Day One, Part One

"Goodbye, mother." Seth Conlon stood ramrod straight on the crest of the hill while his mother buried her face in his neck.

"Oh, honey, I'm gonna miss you!" The woman clinging to him howled.

"Yeah, Mom, I'll miss you too. Now please let go of me."

The woman complied, and immediately began fishing in her overlarge handbag for a lacey handkerchief. "Write everyday now," she said, dabbing her eyes carefully.

"Yeah, Mom." Seth rolled his eyes as his mother turned to walk back to the car. He had just turned around to head down the hill when a loud, tearful voice cried out, "Love you, Sethykins!"

Seth slapped his hand to his face and refused to answer. Come on, Kathy, he thought, It's a two-week drama camp! Silently, and hoping that no one had heard his mother's farewell, the slim boy grabbed the handle of his suitcase and continued to the check-in area.

Tony couldn't scramble out of the minivan quickly enough. The two-hour road trip had nearly cost the life of younger brother Rocco. And now the short Italian-American boy was to spend two weeks pent up in a cabin with God-knows-how-many other boys. Great.

"'Bye, sweetie," called his mother, who was too busy keeping Tony's twin sisters Maria and Bianca in their car seats to help him with his bags. Not that he had that many; his family was so big that he was lucky to get away to such an expensive camp. He was also very lucky that this particular camp offered scholarships.

"'Bye, Mama," Tony replied. He wished that his father could be here to say goodbye too, but Frank Higgins was far too busy with his job to get time off. With six children and a stay-at-home wife to support, Tony could hardly blame him. But that knowledge didn't make his father's absence any less noticeable. "I'll write, if I can."

"Don't worry about it, primo. If you don't have time, you don't have time. I understand." Carlotta Higgins smiled at her oldest son from the open van door.

"Okay, Mama." Tony was never one to argue. He had finally managed to untangle his battered suitcase from the mess of diaper bags and lunchboxes in the trunk of the van, and he began to drag it unceremoniously towards the large Dining Hall, where he had been told to go for registration. "Arrivederci!" Tony called, looking back and waving at his family.

"Arrivederci!" A chorus of voices answered him. The Italian boy smiled, and turned again towards the Dining Hall.

The smiling woman with the large stack of files sitting on the card table in front of her looked up as Seth walked through the door. "Hi!" she said, "And who might you be?"

Seth felt like glaring at her; his overprotective mother had caused an even worse mood than usual. "Seth Conlon," he grumbled, squashing the urge.

"Let's see here… Seth… Conlon! Okay, it says here that you don't need any medications, or any dietary needs. All right, you're all set!" Seth nodded, rolling his eyes inwardly. Why are you telling me, lady? I'm perfectly aware that I don't have any meds or special diets. "Oh, by the way, I'm Darcie, and I'm the camp nurse. My cabin is that one, right by the rehearsal hall. I'm in there if you ever need anything, okay? Okay! So, your nametag should be on that big table, right over there."

"Sure," he growled, then proceeded to the other card table. A tall man with bushy brown hair stood behind it, talking on his cell phone. When he noticed Seth, the man covered the bottom of the phone and said, "Find your name. I'll be with you in a second." Seth nodded impatiently, and began to scan the small white cards. Almost immediately he found his. Seth Conlon, 16. Why bother putting the age on there? It's not like anyone cares. The man finished his conversation just as Seth was pinning his nametag to the front of his shirt. "So, you're Seth? Welcome to camp." The man shuffled through his own stack of papers. "You'll be in Highline cabin. It's the big one just outside and to the right of the Dining Hall. Your councilor is Bryan, but he won't be here until tomorrow."

Seth wondered why this Bryan guy would be late. Seriously, we have, like, over three months notice as to when this starts. Get it together, dude.

"Anyway," continued the man, "A couple of your cabin-mates have already arrived. They are, let's see here, Zeke Jameson and Leo Lowe. I saw them enter Highline just a few minutes ago."

Seth nodded again and left the small room. Luckily for him, Darcie the nurse was already preoccupied with another camper. Some short, dark-haired guy, Seth noted vaguely. Since there were only two cabins for boys, he figured that it was likely that Shorty would be in his cabin anyway. Maybe it would be worth it to introduce himself. Eh, later. I should have plenty of time to make friends, if I want to, over the two weeks.

As he stepped outside into the sunshine to get his luggage, Seth noticed that a blonde guy and another dark-haired guy, this one with glasses, were sitting awfully close to each other on a bench next to the ping-pong tables. He could have sworn that the blonde guy's hand was touching the other guy's leg, too. It is drama camp, isn't it? I'll bet that I'm the only straight guy here. Rolling his eyes, Seth took his suitcase by the handle again and set off for the big cabin by the Dining Hall. A narrow, prickly trail led to the cabin, and Seth's suitcase was far too large to be dragged through it. Sighing, he picked it up by the side handle and forced his way past the bushes. He felt sharp thorns dig into his shins as he attempted to side step along the skinny path. Damn, and I have to do this every day for two weeks? Finally, he arrived in the clear, gravelly space in front of the cabin door. Seth set his suitcase down and gingerly felt the scratches on his legs. He looked up sharply at the sound of the door opening.

