A/N: Okay! This is the longest chapter so far. Now that I've caught up with the one I have posted on Ao3, I try to update weekly - every Sunday. I hope I can keep up with the schedule. Also, I will shift perspectives for the first time in this chapter so tell me what you think! Thanks!
CAMP SILAS - Chapter 4: Drop-Off Day
A wake up bugle call jolts Laura awake. She sits up from her bed and grabs her phone. Really? It's six in the morning, for Pete's sake. She glances over on the bed opposite her and sees Carmilla burying her head under her pillow. When the bugle call repeats once more, she throws the blanket above her head and curls up in a ball.
The sight is amusing since Carmilla sounds like she's purring and growling at the same time. "You can't be serious! I just slept!" Laura hears her groan.
Come to think of it, Laura drifted off to sleep after she dove right into her bed because of that embarrassing reaction she made when Carmilla called her by her real name. How long had Carmilla been up then? She should've rest. After all, today's the drop off day and Laura knows how chaotic that will be. She looks over at Carmilla who stopped moving now that the morning call has finished.
Laura contemplates on whether she should let Carmilla sleep in and just wake her up when it's almost the welcoming ceremony but the said girl already makes the decision for her. Carmilla sits up, the blanket falls from her head to her lap. She is looking sleepily at Laura with pouty lips and squinted eyes. The brunette heaves out a sigh and looks around as if trying to assess where she is.
"Morning." Laura says coyly, raising her hand up to make a movement. This seems to catch Carmilla's eye because one of her perfectly-shaped eyebrows shoots up. Laura tries her best not to laugh because this girl is adorably cute on mornings and definitely different from the usual smirking Carmilla she met yesterday. She still looks confused though so Laura speaks up again. "Uh, Carmilla?"
"Tell me I won't be waking up to trumpets every morning because I will seriously regret agre-" Carmilla stops talking at the sight of her roommate slowly tilting her head to the side, looking at her curiously. She shakes her head and frowns. "What time is it?"
"Six AM."
A loud sigh comes from Carmilla. "Waking up this early should be illegal." She groans, standing up from the bed and moving slowly towards the bathroom. "You do agree don't you, creampuff?"
Laura rolls her eyes; of course, Carmilla's back to calling her by edible nicknames. "Well, if you hate mornings so much, you probably shouldn't have signed up for this job."
The bathroom door slams shut and for the next thirty minutes, Laura's patience gradually reaches zero as she realizes that Carmilla may or may not have slept while inside the bathroom. Reaching her forty-fifth minute, Carmilla emerges from the bathroom, smirking at Laura who stops shouting 'Carmilla, I swear to god, if you don't come out there anytime soon, I will be very upset!'.Laura looks away at the realization that Carmilla only has a towel wrapped around her body and Laura scolds herself for actually gawking for a few good seconds.
"Cat got your tongue, cupcake?" Carmilla smirks.
Laura doesn't even dignify that with an answer. Instead, she storms to the bathroom with her change of clothes and locks the door immediately. "You're unbelievable!" She grunts, loudly enough for her roommate to hear.
"I get that a lot." Carmilla replies from the other side of the door.
Laura grits her teeth and groans. She removes her clothes and steps in the shower only to see the drain full of hair. She's sure that wasn't the case yesterday. Between her and her roommate, she's sure she doesn't have dark brown hair. Will it kill her to clean the drain?! Laura grunts.
She hears a door closing and assumes that Carmilla already left, not even bothering to wait for her or say that she'll head out first. Yes, Laura unconsciously nods, her roommate is incredibly unbelievable.
The mess hall is quiet when Laura gets there. LaFontaine is at the kitchen; Perry is talking to Kirsch animatedly; two staff is on the same table as Kirsch and Perry – one is a girl with short, ash blonde hair, the other is a guy with jet-black hair. Julia's sitting in the middle of the two, looking all over the place. They're all wearing the camp staff shirts, contrary to Laura's blue polo shirt. LaFontaine spots her when they left the kitchen with a tray of food in their hands. "Laura, come on over." They call her.
Laura walks over to them with a small smile on her face. "Good morning." She greets.
