You should have never come
Chapter 4
...The scenery of the city soon changed, and now all Gerard could see were the breathtaking, enormous, grassy mountains of the Alpes.
Narrator’s POV
*Time Lapse- the car drive to the camp*
“Oh yeah, you’ll love Louis. She’s going camping with you to the woods in a week along with a new guy, Frank. Louis has piercings and stuff, and she can fit 30 cocktail tubes in her earring hole. Just call her Worm, though, she likes it more than her real name,” Ballash said with a laugh and the teenagers giggled in response. Gerard thought that the description of Worm sounded kind of familiar, as if he’d seen her before, but he just shrugged it off.
Ballash seemed like a tough guy, but turned out to be pretty sweet. With his struggles, the atmosphere in the minivan eased a bit, and in half an hour everyone started to feel more or less comfortable around each other. Jokes were flying back and forth in the car and everyone was smiling happily, even Gerard, who also took the opportunity to join the fun. He was laughing more than anyone, showing off his sense of humour. He has never been so open before, at least he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so free. Everybody seemed to be happy to talk to him, but in the back of his mind, he knew that everything could change as they got to the actual camp: sometimes, the nicest people turn into the worst assholes.
The memory from his last camp experience came back to him, flooding his mind. He shrugged, wrinkling his nose. God, he really hoped he wouldn’t meet those guys again. The chances were miserable, but they were still there, and the thought of dealing with them again sent a chill up Gerard’s spine.
After that summer, he promised himself to never, ever go to a camp again, and the only reason he was there now was because of his mom. He had to admit he hated her sometimes, especially when she made him do things like this. He knew that she just wanted him to enjoy himself with his peers, but why couldn’t she see how much he goes through already? Really, he didn’t need any more bullying than he already got.
“Why though? Worm sounds weird,” Olivia asked, her voice pulling Gerard out of his thoughts. She was leaning in and resting her chest on the back of the seat in front of her. Her face looked deformed as she showed off her toothy grin, and Gerard quickly looked away.
“Weird, but super cool,” Diego retorted, nudging her shoulder lightly. “You wish you were as cool as her,”
“Hey hey, everyone here is cool,” Ballash interrupted the rising conflict, turning back to look at the kids. Under his intense stare, everyone immediately calmed down, as if the laughter, which could be heard just moments ago, got sucked out of the minivan. Red-faced Diego awkwardly looked out the window, avoiding the teenager’s gazes.
Several minutes passed in uncomfortable silence, and nobody seemed to have anything to say.
“Can you say us more about the counselor?” Angelina interrupted the silence, her voice quiet, almost inaudible. Her Rs were very sharp, and her grammar didn’t even make sense. It was hard to understand what she was saying most of the time, and Gerard felt that it started to get on everyone’s nerves.
And at that moment, Gerard suddenly realised that he actually strongly disliked, if not hated, the way she pronounced things. Of course, it wasn’t really her fault, but Gerard couldn’t help but feel the need to snap her neck as the words left her lips. He changed his mind- he was definitely not going to make friends with her.
“Sure,” Ballash smiled happily, as if nothing happened. He was obviously trying to ease the atmosphere again, but it wasn’t working.
The teenagers moved closer to him, leaning in to hear better. They synchronically gripped the edges of their seats as he roughly stirred the wheel.
Ballash opened his mouth to talk, when suddenly Adham, who has been quiet the whole time, interrupted him before he could say a thing. “Start with the young ones, though,” he asked, his eyes almost invisible under his long eyelashes.
“Alright, so, I guess the youngest one is Frank… He’s like, about 19, and it’s his first year as a counselor. Don’t go too hard on him, he’s probably going to have no idea what to do.” Ballash laughed light-heartedly. “Shoot, I can’t even remember his last name, it’s really complicated. No one from the older staff is sure how to pronounce it, we even made a bet.”
“So he’s about two years older than us?” Gerard stuck in, propping his chin in his hands.
“Yeah,”
“That’s pretty cool, he’s probably going to be the best counselor- he knows all the funny jokes and stuff,” Diego said. Gerard noticed how everyone was avoiding swear words and cussing. He could bet that if Ballash wasn’t around, Diego would say “shit” instead of “stuff”.
