-Troye-
"Actually, I find it quite flattering." I said to Connor while we made it to the mess hall. Which, was very true. I didn't think Connor was serious when he was looking. However, I didn't think he was the type to check someone out.
Connor's face redden, which was almost impossible, and lowered his head in embarrassment. I just gave him a small smile, even though he didn't see it.
He and I traveled in comfortable silence to the mess hall. The day had a perfect atmosphere. The sun beated down as a cool breeze came through. It was the perfect blend of hot and cold.
We got to the entrance to see Marcus standing outside of the hall. He was leaned up against the outside wall with his arms folded. Once he saw he lurched off the wall with a smile on his face and walked towards us.
"So." He said, folding his arms with a smug smirk on his face.
"Connor was just getting me out of bed for breakfast. Nothing happened." I say, Marcus still holding his smirk in place.
"Well, I would certainly love for Niomi to wake me up like that every morning." He said, turning on his heels and heading towards the entrance. Honestly, I would love for Connor to wake me up like that everyday. Just waking up to his soft, sage-colored eyes and his brown hair.
Connor and I followed Marcus into the mess hall. We got our food, checked out with Glozell, and headed to the usual spot. We were greeted by the usual crowd.
"Hey Troye!" I heard Caspar's voice. I sat down at the table with Marcus on my right and Connor on my left. While doing so, I looked to see Caspar grinning at me. He seemed in quite a good mood for someone in his position. He seemed relatively way happier since I talked to him last night.
"Hey Casp!" I said, digging into my food afterwards. The usual banter engulfed the table. Marcus and Tanya talking about home in Britain, Dan and Phil yelling about...I don't even know. Everyone else just sat in comfortable silence eating their breakfast.
"Are we hiking today?" I heard Caspar ask the table. Dan and Phil stopped arguing and turned to Caspar.
"Yeah. We are hiking along with Tyler's cabin." Dan quipped.
"That's cool! That means I get to hike with you, Casp!" Joe said, his face lighting up. That's the most I've seen Joe be energetic about something positive in a while. It seems like just a week ago that Caspar and I met Joe in that gas station...oh wait.
"Cool." Caspar simply replied. What the hell was that? Caspar didn't even smile. Nothing. No expression whatsoever. He didn't even face to Joe to say it. He just stared down at his food. I looked at Joe who also noticed Caspar's reaction. His expression shrunk and drooped at Caspar's reaction. Caspar just continued to stare into his food in front of him. I decided not to comment and just went to my food. Connor and Marcus did the same.
"What the hell Caspar? Are you not excited that you get to spend more tine with me?" I heard Joe whisper shout. Joe's face showed a scowl. His brow was furrowed and his eyes were narrowed. I didn't hear Caspar's response, but he did turn to Joe to respond. I could also see Joe's mouth moving, but still no audible retort.
"We are DONE talking about this." I heard Caspar whisper shout. He then moved back to his food. Joe's face showed disgust. He surged up from the table and stormed off.
"Jo Jo, hold on." Caspar said as he chased after him out of the building. I looked around the table. Everybody had the same expression as I did. Genuinely shocked. I just looked down at my food with no comment or quip.
"I don't even want to know what brought that up where it did." I heard Marcus say, looking up at the two running off.
"Agreed." I heard Connor say. "There's certainly never a dull moment between the two."
"They both have their quirks and faults." Marcus quipped.
"Joe's a hot head and Caspar just seems to hide everything."
"What exactly defines 'everything', Con?" I asked him. I mean, whatever's in his suitcase and his sexuality, but that doesn't really clarify as everything.
"Well, you know him. Suffers in silence." Connor said in a lower tone. I guess that was true. I mean, I have been friends with Caspar for a long time, and I had no idea Caspar was interested in the same sex and had struggled with it for so long. And how I didn't notice it through all of ours years of friendship, I will never know.
Time passed at the table with the usual conversation, now only lacking in two campers. Marcus and Tanya continued to talk about their homeland while Dan and Phil discussed Pokémon. Connor and I just continued to eat and traded playful banter about our lives back home. Like how he has three there siblings and how he has a dent on his forehead from his childhood, which was super adorable. I didn't even notice it until he pointed it out.
"Hello!" I heard a voice say off to the left of me. I looked up to see a boy and a girl. The boy had blonde quiffed hair and had glasses on. He had his ears pierced and was pretty skinny for his build. He was actually quite attractive. The girl had beautiful blonde wavy hair that had hints of pink throughout. Again, really skinny and still muscular.
"Oh hello!" I heard Marcus say. HIs face wearing an inviting smile. The boy smiled back.
"Mind if we sit here?" The girl asked. Motioning towards the seats. Seeing as the two drama queens just left the table, I don't see a reason why not to let them sit.
"Well, of course not!" Tanya spoke with an uplifting tone. They sat down at the table and got themselves situated.
"So what's your names?" Marcus asked, his mouth half full of food. The girl responded.
"Well, I'm Jenna and that's Ricky."
"Hello!" Ricky said with a huge smile on his face.
"Oh yeah, Ricky! We were cabin mates last year!" Marcus said.