"Laura, I'd like to introduce you to Richard and Isabel." Perry gestures the two new faces. Laura looks at them who smiles widely at her and she nods in return. "They arrived early this morning. They've been staffs here at the camp for two years now. You two," Perry faces them. "This is Laura. She's one of our new staffs here."
"But definitely not a new face here in camp." LaFontaine interjects, laughing. Laura smiles at the two before giving LaF a playful shove once they settled the food on the table.
Despite the company, Laura actually notices that someone's missing. It seems like she's not the only one though. Julia raises her head to look at Laura. She smiles a little then looks around the table. "Where is Carmilla?" She asks; her gaze back at Laura.
All eyes are on Laura after that. "Yes, Laura. Where is Carmilla?" Perry asks.
"Uh," She has no clue because her roommate is one huge ball of mystery, how's that for an answer? Then again, even she is curious. Carmilla is absolutely not in the cabin when she left. Laura's surprised that Julia remembers Carmilla's name though. She must've really taken a liking to the mysterious brunette.
The door to the mess hall opens and in comes Carmilla in her leather pants (is that going be her trademark look or what?), an Arctic Monkeys band shirt and – Laura actually smirks – a black converse. At least she dropped the boots look. She nods at all of them and saunters her way to the table, sitting next to Laura who looks at her in confusion. "Went around for a walk." Carmilla tells her in a quiet voice. Carmilla smiles and waves at Julia who lights up at the sight of her.
"Ah, right. So, this is Carmilla. She's new, like Laura." Perry says, introducing Carmilla to the others. "Carmilla, they're Richard and Isabel. They're also part of the staff." She adds.
Carmilla briefly looks at them and gives them a small smile before turning her attention to Julia. The breakfast went on quietly. Laura watches Carmilla's interactions with everyone. The brunette is quiet and doesn't talk unless she's asked. Laura's pretty much the same but it actually feels like Carmilla's detaching herself from the conversation in contrast to Laura who tries to at least listen to everyone.
"The mothers are quite the sight every drop-off day. You'll get to meet all kinds." Isabel says on one point of the conversation. For a moment, Laura remembers her mom during drop-off day. She'd always kiss her on the forehead and say that she loves her before leaving. How she misses those days. Her thoughts are interrupted though when she notices how Carmilla begins poking her food instead of actually eating it.
Carmilla's… something.
The dirty-blonde girl can't really pinpoint what exactly Carmilla is right now. She doesn't actually look sad. Angry? Annoyed? Afraid, even? Laura doesn't know. All she knows is that the conversation is making Carmilla uncomfortable. She can feel her beside her, tensed and stiff.
"Ah, by the way," Laura says. They all look at them, seeing as she's about to start a new topic. "When do the other staffs arrive?" She inquires, smiling.
Somehow, they all shift to talking about the staff members after Perry answers that the other staffs will be arriving before the kids do. Laura joins the conversation for the early part. She looks over at Carmilla who seems to loosen up now that people aren't talking about whatever caused her to stiffen earlier. She is met with dark brown eyes as she realizes that Carmilla is looking at her, had been since she began a new topic, probably.
The growing mystery of this girl continues in Laura's head.
Turns out Carmilla doesn'tlike kids. At all. She's not even good with them. She has been hiding behind Laura the whole time the kids start arriving. Laura groans, feeling as if she grew a tail that follows her around. She's been ignoring the girl though, assisting the kids and parents. When she finds the opportunity, Laura turns to look at Carmilla briefly. "Carmilla, they're kids. They're not really going to hurt you."
Carmilla rolls her eyes in reply. The dirty-blonde girl sneaks a glance at Carmilla and wonders if anything will actually make the girl look bad. Even the camp staff shirt looks good on her. Perry handed them the three sets of camp staff clothes earlier and Carmilla had the ridiculous idea of ditching the camp shirts for her band clothes but seeing how Perry gave her a disapproving look, she gave up with a loud huff (she's still wearing her leather pants though).
