The breeze was supposed to be cool as a contrast to the warm temperature, according to the weather woman at least. But fuck was she wrong, the air was still and thick, it felt sticky and unbearably hot against my skin. Sweat glistened across my forehead and I could feel my shirt sticking to my stomach and back. I couldn't even pull it away from my sticky skin because of my pillow tucked under my left elbow, and my heavy as fuck trunk being dragged by my right hand.
My mother wasn't much help with carrying my things, she only led the way as my dad and I carried my shit (he was carrying the sheets I had to make my temporary bed with (which were light as fuck, thanks dad). She turned her head and narrowed her brows as the sun blocked most of her vision. Mom was looking for a counselor to show us to my cabin for the month I'm staying for camp, the person's name was Hanji. We saw a picture of her (him?) on the website for Colossal camp so we had at least that to go by.
I was feeling pretty alright, that was before mom started shouting out Hanji's name and attracting plenty of stares. I groaned to myself and tried to hide behind my bangs, but they were too short now to do so. Damn you haircut. "Mom, please shut up," I grumbled out in embarrassment, I had the most embarrassing parents ever, they had no filter in public.
"Don't tell your mother to shut up Eren, or we'll sign you up for another month here," Well fuck him, that was a cruel threat. And you may be thinking that, nah, my dad wasn't being serious. But he was, damn he fucking was. Being the successful doctor that he was, he had the money to do such a thing. Some kids wish that they were rich but it really sucked, since your parents can use their money to punish you.
I failed math back in the ninth grade and that landed me a spot at the edge of the largest waterfall in the world: victoria falls. There's a spot there after the rainy reason called the devils pool, where you essentially can swim at the edge of the damn waterfall. And doing that scared the living shit out of me.
I like water, don't get me wrong, and I'm a fantastic swimmer but there was a great possibility that I could have been washed over. That was daunting. It's things like that rich parents do to punish their kids; scare the ever living shit out of them. It's not fun. "Okay okay, sorry," I said under my breath as mom seemed to have found this Hanji character we were looking for.
Dad and I walked over to mom, who was shaking hands with a seemingly enthusiastic Hanji (that's what the name tag read). The grin on Hanji's face was larger than a whole cob of corn, that was ridiculous. But contagious. I couldn't help but crack a small nervous smile as the counsellor turned her (or him? I'm still not sure honestly) attention to me. "Ah, so you're Eren!" I caught a glimpse at a button on Hanji's shirt before I was pulled into the tightest hug of life. The pin said they/them so I only assumed those were their pronouns (yes, I go on tumblr too, I knew about that shit).
"O-Oh uh you must be Hanji then... Hi," My voice was muffled by their shoulder as I was being literally crushed in Hanji's arms. They must have been lacking some social cues or something since it wasn't really normal to hug a complete stranger. At least they didn't smell bad or even like sweat.
"You must have just gotten here hm? Let me show you to your cabin then, it's all the way up there," Hanji let me go and quickly slashed their finger out to point in the direction of a steep as hell hill.
Oh come on, they had to be kidding, my cabin was all the way up that hill? What luck I had, my parents must have booked it that way, they were so cruel. "Cabin 104. Seems like you're the last one from your cabin to arrive," Well fuck, now I had no choice of bed. I'd probably get the cot near the door, which was ass.
Hanji marked something down on their clipboard, probably that I had arrived. "You're camper five," I was told and I sighed softly. Five was a cool number, whatever.
"Are there really over 104 cabins here?" Dad asked as he glanced around. Some of his hair had gotten out of his ponytail and was sticking to his face now. Good thing I wasn't the only one sweating buckets.
Hanji cackled loudly at dad's question, though it didn't really seem that ridiculous to laugh that much at. "Oh god no! we'd have way too many campers if that was the case. We start counting at a hundred, so the first cabin is 100, the second is 101. It just makes everything sound fancier," My brows narrowed a bit in confusion. Fancier? This was literally an outdoors camp, nothing about this was fancy.
Mom and dad kept asking questions to Hanji, even as they started to lead us up the rocky dirt path to where my cabin was situated.
"This here is the lavatory," Hanji said with a smile full of pride, even though they shouldn't be proud of those washrooms, I could smell them from where I walked past them. "Wait so they're outside? What if I have to use the washroom at night?"
Hanji only cackled again, their eyes gleaming with amusement behind their rectangular lenses, as if this all was the biggest joke of the century. I really hoped it was, what I did to deserve this punishment wasn't even that bad.
So what, I got in a fight at the park? Those guys were asking for it, it wasn't my fault. I only threw the first punch. It was ridiculous.
