Chapter Text
[6:00 AM]
At the sound of the alarm, Max awoke with a loud groan. Sounds of shuffling could be heard as he sat up and turned to the nightstand to pick up his phone. Max pressed the snooze button and begrudgingly took his baby blue blanket off of his lap. He blinked tiredly as he remembered the reason he was waking up so early-- Fuck, it’s the first day of high school.
Max was far from excited to be reaching this “milestone,” as David put it. Not only was he starting high school, but he was also starting high school in a brand new district. Max heard footsteps climbing up the stairs and walking over to his room.
A familiar redhead excitedly opened the door, “Good morning Max! Great to see that you’re already awake for your first day!”
“Of course I’m fucking awake, David. You’re the one who kept on reminding me to set an alarm on my phone.”
“Well, get ready quickly! You need to have enough time to finish your breakfast!” David left the room to finish plating the pancakes he had made.
Max had been living with his obnoxious former camp counselor under foster care for the past two years. While David was the bane of his existence, Max found that living with the man wasn’t that bad.
...It was much better than his previous home, at least.
Max straightened his back and stretched a bit before slipping out of his bed. He walked over to his closet and changed into a red hoodie and jeans. Max took his phone and a pair of earbuds and put them in his pockets. He ran his fingers through his hair before deeming it presentable enough, then he walked over to the bathroom. Max noticed that his dark circles were fairly prominent, so he turned on the tap and splashed some water on his face. Upon looking back at the mirror, Max noticed that his dark circles were still very much visible. Don’t know why I thought that would work. He brushed his teeth and went downstairs.
Max walked into the kitchen and sat by the counter, where David had placed a plate of pancakes. David was in the living room, which was right next to the kitchen, packing items for work. When he wasn’t at the camp, David worked as an elementary school teacher. Max cut up a piece of one of the pancakes and took a small bite out of it.
“Hey, kiddo! Are you excited for your first day of school?” David asked in the same overly cheery voice he always had.
“Not really,” Max responded before taking another bite of the pancakes.
“Oh, come on, Max! You have to be at least a little bit excited. You’re entering high school, you’re playing in the school’s orchestra, and you’ll get the chance to make lots of new friends!”
“Wow, you’re setting some high fucking expectations there.”
“Oh, don’t be like that!” David frowned, “You’ll make plenty of friends, just like at camp!”
Max only gave a small “ Hm ” at that statement. He quickly finished his pancakes and walked over to the mudroom, where he kept his backpack and shoes. Max put on a pair of black sneakers and slung his backpack on his shoulder, and began to head over to the door to leave.
“Are you sure you don’t want me to drop you off?” David asked, eyeing Max as he was about to twist the knob.
“Yes David, I’m sure. You’ve only asked me like a million fucking times.” Max rolled his eyes and opened the door.
“Have a nice day!”
Max muttered a small “Thanks” before stepping out and making his way over to the school. He took his phone and earbuds out of his pocket. He plugged the earbuds into his phone and placed them into his ears. He opened Spotify on his phone and shuffled through his playlist a bit, before settling on Pulling Leaves off Trees by Wallows.
“Will I regret it if I let you string me along?
The guy you meet tomorrow, will he know where you're from?
And no what good would it do, would it do if I wait?”
Max subtly nodded his head to the beat of the music, as he started to get lost in his thoughts.
“Trying to belittle my political views
I fucking hate depression so I don't watch the news
The more aware that I am
The more I won't wanna say”
He thought about what David had said, about making friends at camp. David wasn’t wrong, Max had made friends at camp, but he doubted that they considered him a friend anymore. Max hadn’t been to camp in the two years that he was living with David. His foster father had tried to convince him to go, but Max couldn’t bring himself to face the other campers after everything he’d gone through. He wasn’t entirely sure why; it’s not like they knew what happened, and he could probably keep everything a secret if he wanted to. Max eventually just concluded that he just wasn’t up to being around other people at the time. Besides, I probably would’ve driven them crazy with the fucking mood swings and other shit. No need to ruin their fun. Though he felt bad for leaving them. Before the end of Max’s last year of camp (when he was eleven), the campers had all made a pact to return the next year, because the group had managed to become close friends during the summers. The other campers probably assumed that Max had abandoned them, which wasn’t exactly wrong, he pointed out to himself.
