Jack Merridew was scrolling through his iPod, looking for something good to listen to. Something that, if people asked him what he was listening to, they'd have to say 'what?' after he answered.
Something like Sons of an Illustrious Father.
Unfortunately, just as he touched 'shuffle', they appeared at the camp. Jack decided that the 'no electronics' rule didn't matter, and he could just listen to his iPod anyway, because he was Jack Merridew and he didn't need rules.
His family's driver carried Jack's luggage to their cabin as Jack leaned against the car, sipping his Starbucks coffee and listening to his music.
"And you are…?"
Jack looked up. A positively pig-looking man was standing in front of him, holding a clipboard.
"Merridew," Jack said promptly, taking another drink of his latte. He nearly fell over as the driver drove away. "How many times do I have to tell him to not drive away until I'm not leaning on the thing?"
"I'm Mr. Flies," the pig-like man said. "Let's see… Jack Merridew. Ah, your parents are not happy about your sexuality. We can fix that. You should go get unpacked."
Jack rolled his eyes and entered the cabin. It was actually pretty big; it had to be, to fit the five bunk beds and three dressers. Deciding that he was alone, he set up his iPod dock and began to blast his music out loud.
A few minutes later, another boy entered. He was wearing all black, his shirt one of those band shirts from Hot Topic – a Disturbed one. It nearly went down to his knees.
"Turn it down or put something better on," the boy said, dropping his backpack on the bottom bunk in the corner of the room. Jack was still trying to figure out if he was twelve or just really short when another one entered.
"Affection Man has arrived!" he cheered, swinging his suitcase onto the bunk on top of Disturbed boy's bed. "Or, you know, Maurice. That's my actual name."
"I'm Jack Merridew," Jack said. Maurice grinned at him.
"I'll call you Hipster Jack-"
"I am not a hipster."
"And who're you? Do you like scary movies, y'know, 'cause your shirt looks like you might like things like scary movies. I brought a bunch of old Stephen King movies. Like, The Shining and Carrie and Christine and IT and 'Salem's Lot and even The Stand miniseries and-"
"Roger," Disturbed boy said, effectively shutting up Maurice. "And I've never seen a Stephen King movie."
"Really? Who hasn't seen a Stephen King movie? I started watching Stephen King movies when I was like seven. Before that I watched those old Goosebumps movies – Werewolf of Fever Swamp and stuff like that," Maurice took a breath. "I've got 'em all on DVD. And I brought a portable DVD player. So we can watch some."
Disturbed boy – uh, Roger, rolled his eyes.
Simon Drake was nervous.
He'd kind of agreed with his parents when they'd decided that he needed to go to the camp for kids with problems. Sometimes he hallucinated. Stuff like that. But Simon was extremely shy. He wasn't good at making friends.
He clutched his backpack to his chest, biting his lip and staring at the back of his father's seat. He'd be fine. He could do this. After all, everyone else would be messed up too, right? Right. Probably.
"We're here!"
Simon swallowed and got out of the car. A piggish man was looking at him –
This man was pure evil.
Simon paled and stifled a scream. He managed to stop shaking and hoped that he wouldn't faint.
Of course, if he did, he might be able to go home.
"You are?"
"Si-simon Drake," Simon said. Eventually he was able to go into the cabin. There were already three more boys in there, and really weird music playing.
One of the boys dropped from a top bunk and bounded over. "Hi! I'm Maurice. That's Jack, yeah, the hipster-"
"I am not a hipster."
"And the creepy-looking one is Roger," Maurice finished, grinning. Simon put his bag on the bottom bunk of the bed nearest to the door.
"I'm Simon," he said, smiling and sitting down on his bed.
It was silent, until the unmistakable noise of a motorcycle made them all jump. A few minutes later a tall, muscled boy wearing sunglasses, jeans, and a short-sleeved button-up shirt entered the room. He glanced around at all of them, picked a bed at random, and began to text. He ignored Maurice's 'what's your name?'
The next boy that came in took Simon's breath away. He was tall and muscled like the boy that had just entered, and he had blond hair, but he was… he was just…
Simon fainted.
As soon as Ralph walked into the cabin, the boy nearest to him fainted. After the initial stare, he poked the boy. "He's breathing," he said. "I think."
The boy in the 'Overlook Hotel' shirt grinned. "Cool. That's Simon. I'm Maurice. That's Hipster Jack over there-"
"I am not a hipster."
"And creepy Disturbed boy is Roger. And I don't know who the kid texting is. Or how he can text that quickly while wearing sunglasses inside," Maurice mused. "But, anyway. Hi."
"I'm Ralph," Ralph said. He was going to say more, but then a rather small, ugly child walked in.
"Percival Wemys Madison…" he went on to recite his address and telephone number. Everyone looked at him. He claimed the top bunk across from Simon. Ralph decided to go on the bunk above 'Hipster Jack.' Hipster Jack seemed like a pretty cool person, except for the really weird music he was blasting from his iPod.
It was silent for a while – apart from the wird music – until the last boy arrived.
"And make sure that you get enough to eat."
"I will."
A very fat boy wearing glasses waddled in. "That was my Auntie," he said, sitting on the bottom bunk of Percival Wemys Madison's bed. He set down his duffel bag. "She owns a candy shop."
Jack glanced up from the classic literature he'd procured from his bag and snorted. "It's not like we couldn't tell, Fatty."
"Fatty's not a nice name! Let's call him Piggy," Maurice suggested, hanging upside-down from the top rung of the ladder on his bed. "Piggy's a nice name."
Simon became conscious again at this moment. "New people," he said. "Who are you?"
"That's Piggy!"
Simon didn't have to ask which one was Piggy.
"I'm Robert," a small, boring-looking boy said. Everybody looked at him, shocked. Ralph didn't remember this boy coming in.
"Percival Wemys Madison…"
Mr. Flies walked in. "Oh, I guess I'll have to sleep on this top bunk," he said, setting his clipboard on the bunk above Simon.
Simon fainted again.
I hope you enjoyed. Cx I rather liked writing it, so...
Anyway, this is a Modern Day AU. I've given them all last names and such. And stuff like that. Except Piggy. Piggy's just Piggy.
