Chapter Text
Max stared out the window of the car, eyes unfocused, and tried to calm her hammering heart. In less than half an hour, she would arrive at Camp Arcadia, the self-same summer camp that was etched so firmly in all of her childhood memories. But this time was different; eighteen-year-old Max Caulfield was no longer a camper, but a counselor. For eight weeks, she was going to be responsible for the care, supervision and entertainment of throngs of youngsters, like she had once been herself. Plus, she got to return to the place she'd always loved as a kid, except this time, she'd get paid to do it! So... why was her heart hammering in her throat right now?
“Max, are you holding up okay back there? You seem a little quiet.” She looked up, catching her dad’s concerned look in the rear view mirror, and gave him a small smile. “You know, it’s okay to be nervous on your first day. This is a big step, but I’m positive you can handle it. Besides, didn’t you always used to ask us when you’d get to return here? Maybe you’ll even see some of your old friends again.”
"Thanks, Dad," Max said somewhat unenthusiastically. True, she was excited, but she also felt sick to her stomach with nerves for some reason. What if Camp Arcadia was nothing like she remembered it to be? What if she had just committed herself to eight weeks of misery and no Wi-Fi? All the ways that this could go wrong were spinning around in her head: that she'd be the laughingstock of all the camp counselors. That some accident could happen to one of her campers and she'd be held responsible. Or even that, by the time the car arrived, she'd discover the entire camp had been destroyed by a tornado, along with all her memories.
Max shook her head violently. She couldn't allow herself to get trapped in these anxious thoughts. She reached inside the nearest of her several duffel bags and took out her MP3 player. She'd carefully selected each song, knowing that she would likely be stuck listening to whatever she chose for the rest of the summer. She picked one that she liked at semi-random and pressed play.
As the music began to play, Max breathed out a sigh and let the song melt away her anxieties. Yeah, so what if she was nervous? Anybody would be, if they were starting a new job which they'd be tied to for the next eight weeks of their life. Plus, more than likely she was going to have a great time. She just needed to... come out of her shell a little bit. Everyone else would be just as nervous as she was, right?
Thinking reassuring thoughts, she closed her eyes and let the sound of the music wash over her.
***
"--Max. We're here! Shake a leg, kiddo!"
Max blinked her eyes open. The car was stopped in a familiar-looking dirt and gravel parking lot. As she regained awareness of her surroundings, Max recognized a very familiar archway with the words CAMP ARCADIA etched deep into the wood. She was hit with a jolt of nostalgia like a punch to the gut. She was really here again, after all these years.
"I guess I can't call you kiddo anymore. You've turned into such a mature young woman, Max. So go out there and knock 'em dead!" Her dad laughed, a deep and warm sound she was sure she'd miss during her inevitable homesickness. Max gave a warm smile and jumped down out of the car seat, duffel bag over her shoulder.
"Hey, honey, d'you think you brought enough camera equipment? I'm being crushed over here!" Max stifled a laugh as she watched her father mock-struggling under the bag that held Max's cameras and film. Photography was her passion, and it's not like there was somewhere closeby where she could buy more film, so she had to pack enough to last the entire camp session. At least with the instant film she used, she didn't need a dark room to develop it, so that was a plus, right? She only hoped she could find the space to store it all.
Hefting several bags over her shoulders, Max stepped through the archway and into Camp Arcadia for the first time in five years.
Her first impression was... not much had changed. A lot of the buildings in the distance seemed to be the same as she remembered -- there were Darwin, Thoreau, and Audubon, the boys' cabins; and Merriam, Carson, and Dormon, the girls'. A weathervane squeaked on top of the biggest building, the Main Hall. Maybe her memory wasn't that great, but everything was just as she remembered it -- as if the camp itself was something preserved in time, like a photograph.
Max took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of freshly mown grass on the green, as well as the rich smell of the woods that enfolded Camp Arcadia on all sides. A breeze brought a whiff of the lake, which they'd jokingly called The Bay. She used to go out on a canoe on that lake, where she and Chloe would pretend they were pirates--
Snapping back to reality in an instant, Max remembered what she had to do. She needed to visit the main office and see what cabin she'd be assigned to for the summer. From the sounds of her dad struggling under the weight of all her bags, she should probably figure it out fast, before he pulled a muscle or something. Recalling her mental map of the place, she made a beeline for the central office.
***
"Hmm... Maxine Caulfield... Ah, yes, it looks like you'll be in Carson this year," said Camp Director Wells, who barely glanced up from the schedule and list of names that he was studying. "It says here you were a former camper, is that it?" His eyes finally glanced up from what he was reading. Max tried to compose herself underneath his gaze; this man was her boss, after all.
"Y-yes sir," she managed. "Five years ago. A-and then my family moved out-of-state, so..."
"Ahhh, yes, I remember now." Director Wells gave a knowing smile. "Max Caulfield. If I recall correctly, your absence was sorely missed the next year by some of your fellow campers. It's good to have you back, Max. I'm sure you'll have a fine time here at Camp Arcadia."
"Um, thank you, sir."
