Thanks to the commenter who pointed out that I uploaded the wrong chapter. I'm embarrassed I messed that up!

Matthew wasn't expecting anyone to come back to the cabin so soon. After following his new cabinmate Yao and all his loud cousins around feeling very much like a third wheel, he managed to conjure up an excuse to retreat back to his quiet cabin and rest.

He felt comfortable enough around them, but he got the feeling they weren't too interested in him. He was sitting on the outside of their group and listening to them chat with each other, laugh at jokes that he was sure you had to be there for, while he stared past them at the skies and trees.

He was fine with that, he can respect that they had their own little group. If anything it made him wish he had close relatives like them to be friends with. He just hoped that some of the other kids here wouldn't be so exclusive.

He had followed them around as they routed out their friends and other cousins at the camp. Yao had only thought to introduce Matthew to them when the others looked at him funny. He didn't introduce them to Matthew though, but before Matthew could take the initiative to wave and do it himself the conversation moved on. He tried to not feel so awkward and brushed it off, he had yet to meet his other cabin mates after all. Maybe they'd be more interested in the newcomer.

Then they all gathered for lunch around the shaded side of the dining hall. Matthew found himself sitting on the dirt and against the wall with the group, content to listen to their conversation as they ate. But he really didn't want to hang out with them for the entirety of the camp. It quickly became apparent that they already had their own group, and there weren't any vacancies.

Still, he was grateful for having somewhere to be. Even if he was just following their group around for the day, he felt less lost. Or maybe he just looked less out of place. He certainly felt like it though.

So he sat there with his plate against the uncomfortable log wall which rutted into his back and pinched him. He drew his knees into his body and balanced his lunch on top. He was hungrier from the combined toll of the trip and nerves which consumed the first half of the day, so he had piled a little extra onto his plate. Matthew had tried to serve what appeared to be the healthier options and chewed slowly as he leaned his head against the rough surface, staring out past the cabins and buildings towards the dense greenery behind it cutting off the horizon.

The food served here was pretty good, but Matthew know it wouldn't be long until he missed his Papa's cooking.

After the group had finally finished their plates during their discussion, one of the girls wanted to go back to her cabin to hang out. Not feeling like floating around any longer, Matthew fidgeted with the plastic plate as he thought of a way out. He really didn't want to sit in a stranger's cabin with nothing to stare at and nothing to say. Claiming he had the campsite to explore, Matthew politely excused himself and left for his cabin.

During the trek, he tried his best to stick to the shade as he felt his skin sizzle. Despite only wearing a minimal amount of clothes, the heat was starting to get to him. He really hoped it was something he would be able to adjust to during the next eight weeks, or he'd never be able to enjoy anything. He tried to think positive, maybe the heat boiling his body from the inside was just a result of being outside all day.

By the time he got to the cool shaded deck of his cabin drops of sweat were gathered on his forehead. He wiped them away with the back of his hand, slightly disgusted. He grabbed his shirt from the front and jostled it to create a breeze and hopefully prevent sweaty patches clinging grossly to his body from being obvious.

Stepping into the hushed room, he wasn't surprised to see he was alone. Relieved at the prospect of having some time to himself, he stepped into the cooler room and approached his bed. He collapsed on the sheets, rolling over to face the window. The cool breeze that filtered through reassured him that he chose the right bed. He reached up and felt for Kuma, clasping the teddy's arm and bringing him into an embrace.

He wasn't upset, just feeling a bit drained. He didn't have the determination to recover his earlier optimism. What will happen will happen. If Matthew ends up all alone, that will be just fine. He's accustomed to it. He'd prefer it over exhausting himself trying to make connections here.

So he lay on his side, listening to the sounds of nature outside the cabin and his rhythmic breaths as he squeezed Kuma to his chest.

He didn't know how long he laid there, but the weight on his eyes seemed to grow. He only had himself to blame for lying down. It was peaceful, focused on his rib cage expanding with every breath. It was like he sunk into the mattress and his arms didn't have the strength to pull himself up.

After a couple of moments, he gave in and rolled half his body off the bed. Forcing himself to sit up, Matthew refrained from slouching to wake himself up. He positioned Kuma in the window seal before standing and rubbing his eyes.

Still feeling hazy, he made his way to the bathroom. Putting his glasses aside he splashed his face with water. The cool liquid was refreshing and he was freed from the taunt weight around his eyes. He splashed his face again and looked at himself in the mirror. He still felt lost. Until the camp got into the swing of things, he didn't know what to expect or how to prepare.

