Inhale. The sweet aroma of pine coalesced harmoniously with the saline fragrance of the ocean waves, from which a constant and quite relaxing white noise arose.

Exhale. It felt as though that one, single breath had dissolved every trace of tension from inside Kalina’s body.

Of course, she still felt nervous about all this, but at least now her body was relaxed. The sound of her mother’s car was now no longer audible, and she was truly on her own—alone, standing there on the soft green grass with a duffel bag on her shoulder, a sheet of paper in one hand, and the handle of a rolling suitcase in the other. A pair of dark sunglasses that shaded her eyes well covered a good portion of her small, soft face, and her long blonde hair fell about her face, shoulders, and back in loose curls. Around her neck glistened a silver chain necklace with a diamond-studded pendant that glittered in the bright summer sun. She wore a white tank top that fit tighter at the top but was looser around her waist and hips, leaving a small portion of her stomach exposed. She complimented that with a pair of high-waisted denim shorts that were almost sky blue, which, with her top and hair, created a very bright, summery aura. Finally, a pair of tan sandals were slipped onto her feet with her toenails painted white.

At least I’ll be able to get a good tan here, was the first thought that ran through her head. With a smirk, she held up the paper she had in her hand and reread the printed instructions on how to sign into the camp.

“The Activities Center is the first building you’ll see upon your arrival,” she read aloud before stopping to look up. A white building stood just a few yards ahead, but if that wasn’t obvious enough, a sign with the words “ACTIVITIES CENTER” hung over the door that led inside. Kalina nodded and looked back down at her paper to continue reading.

“Please enter this building and meet with the receptionist who will facilitate your registration and give you the key to your cabin and a map.” Well, that was simple enough. She headed off toward the entrance, pushing the door open with her elbow because her hands were full. A cool, air-conditioned wall of air greeted her upon her entrance, along with a smiling receptionist with her brunette hair tied into a tight bun, who acknowledged her with a singsongy “Welcome!”

“What’s your name sweetie?” she asked as Kalina approached the desk.

“Kalina Rigel,” she answered curtly.

The receptionist typed her name into the computer and paused for a moment before looking back at the blonde.

“Rigel?” she asked curiously.

“R-I-G-E-L,” Kalina spelled out.

“I know,” she replied quickly. “That’s the name of a star, isn’t it?”

Kalina was surprised that she even knew that.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s, like, an Arabic name.”

“It’s a very pretty last name,” the receptionist said as she typed in some other information into the computer. After clicking a few times, she smiled, swiveled around in her chair, and stood up. “You’re all set!” She rummaged around through some papers behind the desk and then pulled a key from a drawer. It was attached to a key ring, from which hung a gold-painted metal label with the numeral “1” engraved in it.

“Here you go sweetie,” she said, handing her the key. She unfolded a map onto the desk and grabbed a pen. She circled a brown square on the map with “1” printed next to it. “You’re in cabin one,” she explained. “It’s right near the beach and not too far from here. You can’t miss it. But if you do, don’t hesitate to come back here and ask for help, okay?”

“Thanks…” Kalina said as she tried to envision where the cabin would be in relation to where she was. It shouldn’t be too hard to find. She was, in reality, more concerned about how clean it would be.

After exiting the building, she took a left toward the ocean that was maybe only one hundred yards away. Right before the grass grew long and dipped down a small slope into white sand, there stood a single cabin with its door facing inland. Kalina could make out the “1” carved onto the wooden door.

She stopped in front of the door. She was already excited that it was so close to the water; hopefully the inside would not disappoint. She pulled the key out from her pocket and unlocked the door. Thankfully, there was air conditioning. And… The inside wasn’t bad at all. Minimally furnished, but not ugly or unclean at all. She might have to add a little of her own personal flair to it, but that’d come later. After taking a quick tour, she saw that she was the first of her group of three cabin mates to arrive, so she got the privilege to pick her bed. She picked the one closest to the window and dropped her duffel bag on top of it.

She really wanted to explore the rest of the camp, but her better judgement convinced her to unpack all of her things first. She started with her suitcase, which contained most of her clothing, and put them away into one of the dressers. Next she unpacked her duffel bag which contained a few other pieces of clothing, her toiletries, her phone and laptop charger, and a few other miscellaneous items she decided to bring along.

After everything important was unpacked and the empty suitcase and duffel bag were stored underneath her bed, Kalina stood up and stretched with a satisfied “Ahhh!”

What was she going to do now? As far as she knew, she was one of the first to arrive, so she didn’t really feel like searching for someone to socialize with. Instead, she decided to go with the first idea that came to her—hit the beach. She skipped into the bathroom to change into her beautiful white bikini, after which she grabbed her phone, a towel, a bottle of water which she brought from home, and a bottle of tanning oil and left for the beach, locking the door behind her.

Her sunglasses were now resting on top of her head, and her blue eyes scanned the beautiful coast up and down. It looked like a private beach, probably for the camp only, which was nice. There even seemed to be a volleyball net set up. With an almost giddy smile, she picked out a spot about 15 feet from the tide’s edge and laid down her fluffy towel on the soft sand. She dropped the rest of her stuff on top of the towel and, after covering herself liberally with tanning oil, lay down on top of the towel with loud electronic music blaring from her phone.

“I could get used to this…” she muttered under her breath.

Katherine stepped out of the beat up sedan that brought her to camp, the music blared so loudly that she couldn't even hear herself think, breaking a bit of the stillness of the landscape surrounding it. She had gotten a ride with a friend up to the camp, he was staying with some friends in Seattle for the summer and decided that giving her a ride wouldn't take him too far out of his way. Katherine gave him a smile and a barely audible “Thanks” as she closed the door and he drove off. On the ground in front of her were three bags: a suitcase to hold all her clothes, a duffel bag for books and other such things, and a bag to hold her acoustic guitar. She picks up all three, slinging her guitar over her back, before fishing out a piece of paper from her skinny jeans. It tells her to go to the activities center to register and she does just that.

