Chapter Text
"HermitCamp?" Jimmy read aloud from the weathered wooden sign as he and his brother drove into the camp. The words were carved into the wood in big white letters, surrounded by little painted pine trees and a cartoon campfire. Underneath, a smaller sign read est 2009."That's a little on the nose," Jimmy muttered.
Grian grinned from the driver's seat. "I dunno. I think it's charming."
Jimmy rolled his eyes, watching rows of cabins appear between the pine trees. Kids were already unloading duffelbags, parents were saying their goodbyes, and somewhere in the distance someone blew a whistle. "Too late to turn around?" Jimmy asked.
"Afraid so, Timmy."
"Don't call me Timmy,” Jimmy groaned.
"Noted, Timmy,” Grian said with a mischievous smirk.
Grian pulled into an empty parking space, shut off the engine, and the two climbed out. They grabbed their duffelbags from the trunk before making their way toward the check-in table. Jimmy looked around at the scattered campers, clearly they were some of the last to show up. He saw many happy an excited faces, and a few worried, thankfully no one who look sad necessarily.
Jimmy adjusted the strap of his bag on his shoulder. ‘Hopefully I won't have to share a cabin with Grian,’ Jimmy thought to himself.
After they got checked in, the two of them reached a bulletin board which had which cabin they will stay in and their roommates. Jimmy scanned the list of names trying to find his own.
Cabin A
•B Statz
•Joel Smallishbeans
•Jimmy Solidarity
•Grian Solidarity
Jimmy's shoulders slumped when he realized he got the same cabin as his brother. The sibling torment would for sure last all summer long.
“Welp I guess we are roomies,” Grian teased, playfully, as he elbowed Jimmy.
“Yeah, yeah, I think the cabins this way” Jimmy said, completely unsure if he was even close to correct for the direction. He started walking down the dirt path without waiting for Grian.
The cabins stretched out beneath the tall pine trees, each one with a large painted letter above the door. Thankfully, Cabin A was the closest to the entrance.
The two brothers stepped up onto the porch of Cabin A. Jimmy heard some voices within, so that meant that their roommates were there already, or at least one of them.
Jimmy was hoping he could get a bottom bunk because it is relatively easier to get out of bed and such, definitely not because he was scared of the minor height or anything.
Grian went to open the door to the cabin and walked it, Jimmy following behind, his bag hitting the doorframe just enough to be annoying .
The cabin had two bunk beds on opposite sides of the room with a large window on the back wall and a desk in front of it. Modest but comfortable. Jimmy supposed he would be okay calling this home for the summer.
There was only one stranger inside, but a bag on the bottom buck where the random boy wasn't standing proved someone else had been there already. Jimmy looked to the other side, hoping to see the top bunk taken, and not the bottom.
His hopes would be worth nothing though as he noticed a green suitcase had already been haphazardly tossed onto the lower bunk. Standing next to it was a kid about Jimmy's age, only a little shorter and with brunet hair, rather than Jimmy's blond.
The kid turned his head to the doorway, where Grian and Jimmy still stood, showing a bit more of his face, including his hair which happened to have a streak of green running throughout it. “You two must be the siblings, right?” Jimmy found himself enjoying the sound of the strangers voice, he could be okay with this for a couple months.
Grian answered before Jimmy could even gather his thoughts. “Yup, I'm Grian, this is Timmy.” Grian patted Jimmy on the head, messing up his hair even more than before.
“It's Jimmy!” Jimmy blurted out, both trying to correct his older brother, and inform the other of his real name.
“Well, my name's Joel, nice to meet you guys I suppose,” Joel responded, completely ignoring whatever rivalry was going on.
Grian walked further into the room, tossing his bag on the top bunk of the side Joel wasn't standing on. Jimmy took a step forward, hoping his luck would change. “Hey Joel, would you want to switch to the top bunk?” He asked with a hint of fear coming through his voice.
“Nah man, I got here early for a reason.” Joel continued to unpack his bag on the bed.
Jimmy frowned. "Seriously? Could we please just swap?”
Joel shook his head. "Nope. I earned this bunk."
"By... getting here first?"
"Exactly."
Jimmy sighed as he accepted defeat. "Fine," He said as he tossed his duffel bag on the top bunk. As he did so, Joel looked up.
"...You’re scared of heights?”
Jimmy whipped around facing Joel. "I'm not!"
"Then why'd you ask?" Joel asked, making eye contact with Jimmy.
"I— I don't need to answer you!” Jimmy exclaimed as he began to unpack his bag. Jimmy immediately decided he disliked this guy, even if he enjoyed his voice.
Jimmy continued to unpack his belongings. He took out his clothes and put them in his drawer, same as Grian and Joel, who looked proud for annoying Jimmy. As they did so, the door opened to the cabin.
Another boy walked in eating a cookie.
‘Oh that's B Statz probably,’ Jimmy thought as the new boy stepped inside.
“Oh you two must be Jimmy and Grian?” The boy asked while smiling. He walked towards Grian and reached out his hand to shake Grian's. “I am B Statz but I go by BigB.”
It was pretty clear why they would call him BigB, the guy was built like a fridge. Grian shook his hand, a little curious where he got the cookie. “I'm Grian, over there is Timmy,” Grian responded.
“It's Jimmy!” Jimmy yelled. From the side of his eye, he could see Joel giggle, covering his mouth with his hand as he did so.
“Whatever you say, Tim.” Grian found teasing his brother quite funny, making him laugh. In his laughter, Grian's glasses slipped down his nose, making him rethink his laughing.
“Well then…” BigB clearly felt a little awkward at the whole situation. “I'm going to quickly finish unpacking my bag and then head out to meet the other campers, join me if you would like.” BigB dumped his bag unceremoniously into his drawer before heading out, still with half a cookie in his mouth.
The door shut behind BigB then it was quiet for a few moments. Jimmy climbed up onto the top bunk and sighed. Joel noticed and looked up. “...Need help?” Joel asked, looking at Jimmy from the bottom bunk.
Jimmy looked at him confused, “what?” He asked.
“Your bag,” The brunette replied.
“I’ve got it, thanks.” Jimmy crossed his arms and lifted his chin proudly. Immediately after, he tried to lift his heavy duffel bag which had his blanket and bed sheet in it onto the top bunk only for it to fall back down to the floor below.
Joel looked back to Jimmy, raising an eyebrow. “You sure you got it?” Joel asked, teasingly, as he went to pick up Jimmy's duffel bag with seemingly no struggle. He tossed up the bag with little effort, then dusted off his hands and went back to unpacking his own stuff.
“...Thanks?” Jimmy sounded a little stunned at the fact he could lift that bag, especially that easily.
Joel just shrugged and replied with a ‘no problem’, not bothering to look up. A few moments passed and then Joel spoke up again. "Soo… you're still scared of heights?" Joel asked, leaning over purely to see Jimmy's reaction.
“... I hate you.”
“You're gonna learn to love me,” Joel responded with a condescending grin. Jimmy's brain latched onto those words for far longer than it should have, distracting him from unpacking. With a shake of his head, Jimmy brought himself back to reality.
He looked around the room, finding it an extra person empty. Looking out from the open door, he could see Grian already walking to the lake, fishing pole in hand.
Jimmy sighed, a small smile on his face. No matter how much Grian annoyed him and teased him, it would be kinda nice to spend the summer with him and this group of strangers.