“The closer I get, I don't wanna see
Hearing footsteps coming after me
Pick up the pace, but I don't know where to go”
Though, Max did miss camp. A lot. He’d never admit it, especially to David, but he enjoyed the last two summers he spent at camp. He had Nikki and Neil to thank for that. God, he missed those two dumbasses. Nikki was always so full of life and energy, not to mention always full of surprises. She may have been extremely oblivious at times, but that didn’t stop her from being a great person to be around and pull pranks with. And Neil…
Neil was the one who Max considered himself the closest with at Camp Campbell. The two had a mutual understanding of each other’s boundaries and limits, which was something Max didn’t have with any of the other campers. Max was never one to open up, but if he had to choose someone to share all of his secrets with, he’d choose Neil. Max and Neil would spend hours talking about stupid shit in their tents at night, such as Nikki’s obvious crush on Ered and future pranks to pull on David. Those specific memories would definitely stick with Max for his entire life.
“Got me nervous, fall and hit the ground
Seasons changing, but then again so am I”
But , Max’s smile (which he unknowingly formed) faltered, those two’ve probably forgotten about me now. Don’t blame them, though. I left them with no warning.
Max wondered what those two would think of him now. He’d changed quite a bit during his time at camp with them, and he’d changed a lot more during his time with David. He wondered how Nikki and Neil have changed; would they even be recognizable?
As the song reached its chorus, Max drifted to various memories from his time at camp.
“Woah, light in the morning”
He remembered one night when he and Neil got lost in conversation and had ended up staying up the whole night. This memory included obnoxious laughter, deep conversations, and Max and Neil’s special playlist blasting on David’s phone. Max still had that playlist. After realizing the time, the two left their tents and sat on the dock to watch the sunrise.
“Woah, who you gonna call?”
He was reminded of Jasper. He hoped the ghost was okay after Sasha, Pikeman, and he had accidentally set the island on fire. At the same time, he hoped that maybe the ghost was able to finally find some peace after being trapped on that island.
“Woah, new conditions for me”
He remembered the day he realized that he was changing. The day David brought that robber into camp to “help” Cameron Campbell. Later on, Max realized that the reason he was so adamant about the idea that people couldn’t change was that he was afraid of it. The idea of things being different was honestly terrifying.
“Maybe not a problem, and maybe not at all”
But, if the past few years have shown anything, it’s that sometimes change isn’t bad. He’d eventually accepted it as a part of life.
“Woah, I wanna hear ya”
He remembered the laughter of all of the campers after their adventures. He remembered scheming with Nikki and Neil in the mess hall. He remembered the sketchy sounds from the forest, likely from bears or wolves. Max was surprised that no one, besides David, was mauled.
“Woah, when you're on the stage”
He remembered the other camper’s different talents. Preston’s shitty plays, Nerris’ LARPing, Harrison’s supernatural powers, Nikki’s ability to talk to animals, and Neil’s incredible knowledge in science. Max never really got to show off his talents at camp, except for the one tap-dancing incident . However, Max didn’t really consider himself a dancer. It was just one of the many extracurriculars his parents threw him in to get rid of him for a bit. His real passion was honestly music. He played the violin both as an extracurricular and he was always in his school’s orchestra. After he started living with David, he also picked up the bass guitar. Max pondered on what the others would’ve thought about his talent. They’d probably laugh, or force me to play weird shit for them.
“Woah, isn't that what I want to see, to be?”
Yes, Max basically answered the question in the lyrics. He wanted to see the other campers, his friends, again. But it’s too late now , he figured. He couldn’t face them again. They would probably hate him for breaking the pact. He wouldn’t blame them, it was a shitty move on his part.
The next lyrics of the song were drowned in Max’s thoughts. He never really liked thinking about camp because of this; it was always difficult to get it out of his mind. His thoughts finally paused when he reached the school. Max took his earbuds out and shoved them into his hoodie pocket. He looked at the building. The size of the place was intimidating. Max checked his phone and looked at the time. 7:07, I’m early. Max took a mental note of that so that he would know that he could sleep for a few extra minutes. He looked at the unfamiliar faces scattered around the building, all talking amongst their friend groups. Max attempted to ignore the other students and began to make his way to the inside of the building. This was swiftly interrupted by an unknown force running into him, almost knocking him down.
The unknown person swiftly started talking in panic, “Oh my god I am so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going, I-”
Max looked up at the familiar high-pitched, somewhat raspy voice speaking to him. He immediately recognized the girl’s unusual frizzy green hair. “Wait- Nikki?”
The girl paused. “How do you know my-” Her rose-colored eyes met Max’s spring green. “Wait… Max?!”
