Summer jobs were possibly the worst part of this fun in the sun season. Yes it brought money and money brought new phones and clothes and trips but that still didn't make it fun. I hated working, but since my parents were paying for my apartment and college education, and since they insisted that I get a job, I had to.
If you asked me what I would rather be doing during my summer, I would tell you going to Paris with my friends. But instead, I was here. At a summer camp.
Here I had to be grown up and responsible. In Paris I could do the opposite, I could just hang out with my friends no worries no cares. Here I had to wake up at eight every morning as part of protocol for my dumb camp counselor job, and if I was in Paris I could wake up whenever the hell I pleased. Here I had to eat food made in a nasty kitchen that I hope is cleaned everyday, but in Paris I'm sure I could find a five star restaurant where I'm served delicious food at my own table with no cafeterias in sight.
So yeah I'd rather be in Paris with my friends doing whatever whenever but apparently life isn't fair. I will just have to suck it up and become a counselor.
Counseling wasn't my idea. I've never been to a sleep away camp as a kid so I never had the dream of becoming a counselor, but my father knew the guy who ran this place so he got me this job. At one point in my life I had wanted to go to sleep away camp but I later outgrew that dream and I now just wanted to be in Paris.
My dad said I should be excited to come since he talked to his old college friend, Rob, who was in charge and apparently he heard "nothing but great things" about this place, but I doubt it was all true. According to my dad Id stay on a large site that resembled the camp from a lovely summer romance movie, but from my spot in the passenger's seat all I could see was the summer camp from Friday the 13th. The same movie which made me have nightmares for a week straight. Nothing says "Happy Summer" like a murder spree at camp.
My sister's car pulled up to the camp and found its way into a parking spot that looked nothing like one from back home. By back home I mean Los Angeles where the sun is hot and the beach is near. The place where if you drive anywhere there will be a littered cement constructed parking lot waiting to hold your car, not one that was covered with alien leaves, humongous pine cones, and the weird smell of fresh air. Everyone talks about wanting to be one with nature and living green and all that crap but honestly I didn't mind a concrete jungle.
"Well here you go. Now get out," my sister so lovingly told me. I gave her a look and a finger to accompany it which made her laugh. My sister pulled me into a hug still laughing in my ear as her arms wrapped around me. Although she could be the most annoying person on earth I would still rather have her come here with me than be alone. The only reason that didn't happen was because my want to have her suffer at our Aunt's house, outweighed everything else. "Please don't make me go back to Aunt Amy's," she begged once I let go.
"Sorry," I shrugged, "no can do."
"Please," she cried throwing herself against the steering wheel. My little sister Carson was always one for a dramatic effect, if she didn't think she was too cool to be in the plays at school she'd might actually do well. "I only make it through this trip every summer because I have you! And now that you have to work at this dump what the hell am I supposed to do at stupid old Aunt Amy's?" She whined.
I tapped my chin in faux contemplation before saying, "suck it up." Carson rolled her eyes at my answer but I didn't pay any attention to it. "That's what I had to do when mom and dad thought you were too young to come along with me. I was all alone with Auntie Amy for too many years and now it's your turn."
With that I push open the door and make my way to the trunk where my bags are. Since I was the oldest I would be forced to go every summer to go visit my Aunt Amy all by myself. You'd think it would be fun to go to another state without parents for nearly two months but you'd change your mind after going to my Aunt's. It was especially surprising when you know my Aunt and her personality. I guess it was more disappointing than boring, but we'd never tell her that. "You know just cause you had to deal with her then doesn't mean I have to now!" Carson yelled from the front of the car. "It's not too late to flake and get back in! You can drive if you want!"
"No, Carson," I tell her pulling one of the straps of my many bags onto my shoulder. "I need money so I can go somewhere fun with my friends for spring break." Last break all I did was stay home while my friends again went somewhere cool and expensive as fuck. That's a downside to having friends whose parents will pay for anything, you have to sit and watch while they get to have fun. They promised to pay for a hotel room during spring break if I wanted to come I just had to pay for my plane ticket. So that's how I ended up here working, the plus side being that I wasn't stuck at my Aunt's.
"But wouldn't you rather come home in the spring and hang out with Grandma and Gramps when they come over? They promised to bring monopoly the next time they stayed!" Carson said knowing that wouldn't work but still trying.
I snorted at the thought of playing monopoly with my grandparents and continued to collect my things. "As lovely as that sounds, my answer is still hell no," I say and I can hear her frustrated groan from the driver's seat.
"Cassidy Courage Callan-" my sister began but I couldn't let her continue. There's no way I could let her continue after a stunt like that. Once my full name is used all jokes stop, and she knows exactly why.
