A Beautiful Day for a Wedding

EJ

Elton John Caswell had learned that life was unexpected. That whatever his plans were, life had a way of intervening. EJ had been certain he was getting into Duke, but instead found himself going to a state college. He thought he'd wind up running his father''s company one day, now he was a teacher. Every girlfriend he'd ever had he'd thought was 'The One,' but here he was single and a groomsman at his ex girlfriend's wedding. If there was some greater power in the Universe, they clearly had a sense of humor.

Despite the direction his life had taken EJ was happy. Sure he wasn't making a six figure salary, but being a teacher left him feeling fulfilled in a way that his wealthy upbringing never did. Since college he'd officially shed any facade he'd built up about being who his dad had wanted him to be and he'd fully embraced his inner nerd that had been fighting to get out since the first time he took to the stage at Shallow Lake. He felt like he was being his true self.

Of course the one thing Jock EJ and Nerd EJ seemed to have in common was being unlucky in love. His longest relationship was with Val and it was mostly long distance. They broke up after she started med school. They always talked about potentially rekindling their romance once she had graduated but she'd graduated over a year ago and nothing seemed to come of it. Because of his track record, when Jet decided to get some advice regarding his romantic struggles, EJ decided to bow out, afraid he'd give the wrong advice and left to take a walk.

Thankfully he had because the ushers weren't ready yet and the wedding guests were starting to arrive. Stepping up where he was needed EJ began acting as an usher and started showing people to their seats. He met Ricky's aunt and cousins, a few of Gina's co stars from her various projects, a few Wildcats, but most surprising was none other than Dewey Wood.

"Dewey Wood?" EJ mockingly says in the old call and response.

"I'm not saying it Rocket Man," Dewey responds flatly.

EJ chuckles to himself, "sorry, sorry. It's a force of habit."

"I know. You do it every summer," Dewey says with a hint of annoyance. While being a teacher was immensely rewarding, it didn't exactly pay very well. So to make some extra cash and give back to the camp that had given him so much, EJ was a camp counselor and Shallow Lake's official musical director, and had been the last several years.

"So bride or groom?" EJ asks remembering what he was doing.

"Both, kind of. I'm officiating," Dewey informs. Before EJ can inquire more Dewey explains, "I'm a last minute change. They originally had Corbin Bleu officiating, but his private jet is currently grounded because of a storm in the Midwest, so here I am."

"You're ordained though?" EJ asks surprised.

"Yeah. During the spring Shallow Lake doubles as a wedding venue," Dewey continues. "It helps give us more of a budget and makes sure I can afford to eat for the entire year."

"Well, it's great to see you here boss," EJ greets, "and it's really nice you're doing this for Ricky and Gina."

"Well I owe them," Dewey states matter of factly, "otherwise there might not be a Camp Shallow Lake." EJ must have had quite the confused look on his face because Dewey explained the whole thing.

After the documentary Shallow Lake had a surge of new campers. All the sessions throughout the summer were filled to capacity. The next year was the same. The year after that the hype started to die down. By the fourth summer after the documentary Shallow Lake was back to it's typical attendance. The problem was that with the influx of money and kids that the camp had expanded. New equipment, new activities, and the staff got a raise that was long overdue. If the camp had kept being filled to capacity for another summer or two they wouldn't be in such trouble. Desperate, Dewey reached out to former campers for donations to keep the camp running and Ricky and Gina had been big supporters, donating huge sums the last few years, even getting a few other former campers to donate as well.