Setting Them Straight [boyxboy]

Chapter One: You Only Live Once

Chapter One (Dominic)

It only took a few hours before we arrived at Camp Savior.

It looked like the stereotypical camp that you'd see on advertisements with a nice big blue lake sitting just beyond a line of trees that blended into huge forests on the sides and around the camp. The main hall was a huge log building nestled between two smaller cabins. The registration office sat closest to the gravel parking lot where we parked my stepdad's Volvo.

My stomach clenched as I opened the car door, carefully stepping out and listening to my boots crunch the gravel. I looked up, the bright sunlight searing into my eyes before I looked away, my black hair hiding my eyes from the sun as I watched my mom come around and pop open the trunk.

"Rico, sweetie, I need help with Dom's bags." She called to Rico, who grunted as a response and hobbled over, easily hoising my gym bag and suitcase into his arms, leaving my mom with my toiletries box and me with my messenger bag.

My mom called my name, but I said nothing in response as we made our way to the registration office. The whole time, I shoved my hands into the pockets of my black zip-up sweatshirt, the hood pulled over my head as I scanned the bright green grass. I heard a gong from the main hall and catching me off guard was a large group of boys coming in from part of the woods.

I blinked, watching the camp counseler calling out to the boys who were rough-housing and whooping, just like any other boy you'd see at school. Was this really a gay-to-straight camp or was I being tricked?

"Don't stand there, get goin'!" Rico said gruffly, nudging me in the back as I stopped on the porch of the registration office. I winced and obeyed, hurrying into the cabin, surprised by the air conditioning inside despite the cool temperatures outside. Rico dropped my stuff near the door, making me frown as he and my mother approached the front desk.

A woman with her red hair tied back in a ponytail, a white cap that read Camp Savior Counseler on the front to match the name tag on her tye-dye t-shirt and khaki shorts. She jumped up with a big white smile, her green eyes glowing.

"Welcome! You must be the Smiths. We've been waiting for you! Come right this way so we can fill out your applications." She greeted brightly, making my mom smile a bit in relief. Rico just stared at her flatly, unamused. I only followed as we walked into a room where a strong, muscular looking man sat at the main desk, wearing a white button up shirt and khaki shorts. He looked up with a pair of dark brown, almost black eyes and smiled.

"Hello! My name's Eric Klein. I'm the head of Camp Savior. It's a pleasure to have you joining us. Won't you sit down? I'll get your papers." He said brightly, blowing the hair out of his face before turning to a file cabinet. I sat in the seat between my mother and stepfather as Eric came back to his seat, spreading the sheets out before looking right at me with a fake smile.

I knew it was fake because I saw the corners of his mouth twitching in effort.

"You must be Dominic. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Your mother talks avidly about your interest in photography and painting. You do well in school with a 3.0 grade point average. You enjoy walks and you're a vegetarian, excellent. The only problem is the reason you're at this camp," Eric finally got to the point, but kept up his fake smile, "The pastor of your church, Father Michaels, sent in the report. It seems you've fallen prey to some of the evils in our world. It's sad when brilliant minds like yours are poisoned by modern society." He sighed dramatically and looked at my mother and stepfather with a reassuring smile.

"But not to worry, Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Our camp has an 87% succession rate. We'll make sure Dominic here is given the proper education and upbringing he needs. As for your payments, just make them out to the address at the bottom of this flyer. On the last day of the camp experience, we ask that the parents come pick up their children." He pushed a flyer at my mom, who took it with a shaking hand, nodding slowly as she scanned it over.