"Use the washroom before lights out then! Or sneak out of the cabin, just don't let me catch you though," Hanji winked at me but the looks my parents gave me told me to not sneak out at all, or I'd definitely stay another month and waste my whole summer vacation. "Anyways here it is, ol' Cabin 104. Isn't it cozy looking?"
I shook my head without a moment's hesitation. The cabin look awful, the wooden porch steps were uneven, the paint was peeling, the roof didn't even look complete. It reminded me of the old treehouse I had. Of course, it burned down years ago, and it definitely was not because I was playing with my dad's lighter.
I was only trying to light a campfire with my moms matches. See there's a difference.
Anyways, at least the cabin's screen door didn't have any large holes, that would keep some of the evil mosquitos out. Those things just loved to attack me, even when I wore long pants. My legs would always end up bitten to death.
"It's nice," My mom commented as we climbed into the wooden cabin. All of the beds were made and had people occupying them, except two (Hanji's and my own). To my surprise, the bed I was left with wasn't near the door, it was the top bunk of the second bunk bed. Not bad, I probably would have chosen that one myself.
I ignored the looks I got when my Cabin mates glanced up from their phones or books to check on who the newcomer was (me, of course). I just took the sheets from my dad after setting my shit down onto the floor and I began making my bed. It was awkward to do, I had to stand on the wooden ladder that really didn't seem stable, with my head ducked so it wouldn't hit the top of the cabin. But I eventually managed to make my bed well enough, throwing my pillow up there too.
Now I just had to somehow bring my blue trunk up and put it in the storage place next to my bed. That wasn't going to be easy. "Dad, pass my trunk?" I asked as I still stood on the ladder. This didn't feel safe at all. But dad did what I asked and hulled the trunk up enough so I could grab it.
With a rather loud grunt of effort, I managed to throw my trunk up onto my bed, which caused me to almost slip off of the ladder. "Fucking...," I cursed under my breath then pushed the stupid ass trunk into the storage section of my bunk then I jumped down and to the floor. The stable floor.
Hanji was just setting up their things that they'd already placed on their bed before hand. They probably hadn't had time to do so before.
"We'll have to get going," Mom said before she pulled me in for a rib breaking huh.
"Ack- mom please no hugs or kisses okay! Just go, please?" I tried to pull away but that only rewarded me with a wet kiss on the cheek from mom, as dad hugged me from behind. They were making an Eren sandwich and I didn't like it.
Once they both pulled away I heard snickers from one of the guys on the cot and that just embarrassed me. Thanks parents for ruining my reputation already. "Oi, I bet you kissed your mother goodbye too," Mom pointed a finger at the kid who laughed, a guy with a weird buzzcut. But he was sorta working it though. "Goodbye Eren, be sure to write!"
When my parents finally left, I let out the longest sigh of existence and I climbed up to my bunk, laying down tiredly. Hopefully dinner would be soon..
"Hey Mama's boy," That guy with the almost bald haircut spoke up. I glanced over to the cot next to the screen door and I raised a brow. "What do you want, Buzz lightyear?"
The guy snorted at my response and he smacked his cot in amusement. "That was a good one- anyways my name's Connie Springer. What's yours?"
"Eren Jaeger," I glanced away from this Connie character. I didn't want him to see the smile of pride that was pulling at my lips. Mom and dad hadn't ruined my chance at making any friends here.
"This must be your first time here?" A deeper voice called from the top of the other bunk bed. The guy looked pretty large to be on the top bunk, it looked like he had no room to spare up there. "I'm Reiner, down there's Bertholdt. You'll have a good time here, it's not as boring as it seems,"
"Well that's a relief, this place looks like a dump," I felt myself loosen up by just talking to these guys. There was still some blondie under my bunk who hadn't introduced himself. Maybe he was shy, or too involved with that book he was reading.
"That's what everyone thinks at first. But it's really something else," Reiner's lip pulled up into a casual smirk as he glanced over to Connie. They had knowing looks in their eyes, it had me interested.
"So, who's down here?" I spoke aloud as I smacked my hand down against the mattress of my bed. The guy in the bed under me shifted, probably setting down his book, and he cleared his throat quietly.
"Oh, I'm Armin. It's a pleasure to meet you Eren," It was strange having someone introduce themselves without being able to see them, for all he knew Armin could still be reading his book and totally not interested.
"Yeah, pleasure," There was a silence for a few seconds before I grabbed a deck from my trunk and hopped down to the floor from my bed. The ladder was too unconventional. "Anyone up for cards?"