“No one can beat Worm, trust me,” Ballash replied simply. “There’s also Charlotte and she…”
***
Finally the minivan pulled up to the hotel, and the kids were instantly glued to the windows, observing the new place. As soon as Ballash opened the door, they all scattered outside, gasping excitedly. The air was a bit chilly, and the sky was clear and blue, not a single cloud interrupting the beauty. The hotel they were staying in really matched Gerard’s ideas of what it would look like- a village house, with flowers in the balconies. Everything looked neat and Austra-like. It seemed really lonely, but in a good way. Ballash said that in the whole village there were just about 50 houses, maybe even less. There was a groceries store just down the street, and, if you walked for about five minutes from there, you’d get to a pool. No one really liked going there, because the water was always cold.
Behind the hotel there there was a huge green field, white and yellow flowers scattered all over it, and, to complete the scenery, above it all there were enormous, breathtaking mountains. They were so tall that Gerard could hardly make out the fogged tops, and he immediately felt the urge to take a picture.
Apparently, everyone else felt the same way, because they immediately reached into their bags, pulling cameras out. Ballash just laughed at the kids.
“You are going to be here for more than three weeks, there’s going to be a plenty of time for that, trust me,” he smiled, locking the car. “Plus, none of you are good at taking pictures- it would be better if you just download them from the internet." He was joking, obviously, and everyone giggled.
“Hey, I used to take photography classes!” Drake mumbled, pushing his glasses up with his index finger. He probably didn’t get the joke, and Ballash just waved him off.
“Take your bags and follow me,” he said, getting in the head of the line. Suddenly he tuned back. "Oh and, everyone, pass me your phone and chargers please,"
"What? Holy mother, we are all 17," Gerard tried to protest and the counselour sighed heavily.
"Please, let's not make a conflict out of this,"
The process of giving in electronics was followed by loud groans, which Gerard would describe as agony if he didn't know what was going on. Ballash even took everyone's mp3 players, which was totally unfair.
“We going to do fun,” Angelina giggled, nudging Gerard on the shoulder as they entered the hotel. He stretched his lips as much as possible, trying to look like if he enjoyed her company, but he knew he was failing as he noticed a frown on her face.
***
Since the kids who had to be picked up from the airport were the last ones to arrive, they were forced to live together. This way, Gerard ended up sharing a room with Adham, Drake and Diego. It could have been way worse, though, and he decided that it was okay- they did get on pretty well on the minivan.Their room was on the second floor, and as they unlocked the door, Gerard immediately dashed inside, hurriedly throwing his bag onto the bed closer to the window. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like the best spot.
Near the window there was an old-looking wooden door, leading out to a narrow, long balcony, decorated by bloody-red flowers Gerard didn’t know the name of. He stood outside, propping himself on his arms, breathing in the cold, fresh air, and observed the scenery of the mountains in front of him. He knew they were going to go camping there later, and he just couldn’t wait.
Maybe this time it wouldn’t be as bad. Maybe his mom did the right thing by making him come. He’ll have to see; there is really no way to predict the future in a situation like this. One mistake - just one, it’s all it takes - and the whole camp is already despising you and making boycotts against you. You always need to be alert and aware of what you are doing to not make a complete fool of yourself.
The boys were unpacking, carelessly throwing their clothes into the closet making a small talk in the process, when suddenly a loud knock interrupted them. They didn’t even have time to react when suddenly the door flung open, revealing Ballash standing behind it. He basically leaped into the room without an invitation. He was speaking quickly, slightly slurring his words together.
“Get your stuff- we are going to the pool. I need you downstairs in no more than 5 minutes. Wear something appropriate for swimming.” he declared.
He disappeared just as quickly as he appeared, leaving the teens speechless.
***
Gerard was sitting by the pool along with some other kids he just met.
Some of them arrived as early as yesterday, and have been spending all their time in the grocery store ever since. Apparently there was a surprisingly big choice of snacks there, really not something you’d expect from a small shop in the middle of nowhere.
The teenagers seemed nice, and Gerard decided to just stick with them for a while, at least until they get bored with him. They complimented him on his hair, which was pretty cool. His long red locks usually received a different reaction from his peers.
He still couldn’t remember their names, though, but he didn’t really care as long as it didn’t come up in a conversation. The good thing about making friends in camps is that you don’t have to ask for their name again, you just need to pay attention when they take attendance.
