Do You Believe in a God? | CAMP CAMP AU

06 | The Mundane Existence of Neil Pereira

Neil huffs air onto his glasses to clean them. He hears his roommate, Max, getting ready for school. The walls are thin, but the house is affordable.

He rushes down the stairs, drinks his coffee rapidly, and walks out the door to start their vehicle. Max follows soon after and hops into the passenger seat.

"You drive next week," Neil speaks, turning the keys into the ignition.

"Alrighty, captain." Max says in a flat tone, his eyes not moving from his phone. "Holy shit!"

"What? What?!" The bespectacled highschooler shouts, exasperated.

"Harrison went to the fuckin' hospital!" The one in the passenger seat added, holding his phone with two hands now. "He wasn't breathing last night. Isn't the dude like, the healthiest whore you've ever seen??"

"Hmm.. okay??" Neil hums, making a left turn. "Hope he's doing well, I guess."

"Yeah." Max makes chuckling noises, which pique Neil's interest. "Misses that calculus test in Mrs. Duvall's class. Lucky devil."

The drive goes by rather quicky, and before long Neil finds himself walking to his 4th hour history class with his step-sister Nikki.

"Dude, bro, Harrison's apparently out of commission. Like Nerris and Preston told me he wasn't freaking waking up! Preston swore he overheard Nerris say some shit about a vision, too." Nikki owlishly blinked before looking at Neil.

"You could ask Nerris last hour, right? They're in your Geomatry class." Neil asked, readjusting his supplies in his arms.

"They're not here today. Buuuuuut, I did see Preston on my way to Biology. I'll catch 'im later." She declares. 

"Goodluck with new guy. Heard he's kind of..." Nikki lowers her voice like she's about to tell him a secret. "..kooky."

"Mr. Ravenport?" Neil asks. "What about him?"

"Wears all white, convinced the principal to change the curriculum! I'm happy it's gone, but........" Nikki trails off, and Neil doesn't bother to listen.

As the two approach the history room, Neil notices their new teacher. A tall, pale, blonde man who wore white. His eyes popped like the veins under his skin, and his smile eerily reminded Neil of the Cheshire Cat.

"Seeya, Nikki." Neil mumbles in her general direction.

"Bye, bro!" She shouts, before bounding off to her next class.

Mr. Ravenport takes notice of Neil, finally, and speaks. "Hello there! You must be Neil Pereira, right?"

"Yes, sir." He states flatly before entering the classroom. Immediately, Neil is hit with a sense of discomfort and oddity. The room was no longer a welcoming Apple Cider scent (thanks to the candles brought by Mrs. Kramer), but a cold, sterile scent that reminded Neil of Windex.

He looked at his table and noticed his seat partner, a fellow member of TAP (Teens Against Pollution), Neil Armstrong Jr. (Or more preferably Junior), scribbling in a notebook.

Neil sets his stuff down and pushes his glasses up before turning to Junior. "Hey, kid," he says.

"Oh, hey, Neil! Morning!" Truth be told, it was technically noon as of 10 minutes ago, but who was Neil to digress.

Junior leans over to Neil before whispering, "I don't like Ravenport.. he's scares me. He looks like Mr. David."

Neil looks at the man standing by the door before coming to a realization. Junior— for once —was completely right. Hell, they could be twins! Sure, Ravenport didn't have the insane amount of freckles or bright red hair, but they still looked like swapped color palettes!

Before Neil can think any further, Ravenport's dodged his way through desks and tables to the front of class.

"Hello, kids!" Mr. Ravenport (practically) yells. "Great! Now that I have your attention, grab one of my textbooks and let me teach you about Xëmug and the Galactic Confederacy...." Neil zones out, too confused to possibly listen.

"He can't possibly be fucking serious." Neil mumbles.

By the end of class, Neil is hunched into his shoulders and weaving his way through his schoolmates towards the door.

Lunch was this hour, and he figured he could eat in the library as long as he was careful. Maybe he'd just skip the eating part. He wasn't hungry anyways.

As Neil grabbed his laptop and notebook, bounded through the halls to the ever-so-elusive library door.

He walked to the front desk, said hello, and told Mr. Blair he'd be in here.

He found the quiet corner next to the Western Fiction section and began to set up. Until he realized he didn't have a pencil. So, he got back up to ask Mr. Blair.

When he wound his way through the Crime Fiction section, he bumps into somebody maybe a head shorter than him, and is greeted with a quick

"Oh, hey Neil!"

Junior. "Hello... Junior..." he says.

"I asked Mr. Blair for you. Because knowing you," Junior chuckles a bit. "You're researching our new history teacher." He pauses, looking for Neil's reaction. He thinks if he is met with no denial, he shall continue. So, naturally, he does. "I want to help."

"..... Fine. Go ahead, stuff's in the corner." He points to the Western Fiction section and continue his way to Mr. Blair desk.

When Neil got back to their study corner, Junior had hid nose deep in a newspaper.

"Hey, Neil... look." Junior points to a section of the newspaper labeled 'EAST BATTRAT CULT INDENTIFIED'. There showed many people with light features, and white clothes. They seemed to all be drinking a fizzy purple liquid.

As Neil and Junior drove further into their studies, Neil's own stress grew. This happened for 20 minutes before he broke the minor silence with

"I need a break." He rumaged through his pockets, but didn't take anything out just yet. "You too, I guess. Do whatever."

Junior followed like a lost puppy.

Before Junior knew, Neil pulled something from one of his dresses' pockets and light it with a lighter from the other.

"I didn't know this was a smoking break.." Junior rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've never smoked before." He smiled.

Neil coughed loudly, as if caught off guard. "Never???" He sounded perplexed.

"Nope!"

"Dude, try it. Stress reliever."

Junior almost set his sweatshirt's sleeve on fire somehow. They laughed until their lungs were numb and the weed smoked.

Junior thought Neil was stingy and cold, but he liked seeing this side of him. Fun, carefree. They smiled. They laughed. They were friends.

–

[A/N]

I FUCKING DIED IM SO SORRY ☠️☠️