Max was stunned. He didn’t know what to say to his old friend-- one of the people he was afraid of ever seeing again. She looked different from when he last saw her. She let her long hair down, and she wore a blue short-sleeved shirt with red shorts and sneakers that matched her hair. Luckily, he didn’t need to say anything, as he was immediately pulled into a tight hug followed by a squeal from Nikki.
“AHH! Max- I can’t believe it’s you! I’ve missed you so much!” Max could swear he saw her tear up.
Max had no idea how to respond to this. He… was not expecting this type of response. He slowly returned the hug and replied with a mumbled “I missed you too.”
Nikki grabbed Max’s arm and subsequently ran into the building, dragging him along. She let go as soon as he was inside and immediately began bombarding him with questions.
“Where were you? How have you been? Are you okay?”
He answered these questions with short, one-word responses, and ignored the last comment. He really didn’t want to get into that, and he was still processing everything. After Nikki was seemingly done interrogating him, she continued blabbing.
“Oh my god it’s literally been so long, so much has changed! AHH I’m so excited you’re here, Preston owes me ten bucks!”
Max quickly shot up in realization, and asked, “...Wait, why aren’t you pissed off?” He put a hand behind his head. “I thought you would be after I didn’t go back to camp even though we made that pact or whatever.”
Nikki’s face softened a bit, and she responded, “Aww Max, I’m not mad. None of us are. Don’t get me wrong, we were all really upset when you didn’t show up, but David said that you probably had a reason for not coming back, so we calmed down. Well, except for Neil. He was really worried about you! Some of us held on to the idea of you coming back, but others thought that we’d never see you again. But here you are!”
Max sighed a small breath of relief. He silently thanked David for protecting his relationship with the other campers. That was at least one fear out of the way. Though he quickly processed one thing Nikki mentioned. “Wait, Neil was-”
Nikki gasped, interrupting his sentence, “Wait oh my god I need to show you to-”
Her sentence was interrupted by a loud slamming noise. Max and Nikki turned around to see a tall, muscular guy with dirty-blond hair with a hand on one of the lockers. He was in front of someone else, but the view was obscured. The muscular guy spoke,
“This is what you get for bumping into me, dipshit!”
The guy never had a chance to do anything, because Max instinctively ran over and kicked him in the shin. The tall guy’s eyes immediately darted over to Max, filled with rage.
“Fucking asshole! Mind your own business. I’ll beat both of your asses for that!”
Max wasn’t phased. The bully attempted to swing a punch, but Max caught him by the wrist and squeezed it until the bully visibly winced.
“Listen here, dickhead. Quit this tough guy bullshit you’re trying to pull. If I see you pulling this shit again, you’ll regret it.” Max squeezed the bully’s wrist tighter. “Now back the fuck off, twat.” Max let go, and the tall guy slowly backed away. “Hey, you oka-” Max turned around and saw who he had just defended.
He was a tall brunet, with familiar curly hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a gray turtleneck and jeans, with black shoes. Max let out a small gasp at the sight of his other best friend.
“...Neil?”
The brunet was confused for a moment before Nikki ran over. “Holy shit, Max! That was so cool!”
“Wait… Max?”
“Oh, hey Neil! Are you okay? Oh, guess what? Max is here!” Nikki threw her hands up in the air.
Max paused for a moment, forgetting to breathe. The two boys made eye contact, and neither knew what to say.
Neil let out a small laugh and broke the brief silence, “You son of a bitch, it really is you.”
Max couldn’t help but crack a small smile, temporarily forgetting about all of his worries. “It’s been too fucking long.”
The two quickly gave each other a brief hug. “Where the fuck have you been?!” Neil questioned.
Max hesitated for a second, “Shit happened and I couldn’t go to camp.” Neil gave a small nod in response.
Nikki turned to Neil and chimed in, “I ran into him while trying to catch up to you after someone left before me!” she huffed.
“It’s not my fault you take ages to get ready!” Neil shot back, rolling his eyes.
Max looked at the two in confusion. Nikki noticed.
“Oh yeah, our parents got together!” She explained happily.
Max couldn’t hold in his laughter. “Holy shit! That’s fucking hilarious. I called it after Parent’s Day!”
Neil rolled his eyes but still kept a small smile. Nikki’s eyes lit up once again.
“Neil, we need to show him to the others!”
Max gave her a confused look. “The others?”
Nikki nodded, “Yeah! Everyone from camp goes here!”
Max stopped for a moment, processing this information. “What?”
“Yeah! Isn’t that cool?!”
Fuck, Max thought. Guess he couldn’t avoid facing his friends after all.