Everyone wholeheartedly agreed that the water really was too cold to spend more than five minutes in, and not doing anything was getting pretty boring. Suddenly in the corner of his eye Gerard saw someone plunge in, and he felt splashes of ice water on his skin. He turned his head to look who would be brave enough to do such a thing, and covered his mouth with his hand to muffle a laugh.
He saw a man- no, more like a young guy- quickly getting out of the freezing water, shaking violently. He obviously wasn’t expecting it to be freezing, and he was desperately trying to catch some air as a groan escaped his pale lips. He wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing.
He had short, black hair, dark, arched eyebrows, a long, rather thin nose and thin lips, a slight hint of cheekbones. From the distance Gerard could tell that the man had big, hazel eyes. The younger boy couldn’t help but notice the colourful tattoo sleeve, accompanied by lip and nose piercings that were shining brightly in the sun, reflecting the light. Gerard stared at the stranger, mesmerised. He had to admit, he was quite attractive, and he didn't look much older than him. Suddenly the man looked up, and their gazes met. Gerard quickly looked away, blushing. He was pretty sure his whole face turned completely red, and he suddenly felt really embarrassed. He was caught checking someone out, and the guy probably doesn't even swing that way, not mentioning that he obviously had nothing to do with the camp.
Suddenly Ballash rushed past Gerard, heading straight towards the tattooed stranger. When he was close enough, he slapped the shorter guy hard on the back, making him bend over slightly.
“Frank! I didn’t think you’d actually come, you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to have anything to do with kids today,”
“Well, it was getting pretty boring in the hotel room, you know, the wifi doesn’t even work that well so I… Yeah, basically,”
Gerard's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.
Holy shit, is that the counselor Ballash was talking about earlier?
Frank looked up again, smiling lightly at Gee, and the younger boy's stomach sank.
Narrator’s POV
*Time Lapse- the car drive to the camp*
“Oh yeah, you’ll love Louis. She’s going camping with you to the woods in a week along with a new guy, Frank. Louis has piercings and stuff, and she can fit 30 cocktail tubes in her earring hole. Just call her Worm, though, she likes it more than her real name,” Ballash said with a laugh and the teenagers giggled in response. Gerard thought that the description of Worm sounded kind of familiar, as if he’d seen her before, but he just shrugged it off.
Ballash seemed like a tough guy, but turned out to be pretty sweet. With his struggles, the atmosphere in the minivan eased a bit, and in half an hour everyone started to feel more or less comfortable around each other. Jokes were flying back and forth in the car and everyone was smiling happily, even Gerard, who also took the opportunity to join the fun. He was laughing more than anyone, showing off his sense of humour. He has never been so open before, at least he couldn’t remember the last time he felt so free. Everybody seemed to be happy to talk to him, but in the back of his mind, he knew that everything could change as they got to the actual camp: sometimes, the nicest people turn into the worst assholes.
The memory from his last camp experience came back to him, flooding his mind. He shrugged, wrinkling his nose. God, he really hoped he wouldn’t meet those guys again. The chances were miserable, but they were still there, and the thought of dealing with them again sent a chill up Gerard’s spine.
After that summer, he promised himself to never, ever go to a camp again, and the only reason he was there now was because of his mom. He had to admit he hated her sometimes, especially when she made him do things like this. He knew that she just wanted him to enjoy himself with his peers, but why couldn’t she see how much he goes through already? Really, he didn’t need any more bullying than he already got.
“Why though? Worm sounds weird,” Olivia asked, her voice pulling Gerard out of his thoughts. She was leaning in and resting her chest on the back of the seat in front of her. Her face looked deformed as she showed off her toothy grin, and Gerard quickly looked away.
“Weird, but super cool,” Diego retorted, nudging her shoulder lightly. “You wish you were as cool as her,”
“Hey hey, everyone here is cool,” Ballash interrupted the rising conflict, turning back to look at the kids. Under his intense stare, everyone immediately calmed down, as if the laughter, which could be heard just moments ago, got sucked out of the minivan. Red-faced Diego awkwardly looked out the window, avoiding the teenager’s gazes.
Several minutes passed in uncomfortable silence, and nobody seemed to have anything to say.
