Chapter 19: A Visit from Aaron

As the day begins to wind down a little, everyone at Camp Harmony were sitting down for dinner as they were served green beans, steak, mashed potatoes and fries and as the pack were eating it, some of them seemed to have an acquired taste for the food and Mana said, "Whoever cooked that steak must've not put enough salt on it."

"Salt? I didn't know that it would require some salt on a steak." Cody replied.

Some of the pack's cabinmates were just chomping on some fries while most don't care much for green beans and in the middle of dinner, someone announced, "I'd like to have most of your attention, please. You can all thank Aaron for his work in the kitchen because he cooked dinner for you all tonight. You can all thank him after dinner."

Most of the pack were surprised that it was Aaron that cooked this dinner and Mike said, "Now Aaron's a chef? I wouldn't criticize his food."

"How many jobs does he have in this camp?" asked Ryan, a little bewildered.

"All purpose, if that's the answer." Aaron said, coming to the table.

All of them looked at Aaron coming back with a Camp Harmony apron on and Diego chuckled softly at this and said, "Since when did they let you work in the kitchen?"

"As I said before, it's very flexible. I can handle equipments, get called in for kitchen duty and keep an eye out for campers. Other than that, I gotta do what I can." Aaron replied.

Aaron sits down with his pack members including most of the pack's respective cabinmates to join them for dinner and Dustin asked, "Shouldn't you be with the counselors?"

"Well...because I'm a volunteer, I get to sit anywhere. With you guys, I can hang and eat dinner with you guys so I'd know what's up." Aaron replied.

"Well...Zeke and Dustin are a couple now." Jojo stated.

Aaron looks at both Dustin and Zeke and he sees how happy they are together and smiled at them and said, "Congrats, guys."

"Thanks. I guess it had to have come out sooner or later." Zeke replied.

"By the way, I saw Marcus and Casey holding hands together before dinner and also Seth and Slade giving piggyback rides on the way there. Something I should know about?" asked Aaron, very sly-like.

"That's none of your business." Marcus responded, looking at Aaron.

"I did see Kendall and Ryan cuddling up to each other while sitting close to the lake this afternoon." Brutus said, with a smile.

"Did anyone ask you?" asked Kendall.

Aaron chuckled at this and said, "I think I got more info than I was gonna have."

"Yeah, well...this is day 2. You ain't seen nothing yet." Koa added.

As some of the pack members and their new friends started chatting with each other, the cabinmates felt like they're being included into their lives and they started opening up about things about themselves and every word they say they can relate to about life, bullying, not fitting in and just accepting themselves for who they are based on their looks, senses of self and their gender orientation.

Later on in the conversation, Aaron asked, "What are you guys gonna do for the talent showcase?"

"What we always do...make awesome covers of those stupid cheesy pop songs and make it our own...like a balls to the wall thing." Austin replied.

"Stuff that we can relate to." Cody replied.

"Same with me...only I'm a little unsure of myself." Ryan said.

Kendall looks at Ryan for a second and asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well...I know I'm a music guy, but when it comes to going on stage, I'm always worried that people will focus on...on the fact that I'm...I'm just scared of what people will think of me, okay? I don't want to be labeled as a freak." Ryan replied.

Aaron looks up at Ryan for a second and said, "Dude, I hear you sing. Why should you worry about what other people think?"

"It just happens." Ryan replied.

Kendall blinked his eyes for a minute and asked, "You wanna talk about it at the cabin?"

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that." Ryan said.

Diego looks at Ryan for a minute and said, "If anyone tells you you're not talented, someone's gonna get their curtain call. Count on it. You're awesome. You just gotta own and embrace whatever it is you are."

"I'll try." Ryan answered.