Katherine opens the door to the center and steps inside to give it a once over. But, before she can really take in her surroundings, Katherine hears the word “Welcome” come from the desk in the room.

She walks up to the desk, puts her bag and suitcase down, and begins tapping on the desk with her purple-painted nails before replying to the receptionist with a slightly apathetic "Hey."

“And your name?” The receptionist asks Katherine, not losing her happy demeanor in the face of the slight rudeness coming from the camper.

“Katherine, Katherine Beck.” She replies. The receptionist looks as if she's about to say something before Katherine cuts her off “Yes, like Beck the singer-songwriter.” It's something she gets a lot so she's used to it by this point.

The receptionist hands Katherine the key to her cabin, which judging by he number on the keyring was Cabin 1, and Katherine spins it on her finger. The receptionist gives her the directions and Katherine smiles at her. “I'm sure I'll figure it out.” She says as she picks up her bags and walks out.

As Katherine exits the Activities Center she looks over the beautiful vista before her, it's kind of unreal. She's so used to the big buildings of the sprawling metropolis of New York City, so seeing all this natural beauty was a bit of a new thing for her. She opens the door to her cabin and walks inside.

She felt the air conditioning inside and was relieved, she had expected it to be hot but not this blazing. She took off the flannel she had been wearing to reveal more of the Iceage t-shirt she had been wearing underneath. As she walks towards the beds, Katherine realized one was already taken, though it didn't really matter all that much to her. She placed her stuff on the bed closest to the door, not really bothering to unpack at all, and she took her iPod out of the duffel bag.

She stepped back outside and closed the door as she placed her ear buds in and pressed play. The music filled her ears as she walked towards the beach and sat down at the edge, looking out over the water.

Ryan looked around the area. It seemed that there were a few other people leaving their vehicles to go and sign into the camp, but he wasn't sure if there were people already there at the camp or if there were more to come. He didn't really care if there were tons of people or just a few others, as the amount of people didn't matter to him all that much. He only had his backpack, his ipod, and a small suitcase that was probably just slightly bigger than the backpack. Pulling a piece of paper out of his backpack, he let go of his suitcase and pulled his wraparound earphones out of his ears, allowing them to just hang on his ears for the moment. His eyes scanned the piece of paper in his hands that told him what he needed to do, and the young man nodded to himself as he put it back in his backpack.

As he walked to the to the activities center, Ryan could still hear his music playing from his earphones, and began to hum along to the song. People said that he had quite an odd taste for music, as he liked songs and artists from various genres that were in come cases alike, but in others, not at all. It didn't take long for him to reach the white building, and when the young man walked in, he was greeted by a woman who chimed "Hello!" in a singsongy voice. He gave her a small smile as he walked over to her.

"Name please?" She asked him as he made his way over to her.

"Pratt." He told her simply. He was so used to being addressed by his last name by all of his friends that he had adopted it as his name. The only people to call him by his actual first name were his parents and his pseudo-friends that believed that it was okay to call him something else other than his last name.

She began to type things into her computer, but paused and looked at Ryan once more. "First name please?"

"Ryan." Was all he said.

She smiled at him and continued to type away. What she was doing exactly, he wasn't sure, but he did know that she was filling out his registration, or something related to it. A short moment later she looked at him once more. The woman swiveled around in her chair and stood up, moving to a drawer to fish something out of it. Seconds afterwards she pulled out a key and a map. She handed the key to him, which he took and examined while she circled something on the map. The key was attached to a key ring that also had a gold painted piece of metal with a '2' engraved into it. His attention was pulled back to the woman as she pointed to the square that she circled.

"You'll be in cabin two." She said to him, getting a nod from the young man as he took the map and grabbed his suitcase before walking out of the building with a "Thank you.".

The walk to his cabin wasn't all that long, and it seemed that he was the first one to arrive. No body else seemed to have set up anything in the room, so he assumed that he was either the first one there, or the other people were major minimalists. Either way, he picked a bed that was the closest to a window, and began unpacking his things. His suitcase only had a few sets of clothing. Once he was done with that, he opened up his backpack and rummaged through it. In the backpack, he had a pair of hiking shoes, as well as the minimalist toe shoes. He also had a small handheld gaming device that he had been charging on his way to the camp. He didn't plan on using it all that much, but it was there if he ever wanted to use it or needed it. Along with those, he also had a few other things in his backpack that he decided not to take out for the moment.

Ryan wanted to be there when his cabin mates got to the cabin, so the young man lied down on his bed and began to use the handheld device. He did have his iphone/pod as well, but the quality of the games wasn't the same.

The cab driver coughed as he told her what she owed, causing Gwen to quickly hand over the money and a tip before getting out with her bags. ”Thank you! Feel better!” she said cheerfully, causing the man to give her an odd look, before he drove off. She shrugged it off though and began rolling her suitcase and bag towards the camp. She had her blonde hair laying over one shoulder in a fishtail brain, blue eyes complimented by her sleeveless denim dress. She completed her casual look with a brown belt around her waist, aqua tear drop earrings, and some flat brown slouchy boots that hit below her knees.

She looked around her hesitantly, before digging out a paper she’d received from the brown hobo bag purse she carried on her shoulder. ”Activities Center, activities center,” she mumbled to herself with a soft frown of concentration, glancing around her as she walked. ”Ah!” she whispered, tucking the paper back in her purse and rolling her things into the building. She almost got stuck coming in the door, glancing for some help at first, but then yanked her bags through and gave a sheepish smile to the receptionist. ”Um, hi, I’m Gwen Redding?” she said as she walked up before the woman could ask her name.

