pointed and winced at the sound the chair made across the floor. He was nervous for this job, he had mainly taken it for the classic experience, as he later found out most counselors did. He enjoyed working with kids, but would never have sought something like this out if it weren't for Logan's enthusiasm. He apparently had great memories of a place like this back where he grew up.
“You alright?” Oscar turned his head to look at his now approaching friend. “You look like your head is gonna explode from thinking too hard. I promise it's gonna be great though. We did fine in the online courses.” Logan was referring to the online training they had already received. Pretty much all work was done online due to all the international hires. Oscar already had his lifeguarding certificate and other emergency credentials as well. Realistically he was well prepared, but you never really knew what kids could get up to.
“Yeah, you’re right. Just nerves I guess.” Oscar took a bite of his sandwich. “You wondering about what your partner is gonna be like?”
“A bit, I guess. Mostly I'm just excited.”
Oscar stood up. “Should we head out again then? I do want to get there early for parking. They said it's limited.”
The two men walked out of the Dunkin and back to Logan’s shitty Pontiac vibe that he claimed was the most reliable car he could afford, yet he still ended up under the hood every other weekend. Oscar got in the driver's seat and checked the GPS one last time. 10 minutes before he stepped foot into his home for the summer. 10 minutes before he stepped foot into the home of his heart, forever.
…
Oscar turned left onto a dirt road and drove under the wooden arch labeled Camp Merak. The road was lined with trees reaching overhead, nearly blocking out the sky. Quickly however they came across a large field and a pavilion to the left, and a parking lot and old house looking building to the right, the main office. He figured he would park the car in there for now and they would go in. He and Logan got out of the car and stood there for a second.
“You ready?” Logan asked, playing with his fingers, apparently more nervous than he let on.
“Sure,” Oscar replied, before taking a deep breath and opening the door. The room inside very much looked like something you would find at a summer camp. It looked entirely made out of wood with very simple furniture inside. The man sitting at the table looked up.
“Hello mates! New counselors right?” Oscar was surprised to hear an Australian Accent. They both nodded their heads and gave their names. “My name is Mark, I'm one of the directors here. Ok, today we have a giant meeting down in the dining hall first thing. Then we’ll all have lunch together, get to know each other. Then you go back to your cabin to start unpacking and decorating, as well as exploring. We don’t have much planned today, You’re supposed to use the time to get to know things around here. Here’s a map, throw your bags in the trunk and I’ll see you later.”
Logan spoke first, “Where should we park?”
“Ahh, y'all drove here,” Mark shook his head. “I always forget about parking ‘cause most of the international staff don’t have any sort of car. Let me tell you, you drop that you have a car here and you'll make a lot of friends.” He chuckled. “On your map there should be a section labeled staff parking, you’ll find it. If not you can always park up here. The only time it's full is during pick up and drop off.”
“Great, thanks.” Oscar said, turning towards the door while studying the map.
…
After much struggle, Oscar and Logan managed to find themselves at the bottom of the dining hall stairs.
“You know I don't think this place was meant to be built on,” Logan remarked, obviously referencing the great amount of stairs and uneven ground.
“I think there are about 4 sets of stairs that could kill someone.”
They reached the top of the stairs and stepped in the open double doors. There was a table set up in the middle of what looked like an indoor porch. The ceiling was decorated in every flag, and the large windows let in lots of light. The back wall had another double doorway (without doors) and large window frames (without windows). There were many tables and chairs everywhere which had been somewhat pushed aside.
Logan and Oscar approached the folding table which was covered in papers and boxes. A man and a woman sat there.
“Hello guys!” the woman said as they approached. “My name is Susie Wolff. This is my husband Toto. We own the camp and run a couple things around here. The camp directors do most of the people facing work but we always come out to say hi on the first day. We live above the main office if you ever need us. We’re about to go over the most important information together. What are your names and where are you from?”
“I'm Logan Sargeant and I'm from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I'm going to Emerson for photography” Toto handed him a clipboard with a giant stack of papers on them.
“Oscar Piastri. I'm from uhh Melbourne. Australia. But I'm living in Boston right now. Going to MIT.” He was also handed a clipboard.
“These clipboards have all your important papers on them. Rosters, schedules, assignments, that type of stuff. Your staff gear is already in your cabins where you'll go later. Head right on in, and take any chair in the circle.”
