Disclaimer: I do not own the Alex Rider series.

Sorry guys, I don't know what happened. I was sure that I'd already posted this chapter, but it never showed up on the website...so yeah. Free chappies for all!

Chapter Four

Colin and Robert had led Alex into Robert's room which had already occupied with two other boys – Anthony (a brown haired kid) and Dylan (Anthony's fifteen year old brother). Both boys had greeted Alex with such a high degree of cheerfulness and enthusiasm the MI6 spy was left to believe that Robert was the only one not on a sugar high.

Now, the five of them were playing Big 2, waiting for the dinner bell (yes, apparently there was a dinner bell), to sound. Though Alex wasn't sure how much food the others would actually be eating – they were all pretty stuffed from the seemingly continuous supply of lollies and chips present in the room that left them all feeling extremely dehydrated.

"Hahaha! Two Aces! No-one can beat that!" Dylan crowed in triumph, before slapping down his last card, jumping up to his feet, and dancing around the room to some imaginary beat while the older boys all pretended to be sobbing for their losses.

Alex shook his head. They acted worse than some people did (*cough* Ben *cough*) when they were drunk!

Just as Dylan was about to jump onto his brother, a rather pleasant chiming sound met their ears.

"DINNER BELL!" Anthony, Dylan and Colin shouted. In a flash, the three boys were out of the room and stampeding down the corridor to the stairs. If the yelling which echoed back to Robert's room was anything to go by, it sounded like the three rowdy boys had just shoved someone else down the stairs in their haste.

Robert looked over at Alex with a grimace. "Sorry you had to see that," he said, "Usually my friends are a lot calmer than that. I think I should just stop giving them sugar or something..maybe ban it from my room..."

Alex grinned. "Don't worry, I'm used to that sort of behaviour. They act like my uncle when his drunk. Though, don't tell him I said that!" He'd already told the boys that he was the nephew of one of the lecturers.

Robert snorted. "I won't. I'll keep my mouth zipped around Professor Saunders...though you'll have to point out which one he is. We get a lot of new adults coming in at this time, so I have a hard time distinguishing between the lot."

"Fair enough," Alex said, watching as Robert locked his door. The two of them set off down the incredibly less noisy corridor and down the stairs. The mess hall wasn't that far a walk, though Alex had to admit that if it weren't for Robert, he would've gotten lost several times.

The first impression Alex got when he walked into the hall was the overbearing noise of chatter and cutlery as the mass of teens helped themselves to their dinner. The girls, whom Alex had yet to meet due to them living in another wing, were intermingled amongst the boys as they ate their dinners.

Robert led Alex over to the rather long line waiting for their food, handing Alex a plate before getting one for himself. The line moved rather efficiently with each boy pointing out which foods they wanted and the camp instructors piling their choices onto their plates. When Alex and Robert rejoined Anthony, Colin and Dylan, it appeared that the MI6 spy's plate was the only one which didn't resemble Mount Everest.

"You don't eat a lot, do you?" Colin asked through a mouthful of food. Robert leaned over the table to wack his friend across the head.

"Please, for the love of God, chew with your mouth shut, Col!" Robert groaned, "It really doesn't help my digestion when I have to see all the mashed food in your mouth!"

"Well, no-one asked you to look," Colin retorted, though thankfully he swallowed first before opening his mouth.

"No-one asked you to open your mouth," Robert shot back. Anthony and his brother both rolled their eyes, though neither paused in their consumption of food to try and avert the oncoming argument between the two friends, leaving Alex – the 'newcomer' – with the hard job.

"Hey, guys," Alex said weakly once he realised it was up to him to break the two up, "Um...your meals are getting cold." His two new friends ignored him in favour of their argument. Dylan raised his head from his plate long enough to send the older boy a scathing look, one which clearly asked "That's the best you can do?"

Alex took a steadying breath, and looked around for a subject he could broach without inflicting another argument, or making the current one worse. He suddenly became aware of a pair of eyes staring intently at him. Frowning, he looked left down the table to meet a pair of dark brown eyes. As he did so, something seemed to flicker behind those eyes, before the boy blinked and looked away. Alex continued to stare at the brown haired boy.

"Um, Robert?" He said, causing Robert to stop his retort and turn towards Alex questioningly, "Who's that?"

Robert turned to gaze down the table at the boy in question before turning back to Alex. "That's Drew. He doesn't seem to talk to anyone but Tim, who's the tallish blonde next to him. Why?"