“Of course,” the woman typed at the computer, moving away from it and handing Gwen a key with a ring that read 3. The woman then grabbed a pen and illustrated to the teen where in the camp cabin three was. Looks like it wasn’t as close to the beach as cabin one, but had the forest right behind it. ”Thank you,” Gwen smiled brightly, enclosing the key in her palm and heading back out of the doors to the building.

As Gwen walked, passing different aspects of the camp, her mind began to wander. She wondered if her dad was throwing away any of her things. If her friends from school were having any parties she was missing. Not that she got to go very often but still. About letters from college that might get thrown away just to spite her. She shook her head though and took a deep breath. This was a vacation for her. It had to be. The only one she’d ever been on. She could only hope to have a relaxing good time. She wouldn’t allow herself to think herself into a bad mood.

Cabin 3 was easy enough to find, and walking inside, she discovered she was the only one there so far. The beds were empty, bathroom untouched. She tossed her things on the bed between the other two, and began unpacking, setting up her bed and filling her dresser, setting up her things in the bathroom as well.

Time passed by faster than Colline wanted. She had hoped that she would have time to figure out what she was going to do, and how to act. But time had slipped away, and now here she was, slowly exiting the cab after tipping the driver. The scent of pine and ocean filled her nose, mixed in with the exhaust from the cab as it drove away, the sound of tires against rubble fading as she stood looking around. She had chosen to wear something simple, a short sleeve white dress that cut off above the knees, along with a pair of brown sandals and her favorite necklace.
She pulled out the slip of paper she had printed beforehand, telling her the instructions of how to sign in.

"First, go to the activities center. Where is that..." Mumbling to herself, she scanned over her surroundings. "Ah, there it is."

Colline tugged along her small bright green suitcase as she made her way to the building ahead of her. She hadn't chosen to pack much, just clothes and other essentials for good hygiene, along with a few books, her flute and a few other things her mother insisted were necessary. Pushing the door open, Colline relaxed somewhat, the cool air making her feel calmer. It wasn't that today was unbearable, it was just hotter than she had expected, and she was glad she had chosen such light, breezy clothing. A woman was sitting in front of a computer at the front desk, and the sounds of her quick typing filled the and the soft whir of a fan filled the other wise silent room.

"Hello, welcome to camp!" The woman greeted Colline with a high pitched sing song voice that made Colline internally cringe. She had never liked it when people used fake voices or smiled, it always made her feel like she was talking to dolls instead of real people.

"Um, hi. Colline Bethels." She responded, tucking her dark brown curls behind her ear.

"Oh, like the man from the bible, or the band?" The woman asked curiously, typing something in the computer.

"Uh, it's actually just my last name." Colline answered quietly. Another thing she disliked was when people made a big deal out of her name. They always felt inclined to relate it to something else, which made her rather uncomfortable.

"Well, here you go." The woman handed Colline a map of the camp, along with a key with a large 1 engraved in it. After showing her where her cabin was located, the woman waved her goodbye. Grabbing the handle of her suitcase and shifting the light blue bag that was slung over her shoulder, she walked back towards the door. She scuffed lightly at the dirt path, carefully looking around. Green grass surround the camp, clumps of flowers sprouting up here and there. There were pine trees, and birds flitted in and out of sight, singing short, sweet tunes.

The dirt slowly started changing to sand as she kept walking, and she spotted her cabin. It was located by the beach, and bunches of daisies and poppies were scattered around on the grass near it. Pushing open the door, Colline discovered she was not the first there. Two packs sat on the beds on either side of the cabin, one by the door and the other by the window. That made the decision easier. Choosing the last one, which was to be next to an empty bookcase, Colline carefully set down her bag. The room was sparse of furniture, though she suspected that between she and her cabin mates, the room would look better. The bed was soft, and she was glad to get some rest as she unpacked.
She pulled out one of her favorite books, one on marine biology, and began quietly reading.

Faye quickly stepped away from the road where she had been dropped off. She clutched at a vintage, slightly beat-up pastel pink suitcase on wheels. On shoulder was a small, matching rosy purse with a bow knot on its front. Her pale blue curls tumbled loosely about her face, gently tossing in the wind. Framing her small figure was a thin black romper with floral designs. She wore a pair of matching black wedges on her feet, which helped increase the height of her short stature by a little. Brushing against her collarbone was a thin chain of gold linked to half of a silver heart.

For a moment, Faye stood still, admiring the utopia-like landscape of Camp Corona. Her icy blue eyes swept across the vista. Tall, sprawling green palm trees towered above her. In the distance, the alabaster, sparkling sand stretched on and on until it faded to a constantly flowing deep cerulean. Somewhere far away, grand mountains framed the whole landscape as if it were a painting. Oh, she already felt better about this trip. It was almost good enough to just be able to stare and gaze upon the paradise all day. But then she remembered why she was here - she was at summer camp - and that there were other people here, ones she would eventually meet. She frowned as she remembered the words of her mother as she dropped her off. "It'll be good for you, Faye. It'll give you a chance to be more social, darlin'."

Shaking her head at the memory, Faye began to make her way to her destination. She picked a folded piece of paper from her pocket and unraveled it, checking her directions over twice to make sure nothing went wrong on her first day. There's no way something isn't going to go wrong, she absentmindedly thought to herself. She looked up from the paper and placed it back in her pocket. She trudged her luggage along as she walked briskly to the white building labeled "ACTIVITIES CENTER". The building seemed rather dull, plain, and sterile compared to the rest of the place. She approached the door and pulled it open with her only free hand. She let out a contented sigh as she was met with the wonderfully cool air of the indoors.