“Can you say us more about the counselor?” Angelina interrupted the silence, her voice quiet, almost inaudible. Her Rs were very sharp, and her grammar didn’t even make sense. It was hard to understand what she was saying most of the time, and Gerard felt that it started to get on everyone’s nerves.
And at that moment, Gerard suddenly realised that he actually strongly disliked, if not hated, the way she pronounced things. Of course, it wasn’t really her fault, but Gerard couldn’t help but feel the need to snap her neck as the words left her lips. He changed his mind- he was definitely not going to make friends with her.
“Sure,” Ballash smiled happily, as if nothing happened. He was obviously trying to ease the atmosphere again, but it wasn’t working.
The teenagers moved closer to him, leaning in to hear better. They synchronically gripped the edges of their seats as he roughly stirred the wheel.
Ballash opened his mouth to talk, when suddenly Adham, who has been quiet the whole time, interrupted him before he could say a thing. “Start with the young ones, though,” he asked, his eyes almost invisible under his long eyelashes.
“Alright, so, I guess the youngest one is Frank… He’s like, about 19, and it’s his first year as a counselor. Don’t go too hard on him, he’s probably going to have no idea what to do.” Ballash laughed light-heartedly. “Shoot, I can’t even remember his last name, it’s really complicated. No one from the older staff is sure how to pronounce it, we even made a bet.”
“So he’s about two years older than us?” Gerard stuck in, propping his chin in his hands.
“Yeah,”
“That’s pretty cool, he’s probably going to be the best counselor- he knows all the funny jokes and stuff,” Diego said. Gerard noticed how everyone was avoiding swear words and cussing. He could bet that if Ballash wasn’t around, Diego would say “shit” instead of “stuff”.
“No one can beat Worm, trust me,” Ballash replied simply. “There’s also Charlotte and she…”
***
Finally the minivan pulled up to the hotel, and the kids were instantly glued to the windows, observing the new place. As soon as Ballash opened the door, they all scattered outside, gasping excitedly. The air was a bit chilly, and the sky was clear and blue, not a single cloud interrupting the beauty. The hotel they were staying in really matched Gerard’s ideas of what it would look like- a village house, with flowers in the balconies. Everything looked neat and Austra-like. It seemed really lonely, but in a good way. Ballash said that in the whole village there were just about 50 houses, maybe even less. There was a groceries store just down the street, and, if you walked for about five minutes from there, you’d get to a pool. No one really liked going there, because the water was always cold.
Behind the hotel there there was a huge green field, white and yellow flowers scattered all over it, and, to complete the scenery, above it all there were enormous, breathtaking mountains. They were so tall that Gerard could hardly make out the fogged tops, and he immediately felt the urge to take a picture.
Apparently, everyone else felt the same way, because they immediately reached into their bags, pulling cameras out. Ballash just laughed at the kids.
“You are going to be here for more than three weeks, there’s going to be a plenty of time for that, trust me,” he smiled, locking the car. “Plus, none of you are good at taking pictures- it would be better if you just download them from the internet." He was joking, obviously, and everyone giggled.
“Hey, I used to take photography classes!” Drake mumbled, pushing his glasses up with his index finger. He probably didn’t get the joke, and Ballash just waved him off.
“Take your bags and follow me,” he said, getting in the head of the line. Suddenly he tuned back. "Oh and, everyone, pass me your phone and chargers please,"
"What? Holy mother, we are all 17," Gerard tried to protest and the counselour sighed heavily.
"Please, let's not make a conflict out of this,"
The process of giving in electronics was followed by loud groans, which Gerard would describe as agony if he didn't know what was going on. Ballash even took everyone's mp3 players, which was totally unfair.
“We going to do fun,” Angelina giggled, nudging Gerard on the shoulder as they entered the hotel. He stretched his lips as much as possible, trying to look like if he enjoyed her company, but he knew he was failing as he noticed a frown on her face.
***
Since the kids who had to be picked up from the airport were the last ones to arrive, they were forced to live together. This way, Gerard ended up sharing a room with Adham, Drake and Diego. It could have been way worse, though, and he decided that it was okay- they did get on pretty well on the minivan.Their room was on the second floor, and as they unlocked the door, Gerard immediately dashed inside, hurriedly throwing his bag onto the bed closer to the window. He wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like the best spot.