Everyone joined me on the floor in the middle of the cabin, even Hanji did. They dealt with the card shuffling and dealing since it would be only fair, blah blah blah. We spent maybe an hour or so playing various amounts of card games though it ended when a loud bell rung through the air, causing me to lose my shit and throw my hand of cards everywhere. "What the hell?!"
"Damn, you're bleeding man! You had a nice hand though," Connie said before setting his array of cards down onto the floor, showing off his junk hand.
Though while he did that I frantically checked both my hands for blood- Connie had said I was bleeding. But I couldn't find where.
"It was just a figure of speech," I heard Armin mention. He was sitting next to me, his cards were on the floor in front of himself as well. But he placed them down as Connie did. "It means your cards were showing. But it's dinner time so I suppose the game's over,"
"Oh," I stopped searching myself for any signs of blood or any wounds.
Well that kinda made sense. But I didn't linger on the thought long, my stomach growled and bitched at me to get up and get moving to dinner. It was annoying like that.
Sometimes in the middle of the night my stomach would wake me up with its hungered growls, forcing me to climb out of my warm and comfortable bed to grab a piece of toast or maybe a muffin mom had made. I couldn't do that here though, so I'd have to eat as much dinner as I could.
My stomach growled again as I threw my deck of cards into my trunk then joined the rest of my cabin mates outside (were they even called cabin mates? I wasn't sure).
The air hadn't gotten any less thick, though the sun was almost down so it wasn't as hot as when I arrived here. That was only maybe an hour and a half ago. Damn the sun moved quick.
I probably looked like a lost puppy, or maybe a confused cat as I followed the gang (I'll just call them that) over to a building that was at the bottom of that stupid hill. It was larger than the cabin, I'd say it was maybe four times the size, and had maybe a dozen wooden benches and tables inside. It looked like a normal old eating hall.
The tables had labels, mine was: Cabin 104. So I knew exactly where to sit. That was comforting. I smiled nervously as I sat down on the uncomfortable wooden bench along with Reiner, Bertholdt, Connie, Armin, and Hanji. These were the people I'd eat with for my entire time here, and that wasn't upsetting at all. They seemed nice, their company was wanted.
A plate of food was set down in front of me after a while of sitting and waiting at the wooden table. It didn't look as appetizing as moms cooking, but it smelt alright. It was just a simple plate full of proportioned spaghetti noodles and a stick of garlic bread on the side. Though on top of the spaghetti looked to be pieces of broccoli, I set those to the side of my plate immediately. Hah, no thanks.
"Curfew is nine PM," Hanji spoke up over a mouthful of chewed up noodles. They seemed to be enjoying the food. I guess I was too used to luxury.
"Why? That's so early," I seemed to be the only one at the table that looked confused by this. At home I didn't even have a curfew during the summer. All my parents needed was a phone call or text every hour to see what's up and check if I was alright. Nine at night seemed a little early to hit the hay, especially since that was only just a few hours away.
"You'll need the time to sleep, since the morning bell rings at six AM," Hanji explained with a knowing smile. They were probably expect my groan of protest at the early hour we had to wake up. I normally slept until three in the afternoon, this month would be brutal. Especially with the time zone difference, I traveled a pretty great distance to get to this camp. Mom and dad were set on punishing me well.
"That's crazy..," I grumbled to myself then set my fork down on my empty plate (save for the broccoli, I left those alone).
"It'll be worth it, this camp really is fun," My gaze went over to Armin who spoke up next to me. His lips were pulled up into a small smile that really was contagious. "I'll trust you then. What's so fun about it though?"
"There's a lot of things to do. Bert and I like riding the horses," Reiner joined into the conversation. He was still eating, he seemed to eat pretty slowly.
"Y-You'll never get bored here," This Bertholdt guy finally spoke up. I was pretty sure that's the first time he even talked to me. He looked like a nervous wreck, which was weird because he seemed to have gone here plenty of times before. "But.. What I don't like are the-"
"Anyways you'll figure it all out for yourself tomorrow morning," My brows raised when Reiner cut Bertholdt off. I wonder what the guy was gonna say.
I saw Connie's mouth open but before he could speak the sound of the mess halls screen door slamming back against the wall rung through the air. My body jolted at the sudden sound and all at once it went quiet. But that only lasted for a few seconds. Once one person shouted out "He's here!" The whole mess hall became a, well, mess.
Unfamiliar bodies rose from their seats as if they were being controlled. It was such a strange thing to see, at the door stood a guy who I've never even heard of before. And by the way people walked over to him and greeted him as he walked over to his table, you'd think he was a celebrity. If he was, he wasn't one I ever heard of.