"Well...he was staring at me and it was like...I don't know," Alex admitted.

Robert merely snorted. "Yeah, that kid does that. First night he got here, he just spent it glaring at everyone, like he was trying to memorise our faces or something. I gotta tell you, he's really freaky. Like, I tried to get to know him, you know, he seemed so lonely with only one friend. And it was weird...like, he was just so...I dunno, cold. Maybe it's just me though..."

Alex made a non-committal sound at the back of his throat, glancing down the table at the boy again before going to his dinner. At least the distraction in the form of the mysterious boy had averted the argument between Robert and Colin. Now that the coast was clear from arguments and potential food fights, Dylan and Anthony struck up a conversation about what they would most likely be doing the following day. Alex joined in with Robert and Colin, the three boys laughing at the two brothers' attempts to imitate Professor Bines, apparently a really boring professor they'd gotten two years ago.

Alex never noticed that the minute he turned his attention away from the brown haired boy, Drew had turned to stare at him through narrowed eyes.

After dinner, the five boys went back upstairs to Robert's room to play another round of Big 2, with Anthony coming out as the winner this time. During his triumphant lap around the room, the boy somehow managed to trip over an empty bag of M&Ms lying on the floor, and as a result smashed straight into the wall. After making sure that he was okay, the rest of the room erupted into full blown laughter at the boy's misfortune, before one of the camp workers popped their head in to inform the boys that it was lights out.

"G'night John!"

"Yeah, 'night John!"

"Goodnight!"

"See you tomorrow Col!"

"Get out of my room you slob!"

"Night Rob!"

"That's your rubbish! Take it with you!"

"OI! Don't throw my cards around! Noooooo...oh, great, now you've messed them up. Nice going, you idiot."

"Hey, not my fault!"

"Yes it was!"

"Will you two just shut up?"

"Um...how about no?"

"Get the hell out of my room!"

"Alright Rob, keep your pants on!"

"Night Dyls!"

"Don't call me that!"

Alex shook his head as he changed into his pyjamas, his new friends' voices still echoing down the hall. Well, this was most certainly going to be an interesting mission. Especially if his new friends were on constant sugar highs...

Morning came around sooner than expected. It seemed that within moments of Alex closing his eyes, sunlight was streaming through the window. The twenty year old groaned softly, wishing that he could get back to sleep. Damn that sun...

Alex sighed in annoyance, before getting up from his bed. Subconsciously, his eyes did a quick scan of his room, processing anything that may have been moved while he was asleep, or anything new which had been added that could be a threat. Finding none, his body relaxed from a tense position that he didn't even realise he was taking, before going over to his bag and extracting shower gear and a change of clothes. Locking his door behind him, he walked down the corridor until he reached a blue door which Robert had said marked a bathroom. Quietly he got showered, before getting dressed and going back to his room.

It was about seven in the morning, which was quite late according to the spy, but apparently very early in the day according to every other teen in the building. The entire floor on which Alex's dorm was situated was so quite that you would probably be able to hear a pin drop on the opposite wing he was in. It was actually rather refreshing not to have to strain his ears to listen for any suspicious footsteps, since he'd probably be able to hear any potential assassins from a mile away.

Alex sighed, dropping onto his bed. He was bored. This mission was so different to any others he'd completed in his past four years that he simply didn't know what to do with himself. Usually there was always the threat of a killer, of some psychopathic maniac, some evil plan, and the threat of his secret being discovered to keep him on his toes. Now...now, he was hanging around kids at least two years younger than him running on constant sugar highs. And his job was to keep them from some ex-CIA guy who may well turn out to be a psychopathic maniac. But until the man revealed himself, and perhaps some evil plan to conquer the world, Alex had nothing better to do. Yep, he was definitely bored.

With a soft and frustrated moan, the Alex got off his bed, deciding to do a bit of exploring to fill up his time. Locking the door behind him, and tucking his keys into his jean pocket, he set off towards the stairs and climbing up them until he reached the second floor landing. This floor appeared to be almost a copy of the first floor, but nonetheless Alex decided to take a look around. Purely because he was bored.

As he walked down the hall, he realised that this floor was actually an exact copy of the first floor. Holding back a shudder as his mind dragged forwards images from Point Blanc Academy, the spy hurriedly went back towards the stairs. Deciding against going up and having further flashbacks, he instead chose to go right down to the ground floor. It was also deserted, which really shouldn't have surprised Alex, but did. However, despite being empty of all forms of life, clangs and clashes echoed throughout the ground floor.

