Chapter Text
When his mom first proposed the idea of summer camp, Shane hated it. He had fought her tooth and nail, begging her not to go. Summers were safe for him, the few months out of the year that he didn’t need to deal with his classmates. When he could play outside and hang out with his parents, when he could go to his grandma's house and stay up past bedtime to watch TV.
So, being sent away to a camp for six weeks really threw off his plans. Six weeks without his bed, without a real shower, surrounded by hundreds of kids he wouldn’t know.
It sounded awful. Going into it, Shane had zero expectations to have fun. He thought he was going to be miserable the entire time, and it would be a waste of everyone’s time and money. He would just wait for it to be over again.
And the first few days were just that. Miserable. He had only felt excluded and alone. Everyone there was making friends so easily while Shane hung around his cabin’s counselor. In his defense, he had tried to make friends. But no one had the same interests as him. He would be the last picked for activities, and sat alone at the edge of the campfire. He wrote to his mom, begging her to let him come home.
It was at the end of the first week that he found a friend.
Or, this friend found him.
Ilya Rozanov.
Shane had been sitting by himself in the dining hall, at the edge of the table, away from everyone else in his cabin. They were talking about… some card game. Another thing they all had in common that Shane just didn’t.
He had been staring at the sorry excuse for pizza on the paper plate when the thump of someone sitting across from him drew his attention up.
“Hi,” the boy said. Shane didn’t recognize him. Was he from his cabin? He must have been; they had assigned tables. Shane didn’t even recognize him from joint activities.
“Hi,” Shane said cautiously.
“I am new.”
Shane blinked. Oh, that made sense. His voice was thicker, which Shane found strange for someone their age. What accent was that? “Are you in this cabin?”
The boy stared at him for a few seconds too long. His eyes were scanning over Shane like he was analyzing him. Shane shifted uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact while Ilya studied him.
Then, “Sorry. Bad English.”
“Oh,” Shane said. “What language do you speak?”
Another beat of silence. His eyes moved rapidly. He must have been analyzing his words. “Russian.”
Shane frowned slightly. He didn’t know any Russian. He only knew English, a little French, and some Japanese that his grandmother taught him. “What’s your name?”
“Ilya.”
“Ilya,” Shane said slowly. Ilya nodded in confirmation, and Shane smiled a little. Probably the first time since he’d gotten to camp. “I’m Shane.”
“Shane,” Ilya smiled.
☼
In Shane’s cabin, number six, there was an odd number of boys. Meaning Shane had a bunk bed to himself, in the back corner against the wall. But when they came back from dinner, there were bags on the once-empty top bunk.
“Shane!” His camp counselor, Oak, put a hand on his shoulder. Well, his name wasn’t really Oak. But all of the camp counselors had weird nicknames, and the campers didn’t get to know their real ones until the end of the summer. It was like a game, trying to guess their real names, something to do with ‘camp culture’. Shane didn’t really get it.
“If you’re wondering about whose stuff that is-“
“Ilya? I already met him,” Shane cut him off.
“Oh, awesome! You know he doesn’t speak much English, then?” Oak finally dropped his hand.
Shane nodded.
“Great. I just didn’t want that to catch you off guard. I’m going to talk to the rest of the group later at tonight’s fire. I’ll have him introduce himself.”
“Okay,” Shane said. He wasn’t sure why he was being told his information separately. Maybe because they were sharing a bunk.
Oak smiled at him, patted his shoulder again, then went to separate some kids who were roughhousing on the other side of the cabin. Shane didn’t remember their names.
He sat on his bed, grabbing his notebook to write another letter to his mom. After dinner, they had their scheduled downtime where everyone could shower and change for the night. Usually Shane liked to shower every night, but if he wasn’t the first one to the bathhouse, he didn’t really bother. He hated standing in the line, awkwardly staring at his shower shoes and waiting. He’d be quicker tomorrow.
“Hi,” someone said, and Shane looked up from the blank page.
“Hi Ilya,” Shane said.
“My stuff,” he said, pointing above Shane’s head.
“I know. That’s your space too,” Shane pointed to the shelf next to their bed. The empty one on the left, since he had taken the right side.
Ilya stared for a moment, as if he were piecing together the words like a puzzle. Shane felt bad.
“What…” Ilya started. Then he stopped, brows furrowed. Shane waited patiently. “What now?”
“Campfire,” Shane said. “In about thirty minutes.”