"Yeah! Steele was the best counselor ever! You, Aflie, Joe, and I got away with so much stuff!" I noticed that Ricky had a speech impediment. It was kinda similar to Tyler's.
"You know, that's Troye right there." Marcus said, pointing at me. I looked over at Ricky whose face widened.
"So you are the infamous Troye Sivan. Your brother is was the best counselor here!" Ricky said with enthusiasm. Here we go again. I swear to God, Steele must've been so kind of deity to these people.
"Yep. Steele's my brother." I simply put. I might as well get a tattoo somewhere that says Steele's my brother because it seems like I'm riding the coattails of a celebrity. Kinda like Janet Jackson.
"Steele was quite the counselor. He was also kind of hot." I heard Jenna quip, but decided not to comment on it.
"Oh what, am I not enough for you?" Ricky said, putting his hand over his chest and leaning on Jenna. Jenna shoved him off and he just laughed.
"Wait, are you two a thing?" I asked to...Jicky? Renna? Jecky? Rinna? Ricky and Jenna just stared at me as if I was crazy or something.
"I ship it." I heard Connor say under his breathe.
"Oh no no no. Ricky and I have been friends since the beginning of time. Besides, Ricky has got someone anyway." Jenna spoke. The table perked up at the sound of a relationship. Tanya ooo-ed and Marcus cleared his throat.
"Ricky. Care to explain?" Marcus said, his tone heightening at the end as the rest of the table smiled and egged him on. See, this is what I like about this camp. We just met Ricky and Jenna and we are already asking about their love life as if we've known them since middle school.
Ricky's cheeks reddened as he smiled and fidgeted in his seat. Jenna leaned into his ear, saying inaudible words. Ricky just nodded. Then Jenna pulled away and she gave him a reassuring nod.
"Okay. Okay. Um...well...I....have...."
"Ricky it's okay. These people will not care. I promise." Jenna said, comforting Ricky.
"Well...Imayormaynothaveaboyfriendwho'shereatcamp." Ricky practically yelled. None of us understood what he said.
"What?" Marcus said, generalizing everyone's thoughts into one statement. Everyone looked at Ricky, who's face was getting redder and redder and more uncomfortable. Poor thing. He looks so pitiful.
Ricky took in deep breaths and Jenna was right next to him comforting him. Ricky closed his eyes and drew in one large breath.
"I have a boyfriend."
Everyone one the table had a heightened expression with mouths agape and congratulating Ricky.
"Oh my God, really?!"
"That's awesome, Ricky!"
"That's amazing Ricky. I'm glad you came to terms with something like that." I said to him, smiling. It's great to see another person coming out that i don't know. It really kind of shows how amazing and accepting this camp really is.
I felt something moved behind me. I whipped my head backward to see Marcus circling around the table and making to Ricky. Ricky stood up and faced him. Marcus finally came around and tackled Ricky into a big hug. I could see Ricky crying tears of joy. I couldn't help but smile and feel the same way for him. Marcus whispered something in his ear, then drew away from the hug and returned back to his seat. Ricky then sat down and began to wipe tears from his face.
"Oh my God, thank you guys so much for the positive response. That means the world to me right now." Ricky said, laughing and crying at the same time.
"Okay, now who is it?" I heard Tanya ask him.
"What?" Ricky said, pulling his shirt away from his face. HIs face was still red and eyes were beginning to turn puffy.
"Who's the lucky guy?" I heard Phil speak up.
"Umm...it's...Kian."
Marcus erupted again from his seat. "WAIT. LAWLEY?!?" His face was nothing but joy and happiness. They must've had some connection before the whole dance thing happened.
Although I didn't quite understand the hype since I wasn't here last year, I was still really happy for Ricky and this Kian guy. I knew how it felt to finally just say the secret you've kept from everyone since you can remember. It's an awesome experience.
The table said its fair share of 'oh my god's' and 'so happy for you's'. A select few gave a few cries of joy as Ricky couldn't find a break. His eyes kept processing the tears and he couldn't stop smiling. It was nice to know that I could be there to change a life of person I didn't know ten minutes ago. To know that a person could now move on with life with a weight lifted off of their shoulders and not have to worry about it was a really good feeling to have. It's something I will always remember. Not just changing Ricky's life, but changing a few close others as well.
-
"Oh come one, Troye boy. I'm tired" I heard Connor call out from behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Connor trudging up the steep incline. We've been hiking in the woods for a good two hours in the Waukegan forest, just outside of the camp.
"You've made it this far, Con! Just a little more." I yelled. We were almost at the top of a rolling hill. Korey and Tyler told us that at the top was an observation platform and some benches to rest on, over looking the forest and part of the camp. Connor brought up the rear as everyone else was ahead.
My knees began to ache and I could feel my feet began to blister in my shoes. Sweat drenched half of my shirt and I smelled like a locker room.
The top was only a few yards away. I kept straining and climbing to the top. About half of us were already at the top as Caspar and Joe just made it there. Leaving Connor and I, Alfie, and Phil to make it to the top. Connor was only a few feet behind me.
"Only a few more feet now, Con!" I yelled, straining my thighs to carry my body the rest of the way. Alfie made it up with Phil right on his heels.