"Woah, woah, woah, did you just call me by my full name? You know how I hate my full name, Carson!" I slammed the trunk closed and made my way to her open window. I despised my 'C' name obsessed parents for the names they branded me with. I mean who did they think we were, the oh so atrocious Kardashians?
"Cassidy Courage Callan," Carson repeated when I stepped up to her door. That's when I gave her my "you're dead look" which she instantly recognized and tried to scramble away. But she was crazy if she thought she was getting off that easy! I quickly lunged at her through the window both of us pushing at each other playfully, doing our best to win this champion-less battle. "Cassidy Courage Callan! Cassidy Courage Callan!" She began chanting as we still wrestled each other through a window.
"You're dead, you know that?" I threatened her, throwing my upper body into the car. "When I get home I swear Imma bring back some nasty bugs and sneak 'em into your bed while you're sleeping! Imma fill your pillow and release some in your blankets and Imma hide them in some of your clothes too but not all so you'll constantly be paranoid and unsure if I put some in those clothes or-"
"Cassidy Callan?" A voice said from behind me and I immediately turned around because it was an adult voice and that meant I must look responsible. I quickly tried turning around and hit my head on the ceiling of the car. Silently cursing I spun around, dropped my hands to my side and smiled brightly at the man who looked around my parents' age. The man had an overall friendly look to him which reassured me that he wasn't going to murder me after sneaking up on both my sister and me so stealthily.
"Hi," I smiled doing my best to look casual and cheerful. Hopefully this guy wasn't anyone too important because I had a feeling this was not a very good first impression.
"Hi," the man held out his hand to me and I shook it professionally. Maybe if I acted grown up the childish acts that were just witnessed by this man will just evaporate from his mind and mine too. Fingers crossed. "Hello," he waved kindly to my sister behind me.
Carson respectfully returned the wave before hiding behind my body to try and hide from the awkward silence now filling the space around us all. "Well I better get going," Carson said starting up the car. I felt the vibrations and moved away so she could pull out of the spot. "Nice to meet you mister-"
"It's Rob. Just Rob," he told her and I froze. Wait. Rob? Rob as in Rob my boss? My sister chuckled and I knew that she remembered who this was after hearing dad go on and on about their college days. After getting out of the parking spot Carson pulled up by me, a smile still plastered on her face.
"Bye, Cass," my little sister laughs. "And good luck, you'll need it." And with that she drove off back into the trees, back to Aunt Amy's. I would kill to be there right now and that says a whole lot.
"Well," Rob said. "Nice to finally meet you Cassidy-"
"Cass," I correct him. "I prefer Cass." I didn't mean to interrupt him and didn't at all think it was a good idea to after he witnessed me threatening my sister but I couldn't deal with him calling me Cassidy. I've always hated my full name and hearing Cassidy reminded me of it every time. Cass was the only name that I didn't mind as much and I've forced everyone I know to call me that.
"Oh ok," he smiled. "Cass it is. Well, Cass, the campers will be arriving soon and we must start and finish the counselor meeting before they get here. We're missing I think only a few more counselors but I think it's best we start now." I nod unsure what else to do and follow him as he leads me out of the parking lot. I look around at the tall trees that surround me everywhere I walk and huff. Ugh nature. Even once we reach the rows and rows of cabins all I see is trees, but at least there's cabins.
After hearing I would be forced to work at a summer camp I freaked out. I have a strong disliking for tents and ended up having a full on panic attack. My father had to grab my shoulders and shake before I would listen to him. I couldn't be happier when I heard that they had cabins here and I wasn't forced to sleep in a tent for six weeks. But still this was probably gonna be a long six weeks of no internet, good food, clean toilets, or independent showers. Kinda like jail.
Leaves and twigs and other nature objects that are annoyingly loud when you step on them, all seemed to make their way under my shoes as we walked. I tried taking longer steps to avoid these nuisances but still they managed to get on my nerves. "Here's your cabin." Rob stopped and I almost ran into him. Luckily I caught myself before we could collide and spun to avoid his body. "We can drop your bags off now if you want, so you're not carrying them all around."
"Yeah sure, thanks," I say stepping onto the small platform that acted like a miniature porch. I follow Rob up to the door and he pulls the it open. I cringe at the creaking sound it makes and realize how lucky Imma be to get to hear this every morning.
"After you," Rob offers holding the door open. I smile at him politely before walking into the dark room. I step towards the center and Rob switches the light on. "Here you are. This is where you are staying for the next few weeks."
I stopped and looked around at the generously sized room and nodded, well this might not be too bad. It looks like the place was swept and dusted and didn't have many bugs so I could withstand it.
All the walls were made of wood and it was empty besides the beds and the one dresser that looked like it was in an ok condition. But there was one thing that captured my full attention. As I looked around I saw bunk beds and a single twin size bed, and atop the bunk bed I saw a bag. A bag that didn't belong to me.