“Ah,” Ilya nodded. He looked around. “Bathroom?”
Shane closed his notebook and set it off to the side, then pushed himself up to his feet. He needed to brush his teeth anyway; his letter to Mom could wait. “Yeah. Come on.” He grabbed his toiletries bag from the shelf.
Ilya nodded and walked to the bunk. He climbed halfway up the ladder to unzip his bag and grab a plastic bag with a toothbrush in it. Shane wanted to ask if he was going to shower, but didn’t want to use too many words. He’d need to figure something out.
They walked to the bathhouse together in silence. When they got there, Ilya walked off to the stall while Shane went to the sink. He wet his toothbrush before putting the paste on it, then wet it again before putting it in his mouth.
Shane kept his eyes down as he brushed his teeth, only looking up into the mirror when he felt a shoulder bump against his own. He watched in the mirror as Ilya put toothpaste on his brush and put it directly into his mouth without wetting it first. He tried not to cringe or imagine the feeling of dry paste on his teeth.
Then Ilya smiled at him in the mirror, mouth full of toothpaste, brush still between his lips, and Shane couldn’t help but smile back.
☼
“Everyone, we have a new camper joining our cabin for the summer,” Oak said to their group once they were all sitting around the small fire. “His name is Ilya. He doesn’t speak much English, but I’m sure we can all help him learn more this summer.” He gestured across the fire pit to Ilya.
Shane looked next to him. Ilya stared blankly at the fire pit. Shane nudged him with his foot.
“What?” Ilya looked at him.
“Say hi,” Shane nodded towards the rest of their cabin mates who were staring at them.
“Oh. Hi,” Ilya said. He waved. There were a few moments of silence, only broken by the sound of the fire.
“Well,” Oak clapped his hands together loudly. Luckily, everyone looked away from them. “Can everyone go around and introduce themselves? Let’s start with our names and one fun fact.”
One by one, they all went in a circle and re-introduced themselves as they had at the beginning of the week. Shane was a little grateful because he had already forgotten everyone’s name. He was so focused on memorizing them all that he almost missed his cue.
“Hi. I’m Shane. And a fun fact about me is that I…” he couldn’t say the same thing he did on Monday, that he was good at hockey. He needed to be more interesting than that. “I have an aquarium at my house. With, uh, ten fish.”
No one said anything. They looked to Ilya. Ilya, who was staring at everyone like they were from a different planet.
“Ilya,” he said. “I… am from Russia.”
☼
[Nevermind… I made a friend and I want to stay. He doesn’t speak a lot of English… but that’s okay I’m teaching him. He is nice…. Don’t come and get me. Feed the fish please…. love you]
“Rocks,” Shane huffed, dropping the bracelet he was making onto the picnic table. The beads, for the fifth time, fell and scattered across the wood. Some fell to the ground.
Ilya, who was sitting across from Shane, looked up from his own bracelet. His third one. Shane was still on his first. “Rocks?” He said. He picked up one of the beads and held it out.
“What?” Shane looked down at the purple bead between Ilya’s fingers. “Oh, no. These are beads. Rocks is just…” he sighed and tried to think of the best way to explain it. “I can’t say bad words. And I messed up.”
As always, like he had for the past few days, Ilya stared at him. Shane was always patient, giving his friend time to figure out his words.
“Ah,” Ilya nodded. “чёрт”
“чёрт?” Shane repeated.
Ilya laughed. “Is… bad word.”
Shane’s eyes widened and he put a hand over his mouth. “Ilya!” He shouted, muffled by his own palm. Ilya just laughed harder, dropping his bracelet and sending beads flying.
“Everything okay over here?” Sunny, the activities director, said as she walked over. Shane was pretty sure her real name was McKenna, he overheard someone say that.
“Yes,” Shane said, sitting up straighter. “I just can’t get the beads to stay on the string. They keep falling off the other side.”
“Oh, here,” Sunny sat down next to him. She took the string and showed him how to tie a knot on one end of it. “And then the beads won’t fall off,” she said. She demonstrated by putting a bead onto the string and holding it up. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”
“Thank you,” Shane said. Sunny patted his shoulder before walking off to check on another table.
“Easy peasy lemon squeezy,” Ilya repeated. “Why?”
“Oh, I don’t know. It’s just a saying.”
“Saying lemons squeeze?”
“Something like that.”
Ilya nodded. “Colors?” He pointed to the one-beaded string Shane had.
