Ch 6 Beautiful Day
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Max woke up late that morning. He looked over at Neil's side of the tent to find it empty. David usually came to wake him up so waking up this late felt almost strange. Max's hand tightened around the stuffed bear hidden under the thick blanket. He blushed before shoving his friend into the pillowcase to hide until tonight. He hopped down off his cot and walked outside quietly. He looked around, there was not a cloud in the sky. He grumbled to himself. He liked it when it was cloudy...less heat...He liked it even better when it rained...no activities! He started a lazy pace towards the mess-hall. The sun would be unbearable today but for now, he had his hands tucked away into his hoodie pocket to fend off the early morning mountain air chill. He couldn't wait to get a cup of hot coffee in his hands to warm them up. He froze at the bottom of the incline up to his destination. David was standing there with some girl... She had that same bleached hair Daniel had which gave him an uneasy feeling. The only difference was that her hair hung down just past her chin. The woman turned her head a little. She had dark brown eyes which put him at ease a little bit. The hair by itself he was willing to write off as a coincidence...for now...He watched the two chat for a few moments longer before the quartermaster emerged from the quarter store. David introduced the woman to him, placing a hand on her back as he did so. Max saw the woman shiver visibly.

"Pathetic." He thought to himself. One awkward hook hand-shake later they all turned to go into the mess hall. That's when the woman noticed him. She gave him a weak smile and a little wave. Max narrowed his eyes at her and approached the group as the quartermaster went back in to clean up breakfast.
"David...?" Max raised a brow. "I didn't know we were getting a new counselor again...after last time..." He sounded unimpressed.
"Last time?" Kat raised a brow. Before Max could explain David butted in.

"Well, you see, Max..." He raised his voice startling even himself not having meant to talk so loudly. He chuckled nervously and lowered his voice. "Katherine is not here to be a counselor... She's here to help out with groundskeeping..." David explained.
"Groundskeeping huh?" Max looked her up and down. She looked at him with a furrowed brow and a concerned smile. She didn't look like the groundskeeping type.
"It's nice to meet you, Max." Kat smiled at him kneeling down to his height. He gave her a venomous stare. He hated when adults did that to talk to him. It felt so patronizing. She gave him a funny look as if she realized exactly what he was thinking and his expression softened. She stood back up giving him an apologetic nod. He was so confused by that interaction.

"You won't have a specific dress code since you're not a counselor... Do you have anything you can use as work clothes?" David asked her when she stood back up. She nodded.
"I have some things being sent here." She explained. David gave her a thumbs up.
"Alright, but you'll need something to wear until it comes..." He scratched his chin. "Maybe Gwen has something you can borrow?" He suggested. Kat grabbed her arm uncomfortably.

"I- I don't want to impose..." Kat blushed looking away. Max rolled his eyes at her.

"Uuugh...this is boring..." Max groaned turning and walking into the mess hall for some breakfast.

"He sure seems like the spirited one..." Kat commented watching him from the window as he sat down with a tray and shoveled the food into his mouth angrily. He was clearly in a sour mood already.
"Yeah..." David sighed. "I've been trying to break through to him for quite a while." He folded his arms.

"Breakthrough to him?" Kat raised a brow turning to David.

"He's never told me how bad...but he's clearly having...struggles at home. I think he wants help...But he never lets anyone in..." David frowned at Max from outside.
"He reminds me of someone I knew as a kid." Kat admitted with a chuckle. "He's clearly intelligent... Dare I say more so than most of the other kids in there." She recalled the scene she'd walked into moments before David took her back outside to meet the quartermaster. It had been chaos in there.
"I know!" David said as if he'd been vindicated. "Don't get me wrong...I love all my campers...But Max, he's different... I see a whole lot of myself in him...I just want to see him happy." He admitted. Kat smiled a little at this as she felt it warm her heart up. She allowed herself to chuckle softly. David blushed clearly embarrassed, thinking she was laughing at him.
"I think that's very sweet." She assured him. "I think you should try hanging back. Loosen your grip." She suggested. "If you push Max to be happy too much, you'll just push him away. He'll come to you when he's ready."

"T-thanks Kat...That's actually...I'll try that." David smiled. "I'm guessing you're good with kids?"

"I have two." Kat reached into her bag and pulled out a worn photo. It was of Kat with her son on her left and her daughter on her right. They appeared to be twins about the same age. They had the same strawberry blonde hair as Kat did in the photo. David wondered absentmindedly why she'd ever dye her hair away from that pretty color. "This is Isaac." She pointed at the boy with blue eyes. "And this is Mary." She pointed to the little girl with eyes a darker brown than Kat's.

"Fucking idiots." Max mumbled from where he sat inside. He could hear everything they were saying through the open window on the side of the building around the corner from where they were talking.

"What do you think of the new...person?" Nikki asked max after she walked over to the table to sit with him.
"Fucking idiots!" He said it again louder.
"Oh come on, Max...I hate this place too but you never know! Maybe she could be cool." Neil shrugged from where he had already been sitting with Max. Max let out a loud,
"HA!" Smacking his knee. "She's like older than the three of us combined!" Max scoffed. "I have no doubts that if they made her a counselor, she'd be worse than David!"
"Wait...so she's not going to be a counselor? Then what is she going to do?" Neil raised a brow.
"Groundskeeping." Max responded in an unconvinced tone. "I give her a week out there." He sighed before taking a sip of his coffee.