Author's Note: And I'm back again. This chapter should introduce you to a couple of OCs I made. Expect them to show up a lot in my fanfics. On a side note, I've decided to give Calvin the last name Watterson, and I also gave his parents names for the sake of the story-Tom for Dad, and Melissa for Mom, because it's going to get kind of awkward to write their dialogue if they only call each other "dear" or "honey" or some other pet names. They still will use those terms at some points, though, and will mostly be referred to as Mom and Dad. This is still Calvin's story, after all.
Now that that's all over with, we can finally get on with the story. Read away.
"CALVIN!"
Calvin groaned. It was morning, and his mom was calling for him from downstairs. Unfortunately for his mom, Calvin's brain was still in sleep mode, and didn't want to send the rest of his body the message for it to get up.
Calvin pulled the blanket over his head and tried to sleep some more.
"CALVIN, GET UP!" His mother continued to shout from the floor below. Calvin tried to bury himself deeper into the bed.
"THIS IS THE LAST TIME, CALVIN!"
"Just get up, Calvin." Hobbes grumbled. "I want to sleep."
With a loud, noisy groan, Calvin flung the blankets off of him.
"FINE." he said. "But you agreed to coming with me, so you need to get up, too."
Hobbes stretched and yawned. "I was hoping you'd forget that."
"What?" asked Calvin, who had begun putting his clothes on.
"Nothing." muttered Hobbes.
"IF YOU AREN'T DOWN HERE IN A MINUTE, I'M COMING UP THERE MYSELF!" Mom shouted.
Wisely, Calvin and Hobbes began to pick up the pace.
Mom watched as Calvin trudged down the stairs, still half-asleep. His backpack was slung over his shoulder, and he was carrying his little tiger doll that he brought everywhere in a way that his mother secretly thought was adorable, but wouldn't admit it to anyone.
"You're certainly energetic this morning." she noted.
"If only he got up at this hour sooner." Calvin's dad noted.
"Dear!" Mom said.
"I don't see any problem with it." Dad said. "I always like to start my morning by getting up at 6 o'clock AM, taking a brief jog, that a nice breakfast of oatmeal. The more you can get done in a day, the better!"
Calvin just silently ate his cereal, mostly because he was too tired to really say anything.
"Hey, Calvin," Dad said, turning his attention to his son. "Just think of how much character you'll build at summer camp! Hiking, canoeing, camping..."
"I don't think you're helping, Tom!" Mom said.
Calvin finished his cereal, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and began walking to the door. Mom followed him, mostly to make sure he didn't bolt as soon as he was outside.
Dad smiled as he watched his son leave. "What a lucky boy Calvin is! I never got to do any of the things he gets to do when I was his age!"
Calvin and his mother stood at the bus stop, waiting for the bus to come and take Calvin to summer camp. Calvin had now traded in his tiredness for scowling in the directing of where the bus would soon be.
"Calvin?" asked his mother.
"What?" Calvin replied, making no attempt to hide his grouchiness.
"You're taking Hobbes with you to camp?" she went on, noticing the tiger doll he had in his arm.
"Of course I am!" Calvin said indignantly. "Why would I willingly go to such a nightmarish place as summer camp alone?"
"Well," Mom said. "Don't you think the other kids might pick on you for bringing him?"
"Why would they?" Calvin questioned. "Hobbes is a tiger, Mom! A voracious apex predator! The undisputed king of the wild! The if someone makes fun of Hobbes, he'll eat them alive!"
Mom sighed. Calvin always seemed to think that Hobbes was a real tiger, and not a stuffed toy, but she didn't want to take one of the joys of childhood away from her son. Besides, he'd grow out of it eventually. At least, she hoped that would be the case...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a pine green bus pulling up at the sidewalk and opening it's doors. Calvin begrudgingly began walking through the doors, not looking back as his mother waved goodbye-Not necessarily out of callousness or spite, but because he was too grumpy to notice that she was waving.
Mom watched as the doors closed and the bus drove off. "I hope the camp is able to survive Calvin for a week." she noted.
Calvin sat in the bus, arms crossed, his face in a pout. It had been about half an hour now. Or maybe a day. Perhaps a week. He couldn't tell, there wasn't a clock in there, and Calvin's watch had conveniently stopped working.
"Hey, Calvin?" asked Hobbes.
"What?" Calvin grumbled irritably.
"What's the camp named again?"
"Hows should I know?!" Calvin demanded. "I haven't read the pamphlet!"
"Then do we have the pamphlet on hand somewhere?" Hobbes pressed on.
Calvin paused for a minute. "I don't think I packed it."
Hobbes checked Calvin's backpack. "I seem to remember putting it is the front compartment after we learned Moe was at the camp... Ah! There it is!" The tiger pulled the pamphlet out of the front pocket of Calvin's backpack. He then proceeded unfold it and shift himself so that Calvin could see the pamphlet too.