A part of him questioned what he was being bothered to prepare for. He would be fine. He was adaptable. He could do all the activities by himself or join others. It doesn't matter that he isn't connecting to them, or making proper friends with them, he'll have fun anyway.

Feeling slightly more restored, Matthew was sure he could roll with whatever happened at the camp.

Something moved - likely another camper! - outside the bathroom and Matthew took his eyes off his reflection in the mirror and fell on...

Another mirror? His thoughts halted and his head was empty.

He blinked and the image was still there, albeit a little hazy.

Not an image, he realised, as the figure raised its hand tentatively. Meanwhile his own was like lead at his side. This wasn't a mirror. It was another person. A doppelgänger. Even without his refined vision from his glasses, he knew what he was looking at.

His shock wore off as his doppelgänger approached and he softened his posture. This boy looked about his age, so another camper then. For him to have come into this cabin, he was either looking for someone or one of the beds have been claimed by him.

Ironically, his mouth felt dry as he worked himself up for the inevitable introduction as his doppelgänger stepped beside him.

"Hi, I'm Alfred," he said cheerfully. "Did you know that there's apparently six people in the world who look like you?"

Matthew hastily shoved his glasses back onto his face, trying to limit his shaking.

"Yeah I've heard," Matthew couldn't remember where from, and he felt detached as he pondered the odds. Six people out of seven billion? You included that's seven, so one in one billion? Was that right? He couldn't do the math right now. All he could do was stare.

It's an understatement to say it's unlikely, but it's the only explanation for the uncanny resemblance he shared with this stranger. Matthew turned to stare at their reflection in the mirror and his doppelgänger did the same.

They could pass as twi- suddenly it made sense. He could forgive Yao for what happened earlier. Steve too. In hindsight it's a little funny, especially considering the odds.

"This is insane!" his doppelgänger, Alfred exclaimed excitably next to him and he nodded minutely in agreement.

The movement seemed to shake his brain back into action. Why was he being so weird about this? So he has a doppelgänger? This was an opportunity, another camper alone and is actually paying attention to him. If they got past the unusual scenario he has another chance to make a friend. His determination from earlier was back and he needed to recover from the situation.

"Matthew," he interjected and stuck his hand out. His brain lagged as he looked down at his hand. That was probably a bit much, but Alfred looked restless from the meeting anyway and probably didn't care.

Instead, Alfred laughed and slapped his hand around and formed his hand into a fist. Seeing where he was going, Matthew copied and they crushed their knuckles together. He felt lighter as Alfred effectively brushed the awkward situation away.

"Nice to meet you Matthew!" Alfred's eyes seemed to shine and his smile was genuine.

"You too," he replied with a smile of his own. The droplets of water trickling down his chin reminded him where he was. He wiped his arm over his face to remove the offending liquid.

"What's with the water?" Alfred asked.

"Felt hot." Matthew shrugged, it was the more convenient truth.

"You're hot?" Alfred gawked. Matthew raised an eyebrow.

"And you're not?" He gestured to the jacket his doppelgänger was wearing.

"Nope!" Alfred grinned.

"Ok," Matthew shrugged, supposing it didn't really matter anyway. Hoping to get some more information, he changed the subject.

"Are you in this cabin?"

"Oh, yeah," Alfred leaned into the main room and pointed. "That's my bed there."

Matthew's eyes followed to where he was pointing at the back bed, opposite his. "Ok," he acknowledged and raised his arm, "that one's mine."

"Yeah I figured," Alfred boomed and pointed to the other beds. "That's Toris's and Yao's."

Matthew dropped his arm and nodded, feeling as though the conversation was underwhelmingly stupid. Likely an after effect of the strange meeting.

"So you new to the camp?"

"Yeah."

"That's cool! Usually, the first week for newbies is really awkward cus they don't know anyone or what's going on but it'll be fine you can stick with me. I've been here every year so I know everyone!"

Well, sticking with Alfred was better than sitting around in the empty cabin. Hopefully, it wouldn't be like earlier and his only accomplishment was changing who he was following around like a lost dog.

"And everyone knows me, for some reason," Alfred continued on excitedly. "I don't know where my friends are but we should go find them. They're gonna think this is so cool! C'mon just think of all the pranks we could do! OH, we should prank them first before we tell them there's two of us!"

Before Matthew could state his hesitancy Alfred was running onto the deck.

