Room 116 (Austin Carlile + Alan Ashby)

I threw my keys onto the desk beside the door which resulted in a clattering sound of the metal keys hitting the wooden surface. I slammed the door behind me careless and grouchy after a tiresome three hour drive. My duffel bags, which some may argue are athletic bags, were thrown to the corner of the room where they were set to slouch for a few months. Athletic? I can barely stand on my own two feet.

During summer, I always come here. I'm used it however every other year it's only been for two months. Now that I'm on study leave and my parents cannot stand living in the same house with me for a while, I'm here for six whole months. Timberland Grove was like a second home except it wasn't my home at all. I knew the camp advisers here but other than that I only knew some of the regular people who come here for the same reasons I do.

The room was pretty spacious considering I'd be the only one in it. My mom booked me a singular room and it seems this was all they had. There was room for at least 4 people in here. It consisted of two chest of drawers, one wardrobe, one washroom, a wall mirror, a desk with a lamp and for some reason, a bunk bed. Hopefully it's seperable incase the genius camp adviders, Ronnie and Del messed up the room check in.

Sighing, I walked over to the washroom where I gave a disgusting expression having seen myself in the mirror. I looked exhausted and the lines beneath my eyes only made it even more evident. Clearly I'd have to grab three cups of coffee when going down to the luncheon hall. The 'camp' isn't much of a camp. Ronnie and Del don't get in the way and you're basically just here to relax. Most of the time they're just skyping their wives or out for a drink. The most we'll see of them is when they'll call us down at 5:00pm (which I realised was like a half hour from now) and tell us breakfast, lunch and dinner arrangements and that's all we see of them until the end of the six months.

Around 20 odd people come here every summer. It's nice because there's the two or three regulars. I'm not really one to make new friends but I'm glad it's not commuted. Thankfully, there's no screaming girls here but the 'we're too tough for kiddish camping' guys aren't too much of a thrill either. The newbies don't try to talk much anyways so they're always okay. It's quite relaxing but if you don't make friends here, loneliness and boredom is inevitable.

Making what was the smartest decision after smelling the aroma exuding from me, I took a shower and instantly felt a lot more refreshed. I combed through my ginger hair and left it to dry while I grabbed some clothes as there was only a towel masking my lower body. From my bag I grabbed a black round neck t-shirt, khaki shorts and the black vans I was already wearing before. The t-shirt was too big on my quite thin body but it was comfortable and that's all that mattered right now. I didn't know the wi-fi password yet so using my phone to occupy my time was useless.

I wasn't particularly looking forward to eating since I'd ate on the way here so I was just going to the hall to see who's turned out and to be a good campmate I guess. I didn't want to be like those guys who think they're too superior and worthy than 'stupid, middle-aged men' who are actually taking their time to attend to the assholes.

I quickly sent my mom a message saying I'd miss her and I'd call her regularly just to be clear of her panicking. I checked the time and left my phone under the pillow of the bottom bunk where I had decided to sleep. I grabbed the keys which rattled loosely in my hand, the 'Timberland Grove' keychain with 'Room 116' engraved beneath the small drawing of a tree hit against the room key. I locked the door behind me and tucked it into a secure, velcro pocket before going down to the luncheon hall having realised that gathering was in 10 minutes. Most people would've been here by now but it seemed as if we'd have to wait for some more people to arrive.

In the luncheon hall, I saw Del and Ronnie standing by the corner discussing something on the clipboard. Their famous clipboard which has more doodles that can be counted and a few snaps here and there still managed to stay with them longer than it takes a 1 year old to say hippopotamus. They saw me looking and waved at me and I returned it. They're really decent guys. They must've been checking how many people they've got down and who their waiting on.

Gradually the seats that were placed in a semi circle around the waiting camp leaders in their matching blue shirts, caps and shorts were beginning to get filled. After everyone had grabbed their refreshments, me my coffee, there was one seat left and that coincidentally happened to be the one next to me. "Right, I guess we're just waiting on one person but we can fill them in later." Del said, looking at his watch.

"Right guys! I'm Del and this here is my right-hand man, Ronnie!" he shouted in an almost carnival way, achieving a bow from Ron. "We're going to be your camp consultants this summer going on autumn and if there's anything you need, we're your guys. This camp is for you to relax, find yourself, make friends or even to just camp really. We're not fussy so just see it as a holiday. If you do want to set a campfire or anything traditional like that, you can find us in..." the speech slowly drowned out as I'd heard this ten times before.

I began to become disinterested in their speech and noticed a guy looking from the door window. He looked down at a paper in his hand and looked back up as if to make sure he had the right place. Slowly, he opened the door and walked awkwardly up to Del and Ronnie, only slightly interrupting their speech. All I saw were a few nods and a "Alan will fill you in." I sighed and put on a smile for the brown haired boy walking over to sit next to me. He put his rucksack and duffel bag to the side, clearly he hasn't been to his room yet.

"Hey, I'm Austin." he whispered and offered a hand for me to shake, and so I did. "Alan." I whispered back looking at Del and Ron as if I was paying close attention to every sweat drop, lip lick and knuckle crack.

"Could you help me find my room later?" he whispered and I looked at him. His eyes were furrowed and he looked almost scared. "Uh yeah, sure. What room are you in?" I asked attentively and he proceeded to take a slip of paper from his back pocket.

"It's Room 116." he uttered. Oh, my room mate.

(tbc)