Chapter Text
...Everyone was gone...
Max sat inside of the mess hall, silently sitting beside David, Mr. Honey nuts pressed up against his chest. The only sound being that of the crickets and the wind outside. The sunset was shining through the open windows of the building. Nikki had left with her mom, then Neil had left with his dad a long while ago. Soon enough Max was the only camper left on the camp site. A while had gone by with just David, Gwen, and Max left. David kept thinking positive and reassuring Max that his parents would come soon for sure...They didn't... and when they took too long Gwen had to leave, leaving only David and Max to wait for his parents.
"I didn't know that they cared so little that they wouldn't even come..." David said, breaking the silence between them that was there ever since Gwen left. "I'm sorry." Max looked up at David, what's with him and being so weird lately? It was much different from his usual positive and happy attitude. Max thought.
"It's not your fault they don't care." Max replied.
"I don't know what we're going to do if they don't come." The silence came back, Max didn't know what to say to that, because he didn't know what they'd do either. The sun had come down and the positivity in David had dissipated, it seemed as though an hour had passed, even though they were sure it was only about 20 minutes. All hope was lost, or so they thought, until they both saw a light shine through the windows of the mess hall. Now the only sound being the wind, the crickets, and the sounds of a car outside. David stood up and walked to the window, looking out.
"Max I think your parents are here!" David said, seeming more happy then Max, who looked up staring at the grown man. He stood up and walked out the door with David short behind. It really was his parents, Max had thought that they weren't going to come at all. Max picked up his suitcase and put it in the trunk of the car, while he still held onto Mr. Honey Nuts. He closed the trunk and walked up to David.
"Thank You, David... i'll see you next year." With that David smiled at Max, before he walked into the backseat of the car.
"Have a good year Max!" David called out to him, waving him goodbye. Max waved back as his parents drove away.
A week or two ago Max would've been happy to leave that place. Apparently he'd forgotten how bad his parents were. It'd only been a couple of minutes since he'd left Camp Campbell but he could already tell that he was going to miss it. As much as it pained him to even think about the Camp that way. Max wished that he had a phone, so that he could keep in touch with Neil and Nikki over the year, but sadly his parents hadn't gotten him one yet. So all he could do is yearn for next summer to come quickly.
"What took you so damn long." Max said, unlike David, his parents couldn't give two shits if he cursed or not.
"Your mom and I forgot." His dad said. In other words they forgot about him... Figures.. Max turned to his side, not bothering to buckle, like his parents cared... he held tightly onto Mr. Honey Nuts and closed his eyes, reminiscing about the times that he spent at camp. He wonders what Nikki and Neil are doing right now.
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Next year~
Nikki waited eagerly, last year's memories coursing in her mind. She just couldn't wait! She held two suitcases on either side of her. Her style being a little different from last years. Instead of red overalls over a yellow shirt, she now wore blue jean shorts and a yellow short sleeve shirt, much like the one she wore beneath her overalls. Her hair, instead of being in pig tails was let down, to lay on her shoulders like a big, fluffy, teal cloud. A year can change someone. Just as fast as the year went by, the bus came by. The doors opened to reveal a familiar face.
"Hello quartermaster!" Nikki beamed, happy to be back on the bus. She'd finally be able to talk to Neil and Max!! She took a hold of her suitcases, turned around and said goodbye to her mom as she walked into the bus. In the front seat sat Preston and Dolf, who were talking, both looking similar but like Nikki, different. Nikki noticed that Dolf had started to grow out a small mustache, while Preston's hair was a whole lot shorter then the previous year. A couple seats behind them Nerris was sitting alone, looking out the window, across from her sat Harrison, also looking out the window, his hair looked a bit longer than what she remembered. Nikki assumed that they'd had their first fight of the year mere seconds ago. Some seats behind Harrison sat Space kid, who looked practically the same, he was even still wearing his fish bowl. Space kid was being pestered by Nerf, who sat behind him. Nerf looked a bit fatter than last year, and he was starting to grow a beard. Most important of all, Neil sat at the backseat of the bus, looking directly at Nikki, who had to fight every urge in her body not to squeal in excitement from seeing him. She immediately ran to where Neil was sitting and threw her bags to the seat across from him, plopping down beside the boy. She looked up at him and started to analyze the differences from when she'd last seen him.
Neil had grown quite tall, and he was starting to grow some facial hair. Some pimples showed on his forehead but that was a regular occurrence with people their age. He was wearing a yellow dress shirt under a brown sleeveless sweater. He was also wearing black pants to go along with the outfit, which was a lot different from last summer. Neil had changed more than Nikki this year.
"Wow what happened to you?" She said, happy to see him after this whole time.
"Puberty." He said, Nikki jumped back a little, alarmed at the pitch of his voice, it was deeper. Much deeper, she was taken off guard.
"Jesus your voice! Puberty hit you hard Neil."
"You have no idea." He said. Nikki took another quick look around the bus.
"Where's Max...? Also Ered isn't here."
"I don't know... I was hoping that Ered not being here was a sign that the bus hadn't stopped picking up passengers, but I heard that Ered isn't coming this year." Neil explained.