"C'mon Matt!" he waved for him to follow, "let's go find everyone!"

"Maybe we shouldn't prank them now," he grumbled as he stepped out of the cabin. He was heating up at the thought of being shoved in front of countless peering eyes and was reluctant to 'prank' people he didn't know.

"Why not?" Alfred asked as his eyes overlooked him and scouted the area. "It's the perfect time! It'll be less of a surprise when they know! Oh, you should pretend you hit your head and don't remember who they are!"

Matthew couldn't find the words to express how much he did not want to do that. Luckily Alfred seemed to gauge that from his expression, his own turning more serious.

"Yeah, that's a stupid idea. Probably more something to be concerned about."

"Probably," Matthew agreed with a huff. They turned away from the cabins and towards the campgrounds.

"Don't worry about it," Alfred nudged him encouragingly. "They're nice. My friends are your friends too alright? You can hang with us for the next few weeks, trust me it'll be great!"

Matthew shot him an honest smile. The other boy's enthusiasm was warming up to him. Having overcome the earlier surprise, he could tell that Alfred was nice. Now instead of moping around the cabin, he was on the path of progress. He felt more comfortable with Alfred already than he was with Yao earlier. Though maybe that was due to the pair already overcoming an awkward situation.

Either way, Matthew was more confident that he'd be able to make a friend here.

As he walked beside Alfred he felt the pressure to talk weigh on his shoulders. But he couldn't think of anything to talk about, finding it easier to just keep the pace. Fortunately, Alfred picked up the conversation like second nature.

"So where're you from?" Alfred asked, and Matthew mentally facepalmed for not thinking of the obvious discussion starter.

"Ottawa, in Ontario," he kicked a rock from the path and watched it roll into some bushes. "What about you."

"That's in Canada, right?" Alfred asked sincerely as he looked back at him. Matthew nodded.

"That's so cool! I haven't been there before. What's it like?"

"Just like a city? It has some nice buildings and stuff..." Matthew shrugged, though happy about Alfred's eagerness. "It's cold?"

"Yeah I bet. Does everyone play ice hockey there?"

"Yep. I skate to school every day." He satirised, though it seemed to be lost on Alfred.

"Really? That's awesome! I just take the boring bus. Oh, yeah, I live in Nebraska. In a small town that's not too far out."

"Oh really, what's that like?" Matthew jokingly raised an eyebrow as if he asked Alfred about his exotic homeland. Though to be honest, he only had a vague idea where that state was anyway. Why'd there need to be fifty of them? That's a bit much.

"It's warm," he snorted, "It's the countryside, it's alright I guess. I like it cus it's home- though don't get me wrong I like cities too! I like both."

"I get it, I like both too," Matthew reassured. He liked the urban landscape about as much as he liked nature.

By now they were nearly back at the dining hall, and Alfred was peering into every building as they went by. Campers were lingering around, but it wasn't nearly as busy as it was before. They were able to walk around without bumping into anyone.

"So have you met anyone here yet?"

"A couple of the chaperones... and Yao and his cousin."

"Don't worry about them, I'm just glad they're both not in our cabin together. They'll mostly just stick to themselves and their family so I don't think you'll see much of them now that we have free time all the time. Which chaperones have you met?"

"Uhh, Elizabeta and Steve. I haven't been able to meet anyone else..."

"Well if we see any I'll introduce you!"

"Okay," Matthew nodded. Even if the chaperone was surrounded by people, it didn't seem so daunting if Alfred was going to push through and navigate the situation for him. He felt slightly ashamed at the laziness, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do it himself - evident from earlier.

Alfred stopped walking and stared off in the distance. Looking over, it was like something just dawned on him. Before Matthew could ask, he spoke up.

"Whoops, I forgot about the game." He shook his head and kept walking. "Oh well," he muttered, "they'd know if I'm not there by now I'm not coming."

"What is it? Is that where your friends are?"

Alfred spun to look at him. "Don't worry about it. Some of the kids were just going to play something on the games field. I'm friends with them too but that's not who we're looking for."

Matthew nodded and looked ahead of them. He could only spot a few campers hanging around the area. A glance over to the parking area revealed it was nearly empty.

"Actually," Alfred mused, "We could go join in on their game. We can go find my friends later. They're might be looking for me anyway so if I'm looking for them we won't find them."

Alfred took a sharp turn and strode in another direction. "You like games right?"

"Yeah," it would be dumb to come to this camp if he didn't.

