this girl is a gun

YOU’LL BE WISHING THAT YOU CROSSED YOUR FINGERS   —  maia johnson, original character written for slasherhqs by binx. 

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if you can’t keep up, you can just say that. the hostile words rang in sloane’s ears as she hovered near the stacked boxes in the mess hall. she had hoped that maia would have some sort of competitive spirit, and her reaction did not disappoint. the sun hit sloane like a wall as she exited the building, and she squinted through the heat to see that maia was making her way back with not one, but two boxes in her arms, though she was moving at a slower pace than before. a grin pulled at the corner of sloane’s lips. fuck, she thinks, she really is trying to beat me. she decides to pick up the pace just a little bit, her own competitive nature getting the best of her.

by the time she and maia are crossing each other again, she’s got her eyes set on the final box in the parking lot. one left. she hears the other girl’s voice as she passes and nods, echoing her in agreement. “one left.” once she gets there, she’s able to grab it and turn around quickly, and finds that if she really hustles, she can start gaining on maia. still, though, her efforts are no match for maia’s determination and early lead, despite her opponent’s decrease in speed. when maia enters the mess hall, sloane is still a couple yards behind her, taking the steps two at a time. 

with a sigh, sloane sets down her box with the others. she could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest, a reminder that she hadn’t done any cardio today. “shit - you beat me carrying double the amount of boxes, that’s… pretty bad.” not at all embarrassed, but rather impressed, she laughs softly at her own shortcomings. “you’re fucking fast, maia. you should do track or something.” she’s oblivious - with absolutely zero personal information about maia it’s impossible for her to know she’s making a suggestion that’s already been taken.

the second that maia wobbles a little carrying the two boxes and climbing the stairs as cautiously as she can manage, she regrets taking two of them and rushing quite so much. she can feel beads of sweat forming along her hairline and the second she makes it into the mess hall and eases both of the boxes down carefully, she’s reaching for the hem of her t-shirt to lift it up and wipe it away, leaving a damp spot in its wake. as she drops her shirt, she notices  sloane making her way through the doorway with the very last box and keeps her eyes cast downwards, feeling that itch to take off back into the heat. she doesn’t know why she resists, maybe she’s just torturing herself by trying not to be quite as standoffish as she had been a second ago.  

of course, she’s filling up with regret a moment later, because even though sloane swallows the loss without getting huffy over it, something about her mentioning track has a sour look returning to her expression. “been there, done that.” she takes a step back. “guess we’re done here.” with that, she turns on her heel and leaves without a second glance, wanting to put as much distance between her and the blonde as humanly possible. 

the afternoon had brought in the day’s humidity, coating everything in a sheen of moisture that made being outside next to unbearable. newt’s mind was trying to avoid the words sweltering, and scorching as he walked with intentions of nesting inside of the walk in freezer for a luxurious five minutes when he spotted maia being productive. for a moment, he felt a tinge of guilt for being incredibly lazy with duties and during the tug of war itself. competition was never enough to seduce him, opting to covet victories in more calculated avenues. still, he had to respect her sheer will as he tossed her a crooked smile. “i think it’s all the fucking gmo’s they put in foods, to be honest. no child should be consuming lunchables and looking like they know what an ira is,” he confessed with a nod of agreement. all fun and games until the scream. it was a camp after all, so it was more than likely a perturbed camper making their distain verbal but one could not help but think of the more sinister things that had transpired here… “i once had turkeys in my backyard that sounded so fucking gnarly i thought someone was choking out. i called the cops and was very embarrassed to learn the source. probably just a stupid ass bird.” 

sloane watches maia’s expression shift from one emotion to the next, confusion to contempt in a split second. she’s gotten this reaction from people plenty of times; it didn’t bug her. there was a certain satisfaction to be found in getting under people’s skin. quite different from the satisfaction of getting under their covers, certainly, though sloane wouldn’t necessarily say the two things were mutually exclusive. as maia’s gaze is thrown to the ground, she knew she had some damage control to do. contempt she could work with, but avoidance? not so much.