"Hey Troye, get up here! There's a shirtless hot guy waiting for you at the top!" I heard Marcus yell. I could just feel the sarcasm in the air as he said it.
"Are you satisfied with your gay joke?" I said, smiling through my thighs screaming out in pain. I was close enough to see Marcus roll his eyes. Marcus extended his arm as I whipped my hand around to grab it. He pulled me up the rest of the way as my thighs collapsed once reaching the top. I laid there on the ground as heard Connor getting pulled up by Marcus. Once Connor was at the top, i got to my feet and thanked Marcus.
"See Troye? I wasn't lying." Marcus sneered as he pointed over at Caspar, who did indeed have his shirt off. I began to walk over to the platform as I called out to Caspar.
"Stop showing off!" I yelled in his direction. He just smiled and shook his head as he put on a cleaner shirt.
Marcus went over to Tyler and Korey as I went up to the platform, Connor right behind me. There were a few rickety old wooden stairs that led to a deck overlooking a small drop off. The scenery was amazing. A thicket of trees as far at the eye could see. Near the horizon, you could see where the camp was. Thick, cotton candy clouds covered the bright blue sky.
"You excited for the dance tonight?" I heard Connor say, who was leaning over the railing looking at the view. Oh he's right. It's already Saturday.
"Oh yeah. I'm excited! I'm kinda ready to dance and just kinda let loose." I said.
"Yeah. Me too." Connor said with shyness. I could tell something was wrong.
"What's on your mind, Con?" I asked him.
"Well it is a dance. So, I was wondering if...you'd like to slow dance...with me?" He said as he began to collapse into himself. His face began to turn red. I just smiled at his nervousness and grabbed his hand.
"I would love that, Con." I said, giving him a reassuring smile. I saw him relax his muscles and give me a shy smile back.
"Umm..." I heard someone say. Both of us looked to see Caspar standing there, looking quite sheepish.
"I hate to break this up, but can I talk to you Troye? Privately?" He said. I looked at Connor who had a look of concern.
"It's okay, Con. I'll talk to you afterwards." I say, smiling.
"Okay, Tro." He said, giving my hand a reassuring squeeze before letting go. Had it been anyone else breaking the tender moment I would've been pissed. But considering it was Caspar, I was fine with it.
Casper leaned up against the rickety, rotten rail thatthat overlooked the dense foliage.
"What's going on, Caspar?" I asked him. He hung his head and folded his hands over another. He took a deep inhale then exhale.
"How do I tell someone I love them?"
I looked over at him and he was still hunched over the railing.
"Is this about Joe?"
"Uh...yeah." He said, as his eyes darted over the landscape.
"Well... First I'd get them alone. Find somewhere romantic and cute. Hug him, hold his hand, look deep into his eyes, any of those would work. Then, just come out and say it." I said.
"The worst thing you can do is overthink it." I said, looking over at him. He was not leaned up against the railing, but his back was facing the landscape.
"I just wanna let...him...know how I feel." He said in a low voice.
"I understand buddy." I said walking over and giving him a small hug. He placed his arms around me and stuck his chin on my shoulder. I pulled away from the hug and his face was still very somber.
"So, are you good?" He just nodded his head. After that, he walked down the old steps and went back to Joe. Right after him, Connor came up the steps and approached me.
"What was that all about?" Connor asked, furrowing his brow.
"He was asking me how to say, 'I love you' to Joe. Poor kid was scared about it." I say, smiling. Only Connor didn't smile.
Connor was looking past my head and had his brow furrowed and his mouth agape. He narrowed his eyes and mouth something I couldn't make out.
"Umm...everything alright Con?" I said, asking him with a slight laugh, but still kind of concerned. He looked up from his puzzled state.
"Oh, yeah. Everything is fine." He said smiling. Well, that was certainly weird. Connor was clearly trying to figure out something after I said the Caspar comment. It was definitely strange behavior for one Connor Franta.
"Okay campers! Time to head back down!" I heard Tyler call out as he was shoved by Korey. The former shoved back and knocked Korey down.
"We better go, Con." I say to him, tapping his shoulder.
"Okay, Tro." He says to me.
"Tro?"
"Like it or not, you are Tro or Troye boy." He says, giving me his raised-eyebrow-and-widened-eyes looked.
"Okay, Mr. Sassy." I say, sticking my tongue out to him as I climb down the rickety steps. Once Con got down from the steps, we walk side-by-side. I reached for his hand, grabbing it. He opened it, moving his hand to intertwine his fingers with mine. My heart skipped a beat as we begin to travel back down the mountain.
_________________________
A/N: HEY GUYS!!
Sorry that it's really late and at midnight, but UPDATE
SORRY FOR ANY SPELLING OR GRAMMAR MISTAKES
You little Fratatas got me to 20K reads.
What
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I can't thank you guys enough for that, like oh my god, it's amazing.
Q: Zodiac sign?
Libra bitches all the way. I'm not a person who lives my life off of a horoscope, but I still think it's cool what they say.
Oh, and one more thing.
Wild.
I think that's all I have so...
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