"Cool! We're going to the games field, which has pretty much any sports equipment. I dunno what game they chose though, but it's gonna be fun!"

Somehow Matthew didn't doubt that. Playing a game was a good way to break the ice, not that he was too nervous about meeting some kids.

So he followed Alfred in a new direction, concluding that this sporadic behaviour must be normal for Alfred.

"What're you gonna check out first?" Alfred inquired as they cut through some bushes.

"Hockey and swimming I guess," Matthew's focus was on the ground, careful not to roll his ankle misstepping. "I'm glad they have an ice rink here too. I love ice skating."

"Hockey, eh," Alfred winked exaggeratedly at him. "Yeah, the rink's pretty cool. It's new, I think they got the rink last year actually. Everyone loved it! Too bad it's only open on the weekends though."

"Is it busy?" Matthew clutched his hand to his elbow, "when it's open?" He wasn't too keen on fighting for it, knowing he'd probably get overlooked and be the one to miss out.

"Kinda?" Alfred turned back onto a path, "all the younger kids have to go by schedules so when they're scheduled then yes. But on Sundays, there's plenty of time in the afternoon before the free time when there's no one in there."

Matthew frowned. He supposed he should take what he could get, but maybe he could squeeze in between the kid's schedules. Or maybe he could just go in with them, assuming it was one group at a time and they wouldn't mind. Vowing to figure it out later, he pushed it out of his mind as they approached a field.

Suddenly Alfred bust into a sprint and Matthew blinked before racing after him. He caught up and turned his attention towards where they were running to.

Two teams, scattered on the grass field, were facing off in a fierce game of dodgeball. Alfred slowed down as they neared and started snickering. Matthew looked at him quizzically.

"Ok, c'mon, we have to do something! It'll be so funny!"

"Like what?" Matthew muttered, resigned as he watched the large group of people competing ahead of them.

"You don't seem so keen," Alfred's face seemed to fall. "Don't you wanna prank anyone?"

"Not when I don't know them!" Matthew stated defensively and wrung his hands together. "And can you actually think of something to do that's harmless?"

"Uh sorry, I guess that would make it awkward for you. And I agree that pranks should be funny not mean. I wouldn't actually do something mean." They stopped walking as they reached the games shed, staying just out of sight. "I guess it's not the end of the world if I can't think of something, we could always prank them later. No doubt everyone will keep mixing us up for the rest of the camp."

Alfred took a step forward past the shed before becoming rigid and spinning back around.

"Or!" his hushed tone filled with delight, and Matthew imagined his mouth would be frothing. "What if we act like it's the most casual thing in the world! Or that we pretend to be twins- or or! we didn't notice that we look like clones and we pretend to be surprised when they point it out!"

"Um," Matthew cringed and considered the options, "what if we just act casual about it?"

Alfred seemed to restrain him excitement and clicked his mouth shut. "Yeah okay, sorry if I'm being pushy. But this is crazy right? Like c'mon the potential! We could seriously have some fun with this!"

"I know, it's bizarre," Matthew nodded and crossed his arms, "I just don't want everyone to be weird about it."

It was hard to put into words what he was feeling about it. He'd find it funny if he was friends with Alfred's friends, but since he isn't it's like he's just some novelty thing due to their similarity. Was that the right phrasing? Matthew didn't know.

"They won't be! They'll probably think it's cool!"

Matthew knew that would most likely be the case, though he still felt reluctant to act dumbly in front of people he didn't know and had to live with for eight weeks. So it's not like he'll make a fool of himself and never see them again. Even more reluctant to put on an act for a guy he didn't know for others' amusement. He wasn't going to act desperate for Alfred's approval, or anyone's.

"Maybe later we can mess with them once they know about both of us. That way we can brainstorm later without pressure!" Alfred beamed, giving him a thumbs up and Matthew kept his face blank.

"Are we going to go join in their game or not?"

"Sure are!" Alfred announced and strode off towards the field. Matthew exhaled and jogged after him.

As the two approached the game, a few people looked towards them, glanced away, and then did a comically exaggerated retake. He could hear Alfred holding in laughter as he waved. Matthew felt both amused and tense as multiple pairs of bug eyes looked him up and down.

He tried to brush it off and maintain a confident posture. The best thing about meeting new people is the fresh start. He wasn't bogged down by people's pre-existing assumptions about him.

They reached the field and Alfred shoved his hands into his pockets, acting casual like promised.

"We're not too late are we?"