Laura shrugs. At least the brunette's not being visibly rude to the kids. She's so confused how Carmilla managed to handle Julia yesterday. Laura smiles at a kid who bumps into her and pats him on the head, ushering him to the welcoming area. Carmilla tails closely behind her. "Hey creampu-"
"Excuse me," A little girl catches Laura's attention and asks her if she can still talk to her mom and dad while on camp. Laura nods and tells her that her parents can send her camp mails. The girl smiles and runs off to her parents. "Ah, she's so cute." Laura mumbles to herself but Carmilla heard her.
"You know, the thing about kids is that they look really cute and kind but then they'll start screaming and crying until it gets too annoying." Carmilla says, as if that justifies what she's been doing the whole time. "Any-"
"I still don't know why you're acting like you're so afraid of them though." Laura retorts, shaking her head. Carmilla scowls at her. "Besides, some teens are here too. You can at least help them settle in." She looks over to the group of teens under one of the trees. One looks particularly like Danny. She's tall and has striking red hair. Laura frowns at the thought of Danny. She wonders how she's doing. If she's been busy with work. If she ever crossed her mind. Laura frowns at the fact that she still worries about Danny. The tall girl probably has Sarah Jane with her, minding their own business and here she is, thinking about Danny. How sad can she be?
The brunette whistles behind her, catching Laura's attention. She turns to her, raising an eyebrow. "And what? Listen to their long talks about their apparently perfect lives where their parents spoil them? No thanks." She shrugs.
"I really don't understand you, Carmilla. What do you want?" Laura places her hands on her hips and frowns. Carmilla opens her mouth to speak but Laura cuts her off, thinking that she's just going to give her a snarky response once again. "Why don't you just go brood somewhere else rather than following me around?"
It seems that her words had taken Carmilla aback because she flinches and looks on the ground. "Well forgive me if I'm not good at this but I was actually trying to find an opportunity to thank you for what you did last night and during breakfast, assuming that you did that intentionally but since you're so busy…" She stops, shaking her head and turning to her heels. "…you know what, whatever." Carmilla says, looking like she's actually hurt by what Laura said by the way her shoulders deflate. "Now that that's out, yeah, maybe I'll go brood somewhere, Laura."
Okay, Laura did not expect that. Great, now she feels bad taking it all out on Carmilla. Unlike last night, she didn't like the way her name rolled off of her tongue. It sounded so cold. She looks over to where Carmilla walked off to and see's that she's leaning against a tree, being her broody self.
Laura tries to make her way to Carmilla but she bumps into a girl, this time a teenager who scoffs at her. Okay. Rude.
"Ah, there you are Laura!" Perry calls her, running over to her from the welcoming area by the camp stage. "I need your help with the camp activities sign-up. Some of the staff still hasn't arrived yet."
She smiles slightly at Perry but looks to where Carmilla previously was and sees that she's talking to some kids who seem to have surrounded her around the tree she was previously leaning onto. Later, Laura decides. She looks back to Perry and nods. "Yeah sure, why not."
Perry looks around from the front of the staffs' cabin, waiting for all the counselors to come inside. JP, the counselor in charge of the boys, is talking to LaFontaine about the schedules of the activities. She raises an eyebrow when JP pats them on the shoulder and smiles. Perry has no idea how the two became close but she guesses at least they're being more open. Still, she can't help but feel a bit bothered by this.
She wills her previous thoughts away when Laura and Kirsch enters the cabin – them being the last ones. She watches as Kirsch nods to Laura, who smiles at him. They both walk over to where they think they should be, Kirsch walking over to the other male counselors while Laura slides on the bench, next to Carmilla who has been sitting at the far back of the cabin.
She notices how Laura keeps on glancing at Carmilla. She can't put her finger on it but it seems like there's tension between the two. Perry knows what that pouting lips, furrowed eyebrows and uneasy posture means. Laura's guilty of something. Did sweet, caring and all sunshine and daisies, Laura Hollis actually offend someone? That's news.
"Hey Perr, looks like everyone's here." Perry hears LaFontaine behind her. When Perry doesn't reply for a while, they follow her line of sight and nods. "What's up with those two?" They ask.
"I don't really know, LaFontaine but Laura looks guilty. Don't you think so?"
"Yeah, and Carmilla seems to be in a bad mood. I didn't think anything can upset that Carmilla."