"Wait, how? Why?" Nikki asked confused.
"Dolf said that they kept in contact during the school year. Her dads refused to bring her back after they had to arrest the founder of the camp."
"Yeah... that makes sense... wait... so, am I the last stop?!" Neil looked back at her wearily. "AM I THE LAST STOP?!?!" She said louder this time, grabbing the attention of everyone on the bus. Nikki got up and stomped to the front of the bus, all eyes on her now. Guess she was being too loud. "Excuse me quartermaster am I the last kid you have to pick up?" She asked. The place was silent, a long pause of nothing but the sounds of the wheels turning and the bus creaking.
"Yeah." He grumbled out. To that everyone started shifting in their seats, looking around at the passengers on the bus. Nikki froze. Does that mean that Max wasn't coming? She slowly trudged back into her seat, looking dazed and confused.
"Is Max... not coming?" Neil asked finally, after the two had been siting there silently for a couple minutes.
"I hope not... do you think he'll meet us there?" Nikki said, locking eyes with Neil, who looked slightly worried.
"I don't know if his parents would care enough to actually drive him there, they barely cared at all to pick him up." Nikki remembered, Max was the only kid who didn't have parents on parents day.
"But his parents dropped him off at camp so they didn't have to deal with him, they can't just not do it this year." Nikki said, looking down at the black bus floor. The trees looking like blurred green lines as they passed by the window. Neil and Nikki sat silently for a moment, grieving about the possibility that Max might not be coming.
"So, how was your year?" Neil asked, trying to change the subject to something a little less depressing.
"Oh, the same old same old. Being outcast for not being lady enough, I made a couple new friends, we play Call of Duty together every once in awhile. They're cool I guess...I did some things I've never done before, though I'm sure you wouldn't want to hear about it." Neil got the idea of what she was talking about, though a million unwanted things crossed his mind.
"Same here." He said, a slight cringe in his voice. Nikki dismissed the tone, still being almost as innocent as last year.
Neil looked out the window, still thinking of Max, how could he not? He's waited all year to see him again, he doesn't know what he'll do if he's not here. Max was the most abstract friend he's ever had, he wasn't like the rest of the kids who acted like him, he didn't mind that Neil was a nerd. Sure, he called him a nerd, but he was, and he didn't bully him for it. Neil thought that they had a lot of fun last year, was it just him? Max really was serious about escaping that place.. guess he got what he wanted...
"What was your year like?" Nikki asked him, breaking his train of thought.
"I'm being bullied less, though it still happens... I've been going through a lot of changes in my life. My mom moved, so I've been staying with my dad more. Who, by the way, got quartersister from your mom, so... " Nikki giggled at that, which put a smile on Neil's face.
"Yeah, my mom does that a lot.." Neil and Nikki laughed together, until Nerf walked over and took the seat in front of them. He hung over the seat, looking at the two.
"So, do you guys know where Max is?" He asked. Neil's face dropped a little, suddenly being reminded of the subject that he'd wanted to avoid. Preston and Dolf soon came over and took the seats beside them and Nerf.
"Yeah, where's Max?" Preston said across from them.
"Why should we know?" Neil declared, unsure of who to look at when talking to three people at once.
"Because you guys were stuck together all summer." Nerf added.
"We didn't talk to him all year, he didn't have a phone so he had no way to contact us." Nikki said before Neil could add anything.
"So you don't know where he is?" Preston asked.
"No, we thought he was coming this year." Neil announced sadly, just wanting to stop talking about Max so much, but that wasn't going to happen.
"Do you think he's not coming at all?" Dolf asked.
"It looks like it..." Nikki said, looking down at the floor. Neil frowned. Dolf, who got what he wanted, stood up and walked back to his seat in the front of the bus.
"Shame, he was the only one I really liked." Nerf said, as he stood up and walked back to go pester Space kid some more.
"I hope he shows up." Preston said, talking to himself more than to Nikki and Neil. He'd stood up and took his seat next to Dolf again, leaving Nikki and Neil. Ok then, Neil thought. Neil searched his mind for a conversation topic, hoping that Nikki would say something. Neil sucked at making up things to talk about.
"If you could have any animal as a pet, which one would you choose?" Nikki asked. It was obvious she had the same mind set as Neil, that she just wanted to stop thinking about Max cause it made her sad. It made Neil sad. A lot of catching up was in order. There was no need to talk about Max, they quite frankly didn't want to talk about him.
After what seemed like a couple minutes the bus stopped, though the bus ride had lasted longer than that. Nikki and Neil had just been lost in conversation for the last hour. They shared glances as all the kids stood up and started to walk off the bus with their baggage. Nikki stood up and did the same as the others, when she got off she was greeted with two familiar faces.
David and Gwen.
The two immediate took notice of Gwen's changes, which were very obvious. Instead of the usual reddish brown her hair was last year, her hair had changed colors. It was now, black.
David's smile shown from ear to ear, happy to be back and working at Camp Campbell. He scanned the crowd, and noticed some campers were missing. Nikki noticed his wide grin had faltered for a split second, but he recollected himself.