Intrigued, Alex followed the sound through the maze of connected hallways until he arrived at a metal door, situated just off where they'd had dinner the night before. Slowly the boy turned the handle, before opening the door and popping his head inside.

There were about fifteen people bustling around, carrying pots and trays and stacks of newly washed dishes. Cupboards were opened and closed with loud bangs, stoves were turned on and off and on again, cutlery was dumped with loud clatters into separate holders. Masses of cereal were poured into huge containers, eggs, bacon, and toast were being produced en masse.

Alex pulled his head out and quietly closed the door, not that it would've made a huge difference. He'd just found the kitchen. Well, at least now he knew where to get food from if he was ever hungry.

Alex pulled his iPod out of his pocket as he navigated his way back towards the stairs. Sticking the headphones in, he nodded along to the beat of whatever song was currently playing. As he climbed back up the stairs, he could hear noises coming from the other rooms, indicating that the other boys were finally starting to wake up. About time, Alex thought. He was just about to turn the corner when he walked straight into another boy who'd just gotten out of his room.

"Woah!" Alex exclaimed as they both stumbled back.

The boy glared up at him coldly, and Alex realised that he was looking into the same brown eyes as last night during dinner. What had Robert said his name was...? Dean...? Derik...? Hm...Drew! That was it!

"Um...Hi. I'm John," Alex said awkwardly, sticking out one of his hands while pulling out one of the earphones with the other. He didn't bother turning off his iPod though, since the volume wasn't loud enough to be a distraction or to drown out any voices. The other boy didn't stop glaring, but he folded his arms across his chest as a clear signal that he was not about to shake Alex's hand.

"Okaaaaay..." Alex trailed off, "You're Drew, aren't you?"

"So?" Drew asked coolly.

"Well, we haven't met yet since I just came in yesterday, well last night, and I just wanted to get to know everybody..." Alex trailed off when he realised that the conversation was going nowhere.

There was a pause as Alex looked at the boy who was giving him a rather cold look. There was a flicker of something behind the boy's mask, but Alex couldn't detect what it could be. The spy sighed. It was quite obvious that Drew didn't want Alex within a ten metre radius of him.

"Well, um, I'll be going now," Alex said with false cheeriness in his voice, "It was nice meeting you."

Drew snorted and opened his mouth, no doubt to give some sarcastic retort or other. But before the boy could speak, someone had shouted his name.

"Oi, Drew! What's taking you so long – oh! I didn't know you had a visitor." A blonde kid taller than Drew walked up to Alex with a smile. "Hi, I don't believe we've met."

"No, we haven't. I just got here last night," Alex offered, sticking out his hand, "I'm John. John Saunders."

"Hello John. I'm Tim," the blonde greeted before asking, "You're not from around here are you?"

"Erm, no I'm from England. But my uncle was invited here to give a lecture, and he decided to bring me along since I don't really have anything better to do right now. So, yeah," Alex finished rather lamely. He was rather aware of his accent, which MI6 had told him to play up since Ben had a rather strong accent too.

"Well, hope you have fun. Maybe we'll see you around sometime?" Tim offered.

Alex smiled, "Okay. See you around."

The MI6 spy turned and walked off, but he kept his ear trained on anything the pair behind him might say. Sure enough, the moment Alex was out of normal human earshot, Drew turned to speak to his infinitely more friendly friend. Alex barely contained his smirk as he toggled through the songs on his iPod until he reached the one Smithers said would allow him to be able to hear anything within a fifteen metre radius. It had taken a lot of practise to get used to this particular function on his iPod gadget, since the program effectively made it sound like an overcrowded room, but now the boy could focus on one conversation without being sidetracked too badly.

Alex frowned, ignoring the clashes of the kitchen, and the fumbles of the still sleepy boys, and concentrated on the no doubt fiercely whispered conversation going on behind him.

"– should be more friendly – "

"Don't you dare tell me what to do, Matthew!"

"I'm just saying, you could try..."

"Yeah, and pigs could fly! Leave me alone!"

"Wait, what's wrong? You've been acting all jittery since last night's din –"

"Nothing's wrong!"

"Why are you so defensive then?"

