Camp // phan

1- 2.Making New Friends and Trying Not To Forget the Old Ones

He was in cabin number eight, and by an extreme stroke of luck, so was Finn. The hour they'd spent together had built a bond between them that Dan usually avoided with other people. Of course, it was probably just the alcohol in his system, making his judgement a bit hazy. But Finn was fun.

There were four campers to a cabin, and Finn had told him, unfortunately, that most campers didn't arrive until the next day, so his theory about having the camp hopefully empty was shattered. Two other guys he'd have to spend more time than necessary with, what more could he ask for.

"This is gonna be good for you, I'm sure of it," his mum said, repeating the same mantra from last week as she hugged him goodbye. "We'll see you at the end of August, and we'll come visit on your birthday and everything." His eighteenth birthday, and he'd be stuck in exile here.

"Okay," he said; he'd just come to accept his fate as quietly and non-dramatically as possible. It was better that way. "See you then."

They both hugged him, longer and more uncomfortably than anytime before, then climbed in their car and drove off. He watched until the tail lights were nothing but red pinpoints in the distance.

It was a lot darker than before, the sky a dusky purple that would be pretty if he could focus long enough on it. He was exhausted, weirdly enough; his sleep schedule was so fucked at this point, he'd be surprised if he ever managed to knock anytime before midnight.

"So it's just us tonight, I'm afraid," Finn said when he stepped into their cabin. "But at least we can whisper all our secrets to each other." Dan rolled his eyes and moved to start unpacking. Better do it now, because he wouldn't have the motivation to do it later.

The cabins were a lot nicer than he'd been imagining, no dirty floors or bunk beds or screen windows. The walls were a dark blue and the sheets were clean; there was definitely enough room to house four people, but it didn't seem like it would be a very comfortable fit, if they were all gonna be the same size as Dan and Finn.

"How come people wait until the next day to show up?" Dan asked, stuffing his clothes into one of the small dressers by the door; he was sharing with Finn. "I mean, doesn't registration end today?"

"Technically, yes," Finn said in a bored voice. "But those kids have been going here so long, they can bend the rules a little. Totally unfair, I think, complete nepotism, but that's life, yeah?"

"God," Dan looked over at him with a smirk, "you're not gonna be one of those insufferable hipsters, are you? Complaining about life and death and the stars every night?"

He ducked as Finn threw a pillow at him, laughing. "Shut the fuck up, you prick. It's called being educated, on real life matters."

"And annoying." Dan threw the pillow back at him. "You have any idea who our other two roommates will be?"

"Not a clue." Great. He hated going into things blindly, even if it eventually wouldn't matter. "I'm sure we'll get to know them at the bonfire tomorrow night, though."

"Bonfire?" Just what he needed, more fire. Exactly the reason he was here in the first place.

"Yep, simultaneously the best and worst part of the whole Camp Overfell experience." Finn waved his arms dramatically. "You've got your booze and they usually play good music, but there's just something so irritating about sitting in a group of people your own age, like you're all best friends."