Near the window there was an old-looking wooden door, leading out to a narrow, long balcony, decorated by bloody-red flowers Gerard didn’t know the name of. He stood outside, propping himself on his arms, breathing in the cold, fresh air, and observed the scenery of the mountains in front of him. He knew they were going to go camping there later, and he just couldn’t wait.
Maybe this time it wouldn’t be as bad. Maybe his mom did the right thing by making him come. He’ll have to see; there is really no way to predict the future in a situation like this. One mistake - just one, it’s all it takes - and the whole camp is already despising you and making boycotts against you. You always need to be alert and aware of what you are doing to not make a complete fool of yourself.
The boys were unpacking, carelessly throwing their clothes into the closet making a small talk in the process, when suddenly a loud knock interrupted them. They didn’t even have time to react when suddenly the door flung open, revealing Ballash standing behind it. He basically leaped into the room without an invitation. He was speaking quickly, slightly slurring his words together.
“Get your stuff- we are going to the pool. I need you downstairs in no more than 5 minutes. Wear something appropriate for swimming.” he declared.
He disappeared just as quickly as he appeared, leaving the teens speechless.
***
Gerard was sitting by the pool along with some other kids he just met.
Some of them arrived as early as yesterday, and have been spending all their time in the grocery store ever since. Apparently there was a surprisingly big choice of snacks there, really not something you’d expect from a small shop in the middle of nowhere.
The teenagers seemed nice, and Gerard decided to just stick with them for a while, at least until they get bored with him. They complimented him on his hair, which was pretty cool. His long red locks usually received a different reaction from his peers.
He still couldn’t remember their names, though, but he didn’t really care as long as it didn’t come up in a conversation. The good thing about making friends in camps is that you don’t have to ask for their name again, you just need to pay attention when they take attendance.
Everyone wholeheartedly agreed that the water really was too cold to spend more than five minutes in, and not doing anything was getting pretty boring. Suddenly in the corner of his eye Gerard saw someone plunge in, and he felt splashes of ice water on his skin. He turned his head to look who would be brave enough to do such a thing, and covered his mouth with his hand to muffle a laugh.
He saw a man- no, more like a young guy- quickly getting out of the freezing water, shaking violently. He obviously wasn’t expecting it to be freezing, and he was desperately trying to catch some air as a groan escaped his pale lips. He wrapped his arms around himself, rubbing.
He had short, black hair, dark, arched eyebrows, a long, rather thin nose and thin lips, a slight hint of cheekbones. From the distance Gerard could tell that the man had big, hazel eyes. The younger boy couldn’t help but notice the colourful tattoo sleeve, accompanied by lip and nose piercings that were shining brightly in the sun, reflecting the light. Gerard stared at the stranger, mesmerised. He had to admit, he was quite attractive, and he didn't look much older than him. Suddenly the man looked up, and their gazes met. Gerard quickly looked away, blushing. He was pretty sure his whole face turned completely red, and he suddenly felt really embarrassed. He was caught checking someone out, and the guy probably doesn't even swing that way, not mentioning that he obviously had nothing to do with the camp.
Suddenly Ballash rushed past Gerard, heading straight towards the tattooed stranger. When he was close enough, he slapped the shorter guy hard on the back, making him bend over slightly.
“Frank! I didn’t think you’d actually come, you made it pretty clear you didn’t want to have anything to do with kids today,”
“Well, it was getting pretty boring in the hotel room, you know, the wifi doesn’t even work that well so I… Yeah, basically,”
Gerard's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.
Holy shit, is that the counselor Ballash was talking about earlier?
Frank looked up again, smiling lightly at Gee, and the younger boy's stomach sank.
Notes
Alright, here are some pictures from the actual camp to get you into the spirit of this story:
http://www.villagecamps.com/index.php?page=120&lang=eng&gly=03
https://www.villagecamps.com/journals_admin/images/52-11-VC_2010_Zell_am_See_day2_96.jpg
http://karandash.ua/site/assets/files/1747/vallage_camps.0x500.jpg
If I find any better ones, I'll put the links in the notes))) I really want you to look at them so that you get a better understanding of the surroundings)
Please feedback on this, I beg you... It takes you what, 30 seconds?? :D
gerard_needs_to_chill
This was actually the first fanfiction I ever read. (Hence that was like a year and a half ago)
5/1/17