but there’s no time for damage control because maia’s off again, leaving sloane behind. sloane thinks she can hear maia grumbling something along the lines of that’s what i do it for, compliments… before she’s out of range and sloane can no longer make out the words. she didn’t attempt to respond. maia was a surprisingly fast walker, though there was nothing casual about her pace. sloane sets off behind her, but at this point maia has too big of a lead. sloane would have to jog to catch up, and due to the weight of the box in her arms doubled with the heat, that was simply not an option.

so she decided, instead, to slow down. as she passed the halfway mark, she could see maia disappear into the mess hall with her box. if she wanted distance, fine, she could have it - until she had to make the return trip back to the parking lot. as the other girl’s frame reappeared through the doorway sloane smiled and called out to her. “you didn’t tell me this was a race.” she was close now, and in a moment they’d be crossing paths. sloane searched for maia’s eyes as she approached. “that wasn’t really fair, was it?” as she passed, she could see that maia was breaking a sweat and resisted the urge to ask her if it was just from the heat. “if you needed a head start, you could’ve just said so.” she threw the words over her shoulder as she continued into the mess hall to set her box down, taking just a moment to linger in the air conditioning.

despite the fact that maia is power walking like her life depends on it and wearing a scowl, she doesn’t actually expect her demeanour to be noticed by sloane. maybe she’s too used to things going ignored by those around her, but  she certainly doesn’t expect, as she leaves the mess hall again to be called out so succinctly. you didn’t tell me this was a race. she purses her lips but doesn’t slow her approach, shrugging her shoulders and brushes the whole thing off. “if you can’t keep up, you can just say that.” she doesn’t mean for it to come out quite so... cold? it’s supposed to be a joke, or something, but instead she just sounds as annoyed as she is. though her competitive side is sure to kick in, this thing with sloane is something else. she’s working hard to avoid meeting her eyes, marching her way back over to the boxes and fighting hard to ignore the comment thrown her way from behind her. 

this time when she reaches the last of the boxes, she reaches down and places one on top of the other, lifting it up with ease though she had rushed through her last trip back and forth. her muscles flex as she keeps a hold on both of them, grateful for the way they block her face, though her cheek presses against the side of the top one as she carries them carefully and a lot more slowly to the mess hall. this time as she and sloane cross paths, she’s focused on the ground in front of her. “one left.” she grumbles and then continues on her way, heading confidently towards the stairs and turning sideways as she reaches them so she can see a little better as she carries them into the mess hall. it’s a precarious job, but she’s never been one to back down from something once she decides to do it. 

in this moment, stubborn doesn’t even begin to cover how maia is acting, eager to be done with this task so she can have an excuse to stop talking to the blonde. 

open  starter when:  sunday,  may  29th

maybe  he  was  trying  to  go  back  to  his  happy  go  lucky  teenage  years,  maybe  the  nostalgia  bled  from  every  square  inch  of  the  camp,  maybe  he  was  trying  to  avoid  so  obviously  looking  for  the  old  pair  of  initials  carved  into  an  old  board  somewhere  in  the  activities  hall.  or  maybe  he  was  just  trying  to  not  look  so  uncomfortable  in  tube  socks.  regardless  of  the  objective,  drew  busies  himself  with  pulling  sport  equipment  out  of  the  mesh  bag  to  replace  the  equipment  onto  the  carts.  thank  god  some  kind  of  budget  went  into  their  athletics,  it  was  the  easiest  way  to  burn  some  energy  and  actually  get  the  kids  tired  enough  to  not  complain  about  going  to  bed.  the  doors  swing  open  and  he  picks  up  his  head  to  greet  his  new  company.  “ you  ever  play  soccer  when  like  thirty  kids  all  want  to  play  at  the  same  time? ”  he  cracks  a  smile,  “ or  try  to  catch  a  football  into  the  lake? ”