Written on the front of the booklet was CAMP SCIENTIST in big yellow letters with a red outline. Below was the tagline, "WE'LL MAKE YOUR KIDS INTO SCIENTISTS!" Both the title and tagline were in all caps. The two read through the booklet, checking the activities. "Hmm..." said Hobbes. "Let's see here… Camping, hiking, canoeing..."
"In other words, Camp Scientist has nothing to do with scientists." said Calvin.
"Yep." replied Hobbes.
"What we have here is a clear-cut case of false advertising. I propose we file a lawsuit immediately once we get back." Calvin declared.
Hobbes tried his best not to roll his eyes, when he noticed something on the pamphlet. He brought the pamphlet closer to his eyes so he could read it.
"It says here that the place used to be called Camp Grizzly, but it was bought by this rich guy called Frank M.A.D. Mann, who renamed the place to Camp Scientist. It also says that he'll be at the camp."
"But does it say why he has three middle names?" Calvin asked. "I mean, really, who gives their kid three middle names? It's like giving an animal four words for their scientific name instead of two! They might as well just use the acronym as his real middle name!"
Hobbes checked the pamphlet as Calvin continued to rant. "Nope, nothing about the three middle names. Guess we'll ask him when we get there."
"Ask him?" Calvin asked. "Don't you think he'd be a little sensitive about that? Having three middle names sounds like something he'd be embarrassed about."
"I think he'd be more embarrassed about the fact that saying the acronym of his middle name and his last name sounds like 'madman'."
Calvin nodded. "It does make him sound like a supervillain, doesn't it?"
"Do you think he might be?" asked Hobbes.
Calvin took in a deep breath, signalling to Hobbes that a rant about the many injustices in the world (And, more importantly, to Calvin, was about to start). The tiger sighed. "Oh boy."
"Hobbes," Calvin began. "Anybody who works at a summer camp is a supervillain. The only thing more cruel than keeping kids trapped at school during the school year for half a day is keeping kids trapped, during summer, FOR AN ENTIRE DAY, FOR A FULL WEEK!"
Everyone in the vehicle turned their head to Calvin-With the exception of the bus driver, of course. Any good bus driver should know that taking their eyes off the road would usually have catastrophic results, and so the bus driver kept his eyes on the road, his focus absolute.
Calvin opened his mouth to continue his rant, when the bus suddenly slowed to a halt.
"What the-?" Calvin began. He was interrupted as the doors flung open, showing that either he had been bored out of his mind for longer than he thought, or the drive had been shorter than he thought, because they had finally reached the camp.
"Alright, everyone." said the bus driver. "We're here. Go out and stretch you legs and run around or whatever."
The most hyperactive kids came out first, dashing out like miniature bolts of lightning. They were followed by the rest of the passengers, pushing and shoving to get through the cramped space and out the door. The kids who had fallen asleep during the ride, intentional or not, trailed behind, slowly dragging their feet as fast as their half-asleep brains could move them.
Calvin, on the other hand, had different ideas.
"Hey, Calvin?" asked Hobbes. "We're here. The other kids are all going out."
"If they want to give up their freedom, that's fine by me." Calvin replied. "But I'm staying. If we don't leave, then the driver will just go back to wherever buses go when they're not driving around. We'll sneak out, and walk the rest of the way back home."
"Ah." said Hobbes.
"I can here you back there." said the bus driver. "And I'd like to say that it's time to get out."
"Stay silent." Calvin hissed. "Make him think he's just hearing things, and he'll just drive away."
"I know you're there." the driver said. "And I also know that the counselors are giving out free money to whoever gets to the gathering area first."
Now he had Calvin's attention. "Free money?" he asked, raising his eyebrow and abandoning all stealth. Hobbes rolled his eyes. So much for staying silent.
"Oh yeah." replied the bus driver. "They'll give out a whole twenty bucks to whoever gets in there first. I'd hurry out there if I were you."
"COME ON, HOBBES!" Calvin shouted, rushing out the door. "WE'VE GOT A FREE TWENTY DOLLARS WAITING FOR US!"
Hobbes sighed and followed him, carrying the backpack that Calvin had conveniently decided not to carry.
The bus driver chuckled as the spiky-haired boy rushed out the doors. "Works every time."
Calvin skidded to a halt, panting heavily, in front of the counselor's cabin. A man was standing in front of the kids, listing off their names. He was a middle-aged man, was wearing a Hawaiian shirt, shorts, shades and sandals, looking more like a tourist than a counselor. The man had black hair and a bushy mustache. Written on his name tag was "Mr. Bill." He looked slightly like Calvin's Uncle Max in appearance.
But that wasn't important. What was important was that Calvin clearly wasn't the first one to get to the gathering area, and therefor wouldn't be getting the free twenty bucks.
"Darn it." he muttered. "There goes the twenty dollars."
