Episode 1 - Part 2

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A/N: hey, humans! it's a long one. sorry not sorry :)

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"Yes, my ladies in the honeycomb!" Maddox said as we entered the hexagonal bunk. "Once again, I'm Maddox." I could tell Maddox was grinning, but from the looks of surprise on the other girls' faces, they seemed to be... less than excited.

"I thought your name was Gadget..." my cousin said.

"Ooh! No, yeah, it's also Gadget. Yeah, my camp name. Everyone gets one. It's super fun!" Maddie clarified.

"Wait, so what's yours, then?" my brother's girlfriend asked me.

"Oh. Mine is... well, it was Rocketman Jr. – after a certain individual, but Mads renamed me," I said with a small smile. "So now I'm Hansen. Like Dear Evan Hansen because my first name is Zoe." The aforementioned girlfriend smiled an obviously false smile, so I just dropped the subject, figuring I'd gone on for too long.

"Oh, um, that is actually my bed," Maddie said, pointing to the bottom bunk Kourtney was sitting on. "And the one on top of that is actually Zoe's." Kourtney looked ready to surrender the bed, but Gina and Ashlyn seemed ready to fight. "Yeah, we made some deep memories in that bunk over the years. I actually knocked out my two front teeth in that bulletin board during a massive pillow fight."

"And I had to get stitches because Maddie knocked me into the side of the bed while flailing her arms around and freaking out about how two of her front teeth got knocked out," I cut in.

"I've said I was sorry!" she defended. I just shrugged.

"Just remember that all's fair in love and war." Her cheeks seemed to pinken for just a second, like the "love" part was too close to reality, but it was gone the next moment. I just assumed it was all wishful thinking that I desperately wanted to be real.

"It is all yours. All good. I am out," Kourtney rushed out, getting off the bed.

"Yeah... I think I'm good, too," Gina said. Well, I guess her being mildly squeamish at the thought of blood worked out in my favor.

"Oh," Maddie started.

"Thanks!" I finished.

"So, lot of new faces," Maddie said.

"Couple of non-Wildcats in the corner," I continued, smiling at the girls. They were probably a little nervous that the group would be clique-y, which wasn't, in all honesty, an unfounded fear. At least the two had each other.

"Who's got secrets?" Maddie finished.

After attempting conversation for eleven minutes with a group of people who mostly seemed to not want anything to do with us, I gave up.

"Hey, Maddie, I'm gonna go to the Barn. Wanna come with?" I asked her. She nodded, getting up and taking my hand as we walked out.

As we left, I heard one of the girls, I think Ashlyn, say, "Okay, is there something going on between those two?" under her breath, probably when she thought we couldn't hear her. I fought off my blush, praying Maddox didn't notice.

Once we were out of earshot of the Honeycomb, I said, "Okay, it was so awkward in there."

"Yeah, I'll say." Maddie paused.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Nothing's wrong. Why does something have to be wrong?" she rushed out.

"It doesn't have to be wrong, but I have known you since we were twelve. I can tell when something's bothering you."

"It's just... they don't like me much, do they?" I frowned. I was pretty sure I'd never disliked my brother's group of friends more than I did in that moment. And there were plenty of moments to work with.

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