Camp Greystone

Part 1

It was John's first day at Camp Greystone and he was nervous. It was a hour and a half bus ride from his home in Benton, Illinois to the forest that the camp was located in.

John's parents were going on vacation for the summer but since he had gotten in trouble his parents wouldn't let him go along, and instead sent him to summer camp. John was very upset by this because he had been looking forward to this trip to Rome since his parents announced it back in February. He knew he shouldn't have let Henry Milford talk him into stealing a coke from the gas station by their school, but Henry was three years older than John and he really wanted Henry to like him. How cool it would be, John thought at the time, next year as a freshman to be hanging out with seniors. Needless to say John got caught, and while it stung when Henry had denied all association with John, what really got him was the look of disappointment on his mother's face when he got home. It was lucky that John's father worked in the courthouse and was able to keep John from going to jail or getting a record. This was all a month back, just enough time for John's father to find a summer camp that lasted all summer and was still accepting applicants.

The bus ride seemed to go on forever,. It didn't help that John didn't have his normal phone. As a part of his punishment his dad took it away and instead bought John a flip phone programed with only three numbers, his mom, his dad, and the police. The phone was so simple it couldn't even take pictures.

At the beginning of the ride the counselor who rode on the bus with them, a woman in her late fifties with silver hair who introduced herself as Ms. Thacker, had told them that the camp was big enough to house about 400 campers.

John looked around the bus and saw only three other people, one of which he recognized as Adam Faye, a classmate of Johns although one he was not close to. All three of them were wearing t-shirts with the camp's logo on it. From what John could gather it seemed that Adam as well as the other two students, one girl and one boy, had already gone to the camp last year, but why they would go again eluded John. Ms. Thacker concluded her introductions by handing out each student's cabin assignments.

Finally, the bus stopped in a busy parking lot amongst a large group of other busses and parents who were sending their children off. Ms. Thacker stood up and started talking.

"Okay campers, it seems we finally arrived. We are gonna dismiss from the front to the back. Remember, if you ever need anything just ask for me. Alright, have a wonderful summer at Camp Greystone!"

John had sat at the very back so he was the last student to be let off. When John got off he only made it 20 feet before he was stopped by a red haired boy who was only an inch or two taller than him and looked about John's age. He wore an orange t-shirt that read "Student Counselor" in bold black letters.

"Are you one of the new kids" the boy asked.

John was still upset at his parents for making him come to the camp and was about to say something snarky along the lines of, "Well I'm not wearing a camp shirt, am I?" but decided it best to not make enemies within the first hour of arriving.

"Yeah, my name's John Griffon."

"Philip," Said the boy, extending his hand for John to shake, "Philip Erikson"

John took notice to the southern accent in Philips voice, a stark contrast to John's Illinois accent. He brushed this fact aside and shook Philips hand.

John's eyes wandered over Philip's shoulder where he saw a cute girl in a "Student Counselor" t-shirt similar to Philips. She had brown hair that reached halfway down her back. She was talking to one of the adult counselors and John couldn't help but to stare.

"Uh, John? You can let go of my hand now." Philip's voice pulled him back into reality. Philip followed John's gaze and saw the girl.

"Who is that?" Asked John.

""Oh her? That Zoe. She's pretty cool but a real goodie two shoes."

"You should introduce me." John's voice was more confident than he felt. He decided since no one knew who he was he could brand himself as anybody, and being the cool, confident guy sounded nice in John's head. Unfortunately, his illusion was quickly broken when Philip laughed.

"Ha! Why don't you go introduce yourself. Go ahead, I'll watch from here."

John walked over to where Zoe was standing and tried to set up an air of confidence. He pictured himself as Clark Gable and was trying to think of something clever to say when she noticed him.

"Hello there. Are you a new camper?"

"Why yes, yes I am." John tried to sound as James Bond as he could.

"Great! This is Marcy, she can help get you a camp shirt." Zoe grabbed the counselor who she was talking to's hand and positioned her towards John before quickly walking away to help one of the other campers who had dropped his stuff.

John was going to follow her, he figured helping the other kid would make him look good in front of Zoe, but before he could the counselor got in front of him.

"Hello young man, what size shirt would you like?"

"Uhh, medium is fine" He tried not to lose Zoe in the crowd of people but the counselor turned him in her direction to hold the camp shirt to his chest. He looked back and Zoe was gone. John thanked the counselor, although it came out a bit more rude than he intended, and trugged back towards Philip, who had a big grin on his face.

"Come on Romeo, before you have to start beating her off with a stick."

John grabbed his stuff, two duffel bags full of clothes, and followed Philip. A short kid with jet black hair ran up to them as they were walking and jumped in front of them.

"Yo, new kid. What up?" The kid moved his arms a lot while he talked reminding John of a cartoon character.

"Go away Sam." Philip pushed the kid out of the way and continued toward a huge building labeled "MESS HALL".

"What's wrong Philly? Don't want him catching my cool?"

"No, I don't want him catching your stupid."

"Hey," John interrupted, "My name's John."

"Heyo John, Sam Snider nice to meetcha." He talked fast and his words came out almost as one. Sam was walking backwards and not paying attention when he ran into someone.

The guy was tall, about six inches taller than John, and had black hair shaved in a buzz cut. He looked like he spent a lot of time working out and John was thoroughly convinced that if the guy wanted to he could easily lay John out.

"Oh hey Damion. You should really watch where you're standing."

"You should really grow eyes in the back of your head if you plan on walking backwards."

"I should, shouldn't I?" Sam took a moment to ponder this and then gave Damion a knuckle bump.

"Me and Philly were gonna take this new guy to get some grub. Wanna come?"

"Wait," said John, "I'm supposed to go to the orientation."

"Do you have your cabin number?" Asked Sam.

John rifled through his pocket and found the small piece of paper Ms. Thacker had given him.

"Yeah"

"Well that's all you really need. All they do in orientation is tell you the rules. It's crazy boring." Both Philip and Damion nodded their heads in agreement.

"Alright then, if you say so."