Mutual Hatred (ONC Entry) | Max x Reader

Chapter 3: Meet the weirdos

Y/N's POV

The last chords of the song were still fading in the air when screaming came from outside the tent, causing me to almost drop my instrument. The spell broken, my face started to heat up.

"What the hell?!" Max cursed. He looked just as red as I felt, despite his tan skin, but more angry than startled at the noise.

A boy in Shakespearean clothing - ruffled collar, puffed shoulders, brown hair in an Elizabethan bob haircut, the works - burst through the door-flap, gold eyes popped open and grinning maniacally. Add in a knife and you could call him Macbeth.

"BEAUTIFUL! AMAZING! BRAVO, BRAVA!" he shouted, clapping furiously, "ENCORE, ENCORE!!!"

I yelped at his sudden entrance and barely stopped myself from chucking the guitar in self-defense.

"Who the hell are you?"

Max groaned and shoved his face in a pillow. "Y/n, Preston, theater geek. Preston, Y/n, new kid." was his muffled response.

"The guy who got you to memorize that camp intro?" I asked. The name sounded familiar.

Preston gasped in delight, "Oh! So all those acting lessons paid off? Really, Max, you MUST join theatre." He pronounced 'theater' with an unnecessary flair; I could almost hear the 're' replacing the 'er.'

"Damn it. You just had to bring that up, Y/n," Max spat, sitting up again.

"Whoops," I said, unrepentant. Even though it was an accident, that seemed worth it.

"What are you even doing here Preston, shouldn't you be writing your play, or fangirling over some musical?" he inquired.

"I have no need to do that with your beautiful performance! It was like a gender-bent Orpheus and Eurydice! Glorious, INSPIRATIONAL, YOU MUST PERFORM FOR ME!" Preston's voice built up to a screech in his excitement.

"You're loud," I observed, wincing slightly. He was giving me a headache.

"No matter, theatre requires SACRIFICE! Even at the expense of your eardrums, new kid," he replied.

Max snorted, "Yeah right, none of us even have eardrums, living with you all summer."

"I can already feel mine withering," I joked dryly.

Preston huffed, offended, and marched out the door. "If you're going to be rude about it, FINE THEN."

"I'm taking it as a yes, by the way," he called over his shoulder. I barely heard half of what he said and shrugged it off. Whatever it was definitely won't come back to bite me later, anyway.

I hopped off my cot. "What do we do now?" I asked, "It's not even 1:00 yet, we still have like, half the day." The thought of even more action made me feel exhausted, but I've lived through worse.

"I dunno about you, but I'm going to the activities field. Arrival days are free for all, and there's nothing better to do in this hellhole."

"I'll come with. Might as well check it out," I answered.

Max held open the tent flap with a smirk, "Ladies first."

"If that's the case, then you go on ahead," I shot back, rolling my eyes.

"Touché." We headed over to the activities field and ran into David on the way.

"Ah Y/n, there you are. I forgot to give you something!" he exclaimed. David swooped down and thrust a sharp object at my chest. I jumped back in reflex, a surprised noise escaping my throat.