"Rob," I say slowly trying to find some sort of explanation for this bag. "Are you sure this is the right room? I mean, is someone else supposed to be staying here?" Rob looked at me, clearly confused, but then looked up behind me at the bed with the bags and understood it all.
"Oh!" He laughed and I was so happy he looked amused because that means we must have the wrong room. "I apologize, I must have forgot to mention that the counselors will be sharing cabins as well!" What? "You'll share a room with the other counselor who'll also be your group partner. It's so if your campers ever need you they can just come here." I raised my eyebrows and forced a smile.
"Oh I wasn't aware that Id have to do that," I tell him while biting the inside of my cheek. Um, why wasn't I told about this?
"I told your dad," Rob said and my eyes immediately went wide. "He said he'd tell you." Of course my dad was behind this. He was trying to sell me on counseling so obviously he'd leave out this one major detail. There's no one who knows me better than my dad and he knew that if I found out about this, there would be no stopping me from staying at my Aunt's this summer.
It's not that I hate people, it's just that I hate people. If you understand what I'm saying... I'm not a stuck up bitch who can't be in the same room as these peasants, it's just I'm kinda nervous around new people and this won't be fun. I have to sleep, change, live around these random girls who I knew nothing about and who knows how they'll be! What a great start to summer!
"How delightful," I grit my teeth. Rob nods oblivious to my lie. I sigh before becoming completely thrown off when his polite smile turns into a frown for a reason I'm guessing I'll soon find out.
"I don't remember seeing Anastasia earlier, so I'm not sure how her bags made it here," he says and I fight back the urge to groan. Not trying to share a bunkbed with someone, I throw my bags onto the single. "Well let's head towards the center of camp where the meeting lodge is. That's where you'll also find the cafeteria, restrooms, and showers so you might wanna remember the route," Rob told me making his way out the cabin. "This place can get a bit confusing."
Like a child throwing a tantrum I dragged my feet as I followed him back outside making sure he wouldn't see me and end up thinking less of me than he probably already does. I mentally cursed my parents for not just paying for me to go on vacation and my dad for not telling me about this. All counseling teaches me is that I would have much more fun having money if I didn't have to work for it.
As we walked I couldn't help but think of a million and half questions. Who's Anastasia? I wonder if she's nice. What if she's not? What if she's a total bitch and I'm stuck in a cabin with her for a whole summer? Oh God I'll run back to Aunt Louise's if I have to.
"The walk won't be too long," Rob assured me, breaking me from my thoughts. "Although all counselor cabins are on the outer skirts of the campers cabins, the walk to town-"
"Town?" I questioned him before he finished his thought. Instantly my mind broke out in a frenzy. My dad never said anything about having to walk all the way to some town for anything. I had half a mind to say screw it and just become a stripper, they make enough money for me to buy a plane ticket and I'd only have to walk up and down a runway not to some town.
"Oh yeah, I'm sorry," Rob said turning his head to look at me. "I forgot that since you're new you don't know the lingo. We haven't had anyone new in a long time." Well isn't that real reassuring. To hear that all the people you're about to surround yourself with have all known each other for years. Thanks Rob. "I'm sure you'll catch on soon, you seem bright."
"'Seem' being the keyword," I say. "Looks can be deceiving." Rob laughs but I don't laugh with him. I would be excited to see that I was possibly making up for our bad meeting earlier by making him laugh, but I wasn't trying to be funny so being excited was a bit hard.
"I bet you'll get along with the other counselors just fine." Rob pats me on the back and I politely smile.
"I hope so," I reply under my breath.
"You guys, this is Cassidy- I mean Cass Callan and she is our new member of the counselor team." I stood in front of so many people as Rob introduced me, complete silence surrounding us.
Even though I didn't receive any intimidating looks or see any scary people, I couldn't help but feel like I might pee on myself. Gross huh? Hell yeah it was gross, but that's what public speaking did to me. The funny thing is I'm not even the one speaking.
"Cass, you'll be counseling with Anastasia," Rob informed me and I nodded remembering him say that earlier.
"Rob," someone said trying to capture his attention. Rob looked out to the person calling his name and smiled.
"Yes, Shawn?" I looked at the young boy and thought he couldn't be much younger than my sister. What was this kid doing counseling? Shouldn't he be a camper instead?
"Anastasia's not coming this year," he said and immediately people began whispering. "She went on vacation to Greece with her boyfriend and won't come back until late August." Ah Greece, another expensive and beautiful vacation spot off limits to me.
"Ok thank you, Shawn," Rob said before looking over at me and scratching the back of his neck. "Well Cass does need a partner because she's new, so is anyone a triple?"