maia doesn’t actually remember what she’s meant to be doing when she slips inside the room, making eye contact with drew and then dropping her gaze to the sport equipment he’s dealing with. the question throws her already confused mind off some more, but she perks up as he speaks. “honestly, chaotic and fun as that sounds? no.” she shakes her head, walking over to one of the carts to pick up a football and lift it up, holding it by her head and then rearing it back like she’s gonna throw it. “but i have refereed a game of floor hockey between an eight year old a 20 year old. guess who won?” she’s always all too ready to brag about her younger sister ari’s skills when it comes to sport. plus, as far as she can tell that’s kind of drew’s thing... sports. maia comes across like she may be the same, or so she’s heard, but outside of track she’s never had much interest in anything else outside of playing for fun. 

at the other girl’s question, sloane simply shrugs, . “you’re aren’t? c’mon, that’s the whole reason we’re here.” not entirely true in her case - sloane didn’t just show up to camp silver lake wanting to help out, but she wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of talking about her recent arrest to someone she barely knew. as they walked, she could see out of the corner of her eye that maia was smiling at her again - something small, but a hell of a lot better than nothing. if one of the guys whips out a guitar i’m performing a silent protest until it’s over. though she’s unsure whether or not maia’s joking, sloane laughs. “oh, yeah? you’re not into the singalongs, noted.”

the pair approach the remaining boxes in the parking lot and sloane finally separates from maia’s side to go grab one off of the pavement. when she looks back, she’s met with the surprise of brown eyes already fixed on her, and another smile. i seem capable how? as if on cue, maia has picked up a box. “i mean, i guess i can’t pass any judgement on how emotionally capable you are just yet.” to her surprise, maia’s maintaining the eye contact between them. it’s a bit bolder than sloane’s seen her be so far, and the realization brings a sly smirk to her lips. she makes her way over to maia, holding her own box between one arm and her hip. it’s not that she really needed to get hands-on, but a little voice inside her head told her that perhaps she should. it was a familiar little voice, one that had gotten her in trouble a few too many times, but not once had she ever thought to simply ignore it. where would the fun be in that?

“i just meant that you look really strong.” once she drew near, she placed her fingertips gently on the back of maia’s arm, by her triceps. her touch was swift, and she didn’t linger. “so all that box-lugging prep you do at the gym? it’s worth it.” with that, she steps away, once again holding her box with both hands. “let’s keep moving, there’s not that many left.”

“i’m not into the threat of some white guy singing wonderwall.” maia clarifies, though she can’t, with certainty, say that she isn’t into singalongs when they aren’t like... weird. singing loudly along to music in her car with a friend, for example? that’s a singalong she could get behind. or watching the entirety of moana singing along to every song with her youngest sister when she occasionally got stuck babysitting, her big grin, extremely loud voice and sticky fingers both a delight and a terror. 

maia blinks rapidly as sloane suggests that she can’t make a judgement on her emotional capabilities, relieved she’s not trying but thrown off by that answer at first. she tightens her hold on the box, watching a calculating smirk form on the blonde’s lips. instantly she feels guarded all of a sudden, as if she’s about to be deceived by a charming smile and pretty eyes. the compliment is enough, but when paired with the touch to her arm, it’s enough to rapidly make her angle her stare elsewhere. she feels like she’s being played with, as if sloane is weaponising her looks to make her look like an idiot or out her or something. she finds herself standing on the spot for half a second, not even able to enjoy the fact that maybe someone has admired the work she puts into staying fit. 

this time when she turns on her heel, she’s wearing a scowl and her feet pick up fast, aiming to leave the blonde in the dust without going so fast that it seems intentional. “thanks, i mean, that’s what i do it for. compliments from strangers.” this time the comment is mostly muttered to herself as she makes her way back to the mess hall. when she places the box down this time, stacking it neatly on top of the last one, she begins walking without so much as a word, back out into the heat without worrying about the fact that she’s starting to sweat now. 