"Who the hell's that?" I whispered to Armin, though I didn't know why I was whispering. It was loud enough for me to even scream and that guy probably wouldn't have heard me.
"That's Levi Ackerman..," Armin replied, his fingers curling a piece of blond hair as he observed the scene. "He's been coming here since he was fourteen, everyone knows of him. He's almost a celebrity amongst our ranks,"
"Really? What's so special about him?" My gaze followed this Levi character. He was stopped at every table he walked by. "He's just well liked, that's all,"
Eventually everything settled down and Levi took a seat at his own table that was five away from mine. He was at table 100 with four other guys and a counsellor who didn't seem to talk much, he only offered Levi a simple nod and a small smile. Maybe he was a mute? I wasn't sure.
It took me a while to tear my gaze away from the guy, I'd been staring for too long and almost got caught twice.
Dinner ended a while later so I left the mess hall with the 104 group. It had cooled off completely, goosebumps lined my arms as we all walked over to the cabin. The weather was so Bipolar, it was annoying.
I decided to pull on a hoodie and change into long pants, since according to Hanji we'd have to attend the welcoming campfire where the camp leader Erwin Smith would host a welcoming speech and let us all make s'mores. That sounded pretty cool I suppose.
Armin and I finished up changing first so we just decided to leave together. I was glad as hell that the fire pit wasn't down the hill, we wouldn't have to climb back up that torturous thing anymore tonight. It was only an hour until curfew.
"I'm kind of nervous," Armin spoke up as we neared the campfire. We could see the glow and hear the chatter of the people already there. My gaze drifted over to the blond walked next to me, he was curling a piece of his hair between his fingers again. It must have been a nervous habit. "Why's that? It's only a campfire. Oh are you afraid of fire? We can stay to the back if you want,"
"No that's not it," Armin shook his head slowly and we stopped by the fire pit. "Ah, just forget I mentioned anything. But just.. Be careful," I gave Armin a confused look. Be careful of what, bears? "What do you mean?"
"This camp has had some unfortunate events.. Last year a girl died in her sleep. It happens every year, though they keep that information out of the camps online website," That information made my chest tighten nervously. If such a thing happened, then why did people still come to this camp? Did they not even know? That was concerning. "No one knows about it, I only overheard Mr. Smith talking about it last year. The strange thing is.. No one remembers anything about this girl. It's like she's been wiped out from existence.. Like she's never been alive before. Not even her family remembers her,"
"I can't even remember her face. I didn't want to come this year but my parents had already paid for it. I may be paranoid though, I could have been overhearing a scary story," I could tell that Armin didn't believe the words he said, he knew he wasn't paranoid. Maybe I was imagining that though.
There was no way I could respond to all of this so I just figured I'd shrug and agree with Armin "Yeah you're probably right," I hoped it was just a scary story. Otherwise there's a chance that wouldn't make it back home alive.
The others from our cabin joined is a few minutes after. They had just made it before our attentions were turned to a man standing before the large flames of the fire. He looked like he belonged at camp; everything other than his hair. The blond strands were all slicked neatly to the side while his clothing consisted of shorts that cut off at his knees and a T shirt that had pit stains under the arms. I didn't blame him though, my other shirt I had on during the day had pit stains as well.
This was Camp Leader Erwin Smith. I recognized him from Colossal camps online profile. This man ran the whole camp, his house was even located on the camp grounds. "Welcome: to Colossal Camp!" He started, a smile formed on his lips that didn't seem to belong there. The crowd of campers and counsellors cheered after the man's words. They were all so excited.
All throughout Erwin Smith's speech about the camp, I whispered to Armin or even Connie. Buzz lightyear told me the speech was the same every year, just explaining the logistics of camp and all the things that were available to do. Apparently tomorrow there would be a swim test in the lake after breakfast, that'd be easy to succeed on.
Once the Camp Leader was finished speaking, Cabin 104's squad pushed our way over to grab some marshmallows to roast for our s'mores. Which tasted amazing, even though I burnt mine to a crisp accidentally.
By the end of the night Hanji herded us all over to the washrooms so we could brush our teeth and pee, then made sure we all got into the cabin. Hanji looked excited as they waited by the light switch as everyone got settled into their bed. I wondered why.
"Goodnight everyone! Sleep tight, don't let the raccoons bite!" The lights were then flicked out and I heard Hanji shuffle over to their bed. Raccoons bite? That wasn't how it went, I was sure of it.
It took me a while to get comfortable and finally fall asleep. Back at home I had a little puppy who always snuggled into my side as I slept, and without her I was lacking the heat I usually needed to sleep. But I eventually drifted off.