CHAPTER SIX
Welcome to the Jungle
Camp Black Bear, Dunkirk, NY: Friday, June 1
The first thing Santana noticed as she climbed out of Kurt's SUV was the sweet scent thickening the air. She would recognize that smell anywhere having spent so many summers with her Uncle Reggie and Aunt Hermosa in Burlington when she was a little girl. Apparently, maple trees were just as prevalent here as they were in Vermont. Santana wrestled her phone out of her back pocket and began snapping pictures.
"This place is gorgeous." Kurt inhaled and said, "The air is actually breathable."
Dave appeared on the other side of Santana, holding a map out in front of him like a tourist in Times Square. "This says the Welcome Center should be that way." He pointed towards a dirt path lined with maple trees.
"I'll go wake Finn," Kurt said.
Dave folded the map and slipped it into the pocket of the crimson hoodie he was wearing. Santana glanced over and saw him staring off into space. She reached out and placed a hand on his bicep.
"Hey, Big Guy – look at me."
Dave slowly, reluctantly met her gaze. Santana searched his face and saw something familiar. It was the same look she saw the day she had decided to casually out him in the middle of the Lima Bean. Of course, she had ended up outing herself as well but looking back she realized how shitty of a move that was. The look in Dave's hazel eyes was panic.
She quickly looked over her shoulder and saw Kurt fussing with Finn and then turned her attention back to Dave. "What's wrong?"
Dave's hands were shoved inside the pockets of his gray cargo shorts as he rocked back and forth on his heels.
"What if I suck at this?" he asked.
Santana remembered the text message she had received back in February. She remembered skipping glee practice and the long and agonizing drive to Mercy Health. She remembered the woman with the Kate Gosselin haircut telling her only family was permitted to see the patient and rudely reminding her that she, indeed, was not family. She remembered the long walk back to her car and she remembered how her world had collapsed in on her the moment she had shoved her key into the ignition.
Three days later, thanks to Kurt talking with Mr. Karofsky, Santana entered Dave's hospital room, a teddy bear and a bird of paradise plant in tow. For a while, the two sat and wordlessly stared at each other. Seeing Dave in that hospital bed, his body tethered to machines that beeped and chirped, was officially the most surreal experience of her life.
"That was a shitty, fucked up thing you did," she'd said, severing the silence between them.
Dave lifted his head and gave her that same smirk he gave her every time they passed each other in the hall.
"Shitty, fucked up things are sort of my MO," he said with a slight chuckle.
Santana shifted in her seat and asked, "Why didn't you call me?"
Dave scoffed and said, "You and I haven't talked since prom. The moment you lost prom queen to Kurt you were done with me." He leaned his head back and stared up at the ceiling. "Besides, I didn't have your number."
Santana bit her lip and then asked, "Where's your phone?"
"My dad had it turned off," Dave said. "He said I had over 200 texts and notifications. Apparently, a lot of people are pissed that I'm not dead." He gave a nervous laugh.
Santana felt her eyes begin to well up. "I'm so sorry, Dave."
He shrugged and looked over at her. "You know what they say. Karma's a bitch. You don't get to spend nearly four years making other people's lives a living hell and not get some form of payback."
Santana shook her head and scooted to the edge of her seat. "No, Dave – no matter what you did, you did not deserve this."
Dave squirmed in his bed a bit before he found a comfortable position. "Kurt bought me a new phone. I've got a new number and everything. It's in the top drawer."
Santana stood and walked over to the small table next to Dave's bed. She pulled open the drawer and saw a brand-new iPhone. She entered her contact information and returned the phone back to the drawer.
Twenty minutes later, an insanely hot male nurse in navy blue scrubs entered Dave's room to let her know visiting hours were over and that she could return the following day.
Santana got up and stood next to Dave's bed.
"I'm sorry," she said.
Dave frowned and asked, "What are you sorry for?"
"For outing you that day and then blackmailing you. That was a pretty shitty, fucked up thing for me to do to you."
Dave laughed and said, "Watch it – you're coming for my brand."
Promise me that if you ever, ever get to the point where you want to -." Santana swallowed. "If you ever decide to do something like this again, call me. Call Kurt."
Santana held out her pinky and waited for Dave to follow suit. Dave sighed and lifted his paw-like hand. He extended his pinky and Santana wrapped hers around his.
"I promise," he said.
