bunkmates ▸ joshler

one ‣ seven minutes late

◂: josh :▸

Only one hour ago my family had dropped me off at a summer camp, yet I was already longing for their safe chaos. When I stepped out of the car I was given a few hugs, my bags, tons of encouragement, and finally waves as the car left me behind, kicking up dust. I stood there a while, watching as freedom slipped from my view. I heaved a sigh and took some laborious steps to where the rest of the campers were congregated. As I looked down at my watch I assumed they were announcing cabin assignments. And I was seven minutes late.

"Hey," a tall boy with messy dark brown hair waved to me.

I didn't respond at first. Looking around, I realized he really was talking to me. I shuffled in closer to the crowd of kids, almost losing grip on one of my bags in the process.

"The counselors are announcing the cabin assignments," the boy continued in a low tone, confirming my assumption. "What's your name? You know, in case they already called it."

"Uh, Josh," I told him, bringing a small grin to my face. He nodded, then squeezed his eyes shut as to recall if my name had been called already.

"Josh..." he asked me, gesturing with his hands for more.

"Oh, Dun, sorry," I apologized to him, embarrassed that I hadn't thought of there being more than one Josh. Feeling my face turn red, I turned my head to the middle of the crowd to hide it from the tall boy.

The counselors were still calling out names, but after listening for a second or two, they were assigning the girls to their cabins. I snuck a quick peek back over my shoulder to see if the kid was still trying to remember if he heard my name.  He was.

"They probably didn't call it if you've been thinking for so long," I called to him, knocking him out of his trance.

"Sorry?"

"I said if you were thinking for so long that probably means that my name hasn't been called yet."

"Oh, I guess." He shrugged at me. "If we did miss it, I'll wait around to go and ask one of the counselors for your cabin number."

I smiled back at him in appreciation. This boy was really kind and outgoing. Maybe I could survive the summer with one friend.

"Oh, uh, by the way, what's your, um, name?" I asked him, hoping it didn't seem too out-of-the-blue.

"Brendon, not Brandon, or Brunden. Brendon Urie." He told me, bending into a dramatic bow. I snickered as most of his bag straps fell from his shoulders, causing him to stumble forward.

It turns out the two of us got along quite well. In the five minutes that the counselors finished calling names, we found that we both listen to some of the same bands. We also both play the trumpet. Thankfully, he didn't have any friends at the camp either, which was relieving. I could hang out with him as much I wanted, although I knew he would be picking up other friends along the way.

Kids started filing out toward where we were in the back of the crowd, heading for their new cabins. Not wanting to get caught in the current of kids, Brendon quickly took my arm and lead me to where the counselors were.

"Excuse me, miss," Brendon walked up to a girl who looked high school aged. "My friend here was running a little late and didn't catch his cabin assignment. Could you help?"

She nodded cheerfully and lifted a clipboard full of blue papers. She shuffled them around, searching for the list.

"Oh, my name is Josh," I told her, trying to be helpful and not look like a total loser.

"Josh Dun?"

I nodded.

"Alright, your cabin is number 15. It's a smaller one, which we normally don't use, but this year we have so many campers, so it'll only be three of you in there. Sound alright?"

"Yeah, definitely," I told her while bobbing my head up and down. The less first impressions I could stress about the better.

She waved and walked away. Brendon and I followed suit and headed for the cabins.

"Dang, Josh. We were so close." Brendon said wistfully, slowly shaking his head. I cocked my head at him in questioning. "My cabin's 11. You're welcome to stop by, I guess."

"Aw man, that sucks big time," I told him truthfully. Now I had to at least get along with two other people. I really wasn't prepared for this. Brendon and I passed a couple of cabins in comfortable silence before stopping in front of #11.

"I guess I'll see you around, Josh!" He slung his arm around my shoulders and rubbed his hand roughly on my shoulder. "I hope both of our bunkmates aren't wackjobs!"

"You and I both, Brendon!" I called out to him grinning as he stepped into the door. Four more cabins until my fateful meeting. I sure couldn't wait.

From the outside, the cabin looked tiny, maybe just enough to fit three beds. I slowly padded my way up the three steps to our cabin's porch, and cautiously opened the door, cringing at the sound of its squeaky hinges. A red-haired head poked over the ledge of the top of a bunk bed left of the door. There was another bunk bed on the right. Straight ahead of me was another door, which I assumed was a storage closet.

I turned my attention back to the smirking face leaning over the edge of the bunk bed.

"Hi, welcome to cabin 15," he said, matter-of-factly.  "Also, you're seven minutes late."

[a/n: lol one chapter in and theres no tyler??]

[pls stick around tho]