"Now, there's no need to call me sir," Director Wells said, neatly arranging the papers he had been studying. "I know I might seem like an... intimidating authority figure, but really I just want what's best for Camp Arcadia, and that includes you and your fellow camp counselors. Our main is to create a fun and friendly space for all of our campers. That being said," Director Wells fixed Max with a steely gaze, "If I catch you, or any counselor, goofing off or disrespecting the rules of this establishment, there will be serious consequences. Is that understood?"
"Y-yes sir-- um, I mean, Director Wells," Max said, trying to keep a fearful quaver out of her voice.
"Very good. I shouldn't expect very much trouble from you, Max. As I recall, you were an exceptionally well-behaved camper. Now, you might have had some different experiences in the past five years, but if you ask me, I'd tell you that people never change. At least, on some level they are always the same. I hope you have a wonderful time at Arcadia, Max."
"T-thank you," Max forced out, trying very hard to not call him "sir" again.
As Max turned and left the office, she was a few seconds too late to catch Director Wells' final remarks: "And God help you with dealing with that Price girl..."
***
Max dropped her duffel bags onto the floor with a sigh of relief, and dropped onto her bare mattress to take stock of her surroundings. This was her room in Carson cabin, and right now the place felt eerily empty, although Max knew that in just a day the place would be filled with energetic young girls, constantly shouting and begging for attention. Frankly, she had no idea how she was going to handle it all. Well, she might as well pretend like she knew what she was doing until she actually figured it all out. That's what it meant to be an adult, right? The walls surrounding her were familiar -- she'd lived in Carson for a few years during her time as a camper, although never in the master dorm.
Her gaze travelled to the empty bed on the opposite side of the room. She'd be sharing this space with whoever her co-counselor was for this year... but who? She mentally chided herself for not having asked Director Wells for her name. Ah, well, she'd find out in a few hours, anyway.
A sigh and the squeak of a door hinge alerted Max to her dad entering the room, carrying Max's final and heaviest duffel, the one with all of her clothing. He dropped it to the floor and sunk onto the bed with yet another sigh, although Max suspected he might have been exaggerating for effect.
"Oh, I'm getting too old for this," he groaned. "I'll help you unpack in a minute, but let me catch my breath first."
"It's okay, dad, you can take a break," Max told him with a smile. "I can handle unpacking all my things. Thanks for carrying them in." She unzipped the large bag and got to work sorting her clothes and belongings into the dresser. Belatedly, she remembered that the only washing machine on campus was coin-operated; she hoped she'd brought enough quarters.
"Max, darling, you're doing such a good job. I'm certain you'll make a wonderful camp counselor." Max tried to look up at his face, but her dad was looking away from her for some reason. "Promise you'll write us every week?"
"I promise," Max said sincerely. "I mean, there's no TV or Internet here, so it's not like I'll have better things to do than to write you guys letters."
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find many more interesting things. Just know that your mom and I will be thinking of you always." He gave a small hiccup. "My little Maxie, all grown up... right before my eyes... It seems like only yesterday we were dropping you off here for the first time, and now you're going to work here for the entire summer..."
"Hey, dad, it's okay, I promise I'll keep in touch," Max said, abandoning her laundry-sorting and crossing over to the bed. She patted him on the shoulder somewhat awkwardly. All of a sudden, she found herself pulled into a warm hug.
"I'll miss you so much, sugarpie," he said, and Max internally found herself hoping that her fellow counselors never found out her dad called her "sugarpie."
"Miss you too, dad," she said out loud.
"That's my girl." He stood up and cleared his throat. "Do you, uh... need any help, with..."
"I've got it, dad." Max flashed him her winningest, I'm-a-capable-adult smile. "Thanks... you know, for everything."
"Of course, sweetie." He stood up from the bed. "Well, seeing as I'm not needed... I guess I should get going before it gets too dark."
"Hahaha, yeah," Max laughed somewhat awkwardly. "You don't want to be driving late at night around here. You might run into Bigfoot." She found herself pulled into another hug as dad gave a bristly kiss to her forehead.
"Goodbye, Max."
"Bye, Dad. Love you."
As she listened to the cabin door shut behind him, Max found herself filled with a sudden indescribable feeling -- a mix of nostalgia, love, anxiety, fear, and hope. She felt her heart fluttering in her chest like a butterfly. She still had no idea what was in store for her over the next eight weeks.
It was then that she heard the cabin door open and shut again. She could feel the blood rushing in her ears as she heard footsteps leading up to her door. She involuntarily closed her eyes as she heard the door leading to her room slam open. When she opened them a crack, there was a strange girl with blue hair standing in the doorway.
"So, this'll be my pad for the rest of the summer... pretty sweet," she said, a smile curling her lips. She flung her one duffel bag onto the bare mattress and made to go lie down on the bed next to it when she looked up, seeing Max for the first time. At the moment they made eye contact, a flash of recognition hit Max like a tidal wave.
"Holy shit... is that Max? Max fucking Caulfield?" The girl stared at her, her mouth in a perfect O shape.
Max couldn't help but stare. She was incapable of processing what she was seeing into words. After a few seconds of inarticulately opening and closing her mouth, she finally managed to say something intelligible:
"...Chloe?!"