When the two men walked into the next room there was indeed a circle of chairs. They took two chairs on the side near more pushed back tables. Logan and Oscar watched as the room slowly filled up with more and more people.
Eventually, one man stood up at the makeshift stage-ish area at the back of the room, in front of yet another set of double doors.
“Hello everyone and welcome to Camp Merak!” This was met with cheers, clapping, whoops, and whistles. “My name is Sebastian Vettel. I am a camp director. My specialty is exactly this. To stand in front of whatever crowd has gathered and shout at people. I’ll let the other directors introduce themselves quickly.”
“I’m Mark Webber. Australian.” One man whistled loudly. “Most of you have already met me at the front office.”
“Fernando Alonso, Spanish.”
“Kimi Raikkonen."
“Jenson Button, I'm from the UK.” Many people cheered at this.
Sebastian spoke again. “I forgot to mention, I’m from Germany and please call me Seb. I would also like to introduce our wonderful bosses.” Toto and Susie stepped forward once more and gave a short speech about how it was wonderful to have everyone here and community and stuff. Oscar let himself space out for most of it because it still seemed like they were not providing any actual information. This time Seb stepped forward with a list.
“Right. Now it is time for everyone's favorite or least favorite part of the year. Your cabin partner is who you will be living with for the rest of the summer. We put people together based on known existing friendships or people who we think will go well together. There are also a few strays left over who were put together randomly so, sorry I guess? We shouldn’t have any problems but let me know. When I call your name, come up here and introduce yourself, name, origin, department. Also if you are in a girls cabin, wait for the boys cabin with the same number to be called before sitting down, because that's your war teammate." Cheers erupted. Oscar had been taught about the Cabin war a little but still had no idea what was going on to say the least.
Seb now moved to the middle of the circle and shouted out, “G1, Maisie Sinclair and Beatrice Falker! B1, Zhou Guanyu and Dan Sherdike.” 4 people got up and joined him in the circle.
“I'm Maisie, I'm in the arts department and I'm from Ireland."
“I’m Beatrice, I'm from Britain and I'm in nature.”
“Im Zhou, I'm from China and I work in nature.”
“Im Dan, Im in the rec department and im from New Jersey.”
The introduction continued on like this, each letter and number called out followed by a brief introduction, Oscar made a mental list:
2:Ellie(Rec) + Lane(Waterfront)- Valterri(Waterfront) + Checo(Art)
3:Kaitlyn(Art) + Sophia (Rec)- Daniel(Rec) + Max(Rec)
4:Madison(Nature) + Isabella(Rec)- Esteban(Nature) + Lance(art)
5:Olivia(Waterfront) + Hannah(Nature)- Pierre(Waterfront)+ Yuki (Nature -Archery)
6:Ava(Waterfront)+Hailey(Rec)- Nico H(Rec) + Kevin(Rec)
7:Mia(Art)+Asya(Nature)- Charles(Art)+ Carlos (Nature)
8:Elif(Waterfront)+ Grace(Art)- Alex(Nature-Barnyard)+ George(Waterfront)
After half an hour, Oscar was starting to get a bit bored. He was hoping to be working with middle schoolers instead of high schoolers but his wishes had been crushed a while ago. While he was still paying attention it was a very repetitive process save for the two girls from Turkiye and one guy from Japan.
“G9! Sadie McMorrin and Nemora Johnson. B9, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.”
Hearing his name was like a shock. He stood up and made his way to the center of the circle. A blonde woman introduced herself first.
“My name is Sadie and I'm Scottish. I'm in the nature department.
A woman with her hair in Bantu knots spoke next. “My name is Nemora. I'm English, and I am in the nature department as well.
The man who was his cabinmate had curly dark brown hair and tan skin. He seemed to have a permanent mischievous look on his face. “My name is Lando, I'm from England, and I’m in the waterfront department. He turned and looked at Oscar expectantly.
“Um, my name is Oscar. I'm from Australia-” A loud whistle interrupted him. The man named Daniel -if he remembered correctly- was a fellow Aussie grinning brightly at him. A girl named Ava also cheered. He smiled at them before continuing. “I work in the life guarding department.” People clapped and everyone went back to their seats. When Oscar turned he could still feel Lando’s eyes on him.
Next, Logan was called along with a guy named Fred who was in the waterfront and two girls named Sammie and Riley from the arts department for Cabin 10. Oscar was a bit sad his friend would be in the rec department but was happy to have his fellow cabin counselor with him.