"Hey. You in Highline?" A tall, lanky guy with curly black hair and a faded t-shirt was leaning against the door frame, admiring his fingers.

"Obviously." Seth wasn't in the mood for people who pointed out clearly apparent things right now.

"Good. We need more people. Well, come in."

What the hell was this guy talking about? It's not like we're in a war or something. "Uh, sure." Seth grabbed his suitcase again and walked through the door that the tall guy was holding open for him. The inside of the cabin was pleasantly cool, compared to the heat of outside. When he closed the door, the tall guy said, "I'm Zeke, but all of my friends call me Skittery. I don't know why." His eyes flickered to the side, and Seth could see his fingers drumming against his leg. Oh, yeah, I haven't the slightest idea.

"I'm Seth."

Another voice came from the adjoining room. "New guy?"

Skittery raised his voice in answer, "Yeah. Name's Seth."

A small African-American boy emerged from the room. "Hey. They call me Boots, but as you can tell by the nametag, my name's Leo. Welcome to Highline."

Seth nodded, and looked down at his suitcase. "So, where should I put my stuff?"

Boots and Skittery looked at each other. "You can stay in our room," Skittery said, now picking at a scab on his arm.

Oh, goody. "Okay."

The other room was dark, and even cooler than the front room. "Here, take this one. We'll make sure that no creep sleeps above you." Boots gestured to a bottom bunk near the window. Seth couldn't see anything wrong with it, so he dropped his suitcase onto the mattress with a clunk.

"Now, that's settled," Skittery said, still scraping at the scab. "C'mon. Let's go outside. Some more guys should be getting here soon."

Boots nodded agreeably, and Seth shrugged. So far, so good. Might as well see what other lunatics will show up. Skittery led the way out of the cabin, grabbing a hat from a nearby bunk. The hat had some indistinct dark gray blob on it, that when Seth looked closer turned out to be a chair on what looked like the top of a building. There was the silhouette on a man with his arms raised standing next to it. What the hell kind of freak would wear something like that?

Tony Higgins, or so his nametag read, stood uncomfortably in the middle of the room. Two of the four bottom bunks had already been taken, and one top bunk as well. The cabin was empty, and Tony had no idea who he was going to be spending the next two weeks with. He had seen some boys walk out of the cabin, and one of them was the crabby-looking guy that had been in the registration room at the same time as he had.

"Well, one seems as good as another," muttered Tony as he chose a random bunk to dump his stuff on. He unhooked his old gray sleeping bag from his suitcase and began to lay it out on the mattress. Just as he finished, he heard the front door creak as it opened. This was followed by a frustrated groan and a loud thump. Tony, abandoning his bed, peeked through the doorway to see who had entered. An unremarkable, medium-height boy stood forlornly, a gloomy look on his face. Tony couldn't tell why until he realized that the boy's suitcase was stuck in the doorframe. Tony stifled a chuckle as he went to help.

The plain boy looked up at the sound of footsteps. "Oh, hi," he murmured, "Uh, could you, uh, help me, please?"

"Of course!" Tony smiled.

The boy immediately looked relieved. "Oh, thank you! I guess I misjudged a little bit."

Tony laughed and stepped neatly over the heavy-looking suitcase to push on it from the other side. With a few strong shoves, the large bag was forced into the cabin. "So," said Tony, brushing of his hands, "I'm Tony. What's your name?"

"I'm Tanner. Tanner Legerland." He grinned nervously. "This is my second time here. You'd think that I would have learned to pack lighter."

"Hmmm, yeah. It's my first time. Do you like it here?"

"Boy, do I! It's amazing! The people are so accepting and even though you work pretty hard, it's such an awesome feeling when we do the final show." Tanner's smile widened at the memory.

"Man, sounds great." Tony couldn't help but smile too.

"It totally is. Well, I'm going to go pick my bunk, if you don't mind. Then we can go out to the main space and talk to people, 'kay?" Tanner picked up his heavy suitcase, or tried to, and tugged it into the bunk room. "Hey, Tony!" He called, "Which one's yours?"

Tony followed him in. "It's the one with the gray sleeping bag. This one," he gestured.

"Okay! I'll take the one above you."

"Okay." The Italian boy hoped that making other friends at this camp would be this easy.

Quickly, Tanner set up his bunk. When he was done, he jumped off and landed neatly in the middle of the floor. "Sorry," he said, looking up at Tony sheepishly, "I'm a dancer. I can't help wanting to jump off of stuff."

Tony laughed, and the two boys left the cabin.