     ◟*  𝑚𝑎𝑖𝑎𝑗𝑐ℎ𝑛𝑠𝑜𝑛  sent  —  “  i  don’t  think  i’m  gonna  get  away  with  it  this  time . ”

               (  thursday ,  june  2nd  —  11:49  am  )  

          esme’s  eyes  looked  maia  up  and  down  at  her  words  as  they  walked  to  lunch ,  pursuing  her  lips  as  she  assessed  maia’s  outfit .  ❛  while  i’m  totally  on  board  with  the  like  “  fuck  this  uniform  ”  trend ,  i  don’t  know  if  this  is  the  way  to  protest .  ❜  though  once  trendy ,  esme  didn’t  know  if  graphic  tees  were  particularly  in .  ❛  i’m  more  than  happy  to  let  you  borrow  one  of  my  shirts .  we  can  protest  together .  can  we  please  include  these  khakis  too  —  i  swore  to  anna  herself  i’d  never  wear  something  like  this .  ❜  esme  tugged  at  the  bottom  of  her  shorts  with  a  huff  before  meeting  maia’s  eyes ,  giving  her  a  pointed  look.  ❛  anna  wintour ,  of  course .  ❜  if  esme  were  to  redo  their  uniforms  it’d  have  some  fashion  and  flare  to  it  —  though  she  understood  vintage  looks ,  esme  was  just  barely  pulling  this  off .

it’s exactly what sloane wanted: to catch her eye, to have that split second of connection. you could learn a lot about someone from how they looked at you. but it got better. what do i go to the gym for if not to lug boxes of crap around for people? she watches maia crack a smile, finding humor in her own wry joke, and in an instant she can see it: a fleeting glimpse of the person underneath the rather uncomfortable exterior. “right, of course.” sloane murmurs, biting back a smile. she planned on seeing that person again.

i have to ask — what exactly where you picturing? she considers the question for a moment. “mmm, i’m not sure, i guess. hanging out with middle schoolers all day. laying out by the lake, maybe. but definitely less box-moving.” and they’re off again, maia once again taking the lead. jesus christ, would she stop doing that? it was pretty hard to talk to someone who had their back to you. maybe that was the point - to kill the conversation - but sloane didn’t seem to realize (or maybe it was intentionally overlooked). she made some quick strides to catch up and fell in line with maia’s step, staying close to her side. 

“well, i wouldn’t be too surprised if there actually was a campfire singalong. a massacre, though? that one’s probably a reach.” not that the disappearances were a reach. sloane does her best to push the thought to the back of her mind, throwing her gaze to the ground. if she was going to make it through this summer, she couldn’t be hung up on the things that happened ten years ago. quit it, sloane. her mother’s voice rang clearly in her head, snapping her back to reality. “i’m sure you’ll be fine - you seem pretty capable. besides, how hard could it really be to keep track of some teenagers?” sloane shrugs, shooting a playful smile maia’s way.

“and you were excited,” maia clarifies. “to hang out with middle schoolers all day?” she asks the question while lifting her gaze up to the sun, squinting as the rays temporarily blind her. the warmth does feel nice and she finds that she doesn’t mind the increase in humidity all that much. at home she’d be finding any way to get out of the house, going on hikes by herself or with one of the dogs, going out to the local pool to get laps in, the family loading up in a bunch of different cars to head to utah lake state park. summer camp, though it’s unfamiliar in terms of experience, isn’t so far out of her wheelhouse. another reason she’s chosen to come to silver lake. 

turning her head, she notices that sloane is walking in step with her but only offers a half smile at the rejection of a massacre. yeah, she’s not mourning the loss of that one. “if one of the guys whips out a guitar i’m performing a silent protest until it’s over.” she doesn’t know who that would be yet, though she swears she’s spied some sort of guitar in someone’s cabin while walking past the open door. 

as they reach the stack of boxes, maia pauses, feeling like she’s been running away from this conversation every chance she gets. at the very least, she’s been avoiding eye contact like a menace and in the hopes of not looking like a total freak, she looks at sloane for a moment, giving her a half-hearted smile. “i seem capable how?” she questions, wondering what exactly that’s supposed to mean. she also wants to ask if sloane actually has any experience dealing with teenagers, but she’s pretty sure it’s evident that she doesn’t. crouching down, she gives in to the urge to just keep moving and pick up a box, holding it for a moment as she waits for her answer, continuing that eye contact though the urge to look at anything else is strong. a leaf, the asphalt, a scuff on her shoe, they all call to her. 

