A Gaze-less Stare | Fear Street |

{ I } Happy Campers

July 12, 1978

The crowded, broken down; or at least nearly broken down bus, was filled to its max capacity with Shadyside children and teens. A buzz seemed to flow through the air inside the bus and through the Shadysiders that resided in it as it continued its trek towards its destination, Camp Nightwing, where they would be residing as campers for the next two weeks.

On the far end of the bus sat two friends who both concentrated on the books in front of them, doing their best to block out the chatter of the others who resided on the bus with them. "I can't do this anymore, Ziggy." One of the girls finally broke the long silence with a groan. "King is so obvious." The dark-haired girl continued with a smirk as she closed the book her friend had traded with her for the ride.

Rolling her eyes, Ziggy scoffed at her friend's comment before passing her back the copy she had traded off. "And Jackson is boring. Seriously who cares about a haunted house?" The dark-haired girl laughed at Ziggy's comment as she placed the book back in her bag.

"It's more than just a haunted house. It's a tragedy revolving around the inescapable, foreboding grip of our destiny." Her tone started strong as she explained the meaning behind the book but slowly wavered off as she noticed the smirk on her friend's lips. "What?"

"Leave it to Sidney Slater to read too much between the lines. It's a haunted house, simple as that." Ziggy laughed as her friend scoffed in response. "That's the whole point, a book is supposed to challenge the reader and force them to not take everything at face value. Sometimes it does us well to read between the lines--"

"Alright, Sid, alright." Ziggy nudged Sidney with her shoulder to stop her rambling. "But I guess you're right. That would be simpler, wouldn't it?" Sidney's shoulders noticeably slacked as she and Ziggy laughed about the meaningless discussion.

Sidney was never usually this tense or uptight, though the subject matter was small, she still felt the need to be on defense. Over the past week, Ziggy had noticed the change in her friend after Tommy, Sid's brother, had left for Camp Nightwing early to train as a counselor this year but her demeanor had long shifted before that.

No one's life in Shadyside was easy, everyone seemed to work and strive for a better life for no reward or change in the end. It would always end up as a massive waste of time. Both Ziggy's dad and Sidney's father had abandoned them when they were young, but Ziggy was good at relying on herself. Sidney, on the other hand, relied on her older brother.

Though Sidney was never the most extroverted person, she would rather spend her summer at camp than at home without her brother. And Ziggy, well, Ziggy couldn't imagine a summer without Sidney. Well, that and the fact that her older sister Cindy gave her no choice in the matter, stating she would find a way to drag her on that bus.

Sidney felt lucky to have such a good friend like Ziggy, it was a bit weird at first when her brother and Ziggy's sister started dating but it brought them closer, some would say like sisters but she felt as though their bond was different from that, she couldn't explain it.

The bus slowed to a halt in front of the Camp Nightwing entrance, a dark green sign loomed over the group of campers as they piled out of the bus. "I think it's actually kind of nice?" Sidney muttered to Ziggy as the two stepped off the bus last, their bags thrown over their shoulders lazily. "More pretentious than nice." Ziggy mumbled with a glare fixed on the sign before scanning her eyes over the camp.

"Campers, please check into your cabins here! Girls, you can find the check-in to your right and boys on your left!" A far too chipper voice called out just past the entrance of the camp. "And the pretentiousness continues." Ziggy couldn't stop herself from rolling her eyes at her sister before the two trudged to the right of the entrance.