Author's Note: I don't own anything. Well, anything related to Blindspot. However, I did go to Nerd Camp and have a bunch of stuff from there. And you can't take that away from me. But this was born from the idea that Patterson totally went to Nerd Camp. Because she did – I refuse to believe this isn't canon.
"Call me, okay? Are you sure you – "
"Mom. I'll be fine. Just go!" the blonde pushed her mom out the room and closed the door behind her. She let out a contented sigh. For the moment, she was alone. She had her choice of beds, desks, and could take her time arranging it – before her roommate showed up. She hadn't been lucky enough last year, and after spending the summer with the top bunk – she'd planned ahead and been one of the first to check in this morning.
The following hours were chaos as roommates showed up, RAs were introduced, and the group was shuttled from one activity to another. Camp had officially begun.
The next morning she waited nervously on the assigned bench along the quad. The class wasn't due to meet for another fifteen minutes, but her nerves were getting to her as she waited in the dorm room. As close as they had all gotten last night, this morning was different as they paired off based on classes and interest. She'd had quickly realized no one else was in the same subject and had hurried off after breakfast to find her class. So she waited on the quad, only a few other teenagers huddled on separate benches, all like her, waiting for class to start, waiting to find their people.
Not more than five minutes after she'd arrived, a dark haired boy shuffled over. "Forensics?"
"Yeah," she answered. "We're a little early." She bit her lip as she tried to think of something else to say as he sat down beside her. The silence seemed to stretch out in front of them, and she struggled to find words. "Are you… I mean, do you like forensics?" She inwardly cringed at her awkward sentence.
"My brother took this course last year. I've always been interested but he made me so jealous – couldn't wait until I placed into it this year."
"Really?" her blue eyes lit up. "Did he tell you anything about it? I was just reading about Fourier Transform Spectroscopy. I mean, I doubt we'll get to that, but I hear the teacher is a professor at UNC, so maybe?"
"He wouldn't tell me anything." She could practically hear his eyes rolling. "Kept saying wait til next year, you'll love it."
"Brothers, right? I mean, I've got an older brother also, and that sounds exactly like something he'd do."
For the first time since he'd sat down, he looked over at her and smiled. "Eh, for the next three weeks we don't have to deal with them. That sounds like a pretty great summer to me, Patterson."
"That's my last name. Wait… how did you even know that?" her eyes narrowed as she looked at him suspiciously.
He burst out laughing, pointing to her ID card hanging around her neck. "Don't worry. I just couldn't see your first name." Staring into her eyes, he gently brushed aside her hair so he could see the whole badge. "Yeah, just going to stick with Patterson. It suits you."
Patterson twisted her lips as she thought this over. No one else called her Patterson, that was for sure, and she kind of liked having a special nickname just between the two of them. Even if it only lasted these three weeks, it seemed special.
She leaned over, trying to peer at his ID. "Fine, Ta-vo-l – what sort of last name is that!?"
"Tavoularis. My dad's Greek. Not that I mind 'Ta-vo-l' you should probably just stick with Chris." His eyes danced as he teased her.
Patterson smiled widely as she stuck out her hand. "Nice to meet you Chris, I'm Patterson."
True story: The guy I liked at summer camp, who gave me my nickname, was named David. I didn't use that name. Although I did kind of like the idea that they would have stayed in touch and started dating and that it would have worked out. Oh RIP David.