Shane looked down. “Uh, maybe blue and red?”
“Okay. I make you one.”
“What? Why?”
“You are friend?”
Shane smiled. “Okay. I’ll make you one too.”
☼
When everyone sat down with their dinner trays, Oak clapped his hands to get their attention. “We are going to do some more icebreakers, since we have all been living together for a week. We are going to do it in pairs this time, so pick someone who is sitting close to you.”
Shane looked at Ilya, across from him. Ilya was looking at him too.
“Ice breaker?” Ilya said. “It is summer.”
“It means, like… breaking the ice,” Shane said. He immediately realized that wasn’t helpful. “Getting to know each other.”
“Why is there ice?”
“The ice is the… tension?” Shane put his hands in the air like pressing a ball between them. “Awkwardness.”
“I am not awkwardness.”
“Well, a little. But I definitely am,” Shane said. He ate a piece of broccoli. It was definitely from one of those frozen bags.
“Okay. So, break ice.”
Shane tapped his fingers on the table as he tried to think. “What’s Russia like?”
“Ah.. cold. Boring. Summers better here.”
“Is there a reason you came here? Do they not have camps in Russia?”
It was probably too many words at once because Ilya hesitated. “No.”
“Okay. Your turn.”
“My turn?”
“Ask me a question.”
Ilya nodded. He shoved a forkful of food into his mouth before speaking. “You have fish?”
“Yeah. Goldfish. Black ones and the orange ones.”
“Fish are your favorite?”
“Uh, no. But mom won’t let me get a cat.”
“Why?”
“My Dad is allergic,” Shane said with a sigh. They found that out the hard way when his grandma got a cat. “Do you have any animals?”
Ilya shook his head as he swallowed. “No. Papa says… messy.”
“Yeah. My mom says that too.”
“Your turn.”
“Do you watch TV?”
“Sometimes.”
“What do you like to watch?”
“Ah, Russian ones. You do not know.”
Shane frowned. “Oh.”
“You have… favorite food?”
“I like my dad’s cooking. Anything he makes, really. You?”
“Mama’s food, yes.”
“What do you do for fun?” Shane poked around at his tray.
“I like school. Good at school. Math and… numbers.”
“Oh, that’s cool. I’m okay at math.”
“What do you like to do?”
“I play hockey sometimes with my dad. That’s in winter, though. In summer, I like to catch fireflies.”
“Fire… flies?”
“Yeah. The bugs that glow?”
“Oh,” Ilya’s eyes lit up and he nodded. “I like them.”
“I saw them the other night when I was going to the bathhouse. Maybe we can see them?”
“Yes please.”
☼
[Mom, my friend is very nice… he’s the nicest at camp. He’s getting better at English… and I’m learning some Russian… We made matching bracelets and caught fireflies the other night. I miss you and Dad. How are my fish? -Shane]
“Shane! Come in the water!” Ilya shouted from the lake.
Shane was standing on the dock. “It’s cold.”
“Is not! You get… used to it,” Ilya said as he swam up to the edge of the dock. He splashed water up at Shane.
Shane yelled and jumped a foot back. “It’s freezing!”
“Please?” Ilya lifted himself up halfway out of the water, holding his weight up on the dock.
“You’re annoying,” Shane grumbled.
“You’re annoying,” Ilya mocked his accent. Shane stuck his tongue out at him and Ilya copied him.
It was nearly the end of their time at camp. He and Ilya had done basically everything together every day. They’d wake up and go brush their teeth together, sit with each other at meals, team up for activities. They started talking more, and Ilya’s English got a little better over the weeks.
Shane was mourning the end of summer. He would have a week at home before school started again, and then the weather would get cold. He didn’t mind the winter, but he much preferred the summer and its heat.
It also meant that he wouldn’t see Ilya anymore. Shane didn’t even know if he’d see Ilya ever again and it made his tummy hurt in a strange way. He lived on the other side of the world; it wasn’t like they could just ask their moms to drive them. It sucked. But he tried not to think about it, he tried to enjoy the time he had now.
With a sigh, Shane went to the ladder on the side of the dock and slowly climbed down it. He complained the whole time about how it was cold, before Ilya reached over and grabbed his legs to just pull him in.
“Ilya!” Shane shouted when his head came above the water again. He wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered.
“No roughhousing!” An adult yelled from somewhere to their left. Ilya just laughed and splashed Shane again.