"Welcome!" A pleasant voice called out to her. She flinched, slightly startled at the voice of the receptionist who she didn't notice there until now. She looked up at the primly dressed women in a brown-haired bun. Blushing in embarrassment, she approached the desk hesitantly.
"What's your name, dear?" The receptionist asked with a warm smile, not seeming to notice the girl's nervousness.
"Oh, um... Faye Labelle." The blue-haired girl replied, fidgeting with her necklace as she stood there. The women tapped on her keyboard for a moment, presumably to enter Faye's name, and then turned to a drawer behind her. She took out a key and handed it to Faye. The key was engraved with the number "3", and Faye took it, inspecting it in her hands. The receptionist then spoke again.
"Your cabin is cabin three, sweetie. Have a nice day!"

Faye nodded. "Okay, thank you!" She quickly said before pocketing the key, taking hold of her suitcase and hastily leaving the building. She stepped out into the golden sunlight, which spilled onto her hair and made it shimmer not unlike the waves of the sea nearby. She dragged her suitcase with her as she walked along, looking for the cabins. She began to take her time on her walk, occasionally enjoying the soothing ambiance of crashing waves and the singsong of birds in the forest nearby. She discovered the modest wooden buildings were not too far away, and made it there in a prompt amount of time. As she approached Cabin Three, she began to wonder if anybody sharing her cabin had arrived already. Her answer came faster than she would have preferred it to. She hesitantly opened the door to the cabin, and before she opened it fully, she peered through the crack in the door. A tall, pretty blonde girl was already there, who seemed to be setting her things up and unpacking. Suddenly unsure of what to do, she silently entered the room, desperately praying that this cabin member was going to be tolerable. She picked the bed on the far left against the wall, and placed her suitcase on it, opening it and began to unpack.

Alan stood quietly as his mother fussed over his attire in front of the car. He was dressed in a white collared shirt, with khakis to match. A blood red tie circled his neck. His glasses were clean, if slightly bent out of shape, and his brown hair was smooth yet messy, much to his mother’s dismay. It was only after what seemed to be an eternity that she took a step back and nodded curtly. No words were exchanged; they simply looked at each other for a moment. His mother was the first to break eye contact, as she re-entered the car. His father waved. Alan did the same, raising his hand from his suitcase.

His father drove slowly away, most likely to avoid his mother’s sharp ministrations should he get dirt on their son. It was about as heartfelt of a departure as he had expected, considering his family. He reached into a messenger bag and fished out a well-folded sheet of paper. He scanned it quickly, then began to wheel the suitcase towards the white Activities center.

Wheeling the small suitcase through the door, Alan immediately noticed a beaming receptionist. He walked up slowly, the quiet noise of wheels turning accompanying him.

“What’s your name?” She asked. There was an odd lift to her voice, one that grated ever so slightly.

“Alan Hyll.” He answered. She opened her mouth to speak, but this was routine for Alan. “With a y. Yes.”

“Well isn’t that fun!” She said as she continued typing away. As he waited, he took a moment to look out the window towards the beach. It looked beautiful. Alan wasn’t one for romantics, but the scenery was breathtaking.

“There we are!” The receptionist said, waking Alan from his daydreaming. “You’re all set. Cabin four. Here’s your key,” she handed Alan a key with a four emblazoned on it. “have a great day.” Alan nodded, preparing to leave.

“Wait!” Alan stopped, turning slowly. “You should also take a map! Wouldn’t want you getting lost!” The woman handed it to him. He paused a moment to look at it.

The majority of the map was either beach, or forest. Between the two, was the campground. In the bottom right, a box held an expanded view. He noticed the Activities center, with a note in pen stating “YOU ARE HERE!” in what he presumed to be the receptionist’s handwriting. Also of note was the dining hall, and several cabins. He spotted cabin 4, farthest from the activities center. He looked up.

“Thank you.” He said as he left towards what would be his new home for the next while.

As he crossed towards his cabin, he noticed a few people on the beach. He wasn’t sure if he was quite ready to meet them yet, and his pace grew brisker as he made his way. Relief filled him as the door opened after a lot of time spent fumbling with the key.

Alan flipped the light switch as he threw his suitcase by a bed. He laid down on it for a moment, staring at the ceiling, then reached into his messenger bag once again and pulled out a small book and a pen. He flipped through pages of poetry, prose, and sketches and finally settled on a blank page. He wrote one word at the top, underlining it several times.

“Camp.”

Greg yawned as he pulled the old Mustang into the lot, classic rock blaring on the radio. He didn't know the name of the song, but he was kind of into it. He rubbed his eyes, still a bit tired from the night before. The rest of his family had an extremely early day, and hadn't been able to see him off. He'd said his goodbyes last night. He was worried that there wouldn't be any parking by the time he got there. Luckily for him, he got a spot and headed over to the trunk, pulling out a bag. He slammed the trunk hatch. He clicked his tongue as he stood and looked around. Everything about the camp was gorgeous; the beach looked rather appealing right now, but he decided that there would be time for that later.

'Activities center, activities center, activities center...' He repeated the phrase in his head until he spotted it, and headed down. He couldn't help but rush a bit, unable to really contain his excitement. He'd hadn't been to any other summer camp that seemed quite like this; it was more like a vacation! He walked into the building, and was greeted by a very excited receptionist.

"Hello, welcome!" she said, sweetly. Greg smiled as he approached the receptionist's desk.

"What's your name, hun?"

"Greg," he responded.

"Hi, Greg." She started typing into the computer as he realized he never finished.

"Uh, Harrison."

"Oh?" The receptionist looked up at him. "Harrison, then?"

Greg rubbed his chin. "I, uh. No, sorry. Greg Harrison. First and last."

The receptionist chuckled. "Alright, sweetie, hang on." She typed a bit into the computer on her desk. "Alright. You're in cabin four, hun." She slid him a map across the desk and circled a spot on it with a pen. She then set a key on top of the map. "And you'll need that. Come back if you need anything, okay?"