"LaFontaine," Perry starts, glancing at them. "Are you actually implying that the girl has no feelings?"
They shrug. "Well, okay, maybe that came out harsh but really? Frosh? Of all the people huh." LaFontaine chuckles.
Perry looks at her friend, obviously concerned. "I don't know, dear. Do you think we should separate them? Liz has no roommate. She and Laura might get along." Perry whispers to them.
"Laura said she's fine, Perr." LaFontaine places a hand on her back and smiles, nodding to Laura and Carmilla's direction. "Besides, look at them. Laura looks like she really wants to make things work out for the two of them. Remember when Laura was new in camp and we watched her try to make friends before we approached her?" They nudge Perry's side gently. "She's probably reliving the experience." Lafontaine finishes.
She's very thankful that LaFontaine is at her side. They always seem to know what to tell her. Then again, they've been friends for so many years now. Of course LaFontaine would know. They always have.
Perry smiles fondly at LaFontaine before looking at the people in the room and clearing her throat. "Okay everyone, I'll be handing out your schedules for the camp activities."
Laura shifts on her seat, the obvious irritation radiating from Carmilla making her uncomfortable. People rarely get mad at her. The worst was probably yesterday's mishap. Now though she's not entirely sure if she'd consider that as the worst since Carmilla is really making her feel guilty.
At least, it was unintentional yesterday and she doesn't have to spend time with them (given, because she lost her job – of course she can't spend time with them anymore). With Carmilla though; she lashed out on her because she remembered Danny when the girl was just trying to thank her, as awkward as her method was.
Plus, they're not only co-workers but roommates too.
Perry and another guy Laura doesn't recognize are handing out the schedules to the counselors. Of course Perry had prepared the schedules of the counselors beforehand. She's always organized after all. Laura remembers when Perry tells her back when she still goes to camp as a camper that choosing schedules for the counselors have always been a riot.
The pros of having a schedule prepared beforehand? They get out of here sooner.
The cons? Well, they're stuck with whatever's written on the schedule.
There's about thirty people inside the cabin. The girls outnumber the boys but there's a decent amount of guys there at least. Laura looks over to Kirsch who is talking to another guy who is about two feet smaller than he is.
"Ah, here you are. Laura, here's yours." Perry hands out a paper to Laura, causing her to look her friend's way. "And Carmilla." Carmilla takes the paper, not even bothering to look at it. She nods at Perry and resumes looking out the window.
The curly-haired girl taps Laura on the shoulder and gives her a worried look after eyeing Carmilla.
Laura appreciates the gesture. Perry obviously sees how Carmilla's not in good terms with Laura at the moment. She places a hand on top of Perry's hand which stayed on her shoulder and nods, as if telling her that it'll be okay. Laura doesn't know that, of course. But she'll make it okay.
She hopes.
"People, stick to your schedules. If it so happens that you see something wrong with your schedules, please do come talk to me and we'll sort it out." Perry announces as soon as she finished handing out the schedules. "You'll be working by pairs; a different person for each activity so I'm hoping that you all get along."
"Okay everyone, lunch is at 12 sharp. Meet you all at the mess hall." LaFontaine shouts from the front. The people start standing up from their seats but Carmilla is quicker than them because she's out of the cabin in a heartbeat.
When Mattie told Carmilla about her mother finally letting her do what she wants if she grants this request, Carmilla never thought it had to be this, of all things. She hates being around so many people. She hates noisy kids. She hates waking up early.
She just hates everything.
And now she's really annoyed at this girl who she just met yesterday for some petty reason. Okay, maybe not that petty because she was just looking for the right opportunity to thank her but then the girl lashes out on her for unknown reasons but, usually, Carmilla won't make a big deal out of it. She wonders why that got on her nerves and truthfully speaking, she has no idea why.
There's something about how Laura treated her yesterday that somehow made her actually want to try and at least be nice to her but, thanks to the whole lashing out incident earlier this morning, Carmilla decides that she doesn't want to pursue her plan. No, she doesn't need to be close to someone who is just like her.
Carmilla looks around the cabins, seeing the kids getting settled and getting acquainted. Her mind briefly wanders about that little kid yesterday, Julia. Earlier she observed that there aren't many kids around Julia's age group. Most were probably ten years of age and above. She wonders if the little girl's making friends.