“i still don’t know who yankee jim is.” she mumbled under her breath, voice whiny and petulant. she thought maybe maia reminded her a little too much of herself. her own piousness had been shattered the moment her church had become a jerry falwell-esque den of conservatism though she supposed she couldn’t expect much else from a small town in the bible belt. maia however, their backgrounds were not dissimilar and yet so much different. so maybe she hated her because maia hated her first and it was easier to be angry than to agonize over the horror of not being liked. her hand stung, a tiny spout of blood pricking the skin but she paid it no mind, head tilting like a rabbit preparing to be eaten by a wolf. talking about jesus made her stomach curl like she’d slammed her hold body into a wall and let the pressure run over her. she wasn’t a good christian girl anymore, but then again she thought she might never have been at least not in the way that anyone had wanted of her. “i think he’ll forgive me. besides i’m pretty sure the baptist god and the mormon god aren’t even the same one. no way joseph smith was talking to the same guy from leviticus.” she stood limply, her wrist boneless in maia’s hand eyes carefully tracking her movement. “a little, yeah.” something unsure unfurled inside her and jesus christ she could unpack in therapy later why someone touching with her such tenderness and holding such concern in their eyes made her want to hurl and cry in equal parts. “thanks.” she said, the air now stiflingly awkward. 

say  what  you  wanted  to  about  quinn  mckinsey  ,  yet  know  -  she  was  always  impeccably  dressed  .  even  if  she  abhorred  the  khaki  shorts  and  the  vintage  tops  (  this  is  more  of  an  exaggeration  -  she  sometimes  thought  that  the  shirts  were  quite  fashionable  .  )  quinn  is  a  little  startled  as  maia  turns  to  her  .  she’d  figured  that  her  meltdown  was  internal  and  that  the  other  would  rush  out  without  even  attempting  a  conversation  .  it  almost  looks  like  she’d  –  did  she  sniff  the  stain  ?  maia  and  quinn  were  definitely  not  the  same  .  a  smile  curls  up  the  corner  of  her  mouth  ,  her  head  tilting  -  brow  arching  .  “  why  do  you  think  i’d  have  one  ?  “  she  asks  .  maybe  ,  she  wants  to  make  maia  sweat  before  she  reveals  herself  as  her  savior  .

maia is so not above asking for help, especially when it comes to not screwing up at camp. it’s not like she thinks the directors are going to kick her ass out for having a stain on her uniform, more so that maybe she actually cares about the impression she’s making, for once. or maybe she just doesn’t wanna waste more quarters on washing her shit more than she needs to. pausing as quinn counters her question with another, she thinks before she speaks (for once) and then shrugs a shoulder. “i don’t know, your whole demeanour gives off very ‘prepared’ and ‘likes to be clean’ vibes.” a compliment, right? “you really came to a summer camp filled with a bunch of kids and teenagers and didn’t bring a stain pen?” she doubles down, brows raising in almost concern for what quinn is going to be dealing with if she doesn’t have one. 

