𝘗𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘳 ~ [𝘋𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘥 𝘹 𝘖𝘊]

⇒ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴛᴡᴇʟᴠᴇ

Despite everything that had happened at my 'two year' party, David and I didn't have much time to spend together with Parents Day fast approaching. The two of us and Gwen had been immensely busy sorting out how everyone would be arriving and when. This reduced any acts of romantic aspiration between the redhead and I to a few shared looks over mountains of letters or a hand squeeze under the Mess Hall table.

But now, after all our hard work, Parents Day was upon us.

"Can you believe it kids? Today's the day!" David threw his arms in the air excitedly, addressing the campers.

"Christmas?" Nikki perked up immediately.

"N-no?" I answered, stumbling over my worse in confusion. "Nikki, it's summer. It's Parents Day." I explained.

"We put up flyers and everything." Gwen added, gesturing to the outside walls of the Mess Hall. We might have gone overboard with all the notices actually, there was barely a free space of wooden log to be seen.

"Oh, why did I think it was Christmas?" The teal haired girl's question went unanswered.

"So wait... Our parents are showing up here. Today?" Neil stepped forward a few steps.

"You bet! We can show off everything you've learnt so far, and even take part in some fun camp activities." David told them, an ever present smile in his face.

"It's going to be fun." I insisted. I usually wasn't one to push the enjoyment of these sorts of things onto the kids, but I really did think this was a good idea. If I was right about most of them not coming from stable environments, this might give me some insight into how to help them.

"That is entirely dependent on which one if my parents shows up." Neil muttered. Oh yeah, he'd told me his parents were separated.

"Well you losers enjoy your family bonding, because there's no way my folks are coming. Guess I just get to kick back and relax." Max smirked, quite pleased with the whole affair. Come to think of it, his parents were the only ones not to reply... But my co-workers and I were still holding out a shred of hope.

"Did somebody say Christmas?" And that shred of hope had just been destroyed. But because of completely unrelated circumstances to what it was there for to begin with.

"Mr Campbell?"

"Mr Campbell." There was a clear difference in mine and David's tones. I'm not even going to bother saying who was happy and who was pissed, because it's blatantly obvious.

"You're back!" The turquoise eyed man continued.

"Back? Why I've been here the whole time, Davey." Cameron denied profusely.

"But you went Rus-" Gwen started skeptically.

"The whole time." She backed off after that.

"At least he showed up in time for Parents Day so we can seem like he's actually a real camp founder." I pondered aloud.

"In time for what now?" He rounded on me, face a little intimidating.

"Parents Day," David answered, taking the heat off me, "We can show-" Mr Campbell grabbed him by the shoulders of his t-shirt, anger now prominent. My hands automatically curled into fists the minute he laid a hand on him, but then I realised it probably wasn't a good look for one of the counsellors to punch the founder right before parents arrived.

"There can't be a Parents Day, because if there is all the parents will find out they didn't send their kid to whatever stupid camp they thought they sent them too!" He shook the redhead with each word, making him wheeze for breath a little as the movement tightened his bandana so it was half choking him.