There was a silence in which Alex slowed down his steps so that he didn't move outside the radius which the iPod operated in.

"Look Matthew, back out now before I make you." The response was rather calm, but Alex could definitely detect the threatening undertone.

"Okay, okay, no need to get all touchy–"

"Oi, John! Over here, mate!"

Alex jerked his head at the sudden intrusion before recognising the voice as Colin's. With a sigh that went unnoticed by the fast approaching red head, Alex slipped the head phone out of his ear and stuffed his iPod back into his pocket.

"John!" Colin said once he'd reached Alex, "I was knocking on your door for hours this morning! Where were you?"

Alex raised an eyebrow and grinned. "I was down in the kitchens. For like half an hour. So there's no way you could've been knocking for hours."

Colin stuck his tongue out just as Anthony appeared.

"Oh that was real mature, Cols," Anthony scoffed, before sending Alex a smile in greeting. Dylan appeared right behind his brother, grinning in a maniacal way. Alex raised his eyebrows at Anthony in question. The boy merely rolled his eyes, before mouthing to the spy, Robert gave him chocolate.

"Chocolate? At eight in the morning?" Alex couldn't help but asking. There was a hint of disgust in his voice, but none of the three chocoholic boys noticed.

"What are you talking about John? Chocolate's good at all times. Especially in the morning!" Dylan defended his...erm...chocolate, sending Alex a glare while still maintaining his maniacal grin. The result was, well, interesting to say the least, though Alex would be quite glad if he didn't have to witness that attempt again from the rest of his life.

"There you guys are!" Robert suddenly appeared, "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Awww, little Robby-Bobby missed us," Colin cooed in a rather high girlish voice, sending everyone into fits of laughter.

"Never...call...me...that...again," Robert said in between his fits.

"Call you what?" Colin asked, his voice back to normal, "Robby-Bobby?"

That only fuelled the laughter. Soon, Dylan and Anthony were rolling around on the floor, while Robert holding onto Colin for support. Alex looked on with a very amused grin. Other boys poked their heads out of their rooms, trying to see what was so funny, but upon finding out that it was Colin and Robert, the two most noisy boys in the entire camps, they shut their doors again.

It was a while before the boys had calmed down enough to realise that the rest of the boys on their floor were leaving for breakfast. Shrugging at each other, the five boys joined the crowds, each getting some cereal and toast before choosing a table closest to the door.

As they finished their breakfast, the doors to the dining hall opened again, revealing three adults wearing broad grins on their faces. They each carried a large stack of paper, which Robert informed Alex were their timetables. The man in the middle wore the largest smile, and stepped forwards to address the room.

"Good morning all!" He said rather cheerfully, "And welcome to Camp!" This was met with a round of cheers and ear-splitting whistles. "For those of you who do not know me, I am David Sampson, your Camp Coordinator. Feel free to come to me about any problems you may be experiencing, whether it be social or otherwise; though girls may want to go to Annie Lewis for theirs," David added, gesturing at the woman standing to his right and causing many of the girls to break out into giggles.

"This year," David went on, "We are pleased to welcome a couple of new professors who are, of course, masters of their own specialties. You will get to meet these professors in their respective lectures, however I will let you know a little about them first. So, we have Professor Saunders, who teaches Genetics at Oxford Uni."

A couple of excited and impressed whispers broke out upon David mentioning the name 'Oxford Uni'. Alex mentally grinned; oh, if only they knew the real Ben!

"Then there's also Professor Willard, who will be talking to you all about Animal and Human Biology. Maybe he'll show you a couple of dissections as well," David grinned, "And finally, we are also lucky enough to have Professor Hobbs, one of the leading technicians of this country, here to tell you all about the wonders of electricity."

Alex stiffened imperceptibly at the name, before joining in half-heartedly with the applause.

"For now, continue your breakfasts while I, Annie Lewis and Professor Carlton hand out these timetables. Your day will start at ten exact! Oh, and one more thing; have fun today!"

.:X:.

Yeah, I know. Weird place to end it, but I was sort of getting a writer's block so I ended it before it could get too bad.

Just thought I'd say this though: I know so far there hasn't been any action. Whatsoever. But I have to set the scene...or at least, that's what I'm trying to tell myself. Anyway, yeah, stuff will be happening very soon. Until then, thanks for bearing with me!

Anyways, thanks for reading and please review!

Also, don't forget about the Reader's Choice!

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