"Welcome! I'm sure all of you are glad to be back at Camp Campbell as much as I am!" The crowd stayed silent. "Alright, well you guys may or may not know already, but since Cameron Campbell has been arrested last year, your new and improved Camp Director is now... Me!" David's face lit up, clearly exasperated about the new change. Still... the crowd stayed silent, David's attitude didn't falter though. "Alrighty then, so seeing that there are no new campers I don't need to give a tour. So... whose hungry?!" The crowd this time, didn't stay silent, but a big roar echoed throughout the forest. Neil just clapped his hands while Nikki jumped up and shouted. The group of kids eventually made their way into the mess hall and got their food. As soon as Nikki walked into the mess hall she'd noticed some changes, like the tables, there were new ones. The usually worn out and torn curtains were replaced with new ones, though they were the same color of green as they use to be. Guess some things got replaced now that David ran the camp.
"Alright everyone, there has been some changes throughout camp. Do you see that table over there?" Gwen said, pointing to the only round table in the room. "That's the counselor's table. In other words, don't sit there." Nikki and Neil waited in line together, so that they could chose a seat.
"We should sit somewhere far away from everyone else." Neil suggested. It looked like everyone was sitting far away from the counselor's table, so they took a seat as close to it as possible.
Neil looked down and examined the stuff on his tray, "I think I forgot how bad the food was." He said, slightly poking at his plate. He looked toward Nikki who'd already had a mouthful of the plastic looking lunch in her mouth.
"I don't mind." She said, with her mouth still full. Neil smiled wearily at her. He took a spoon and scooped up a little, hesitantly putting it in his mouth. He chewed slowly, finding the food really salty and rather tasteless. Not to long had passed until Space kid came out of nowhere and took a seat beside Nikki.
"Hey guys." He said, Neil took a long look at the kid in front of him, why was he here?
"Hey Space Kid." Nikki replied, still managing to talk with all the food in her mouth.
"So, where's Max?" He asked. Neil's face faltered, that's why he's here...
"We don't know." Nikki told him.
"Really? I thought out of everyone you guys would know."
"Well we don't." Neil had snapped, angrier than he'd meant it to be. Space kid looked taken aback, until Nikki budged in.
"We didn't talk to him over the school year." Nikki and Space kid started to have their own conversation, though Neil didn't pay attention, he didn't really want to think about Max at the moment. He stared down at his tray, taking another bite of the "food" before tuning into a conversation being held at the counselor's table.
"Where's Max? I though he was coming this year." Gwen said, Neil could tell by the sound of her voice. God, was everyone talking about Max right now?
"I don't know, when he left he'd said "see you next year" and I assumed that meant he'd come this time.." David replied.
"Where do you think he is, what do you think happened?"
"I... don't know, I was actually looking forward to seeing him again. He hugged me.. I took that as a sign that he'd definitely be here." David said that, no way he said that, Neil thought. David's the last person that Max would hug, but Neil recognized the voice. Max hugged David?
"Apparently not." Even the counselor's didn't know where Max was... no, stop thinking of Max! Neil looked at his food, and decided he wasn't going to eat it anymore, so he stood up and walked out of the mess hall doors. Everyone was looking at him but that didn't stop him from leaving. He took a seat on the grass, Alone, that's how he preferred it. Slowly, Neil laid down in the grass, he looked out into the sky, which was a combination of baby blue and white, searching his mind to think about something. Anything. Anything but Max. Not even a couple of minutes had passed and just as Neil had suspected, somebody came out of the mess hall to check on him. He turned to look at the figure, expected it to be Nikki, but to his surprise it was David. Neil looked up at him, dumbfounded as he sat down beside him.
"Hey..." Neil said, holding back from asking him where Max is, he already knew that David didn't know.
"Hey, why'd you come out here?" He asked, looking down at the small child. Neil hesitated... should he tell him why?
"Everyone was talking about Max.. I needed to get out and stop thinking about him. It just makes me miss him more than I already have all year." David nodded. A silence fell between them as they both listened to the sounds of nature around them.
"I miss him too, despite his many attempts to, well, hurt me. He tried to make me feel sad all year, and yet I miss him.. I wonder where he is, what happened to him? I thought he was coming this year."
"So did I! He told me himself, "see you next year" that's what he said!"
"He said that to me too." David locked eyes with Neil. "But I'm sure it's not his fault." He reassured Neil. "Sometimes campers come in the middle of the summer, maybe that's what Max will do." Neil gave a soft humorless chuckle.
"I hope so..."
"Hey Neil."
"Hmm?" David looked up at the sky with Neil.
"You know, you can come talk to me anytime. Tell me anything that's on your mind.. think of me as a guidance counselor." Neil looked at David, who looked out onto the blue sky. Something in his eyes, though Neil couldn't quite figure out what.
"Thank you, David." He said.
"No problem."
Neil looked out onto the sky with David, thinking about how he had really bonded with Max last summer, and Nikki. They were a trio, a gang. They were tied together, stuck to each other like glue. Neil hoped that that was the case, that it really wasn't Max's fault and that he would come in the middle of camp.
Day by day...
Week by week...
He'd hoped All summer...
And yet Max never showed up.