"Yeah," a girl with big curly hair answered, raising her hand as well. "Me, Nash, and Cam are a group of three." The girl dropped her hand to her side and crossed her legs in her chair. She looked so confident and sure of her self and I had to admit I was a little jealous. I constantly doubt myself or shake things off and I wish I was the opposite. I frowned a little but came back from my thoughts when she spoke again. "I could be her partner," she shrugged like it was no big deal. I smiled at the thought of someone volunteering to be partners with me but it quickly faded when Rob snorted.
"Nash and Cam have their own group?" He laughed like it was some sorta joke. Wait was something supposed to be funny? "What is this some kinda joke?" He questioned. Oh well I guess Rob is wondering the same thing I am. "No way."
"But Rob!" A boy with blue eyes protested for a reason I think I was about to find out. "Can't Cam and I just be partners again? This time I promise we won't set anything on fire. Or lose a kid. Or try and reenact the cabin prank from The Parent Trap. Or-"
"We get it, Nash," another boy spoke but I couldn't catch who said it.
"Rob, Cam's not even here to help me convince you! Can't we just send Mahogany to be partners with Cassy-"
"Just Cass," I corrected him but no one heard and he just continued.
"-then if there's a problem you can just talk to the both of us but I swear there won't be any problems. We'll do well this time I know it. I mean, whose more reliable than Cam and me?"
A kid with a bandana tied around his head laughed and the boy, Nash, shot him a glare. "Nash, even I'm ten times more reliable than you and Cam together."
"Shut up, Taylor," someone else spoke up, making everyone's head turn in that direction. "Bigfoot is more reliable than you are."
"You know what, Matt? How bout you suck my-"
"How about," Rob jumped in quickly before it all got ugly. "We just all act like the adults most of us are and listen to the guy that gives you your pay checks." In that moment everyone went silent and that made Rob content. "Good. Well now we just have to see just which of you will be partners with Cass," he told the guy Nash.
"Hey," someone said walking in through the door as soon as the words left Rob's mouth. Everyone's attention was set on this guy and I felt like he was currently significant in some sort of way.
All eyes remained on him as he took a seat next to Nash and stayed even as he pulled out his phone and stared down at it. Wow did he really just do that? Rob cleared his throat before speaking again to this guy who clearly didn't realize we were all staring at him. "So..." Rob started as the guy looked up at him.
The guy looked up at him oblivious to all the rules he's broken. I may not know the rules but I know one had to have been broken. "So..." He repeated not understanding what was happening.
"So are you gonna give an excuse as to why you were late?" Rob questioned him, crossing his arms over his body. When it came to this guy Rob clearly had no patience.
"Oh right," the guy said placing his phone down next to him. "I overslept," he shrugged. Why the hell is this guy being so casual about this? If I was him I'd be freaking out and sprint the entire way here. Judging by this guy's breathing he didn't do what I would've.
"Dude, did you not know you were late?" The kid who spoke up earlier named Matthew or something like that asked.
"Yeah, I knew," the guy simply stated shaking his head.
"Then what the hell happened to you, Cam?" Nash asked, a laugh lacing his words. Well I guess this was Cam, and I guess even his friends wondered why Cam didn't haul ass over here.
"I told you. I had accidentally overslept," Cam replied. "I was already late so why rush? That wasn't going to change anything anyway, was it, Rob?" he laughed looking back at Rob, but Rob didn't look too amused.
"Cameron, you're partners with Cass over there," Rob pointed at me and I felt everyone's eyes back on me. Oh no. My heart jumped as all the attention returned to me and I hurriedly looked around. I finally decided to look back at that guy Cam who was staring at me already. I gave him a small friendly smile, but he turned away too quickly to notice.
"I thought I was in a group with Nash and Mahogany?" Cameron was talking to Rob again and I felt relief when everyone followed the conversation over there.
"Anastasia won't be coming this year so she needed a partner, and that's you," Rob stated and Cameron was still in disbelief.
"But if Mahogany was her partner Nash and I-"
"There's no way I'm letting you two have your own group," Rob said.
"Is it just because we floated some kids mattress across the lake like the scene from The Parent Trap?" Cam asked.
"You guys must really like that Parent Trap movie," I scoffed, talking more to myself, but the quiet in the moment didn't exactly allow it to stay personal. I looked up and felt a familiar feeling of awkwardness and embarrassment.
Cam looked at me and I felt like I was in trouble or something. "It's a quality movie," was all he said before he looked away. I just blinked before continuing to follow the ongoing conversation.
"You'll be partners with Cass and that's final," Rob said making Cam groan out of frustration. Well at least I know my partner for the next six weeks is excited to be with me.
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A/N:
Hey! This story is a "magcon" story (obviously haha) with the appearance of a few youtubers. I have great things planned for this story and hope that you'll stick around to read my updates every Wednesday (for now there's only one update day but depending how this goes, I might update more than once a week). Thanks for reading! 💋