"The guy was probably lying about that anyways." Hobbes pointed out, dropping the backpack as he reached the gathering area.
"Lie?" Calvin questioned incredulously. "To a child? Why would he-"
"Calvin Watterson." called Mr. Bill.
"What?" asked Calvin, his train of thought interrupted.
Mr. Bill wrote down Calvin's name on the clipboard in his hands. "Now that we have everyone here, I'd like to go over the rules of the camp. There will be no littering, no bullying, no aggressiveness or violence, no breaking camp equipment..."
Calvin began zoning out. He never really cared about rules, and this was no different.
After a couple minutes, Mr. Bill ended his listing of the rules. "If you ever forget the rules, they're pinned up on the walls of our sleeping cabins, and in the cabins you'll be staying in. Now, we'll be assigning you all a partner."
Calvin let out a groan. He positively hated working with other people. Always yelling at him, calling him out for being a weirdo, smashing him into walls, the list went on.
"Here at Camp Scientist," Mr. Bill went on. "We greatly value and encourage teamwork. Because of this, we make sure that everyone has a partner and friend when they come to this camp. This year, we have an even ratio of boys and girls, the first time in camp history. Due to this turn of events, we decided that each boy would be paired up with a girl, and vice versa."
Calvin groaned again, and this time, about half the campers joined him. As if being given a partner wasn't suffering enough, his partner would be a girl!
Mr. Bill began listing off names, partnering them up with a camper of the opposite gender.
Calvin clasped his hands together, silently praying he wouldn't be with Susie. "Pleasenotsusiepleasenotsusiepleasenotsusie..." he whispered desperately.
Hobbes just rolled his eyes.
"Susie and Moe." Mr. Bill said. Susie and Moe walked up in front of him, and he walked slowly ahead, calling up the next pair of kids.
Calvin let out a breath. He wouldn't be with Susie.
Mr. Bill continued listing off pairs, until finally, he got to Calvin. "Calvin and Sakura." he said.
Calvin grumbled and began walking up to him, dragging his feet as he went. While not being paired up with Susie was a massive relief, it still wasn't enough to put him in a good mood. Hobbes picked up the backpack and followed him.
Calvin stopped in front of Mr. Bill, as did his new partner, who was apparently named Sakura (Which was a really weird name, if you asked Calvin).
"Calvin," said Mr. Bill. "This is Sakura. Sakura, this is Calvin. I know this the first time at Camp Scientist for both of you, so I'd like you to work together. Get to know each other. Find out what the two of you like. Besides, it looks like you both brought along some friends of your own." He winked, and walked away.
Calvin turned to his new "partner." "Hello." she said, waving.
The girl-Sakura-had black hair, tied into pigtails. She was wearing a skirt, blue on top and pink near the bottom, with a flower on the top. The flower had pink petals and a yellow center. She was also wearing black socks that went just above her knees.
Then Calvin noticed her eyes. Those eyes were not normal. Not at all. Her left eye was normal-It was a nice, standard blue. It was her right eye that was strange: It was a deep crimson color, like rubies. The effect of having separately colored eyes, one of which was not a normal human eye color, was quite jarring.
"What's up with your eye?" Calvin blurted.
"Frankly, we've got no idea." said an unfamiliar voice. Calvin turned towards the source of the voice, and his eyes widened. Standing at Sakura's side was a robot, just a little over a head taller than Calvin. How he hadn't noticed him, he had no idea.
The robot looked to be made of black plastic, with glowing teal lines on his body, specifically a ring around where his stomach would be, and around his wrists and ankles. His arms started with a silvery rod, then a black cylinder with a bright teal ring near the hands, followed by the hands themselves.
His main body was round on the sides, and his legs were similar to his arms, but instead of hands, there were round, shoe-like feet. His head was round, though not a full circle, with two large, glowing blue lenses for eyes. A small, glowing teal dome was embedded in his chest.
"This is my friend, Nikola." Sakura said, gesturing towards the robot.
"Hey." said the robot-Nikola, apparently. "I'm here to make references nobody understands and snark at people doing stupid things."
An awkward silence fell over the group. Finally, Hobbes spoke: "We only just got here and we've already met a robot. I don't think I want to stick around and see what's next." And with that, he dashed off in a flash of orange and black.
"HEY!" Calvin shouted, running after him. "GET BACK HERE!"
Nikola sighed as he watched the two run off. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Note: And Chapter 2 is finished, thankfully in much less time than the last one. Anyways, I'm sure many of you know that Sakura is a Japanese name, and I'd like to confirm that yes, she is Japanese. I'll elaborate on it next chapter. As for how I chose the names: Nikola is named after Nikola Tesla, creator of the Tesla coil, and Sakura is one letter away from the last name of Masahiro Sakurai, the guy who made both the Kirby series and the Super Smash Bros. series. If you haven't played either, I highly suggest you do.
If you actually read all this, go get yourself a cookie.