The final Cabin 11 was a girl in the waterfront department named Maddy and a girl in rec named Adriana. The last names called were Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, both in the arts department. Oscar noticed when they were called there was a weird beat of silence before the normal cheering and clapping but didn't think too much of it.
More staff who were not part of cabins introduced themselves and talked a bit about their jobs. After everyone settled down Seb began again. “Everyone knows the work you’ll be doing I sure hope. You can make activity plans whenever and can pretty much do whatever. Most of your resources are in your packet and any info about programs will be announced on Saturday nights for the next week. Overnighters arrive on Sunday at 12:00 to 2:00 and day campers at 9:00-9:30 on Mondays. I know no one wants to hear me talk anymore so you may all get to know each other now. Lunch is in the kitchen and have fun!”
Logan and him both decided to get lunch first and observe how groups naturally formed. As he walked out the kitchen door he noticed a large group of most of the guys in one of the corners. Together, they walked over. Lando, his partner gestured for them to come over to him.
“Hey mate, Lando, great to meet you.” He said, extending his hand. Oscar and Logan both introduced themselves again and shook his hand.
“It's both of your first year right?” They nodded. “If you're confused you can talk to any of us. Most shit you just figure out as you go along though. D’you got any questions now?”
“What’s this war thing they're talking about?” Logan asked. Lando explained the basic rules of war with Alex, George, and Charles occasionally jumping in. Each cabin set earned points in every evening program (a game that varied every night), and based on cabin cleanliness. Whoever had the most points at the end of the summer won. Apparently it was NOT unfair as it seemed, because even though older cabins should have an advantage, they were less likely to participate or clean.
“What's the policy on leaving, and when am I um not working?” Oscar asked more to George and Charles because Lando was having an apparently very funny conversation with Carlos, Max, and Daniel.
“After the evening program, if you don't have night duties you can do whatever, ordering food especially,” George responded.
“You can leave whenever you want if you're paying for the uber,” Charles quipped.
“Actually me and Osc have a car,” Logan chimed in. “It's technically mine but we both drive it. We both go to college in Boston so we just drove down.” The whole group they were sitting with was now very interested in their conversation. Mark was right, a car is valuable. No one said anything more but Oscar just got that vibe.
…
After a very nice lunch Oscar walked down to the cabins with Charles, Fred and Logan. He liked everyone he met so far and was excited to get to know them better. Boy's Side was in a clearing that was still very wooded, with trees sticking up all over the place. He could see the lake on the left side and each small drop off leading to the shore. There were many clotheslines stringing between trunks and buildings. Each of the 11 stood a greenish beige in varying sizes, each tucked away between oaks and birches. There were two rows facing each other, with cabin 11 facing the entrance. As he walked he noticed some of the cabins had different orientations, some running the long way with 8 windows visible from the front and some the narrow way with only a door. The cabins held 6-10 boys each depending on the amount of beds.
When he finally reached the door of B9 he stopped for a minute. He took in the mossy roof and bushes growing everywhere. Lando had decided to go exploring first while Oscar had decided to come to the cabin. The truck was at Girl's Side for the moment and his belongings could wait. He opened the screen door and pushed the real one, both painted dark green. There were 8 wooden bunk beds inside and not much else. The walls were cream and the floor gray. Two rafters came across the room just above the ladders to the top bunks. He looked down the long hallway and opened the other door. It looked out on the lake, which looked beautiful in the afternoon light, probably the best thing about the cabin. He briefly stepped on to the wooden porch sticking off the end of the cabin before returning inside to accept his fate.
The cabin was shit. That's the bottom line. Oscar chose the bed at the front right due to its proximity to both the door to the cabins and the closet. There was storage under the beds and he supposed half the closet was his as well. Oscar was always a light packer and thought he wouldn’t have too much trouble. Oscar grabbed his stuff from the truck and claimed the bed as his, thankful for whoever had recommended extra bedding in the main group chat. He soon discovered that the actual worst thing about the camp so far was the disconnected bathroom. Staff had their own thankfully but both were far away. Oscar guessed that if that was truly the worst thing about this camp then he could do a lot worse.
After unpacking some of his stuff Oscar decided he wanted to see the woods. As he walked the trails in the late afternoon light Oscar could see himself actually enjoying his summer here. It was cozy, warm, and while definitely not glamorous, beautiful.