it  had  been  a  late  night  ,  by  matthias’s  standards  .  over  the  course  of  three  -  ish  days  ,  he’d  gotten  used  to  an  early  bedtime  —  avoiding  small  talk  with  his  fellow  counsellors  ,  and  simultaneously  knowing  that  time  the  campers  expected  their  world  to  start  turning  every  morning  coincided  with  the  crack  of  dawn  .  this  morning  ,  he  figures  he  must  look  at  least  30  times  more  ghoulish  than  usual  ,  so  he’s  mildly  surprised  when  maia  plops  herself  down  across  from  him  ,  breakfast  and  all  .  he  knows  they’re  both  assigned  to  the  oldest  kids  ,  so  conversation  isn’t  avoidable  ,  ultimately  .  he  just  hadn’t  expected  it  to  come  around  so  early  .  he  squints  at  the  piece  of  bacon  dangling  from  her  fingers  ,  nodding  his  agreement  —  though  he’s  seen  much  worse  .  he  sips  his  coffee  ,  holding  the  mouthful  on  his  tongue  for  a  second  ,  letting  the  sweetness  coat  it  while  he  combats  the  ???  feeling  that  maia’s  question  evokes  .  the  preoccupation  with  his  height  at  camp  silver  lake  was  rampant  ,  spreading  from  camper  to  counsellor  to  camper  again  with  the  same  dogged  vengeance  as  a  stomach  bug  —  and  he  wasn’t  used  to  being  noticed  quite  so  much  .  he  swallows  .  “  i  guess  so  .  ”  he  puts  his  mug  back  down  ,  long  fingers  wrapped  all  the  way  around  it  .  he  lets  it  go  when  he  notices  just  how  gargantuan  his  grip  looks  .  “  i’ve  been  this  height  for  a  while  .  my  parents  kept  makin’  marks  on  the  kitchen  doorframe  —  ”  he  uses  a  flattened  hand  to  draw  a  line  through  the  air  ,  “  according  to  that  ,  i’ve  been  over  6  feet  since  2011  .  ”

maia heavily rejects the urge to be standoffish or sheepish just because someone’s a little weird. yeah, matthias’ hulking size and general peculiar demeanour leans towards being off-putting, but he’s just another one of her fellow counsellors. still, she can’t be expected not to be curious. she looks away, biting into a rubbery piece of bacon and chewing furiously as she nods. in all honesty, she’s a little jealous, she’d like to add a few inches to herself, maybe get to a good five foot eight or something. her height has never matched her energy, in her opinion. “that’s kinda sweet. my parents tried to do that but they quit after me... too many kids to mark up a doorframe up that much. instead they’d just make us line up from oldest to youngest in the yard wearing stupid outfits and take a picture for their facebook.” yes, obviously anna and hohepa johnson share a facebook account, for they are so intertwined that there was no reason for them to have separate accounts. plus, it was easier to post family content that way and show off their ridiculous amount of offspring that way. pursing her lips, she holds back the other questions she has for him: do you have a lot of joint pain? do you ever see weird shit in people’s scalps? instead, she picks at her scrambled eggs and squints into the distance.  “do you think it’s radiation?” for a moment maia doesn’t clarify her question. “like, that makes the lake that way? i heard someone saying it’s been investigated but i don’t know. i’m not trying to hang around a mini chernobyl or whatever.” too late now... and she’s clearly not that worried, since she’s been in it multiple times since her arrival. 

🧸

the  fact  that  the  other  girl  ,  who  was  literally  using  a  pocket  knife  to  carve  wood  ,  didn’t  shoo  thea  away  as  if  she  were  just  another  annoying  insect  at  camp  silver  lake  was  a  success  in  her  eyes  .  ❝             maia  ,  ❞   she  repeated  with  a  small  nod  to  confirm  .  ❝  that’s  a  pretty  name  .  i  like  it  .  ❞ hearing  the  other  girl  was  assigned  to  the  same  age  group  somehow  managed  to  feel  like  an  even  greater  success  .  she  planned  on  befriending  as  many  of  her  co-workers  over  the  summer  as  she  could  ,  but  being  able  to  start  with  the  ones  she’d  be  in  close  proximity  to  ?  maybe  luck  was  on  her  side  right  now  .  ❝   me  too  ,  ❞   thea  beamed  ,  helping  herself  to  the  spot  sitting  next  to  the  other  girl  .  ❝   i’m  looking  at  it  as  preparation  because  my  little  sister  just  turned  thirteen  .  ❞   though  thea  didn’t  doubt  she’d  meet  kids  in  the  other  age  brackets  due  to  the  fact  she  was  always  willing  to  lend  a  helping  hand  .  which  sparked  the  offer  ,  ❝   i’m  in  cabin  nine  ,  if  you  ever  need  anything  .  ❞   how  long  until  her  bunkmates  curse  her  for  broadcasting  that  message  to  everyone  she  meets  ?