She shakes her head and sighs. It is so not like her to worry about others but, the little girl reminded her awfully about herself. And, she showed signs that maybe, she's in the same situation she was in before. Hopefully not,Carmilla thinks. Somehow, she wants to do something for the little girl. Something that she wished someone did for her back then.
Caring is a hassle, she tells herself.
Walking back to their cabin, she hopes that she can take a nap for the whole day since the official camp activities start tomorrow morning. Maybe she can skip the meals and just sleep for the rest of the day? Sounds like a plan. Carmilla twists the knob of their cabin's door and pushes it open. She flops down her bed and sighs. She needs to ask Ginger One which fabric softener they're using on these sheets because it's amazing. She spends a few minutes trying to justify why Perry should be Ginger One while LaFontaine should be Ginger Two. Her conclusion? She met Perry first so she's Ginger One. LaFontaine can be Ginger Two.
The door to their room bursts open and Carmilla groans, lying on her side and facing the wall when Laura enters the room. "Carmilla?" The tiny girl calls out. She doesn't respond. "Carmilla. I heard your groan earlier. I know you're awake."
"What? You want me to brood somewhere else again?" The words were out of her mouth before she could even think about what she should say. What is she, a child?
Thankfully, Laura doesn't comment about it. "No, no, Carmilla, look, I'm sorry." She mumbles. "I know, I was rude earlier but I promise I didn't mean what I said. I just remembered something and I got annoyed and I lashed out at you and I'm sorry, okay? I really didn't mean to do that. And I'm serious about this apology because I can't stand the thought that someone's mad at me. One time during third grade, I cried for an hour because my friend won't accept my apology and, well, I guess I'm just saying I'm starting to freak out about you being mad at me. I have enough people mad at me and yesterday was kind of nice and I'm rambling, aren't I? But, really I am so sorry-"
Carmilla managed to sit up on the bed halfway through Laura's rambling and she looks at the girl in awe. The girl is looking down on her feet as she talks nonstop. "Cupcake," Carmilla hesitantly holds her by the wrist, just to catch her attention. "Breathing in between sentences is legal." She reminds.
"Right." Laura takes a deep breath and bites her lip, looking at Carmilla. The brunette fights the urge to smile because this girl is adorable. "I'm so sorry Carmilla. I really-"
"I heard you the first time and I'm sure I've heard all the other apologies that came after that." She says, letting go of her roommate's wrist. "Stop apologizing, sundance."
Laura doesn't seem to appreciate the new nickname but doesn't comment on it again. "Okay, sorry." The tiny girl flinches at the realization that she just apologized once again. "Yeah, so, we're good? We're friends?"
Carmilla rolls her eyes but smiles. "Yes, creampuff. We're good." She says, nodding. "Friends. Though I suggest you don't tell anybody. I don't do friends."
The dirty-blonde's face lightens up and Carmilla swears the room brightened just because of her smile. "Oh really?" Laura says, as if taunting her.
"I've got a reputation to keep."
Laura laughs at this. "Yeah, you do." Her smile softens, it's not the same bright smile as earlier but it still conveys some sort of happiness in them. "Thank goodness, I really couldn't handle you being mad at me." Laura lets out a breath. She walks to her bed and sits down. "Besides, so far, you're the only staff besides Perry and LaFontaine that I know and I want to us to be okay."
Carmilla could only nod as she lies back down her bed once again. "Not that I don't like talking to you, cupcake but, I could really use some sleep right now." She smirks at Laura who seems like she's just about to jump to a new tale about why she's glad they're okay. Laura blushes (this girl can set a record for blushing so fast) and nods, smiling at Carmilla. With that, she closes her eyes.
She doesn't wake up until it's already dinner and she sees that Laura has saved a seat beside her, as if already anticipating that she'll be up by then. The mess hall is noisy with all the kids around but Carmilla doesn't seem to mind. She's starving and Laura's laughing about a joke that Ginger Two made. Their joke is indeed funny and somehow, she finds herself smiling.
Maybe it won't be so bad after all.