bunkmates ▸ joshler

two ▸ uncovering the stash

[a/n: just thought id warn you that im not going to write consistently in one pov, meaning ill switch between tyler and josh obviously, but also switch between past, present, first person, third person, etc... it gets to be a lot to remember and honestly it just helps me to write more lol]

◂: josh :▸

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

Great. That was most friendly of introductions to calm my nerves that were currently abandoning ship. I felt like I could feel the cold splashes of them jumping into the waves against the walls of my insides. It was sickening.

"Well, anyway, as there are three of us in this cabin and two sets of bunk beds, you can choose between the two that are left. You can be above me, or below our other cabin mate."

Josh was more of a top bunk kind of guy. What 14-year-old boy wasn't? Obviously this dweeb, he thought to himself. He heaved a sigh and internally groaned as he made his way to the opposite side of the room as the curly-haired nerd. It was going to be a long summer.

Setting his stuff on the cot mattress, Josh glanced back at the kid across the room. It looked as if he was organizing pencil cases. Not even questioning why at this point, his mind timidly reminded Josh that he should be polite and introduce himself.

"Oh, uh, hey," Josh stumbled through his words, catching the attention of the boy. "I, uh, didn't catch your name? I'm Josh."

"Julian, but you can call me Ju, or even Juju."

Josh's eyes went wide as he pursed his lips and nodded slowly, trying as hard as he could to not bust out laughing. Someone else had failed the feat, though. Both Josh and Julian whipped their heads around to the sound. A brunet walked out of the door I assumed was a closet.

"No way in heck people actually call you that. You just want people to call you that, don't you." The boy sassed, squinting his eyes and shaking his head while walking straight towards Julian. He got a little too close it seemed, as Julian shot up and held an open hand against his chest.

"Stop! You're going to ruin my organization of my EpiPens!"

Josh could take it no longer. Rolling his eyes, he turned and started unloading all his things. First, he took his bedding out of its garbage bag. It contained his sleeping bag, two pillows, and a fitted sheet. Struggling way to hard to get the fitted sheet on the mattress, Josh glanced back across the room at Julian and the troublemaker.

"Isn't it kinda suspicious to have a boatload of needles in an unsupervised cabin?" the boy teased. Julian furrowed his brow, sliding all of the cases more towards him.

"It's not suspicious because number one, these are for my safety and number two, there's no other use of needles beyond medical." The kid grunted at the last comment as Julian stuck his nose in the air.

Rolling my eyes once again at their dumb arguments, I finished setting up my bed for the night and moved on to unloading some things from my duffle bags. By the time I had most of my clothes out and folded neatly beside the bunk bed I heard out cabin door quickly get pulled open and slammed shut. The brunet caught my eye as he walked over.

"He thought it'd be a good idea to make sure the counselors knew all of the details about his extensive list of allergies. Even though his helicopter momma probably already did." The boy commented, with an annoyed yet amused expression on his face. I chuckled in response, too awkward to do much else.

"I see we're bunkmates, and I assume it's only because you weren't to keen on sleeping close to ol' Juju." he chuckled to himself, shaking his head. I shook my head violently, eyes wide.

"I'm Tyler, but the way," he told me, sticking out his hand. I walked over and shook it.

"Josh."

He nodded. Scanning my progress of unloading, his eyes lit up at the sight of one of my half-unpacked duffles. He reached in, not caring about my permission and waved around a gallon-sized bag of... candy? I don't remember packing that.

"Dude! You're loaded! No way you're eating all of this, I'm definitely stealing some!"

"Hey," I responded, timidly reaching for the bag back. Tyler reached in for a lollipop and smirked at me. I snatched both the bag and the candy out of his hands.

"Oh, come on. Just one piece?" he pouted at me.

"Maybe later," I told him, stuffing the candy back in the bag.

He just shrugged and pulled himself up to the top bunk where he had piled all of his bags.

"Ten bucks Juju's not back by the dinner bell. Also, that door leads to a bathroom." Tyler gestured towards the door he walked out of when I first saw him with a crisp $10 bill in his hand.

"Sure," I said, accepting the challenge. "But, if he isn't back I'm not paying you ten bucks. I'll give you that sucker you tried to steal."

"Done deal!"

I chuckled and shook my head. Maybe making friends wouldn't be too bad this summer. I already had three, if you counted Julian. I was just glad that I didn't have seven other guys rooming in my cabin. I had really lucked out.

I turned my attention back to unpacking and arranging all of my stuff, hiding my stash of candy in an empty duffle to store under my bed. Tyler wouldn't find it there. Tucking the bag inside, I noticed a paper I was sure I didn't see before. Confused, I picked it up and scanned the page. It was my mom's handwriting.

Josh,

I hope camp is treating you well by the time you are reading this and all of your cabin mates are nice and inviting...

I rolled my eyes, flashing back to Tyler and Julian's petty argument.

Dad and I will miss you and really hope you make some awesome friends and have a great time. Also, have fun without any of your siblings annoying you ;)

I smiled wide when I saw my mom's little winky face. It felt so comforting.

Anyway, the candy was Dad's idea. He said it would help your nerves. I'm sure he just wanted to sneak some before you left. I did see him chewing something while trying to be discreet... but keep that between me and you, okay?

We'll see you soon!

Love,

Mom and Dad

I smiled at my mom's thoughtfulness and the fact that she signed for Dad.

I stuffed both the note and the bag of candy into the duffle and zipped it shut, pushing it under the bed as the door suddenly soared open.

"I am completely appalled at how few gluten-free, vegan, organic, and vegetable-cruelty-free meals they offer here!"

I heard a groan above me and felt a green bill float down on my head. Snickering, I grabbed the ten dollars and looked up at Tyler's tongue sticking out at me. If even only half of the summer went like today, I could probably last.

[okay that was kinda long lol]