the compliment almost seemed to go right over her head for a second and she did a double take, realising that thea was being kind and the words just tumbled out. “thanks, my mom picked it.” she turned her head away so the blonde wouldn’t see her expression of utter self loathing. my mom picked it? first day jitters: one, maia johnson: big fat fucking zero. 

part of the whole point of coming to camp silver lake was to broaden her horizons, to find somewhere she fit, to make friends and not let the discomfort of her home life dictate how she was at camp around people who weren’t those same devoted faithfuls. “oh yeah?” she offered a small smile, perking up now that she knew someone so kind was going to be someone she saw quite often. chuckling softly, she shoved the piece of wood in her lap into her pocket and attached the end of her wood carving knife to her belt loop. “one of my brothers is twelve turning thirteen this year, but i also have a seventeen year old sister, so i’m thinking about it like i’m just in charge of her and her annoying friends.” she drew her knees up towards her, holding onto them for a moment. “oh, so we’re close. i’m in cabin eight. i’ll be over a lot more if you have like... contraband snacks. i’ve already gone through everything that was in my car.” that being a suspicious looking capri sun with an unknown origin and three unfinished pringles cans from the drive over. 

𝐖𝐇𝐎: open ! 𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓: althea is playing welcome party bc ofc she is 𝐖𝐇𝐄𝐍: week one , may 29th .

the  first  thing  thea  noted  was  that  summer  camp  was  quieter  than  she  had  been  anticipating  .  of  course  ,  that  probably  had  something  to  do  with  the  fact  campers  weren’t  due  until  monday  ,  and  the  counselors  were  trickling  slowly  .  there  just  wasn’t  as  much  needing  to  set  up  as  she  had  anticipated  .  probably  because  the  higher  up  staff  had  already  prepared  things  for  them  ,  rather  than  just  waiting  for  the  children  to  arrive  .  counselors  are  people  too  !  it  left  althea  feeling  that  kind  of  useless  that  made  anxiety  and  guilt  bubble  in  her  chest  . of  course  ,  she  had  to  make  that  everyone  else’s  problem  when  she  spotted  one  of  her  fellow  counselors  sitting  alone  .  ❝             i  got  this  from  the  mess  hall  ,  ❞  she  announced  as  soon  as  she  was  close  enough  to  extend  the  cold  water  bottle  .  ❝  moving  in  is  a  lot  of  work  and  it’s  really  hot  .  ❞   it  was  summer  after  all  .  ❝  i’m  thea,  by  the  way.  ❞

maia’s bag was long abandoned, sitting on the top bunk of her room. (she would not be mentioning to her parents that she was sharing a room with a boy, lest they lose their minds). in her hands was a small piece of silver birch in one hand and her wood carving knife in the other, her focus so zeroed in on drawing out the shape of the little frog she had in her head that the sound of a voice was enough to make her hand slip. thankfully, quick reflexes kept her from cutting her hand, blinking rapidly as she looked up. “shit. hey.” 

taking both the knife and the piece of wood into one hand, she took the cold water bottle with a sheepish smile, only realising how warm she was at the sight of it. “maia.” she managed to make half a second of eye contact to choke the word out. were they exclusively hiring only good looking people for this camp, or something? “uh, what age group did you get saddled with? i’ve got older kids. wasn’t really what i was planning, but i can’t complain.”