Greg nodded. "Thanks." He held the key in his hand, and looked at it as he walked out. It had a large number four on it, naturally. He walked along the path running through the camp, thinking of what he would do next. There were already a couple people at the beach, but he figured he had other things to do first. Probably nothing too exciting, just setting up his cabin space and meeting his roommates. So there was that to look forward to, at least.

He was wearing a red tartan button-up and shorts. Nothing special, but he didn't look too bad. Definitely casual. He flicked a part of his collar down as he stood in front of his cabin. He cursed under his breath as he fumbled the key, and the lock wouldn't turn. When he finally got it open, he saw the lights were already on, and he noticed another guy lying on a bed. He tossed his suitcase down on a bed by a window. He peered out it, before looking at the guy on his own bed.

"Some camp, huh?.. Beautiful out there. I'm Greg."

Baylen stared out of the window of the jaguar as it sped up towards the main entrance to Camp Corona. The sleek black car came to a smooth stop. Baylen's forehead was pressed against the window, his music blaring through his ear buds, his mind anywhere but the present. A hand gently clasping his shoulder took his attention away from where ever his mind had wandered. He lifted his head off of the window and turned to look at his driver, Gerry.

"We're here Baylen." Gerry nodded towards the main building, giving Baylen an encouraging smile. When Baylen didn't react he placed the car in park and exhaled. "C'mon Bay, it's going to be fine. Can you even hear me?" With that he yanked one ear bud out of Baylen's ear.

Baylen reluctantly looked back to the main building then down to the paper folded in his lap. he had read the instructions prior and concluded this was the main building for registration. "I don't see why I couldn't just stay home with you."

Gerry nodded, rubbing his thick beard. "I tried to persuade your parents Bay, I promise, but they felt this would give you an opportunity to make some new friends, better friends, and get away from the house...you know, have some fun?" Baylen shook his head. "Whatever" he mumbled, placing the ear bud back in his ear as he unclicked his seat belt. Gerry started to undo his seat belt to help Baylen but he grabbed his arm before he could unbuckle. "Thanks man. I'll call you if I need to escape out of this hell hole, alright? Keep your cell on you." Baylen gave Gerry a grin, of which Gerry gave his own in return. Gerry was hired help for the family but had become a close friend for Baylen. His parents were wealthy but were constantly working and traveling. He barely spent much time with them, leaving Gerry to basically become his big brother at home.

Once Baylen had gathered his items and exited the car he gave a short wave back to Gerry as he drove away.

Baylen came through the doors of the Activities Center, greeted with the melodic yet robotic "Welcome!" greeting that everyone had been hearing through the day. Fortunately for him he couldn't hear shit as his music played on.

Eventually he walked up to the woman at the front desk who was patiently waiting for him with a large smile wiped across her lovely face. Baylen pulled one plug from his ear. "Baylen Denney" he said. This wasn't his first camp his parents had sent him off to. He had plenty of items in his bag to make this place interesting if it turned out to be as lame as all the others. The one thing it had going for it was being right on the beach; he loved the smell of the ocean.

Baylen barely heard what she was saying as she clicked away on her computer. "Son?" he heard her say loudly, having repeated herself to get his attention. He turned his eyes from surveying the walls of the building back to her. She held out a map and key for him and finished what she must have been saying with a "any questions and just let me know!" Baylen looked at the key, back to her, then she said again, "cabin two sweetie."

Baylen exhaled deeply, plugged his ear back up, and turned to leave the main building to go find his cabin. He packed light, a backpack and a duffle bag.

The cabin was easy enough to find, the definite "2" marked on the side marked for confirmation of his assignment.

Baylen entered the cabin and glanced around. He saw a guy already on one of the three beds, resting by the window. He glanced to him then kept walking through, tossing his bags on the bed he chose, which was in the far back and furthest from the door. He then walked back towards the other guy. "Hey" he said taking his buds out of his ears. "I'm Baylen" he said in greeting. He might as well start to get to know his cabin mates and everyone else on the camp so he can figure out who is chill to hang with and who he should avoid.

It didn't take long for someone to get into the cabin, it seemed, and Ryan looked away from his game of Mario Kart to see who was talking to him. Slowly, the young man closed his handheld and set it down on the bed. He seemed like an alright guy from what he had seen so far, but they had only just met, so that could change at any moment. "Call me Pratt." He said back to Baylen. "So we're going to be cabin mates? You know who the other one is?" He wasn't sure that Baylen knew, but one could never know until they asked.

Kalina continued to lie there by the waves, soaking in the sunlight and, admittedly, very close to dozing off, despite her rather loud music which partially obscured the lulling sound of the tide. Her eyes were closed, though she was still aware of her surroundings. She could hear the distant chatter of people farther in the camp who were arriving just like her. She wondered if any of them had the same idea as her to go to the beach, but no one had said anything to her thus far.

Just then, the volume of her music dropped suddenly, then picked back up again at its normal tone. One of Kalina’s eyes fluttered open and, through the intense glare of the sun, fixated itself on her phone. With a grunt, she sat up and plucked it off from the towel and read the notification that flashed across her screen. It was an unknown number, but she knew who it was. The message read: “Welcome to Camp Corona! There will be an optional orientation for you to meet other campers in fifteen minutes. Please gather by the Activities Center if you would like to join.”

Kalina rolled her eyes. She forgot that campers were required to give their numbers to the camp. She didn’t know that’d be their personal notification medium. As terribly lame as an orientation sounded, she convinced herself that it was probably for the best to meet some other people, even though she would be perfectly content with not having to socialize at all and just stay where she was all day.

So with that, she packed up all her things and trudged back up to her cabin, which thankfully wasn’t even that far. As she walked back, she caught sight of just a few other people sitting around, mostly by themselves. She wondered curiously if everyone came here without any friends. It’d be interesting to see who would get along with who.