☼
Camp was a disaster. There were people everywhere and Shane couldn’t find his parents in the sea of bodies. He had his suitcase to his left and Ilya was standing to his right.
“Who’s picking you up?” Shane asked.
“No one. Just car taking me to airport.”
Shane looked at him. “You’re flying alone?”
“Yes?”
“That’s scary,” he frowned. He had been to the airport once and it had been his worst nightmare.
“Is fun. No parents. I can buy snacks.”
“I guess,” Shane shrugged. And, speaking of parents, he finally saw his mom and dad off in the distance. “Mom!” He yelled, raising his arms and waving them.
Yuna’s head turned. When she spotted him she smiled and patted David’s shoulder, and together they walked over.
“Shane!” His Dad said. Shane practically jumped into his arms. When he let go, he did the same to his mom.
“How was it? Did you have fun?” Yuna asked, already fixing his hair. It was so long now.
“Did you feed the fish? Are they alive?” Shane asked instead of answering.
“Yes, Shane. They’re all fine.”
“Okay, good,” he nodded. He glanced over his shoulder to Ilya, who was standing there awkwardly. “Oh. Mom, Dad, this is Ilya.”
“Is this the boy you were writing about?” Yuna said. She held her hand out to Ilya and he took it to shake.
“Yeah,” Shane said. He tried to ignore the way his ears got hot.
“It’s nice to meet you, Ilya. Are your parents here?”
Ilya stared up at her. “No. They are in Russia.”
“They aren’t coming to get you?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I fly myself.”
“You have a ride to the airport?”
Shane groaned. “Mom. Stop asking so many questions.”
“Sorry, sorry,” she said. “Well, we have to get going. We already checked you out with your counselor. We are going to Grandma's before we go home.”
“Oh,” Shane frowned. It was all suddenly hitting him that this was it. He wasn’t going to see Ilya again.
“Is there anyone you need to say goodbye to?”
Shane shook his head. Just Ilya, whom he turned to.
“Thank you for being my friend this summer,” Ilya said before Shane could speak. “You are very nice.”
“Are you doing this again next summer?” Shane asked. He wanted to prolong saying goodbye for as long as he could.
“Uh… I do not know. I do not think so. I will have to ask Mama.”
“You should,” he said quickly. “I’ll come again next summer.” Shane could feel his parents’ confused stares on him as he said it.
“Oh. Then, yes, I will ask.”
“Okay,” Shane said. They stared at each other, not wanting to say goodbye. Then, “Can I have your address?”
“My address?” Ilya said.
“So I can send you letters. And then I know if you’re coming back.”
“Oh, yes, uh..”
“Here,” Yuna said. She reached into her purse and pulled out a loose receipt she had and a pen. She handed it to Ilya.
He stared at it. “I do not think I know my address.”
“I’ll write mine,” Shane took the paper and pen from him. He used the top of his suitcase as a table and scribbled down his address, then folded the receipt and handed it back to Ilya. “Send me a letter when you get home?”
Ilya smiled. “Okay.”
“Okay.”
They stood there again, waiting and staring. Then Shane stepped forward and pulled Ilya into a hug. They hugged each other tightly. Shane didn’t want to be the first to let go. And with the way Ilya was gripping his t-shirt, he had a feeling he didn’t want to either.
But his Mom clearing her throat was what made him pull away. Very slowly and reluctantly, he drew back and stared at Ilya with big eyes.
“I will write you,” Ilya said.
“I’ll be waiting.”
☼
8/29 [Shane! Sorry letter took so long. Figured out Canada address. Mama put ours on envelope. School start yet? How are fish? Missing you!]
9/5 [Hi Ilya!! I’ve been checking the mail every day since I got home. Missing you too! School started, it’s going okay. And the fish are good! I’ll find a way to print and send a photo. How are you?]
9/10 [Yay fish. Excited to see. I am good. School is good. Harder math but I am good at math. Numbers easy, same in every language. Mama says hi. She saying I can maybe do camp again!]
9/20 [Here are the fish! And yay! I really hope you can, because if you can’t then I probably won’t go. It was boring before you got there. Let me know!]
9/30 [Hi Shane! Fish are cute. I like their names. You like super hero things? My favorite hero is maybe spider man. I like red. But I do not like bugs. Fun fact.]
10/11 [I do! I really like Superman. That’s what one of the fish is named after. I don’t really like bugs either. I hated how many there were in the cabin.]