Santana smiled and said, "Awesome. And Dave, if you ever pull something like this again, I will show up to your doorstep and go straight up honey badger on your ass."
Dave grinned and said, "Well, we certainly wouldn't want that."
Santana patted him on the arm and backed away from his bed. She moved to the door and placed her hand on the knob. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Dave, I'm glad you're still alive."
David swallowed and nodded his head.
"You're not going to suck at this," Santana said.
Dave rolled his eyes and said, "How do you know?"
"Because I know you, Dave," she said. "If anyone is going to be good at this, it's going to be you. You just need to get out of that head of yours and relax." She reached out and rubbed his arm and said, "You got this. They're going to love you."
Dave smirked and said, "That's exactly what Kurt said."
"Well, that's officially the smartest thing he's ever said," Santana said. "Now let's go have the best summer of our lives."
"I do like the sound of that," Dave said.
Santana held out her pinky and waited for him to do the same. Over the last few months it had become their private ritual although Dave admitted to her once that he felt completely ridiculous every time they did it.
Dave gripped her picky with his and the two of them shared a knowing smile.
"The giant has been awakened," Kurt announced joining the two of them. Finn was a few steps behind him, yawning and rubbing his face.
The four of them took the path until they arrived at a two-story cabin. There was a ladder positioned outside the front door and an older man was standing on the third rung attempting to hang a large banner above the doorway. As they moved closer to the cabin, he noticed them and started waving. He quickly climbed down the ladder and moved down a small cobblestone path towards them with the biggest grin on his face.
Santana figured he must have been in his 40's. He had a beefy upper body, a super narrow waist and thighs that could choke a grizzly bear. The brown Camp Black Bear t-shirt and the khaki short-shorts he wore looked painted on his body. With his wavy blond hair and big blue eyes, he reminded her of a giant, gay Ken Doll.
"You must be our counselors from Lima," he said. "I'm Jake. I'm one of the directors here at Camp Black Bear. Come on inside and I'll introduce you to the others."
Jake turned to head inside the cabin.
"He looks like Buzz Lightyear," Finn whispered.
Santana and Dave snickered. Kurt shot them both a deadly look.
They stepped inside the air-conditioned cabin and the first thing Santana noticed was the huge, stuffed black bear standing next to the fireplace. Like Jake, it wore a brown Camp Black Bear T-shirt and khaki shorts.
"That's Matilda, our mascot," Jake said pointing at the stuffed bear. "And this is the Welcome Center. You all are more than welcome to hang out here during your free time. My office is right upstairs. There's a game room in the back and an expresso machine."
He slapped the side of his head and said, "I'm sorry, I'm just going a mile a minute. I haven't even gotten your names."
Kurt stepped up and told Jake his name.
"Nice to officially meet you, Kurt," Jake said shaking his hand.
"Finn Hudson." Finn stepped forward and shook Jake's hand.
"A pleasure to meet you, Finn."
Santana waved and told him her name.
"Oh yes, Santana," Jake said. "We talked on the phone, yesterday. I hate that you all got stuck behind that nasty accident. I'm just glad you all made it here safely." He then turned to Dave and said, "Well, that must mean you are David … Kuh-row-skee?"
"Kuh-roff-skee," Dave said shaking the other man's hand.
"My apologies," Jake said. "Again, I want to welcome you all to Camp Black Bear. We are so excited to have you here."
"Are these our new camp counselors?" a voice called from overhead.
Santana looked up and saw an older woman descending the spiral staircase connecting the ground floor to the upstairs. She wore the same outfit as Jake except her clothes seemed to be a bit looser. She looked to be in her late-30s and she wore her hair in twists. She was quite a bit shorter than Jake and a bit on the heavier side.
"This is Katie Mason," Jake announced. "She's the other director. Katie, this is Finn and Kurt and Santana and David."
The four of them waved and exchanged pleasantries with Katie.
"We're so glad you'll be joining us this summer," Katie beamed. She turned to Jake and asked, "Did you let the others know they've arrived?"
"No," Jake said removing a walkie talkie from his pocket. "I was just about to let them know." He held the walkie talkie close to his mouth and said, "Please come to the Welcome Center. I repeat, please come to the Welcome Center."
A voice on the other end replied with, "Roger."