The second that Seth, Skittery, and Boots arrived in the main clearing, they were nearly attacked by a rabble of girls. There were four girls' cabins to the two boys' ones, and so they were far outnumbered. It looked to Seth that Skittery and Boots were quite popular, as he could barely see them through the flurry of girls. "Okay, okay! Yeah, I'm back!" Skittery was trying to push his way out. Boots, being smaller, had already escaped. The tall boy forced his way through the throng, and then began to brush off his t-shirt. You can brush all you want, dude, that dirt won't come off. When he finished, Skittery said "So, girls. This is Seth. He's new this year. Seth, this is Amelia, Gretchen, Anne, Celia, and Riley."

One girl, a blonde with gray-green eyes, said, "My name is not Gretchen. It's Olive. And that's not Amelia, Anne, Celia, or Riley. Their names are, respectively, Purple, Ribbon, Twinkle, and Opera."

"Does everybody here have a nickname?" Seth asked without thinking.

Gretchen, or Olive, looked hurt. "Yeah. You'll get one too, eventually."

I can hardly wait. "Whatever."

Boots and Skittery looked at each other again. "Well," said Boots, "I think I see Snitch over there. Let's go, guys."

Olive and her gang exchanged glances. Suddenly, the girl named Amelia screeched, "Look; It's Itey! Get him!" The rabble screamed and began to chase a thin, dark-skinned boy. Seth almost felt sorry for him.

Skittery and Boots chuckled. "Come on, Seth."

"Gladly."

The three set out across the open space again, heading towards two figures on the other side. "Heya, Snitch!" Skittery called, waving his arms.

The boy called Snitch bounded forward. "Skittery! You in Highline?"

"You bet! So is Boots."

"Awesome! Hey, this is Tony. He's knew this year. He's in Highline too." Snitch indicated the short Italian boy behind him. Seth recognized him as the one in the Dining Hall.

Tony waved shyly. "Yeah, I'm Tony."

"Hey, Tony." Skittery and Boots responded at the same time. They looked at each other, again, and laughed. Seth rolled his eyes slightly. "This is Seth. He's new, too."

Seth smirked, which was his version of a smile, and slouched against a tree.

Snitch, Skittery, and Boots lapsed into conversations about what they had done since they had last seen each other. Seth didn't notice that the guy named Tony had inched closer to him until he said, "So, hey. Uh, are you in Highline too?"

Seth nodded shortly. "Yeah."

"Cool. What do you do?"

What kind of dumbass would ask that? "What do you mean?"

"Like, do you dance, or sing, or act, or a combination?"

"Oh, uh, mostly I act, but I can sing and dance too, I guess." Seth shrugged.

"Yeah, me too. Except that I mostly sing."

Seth grunted in reply. Tony looked a little crestfallen.

Meanwhile, Snitch, Skittery, and Boots had come to the conclusion that Seth and Tony needed nicknames right then and there. Boot said, "So, you sing?"

Tony looked at him. "Yeah."

"What's your favorite?"

Tony blushed almost immediately. "Well, uh, I, uh-"

"Don't be shy. Come on, it's drama camp."

"I like 'My Fair Lady'," Tony mumbled.

Seth had to stifle a snort. He still furrowed his eyebrows and looked away to roll his eyes. Skittery, though, said, "Awesome. We did that last year, you know? You just missed it. Actually, we only did one song, and that was that Ascot song, with the horses."

"You did 'Ascot Gavotte'?! No fair!"

"Yeah, that's it. And you totally remind me of it. So, from here onward, you shall be known as Racetrack, in honor of that song. We'll call you Race for short."

The newly christened Racetrack smiled at his nickname. "I love it!" he said.

Skittery grinned. "Good. Now for you, Seth."

Seth shot him a withering glare. "I don't really want a nickname, Skittery," he said bluntly.

"Nonsense!" Snitch said. "We all have nicknames."

"Yeah, and you need one too." Boots nodded his head definitely, which invited no more argument.

Seth didn't take the hint. "Seriously, I don't think that I need to be addressed like a dog, you know."

"Dog? What are you talking about? What, do you want us to call you Spot or something?" Suddenly, a light seemed to glow from Skittery's eyes. "Yes! We'll call you Spot."

Seth raised his eyebrows at the other boys. "You have got to be kidding me."

"No! Spot's perfect, don't you think, Snitch?"

The other boy nodded, clearly amused.

"How about you, Boots?"

"It fits perfectly!"

'Then Spot it is!" Skittery folded his arms triumphantly.

"Whatever," Seth, Spot, said, rolling his eyes. Hell will freeze over the day I answer to a name like Spot.

Snitch glanced at his watch. "Hey! It's almost dinnertime. Let's go circle!"

Skittery and Boots whooped joyfully, and sprinted towards the front of the Dining Hall. Snitch waved Race and Seth to follow, and did the same. Race sped up to a run too, but Seth merely walked over grudgingly. Skittery called, "Spot! Over here!"

Seth turned without thinking. Damn it. Here comes the snow, Satan.