When Kalina got to her cabin, she unlocked the door and strolled inside, still her in bikini. Thankfully, her short walk through the grass was enough to get rid of any rogue grains of sand that stuck to her feet, so she didn’t track any inside. As she entered, she immediately noticed two things—one, she wasn’t alone; and two, it would see her two other cabin mates had already arrived in the time span she had spent sunbathing. Kalina assumed the girl that was reading was one of her cabin mates. She had dark brown hair and electric blue eyes; Kalina could only assume she was probably an intellectual given that she was reading a book on marine biology in her free time.

“Oh, hey!” Kalina called out to her cabin mate as she walked in. There was a tone of surprise in her voice, as she hadn’t expected the others to arrive so quickly. “I guess you must be my cabin mate,” she said, slightly awkwardly, dropping her stuff on her bed and heading over to the dresser into which she had put away her clothes earlier. She pulled out the outfit she was wearing previously and slipped it on over her bikini, as she figured she’d be heading back to the beach anyway and it’d save her the time to change.

Kalina walked into the bathroom but continued to talk to her cabin mate.

“My name’s Kalina,” she told her, making her voice louder so Colline would still be able to hear her. She checked her hair in the mirror and touched up her make up a bit. “I just got a text from the camp saying there’s some kind of orientation thing over at the Activities Center.” When she was content with her appearance, she hurried back into the main room and grabbed her phone from her bed.

“Anyway, I’m heading over there right now,” Kalina continued, in an obvious hurry. She didn’t really want to be stuck there having an awkward conversation with someone she barely knew. She reminded herself that she’d have to eventually, but that could wait until later. “I’ll catch you there if you decide on going.” With that, not bothering to give a proper good-bye, Kalina hustled over to the door and walked out.

After walking a few minutes, she regretted acting like that in front of someone who could’ve possibly been a new friend, but oh well. She was too nervous to care at that point. When she arrived at the Activities Center, she took a seat at an outdoor picnic table by herself. After looking around, she began to scroll through her phone to look occupied, occasionally playing with her hair nervously.

Gwen was just finishing sliding her empty suitcase under the bed she’d chosen when she looked up and saw a tiny little girl with blue hair unpacking on the bed against the wall.

”Oh, hi! Sorry I didn’t even hear you come in!” Gwen said with a little laugh. She tucked a few stray blonde hair behind an ear and came closer to the girl, just far enough to extend a hand. ”My name is Gwen. I love your hair by the way,” she said in a sincere voice that some may have thought was too friendly, but she had a hard time toning herself down when meeting new people sometimes. She held out her hand to shake the other girl’s hand and realized just how much she towered over the blue haired girl. It was comical in a way.

As Gwen stood there, she heard her phone go off on the dresser she’d chosen. Frowning, she looked between the girl and the phone.

”Um, just a second…” she said, unsure who would be texting her anyway. She walked over and picked it up, reading a text about orientation at the activity center. ”Oh… um, looks like we all need to go to the activity center,” she said with a shrug, lowering her hand with the phone and looking back to her cabin mate. ”I guess I’ll see you there if you wanna go or later if you keep unpacking. Good choice on bed by the way! You won’t fall off the side against the wall at least,” she said with a friendly laugh before turning and walking with a skip in her step out of the cabin and towards the activity center.

When she walked up, Gwen saw another girl sitting there. She seemed to be preoccupied with her phone, so Gwen just found a seat cattycornered from her at the table and sat with her hands in her lap, looking around.

Colline lay quietly, totally immersed in the book. She had already read the first chapter, and was halfway through the second.It was all very interesting to her, although most people she had tried to speak with about topics such as whale migration had brushed her off, labeling her as either dull or a know it all. Colline wasn't the smartest person alive, she was sure of that, but she kept up, getting straight A's ever since she could remember.

It was obvious that her cabin mates had been here, but she hadn't met either of them yet. Earlier she had spotted some people down at the beach, and it was likely that at least one of her cabin mates were among them. Colline had contemplated going to the beach as well, but hadn't been sure she was ready to greet many people just yet. Interacting wasn't the easiest thing, at least not for Colline, and though she had always told her mother about her 'friends' at school, they were always fake. It wasn't that she was anti social, but was always just to insecure to go out of her way to actually get to know people.

A buzzing sound interrupted her reading in the middle of a paragraph. Leaning over the bed, she pulled her phone out of her bag and checked the screen. A message flashed on her screen, the glowing white contrasting to the pitch black background. Colline slowly read the message, free hand fiddling with her current page.

'Welcome to Camp Corona! There will be an optional orientation for you to meet other campers in fifteen minutes. Please gather by the Activities Center if you would like to join.'

Colline hesitated. She supposed that it would only be polite to attend the orientation, and it would be a good chance to get to know the others at camp, but on the other hand it could turn out terribly awkward and only result in embarrassment and boredom. After weighing the possibilities in her mind, she decided that the pros outweighed the cons, and made up her mind. She was going, and she was going to make an attempt at socializing while she was there. Turning her phone off, Coline turned her attention back to her book.
She had a few minutes to finish up, and she was already prepared to go. Colline was once again interrupted, but this time it was by a voice. A girl walked into the cabin, sounding slightly surprised that Colline was there. She was rather pretty, with long blonde hair that reached down past her shoulders and eyes that looked like a dark blue, but could have been grey. She stood in the doorway for a brief moment before coming in.

“I guess you must be my cabin mate,” She sounded a bit awkward, obviously not expecting company so soon. Colline nodded briefly, watching as the girl turned, took out some clothes from the dresser, and walked into the bathroom.

“My name’s Kalina,” Kalina raised her voice slightly, just enough so that Colline could hear her easier. “I just got a text from the camp saying there’s some kind of orientation thing over at the Activities Center.”