10/20 [Yes!! Too many bugs. Need spray next year. Forgot it. Also, yes, Mama said I can do camp again. Will not be week late this time. P.S. Stamps so expensive]
10/31 [YAY! I can’t wait to see you! Also happy halloween! Do you celebrate? Any other holidays?]
11/9 [Happy halloween! Yes I dressed up as ghost. Went out with friends. Big candy. We celebrate Christmas but not in December like you. January. Is fun.]
11/25 [Thats cool! I stayed home and handed out candy but I was a vampire. You’ll have to let me know what you get for gifts! How is school going? How is your mom? My mom says hi!]
12/10 [Hi Shane’s mama! My mama is good. She also says hi. She feels better letting me go camp because you are there. Yay. School is good. I am getting good numbers. You? P.S. Saw bugs today and thought of you :)]
12/20 [Hi Ilya’s mom! That’s good to hear. I’m doing okay in school, I think I failed my science test. But now it’s winter break. I’m going to my grandmas for Christmas. She usually makes really good cookies. Ones with jam. I hope you have a good holiday!]
12/31 [Merry late christmas Shane and family!! And happy new year. By time this sends we can say see you this year. Very excited. I was wondering when is your birthday?]
1/7 [Happy new year! Your Christmas is soon right? Let me know how it goes! My birthday is May 10th. When is yours? I didn’t miss it already did I?]
1/19 [Christmas was good. I got money and new game for computer. May 10. I will remember this. I will bring you gift to camp. No you did not miss mine. June 15 right before camp. What kinds of things you like?]
1/29 [I’ll bring you a gift too! How about you bring me something from Russia and I’ll get you something Canadian? Then when we go home at the end of the summer we have something :) P.S. I wear my bracelet everywhere I like it a lot!]
2/06 [Good. I like this idea. Will find something good. How is winter there? Is cold here. But very wet. Not good snow to play. I would still do it but is not fun alone. Friends do not want.]
2/17 [Winter here is okay! We got a lot of snow and have had a lot of snow days. I haven’t played outside much though, I also don’t want to do it alone. I played hockey with my dad the other day though.]
2/28 [That is fun. You are good at hockey? You do not have any siblings? I am guess no because you never talk about them at camp. I have very older brother. Does not live with us anymore. Do not remember him much.]
3/10 [I think I’m good at hockey. It’s fun to play, I like to watch it too. I think I want to play like that one day or maybe just coach or something. And no siblings. Just me and my parents. And the fish.]
3/22 [I have played hockey. Is fun but just hobby. No one I know plays. If we did not only see us in summer I would say I want to see you on ice. But too hot for ice. Speaking of summer Mama got me in. Cabin 5 make sure you are there.]
i4/2 [Great! I was going to ask you about that since my mom was also looking at registering me. I’m in Cabin 5 too. Whoever gets there first has to save the other a bunk. I want the bottom bunk. I don’t like having to climb up and down the ladder when I’m tired.]
4/13 [Ok deal. I like the top bunk. Is far away from bugs on the floor. You have birthday plans for next month? I have got the gift I will give you. Mama helped me wrap it.]
4/24 [There are bugs on the ceiling too! Spiders! We don’t have anything big planned. I think I’ll go see my grandma. My parents usually take me out to lunch too, wherever I want to go. I’ll still probably have to go to school though my mom never lets me skip. Do you have anything planned?]
5/7 [Sending this early and hoping it gets to you in time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!! How was your lunch? You went to school? Good gifts? I will say happy birthday again when I see you.]
5/15 [Thank you Ilya!! It came 2 days late but that’s okay. I appreciate it! I can’t wait to see you and see what you got me. Lunch was good! We went to a diner I like. And school was fine, everyone was nice. Is it almost the end of the year for you?]
5/30 [You will love gift I hope. Yes school year almost over. My grades are very good. Which is good because Papa said if they were bad I could not go to camp. I am very excited. I want to pack early. Too early though Mama said.]
6/11 [HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Excited to see you again in 3 weeks! How was your birthday did you get anything cool? I finally figured out what I’m going to get you! Excited to show you. Have these drawings in the mean time.]
6/21 [Thank you Shane :) See you in two weeks! Will probably not have time to send another letter. I will save you bottom bed!]
6/28 [You will probably be in Canada by the time this gets to you but I’m sending it anyway. Can’t wait to see you! And hi Ilya’s mom if you get this instead. I’ll save you the top bunk!]