While they waited for the others to arrive, Santana broke away from the group and started moving around the main floor. There were framed photographs hanging on the wall closest to her. She saw a photo of two girls, maybe thirteen or fourteen, one blonde and one brunette. Their arms were around each other and their foreheads were pressed together. There was a look of pure joy on both of their faces.
This could've been me and Brittany.
The door to the cabin opened and Santana turned in time to see four kids her age enter. She moved back over to where Dave, Kurt and Finn were standing and waited to be introduced to these total strangers who would also be serving as counselors this summer.
The four new people stood in a row across from them. Santana immediately took notice of the petite girl standing directly across from her. She had curly brown hair and dark blue eyes. She had a cluster of freckles around her nose and a piercing above her left eye.
"These are our returning counselors," Jake announced. "Why don't you introduce yourselves to our newbies."
The first one in line spoke up. "My name's Anders Hamilton. This will be my fifth year at Camp Black Bear and my third year being a counselor."
"I'm Melanie Rohr but I go by Mel," the girl across from Santana spoke. "This is my third year here and my second year of being a counselor."
"I'm Teddy Simpson. My pronouns are they/them. This is also my third year at Camp Black Bear and my second year of being a counselor."
The final person took a step forward and gave a slight wave. "I'm Pari Bhandari and this is my fourth year of being here and my third year of being a counselor."
Santana watched Pari step back into line. There was something intimidating about her which was strange because Santana was not the type to intimidate easily.
"This year we are going to try something different," Katie spoke. "Both Jake and I thought it would be a good idea to pair each of the new counselors with one of the more experienced counselors. That way they can show you the ropes and give you an idea of what to expect before our campers arrive on Sunday."
"I'm going to announce your pairings and afterwards I want the senior counselors to give our newbies a tour of the camp and also show them which cabins they will be staying in." Jake held up the clipboard in his hand. "Let's see, Finn, I've paired you with Anders. Santana you will be paired with Mel. Kurt I've paired you with Teddy and David you will be paired with Pari. Lunch will be served here at the Welcome Center so just make sure you're back here at noon."
Santana felt like a freshman all over again. Mel approached her with a smile on her face. Santana held out her hand but instead Mel engulfed her in a tight hug.
"I'm sorry," Mel said, "I'm a hugger. It's the Midwesterner in me, I suppose."
"Oh, it's fine," Santana said.
"So, you're from Lee-mah?" she asked.
"Lima," Santana said. "Like the bean."
"Oh, my bad. And that's in Ohio, right?"
Santana nodded.
"I'm from Chanute, Kansas," Mel said. "I took a bus here."
"How long did that take?" Santana asked.
"Hmm, let's see, I left on Tuesday at around noon and I got here around seven yesterday morning."
"Wow," Santana said.
"I wouldn't recommend it," Mel said. "So, you ready for your tour?"
"Yeah."
"I know this place like the back of my hand. I'll show you to your cabin first and then I'll show you all of the cool spots."
"Lead the way," Santana said.
The two of them headed for the door. Santana looked over at Dave and was about to wave when she noticed Pari glaring at her. She lowered her hand and immediately exited the cabin.
"She's harmless," Mel said as the two of them started off down a paved path.
"Who is?"
"Pari," she answered. "In case you didn't notice, she was staring daggers at us the whole time we were talking."
Santana wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. "What's her deal? Did I do something wrong?"
"No, you did nothing wrong. Pari and I had a bit of a blow up at the end of last summer. Yesterday was the first time we've seen each other since."
The two of them crossed a small bridge over a tiny creek. Santana struggled to keep up with Mel who was quite the speed walker.
"Santana," Mel spoke. "Mind if I ask you something rather personal."
"Um, sure."
"You have a significant other?"
Santana thought of Brittany and smiled. "Yeah – a girlfriend."
Mel smiled and said, "Good. That means you probably won't make the same mistake I did."
"Which is?"
Mel sighed and crossed her arms. "Do yourself a favor, Santana. Talk to your girlfriend as much as you can. Text her. Call her. Write to her."
Santana thought of the stationery Brittany had helped her pick out at Michael's. In her free time, Santana planned on writing a lot of letters to Brittany and to her mom.
"Whatever you do," Mel continued. "Do not fall for another camp counselor."
Before Santana had a chance to ask Mel to elaborate, the other girl was already walking away. Santana figured it was a conversation for another day and rushed to keep up.