Kalina hurried back out of the bathroom and grabbed the phone which she had discarded when she had come in. After excusing herself she left. Colline sat there for a moment, slightly stunned. She hadn't expected things to go like that. She hadn't said anything, too nervous to say anything. She supposed it was better than it could have been, and the girl, Kalina, seemed nice, if not as awkward as Colline felt. Remembering the orientation, Colline quickly got up, straightening out her dress before quickly looking herself over in the mirror. Once satisfied that everything was in order, she grabbed her phone and headed out herself.

So far no one else had arrived, save for herself, another girl with blonde hair Colline didn't recognize, and Kalina, who sat at an empty picnic table looking at her phone. Colline walked over to the table, obviously nervous, and sat across the table from two.

A foreign place full
Of undiscovered nature
Both man and mother’s.

As Alan penned the final word, he looked up to the various scratched out haikus. He began to do the same with the latest, but was interrupted by the entry of his cabin-mate. He lowered his book as he watched him claim a bed by the window.

"Some camp, huh?.. Beautiful out there. I'm Greg." He said. Alan nodded.

“It is nice. A good day to arrive, weather wise.” He said as he stood up, leaving the book on his bed with a pen holding his page. “Alan. I suppose we’ll be rooming together. Or cabining. Or whatever the term is. Good to meet you. ” He extended a hand, then felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out, noticing a new text.

'Welcome to Camp Corona! There will be an optional orientation for you to meet other campers in fifteen minutes. Please gather by the Activities Center if you would like to join.'

Alan sighed slightly. So this was to be the medium of communication. Alan had been trying to sever his connection to his phone, with limited success, and this provided another excuse. Not to mention the contents of the message. Although he wasn’t particularly interested, he knew that he would have to meet people in some fashion, and this seemed to be a fast way to do so. He also recognized that many others would be feeling the same way. He looked over at his cabin-mate. “Orientation. Are you going?” The question wasn’t weighted, though it made it clear that he would be attending.

Faye began to remove some neatly folded clothes and her phone charger from the suitcase, pondering for a moment if the cabin had an outlet nearby. Her train of thought was interrupted as she heard the voice of the blonde girl behind her.
”My name is Gwen. I love your hair by the way,”
The smiling girl said, towering above her, sounding rather enthusiastic and open in the way she spoke. Gwen offered her hand to her, presumably to shake hands in greeting. She looked up at her cabinmate for a moment, before nervously taking the hand and shaking it.

"N-nice to meet you, Gwen. I'm Faye." She replied as politely as she could, managing to put on a gentle smile for the sake of being friendly. The compliment about her hair surprised her for a moment, before she said "Oh, um, thank you." in an unsure voice. The phone on a dresser by the girl now known as Gwen went off, and the blonde glanced down at it, saying something about meeting back at the Activity Center again. The girl then left the cabin, but not before making a lighthearted comment and skipping away.

Faye smiled a little, watching Gwen leave. Perhaps it wouldn't be quite so bad after all. She seems nice so far... Faye thought, wide eyes trailing to the last empty bed in the cabin. She began to wonder how the next cabinmate to move in would be like, and hoped for the best. Remembering that there was something to be done at the Activity Center, she quickly began to unpack the rest of her belongings and moving them into her dresser. She decided to leave the objects like her art supplies and bathroom items in the suitcase for now, she could deal with it later. She did not want to be late to - whatever it was. Faye glanced into a mini mirror, inspecting her reflection for a moment and pondered if the girl was really honest when she complimented her hair. It was one of the kindest things a stranger had said to her in a while.

She put away the mirror, and pocketed her phone with her as she left the cabin. She made her way to the Activity Center and noticed a few girls sitting at the tables. A girl with pale blonde hair, another with bright blue eyes, and Gwen, who had seemed to already arrive. Feeling anxiety on where she should sit, she settled on a seat across from Gwen. Faye, unsure of what to do, pulled out her phone to distract herself with something.

Katherine slowly opened her eyes, as the sounds of Elias Bender Rønnenfelt's voice faded in her ears. She had gone from her position of sitting up and staring out over the water to laying in the grass and staring at the clouds. There was something incredibly relaxing to it all, even if the music itself wasn't relaxing to listen to, the whole experience of of lying there with the wind softly blowing the fresh air through the grass as it dances and the clouds slowly crawl across the sky could be quite calming to a city girl. Katherine slowly sat up and draped the ear-buds around the back of her neck before running her fingers through her hair. It was then when she heard the noise of her phone receiving a text message. She took her phone out of her pocket and checked the contents of the message she had just gotten.

"Welcome to Camp Corona!" It read. "There will be an optional orientation for you to meet other campers in fifteen minutes. Please gather by the Activities Center if you would like to join."

Katherine smiled before putting her phone back in her pocket, even if the whole "orientation" thing sounded dull as all hell it would be good to get to know the people here, if she was going to be spending all her time with them this summer. She hoped that at least a couple of them would be cool, maybe have a good taste in music or at least be open to what others listened to. And hell, she might even meet the elusive cabin mates she would be living with for the next two months. And, if she was lucky, maybe the two would coalesce and her cabin mates would also be cool people she wouldn't mind hanging out with. She hoped for the latter as she stood up and began to brush the small amount of dirt off her pants.

She started to walk over the activity center with her hands in her pockets. She gazed at the crowd already starting to form in front of the Activity Center. There was the girl she had seen on the beach earlier who seemed to have been the first to arrive at camp, there was a brunette, a girl with fantastic blue hair, and a taller girl (Though, unsurprisingly, she was still shorter than Katherine).

"Hey" Katherine said somewhat lazily but with a smile on her face as she sat down with the group. "I'm Katherine, from cabin one, you guys?"

"Call me Pratt." He said back to Baylen. "So we're going to be cabin mates? You know who the other one is?"

"Hey Pratt" he replied. "I'm not sure. I'm sure he'll be here so--" Baylen was cut off by the sound of his phone notification that rang out. Curious as to who would be texting him right now, he pulled his cell out of his back pocket and looked at it. It was a notification from the Camp announcing Orientation back at the Activities Center. He looked back to Pratt, assuming he would get the same notification shortly. He was not surprised that this would be their form of communication since most everyone had their cell phones with them anyway.

"Well, I'm going to head over. Maybe we'll see our roommate at the orientation." With that he walked over to his baggage and pulled out his Nikon 1 AW1 camera, one of his most durable yet high quality pieces out of his collection, and placed in in his back pocket. He left the large attachments off so he didn't have to wear the cord to sling it around his neck and shoulder. He doubted tonight he would come across anything particularly amazing to photograph anyway. He also pocketed his ear buds in case things got dull tonight.

He kicked off his sneakers and pulled off his socks, slipping on his flip flops for a more comfortable fit. He wore boxer shorts under his dark wash jeans in case he decided to get in to the water later. His shirt was a simple fitted black t-shirt by Under Armour. If Pratt decided to go and was ready with him they would leave at the same time back to the Activities Center for Orientation.

He looked forward to this as he enjoyed getting to know people on a surface level. It would be nice for some new company but he made no promises to his parents to dig deep for any meaningful relationships. He was here to have fun and enjoy himself and would not fulfill anyone's expectations on their demand, especially his parents. He was not shy and looked around the camp grounds as he approached, surveying the different campers. When he came right to the front he saw a group of girls sitting close together at a table and made his way over to them.

Baylen stopped in front of the table and looked at Kalina, Gwen, Colline, Faye and Katherine. The group of girls didn't look as if they were quiet comfortable with each other yet so he figured they must have just only met moments before. "Hey guys" he said warmly with a small wave. "Mind if I join you?"

“It is nice. A good day to arrive, weather wise. Alan. I suppose we’ll be rooming together. Or cabining. Or whatever the term is. Good to meet you. ”

"Hey, you too. Wonder if there's anyone else?.." Greg wondered aloud. He took a step forward to shake Alan's hand, and was slightly surprised when he withdrew it to check his phone. Greg's own phone went off about a half-second later, and he pulled it out. He skimmed over the text, half-mouthing the words silently as he read.

'Welcome to Camp Corona! There will be an optional orientation for you to meet other campers in fifteen minutes. Please gather by the Activities Center if you would like to join.'

[/i]'Oh, yeah,[/i] he thought, 'Guess this is why they needed my cell number...'

He returned his phone to his pocket, and noticed Alan looking at him.

"Orientation. Are you going?"

Greg rubbed the back of his neck, thinking it over in his head for a second. "Yeah, guess I will." No doubt there would be others there, hopefully he could find some friends. He stretched his arms out in front of him, and poked his head in the bathroom, checking himself in the mirror briefly to make sure he was still looking good.

"Alright. Welp, I think I'll head over now." He nodded sideways slightly toward the door as he spoke. He paused in the doorway. "You coming?"

---

The walk up to the activities center was brief. The people who were on the beach were now gone, probably at the orientation. That was a good sign, at least. He opened the doors to the activities hall. He stepped in, holding the door with his arm behind him for Alan. There weren't too many campers there yet, but there was a small group that seemed to be gathering at a front table, a few girls, and a lone guy.

'They seem uncomfortable enough... Easier to fix that if I get a foot in the door now.' he thought. He walked up to the group, smiling pleasantly. He put his hands down on the edge of the table casually. "Hey, all. Room for one more?"

Gwen smiled as one girl came up to the general area, but then she sat at an empty table. Gwen waited a bit longer, and her cabin mate Faye showed up and sat across from her. She’s smiled in a friendly fashion once more. ”Hey again cabin mate,” she said matter of factly, despite the girl getting on her phone as well. Boy everyone must have more friends than she did. Or perhaps internet on their phones. She had just something basic for texts and calls, not able to afford or need much more really. Though right now it was almost seeming worth it instead of sitting there surrounded by others pressing buttons. She cleared her throat and messed with her braid. Luckily, another girl walked up who looked even taller than Gwen herself and with black hair. She said hey and introduced herself causing Gwen to happily wave at her, smiling again.

”Gwen! Cabin 3,” she said, folding two of the fingers down in her wave so she was holding up 3 fingers. She put her hands back in her lap and looked up at an attractive looking guy who asked to join them. ”Of course, silly,” Gwen said, patting the empty spot next to her. It would be nice to be sitting by someone friendly enough to say hello.

Another boy walked up, this one with darker hair and blue eyes. Hey, all. Room for one more? Gwen smirked, seeing an opportunity. ”Nope, as you can see we’re all full,” she said, a playful grin on her face as she waved her hands to show the tables which still had plenty of room. Gwen began counting how many were there, and wondered if more would show up, or not. She had no idea exactly how many campers there were.

Raising an eyebrow at Baylen, his eyes flickered to his phone before moving back to his face. It wasn't his place to just get up and ask what it was. They might have been cabin mates now, but they were still strangers. It wasn't long before he got a text message as well, and he pulled out his phone to see what it was. His phone was in a protective case, a griffin survivor case to be specific. It was the perfect case for him, as it would always be safe if it ever fell out of his pockets while he was moving around. He looked at the text and looked back up at his cabin mate as he spoke up again.

He nodded at his cabin mate. "We probably will." He said in response to possibly meeting the next person that they would be sharing a cabin with at the orientation. He moved into a sitting position and grabbed his DS, only to put it in his backpack. It was pretty unlikely that he would meet anyone else at the camp who also had one with them, so he simply put it away for the time being. He then followed Baylen out and stayed a small distance behind him. He was currently the only person that he knew at the camp, and he wasn't the best at going out and making friends with complete strangers. He said nothing as they reached a group of girls, and simply gave a quick scan of all of them before taking the time to really look around and enjoy the scenery that they would be living in.