Atlantis Summer Camp: part 4/6
Title: Atlantis Summer Camp: part 4/6
Author: snowglow1275
Rating: PG for this part
Word Count: 17,396 total
Summary: AU where Atlantis is a summer camp and Rodney gets talked into being a counselor. This part: John apologizes and Rodney meets his kids.
Pairings/characters: Rodney/John, Jeannie/Carson, Sam, Tayla, Ronon, Zelenka/Lorne, Elizabeth, Jack/Daniel, Cadman/Miko, Ford/Madison Miller friendship, and everyone else in the Stargate universe is fair game.
Author's note: I've had some requests for longer chapters. I tried.
Beta: Thanks so much to the lovely momma_66 for being so wonderful and patient with me about this fic!
Disclaimer: Not my toys!
Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3
Despite spending the whole night tossing and turning John was up early, he could help it, he just didn’t sleep in. There were no kids in the cabin yet but he still dressed in the dark before silently leaving, as though he didn’t want to wake anyone. John looked around, enjoying the dawn breaking and the bird song starting to fill the air, while bouncing slightly on his toes. Then he took off at a fast jog following a familiar path toward the lake.
There was a trail through the mountainside all the way around the little lake. It was quiet and the dawn shone pink and green through the leaves while the mist rose from the lake and made the air smell of moisture. This was John’s sanctuary, his favorite place at his favorite place, and his favorite time to be here. He let the tension and worry leave him as his muscles relaxed into the familiar pace.
Sweating but refreshed he trotted back to his cabin to grab his shower things when the door to cabin six opened. Rodney stepped out in flip flops, sweats and a T-shirt carrying a towel and a few bottles of what must be body wash and the like. John stilled. He hadn’t been noticed yet and was silently debating with himself whether it would be best to try to run for it or face the inevitable like a man. His mind was made up for him when Rodney spotted him standing there only a cabin away.
He went for it, “Hey, Rodney.” He walked closer, the cool morning breeze chilling his sweat-slicked skin.
“Um, good morning.” Rodney’s eyes were shifting, like he was worried he was being watched, or, more likely, didn’t want to look right at John. He knew he needed to say something but he was never any good at apologies. John ducked his head nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Um, about yesterday, I didn’t mean to, well, I, what I mean is…” He cleared his throat and looked directly into Rodney’s eyes, “I’m sorry.”
Rodney just looked at him for a moment before giving a barely noticeable nod. John really hoped that meant they would be alright.
“So, you, ah…” Rodney scanned John’s body quickly, John hoped he didn’t blush, “been running?” he finished somewhat lamely.
John gave an embarrassed side-tilt of his head, “yeah, it, ah, helps me wake up. It’s really pretty down by the lake. You headed to the showers?”
Rodney looked back down to where he was holding his supplies, like he had forgotten he even had them, “Oh, yes, I was just heading there.”
“Ok, well I guess I’ll let you get on with that then,” He paused, “and Rodney?”
Rodney had already started to turn but he tilted his head back around to see John, “Mm?”
“I’ll, ah, see you later?” yeah it was lame, but he was just happy they were apparently back on speaking terms.
“Mmhm,” and a backward wave of his hand were John’s only answer.
As Rodney headed away toward the showers John bounced a bit on the tips of his toes then let a bright smile cover his face and hopped the few steps into his cabin. He had been planning on catching a shower right away but it might be best to give Rodney some space. He didn’t want to push it, and he could wait 15 minutes.
~*~
Rodney was pleasantly surprised to find the showers were clean and comfortable and each stall was private enough that Rodney decided getting up at an ungodly hour to catch a private shower would be unnecessary in the future. The water was even hot.
By the time he had made it back to his cabin the sun was really coming up. He was starting to feel hungry but Carson had said the kids would start showing up after breakfast so he had better get unpacking what he should have yesterday before it really got to be too late. It didn’t take him long, he was never big on unnecessary neatness, and the clock by his bed (a battery powered one that he had brought along, and good thing too because this place had no clocks) said that breakfast was still being served for another half an hour.
Rodney made the trek back to the cafeteria, finding that he didn’t entirely despise mornings, as long as they managed to look like this, at least. He made his way along a very short buffet that looked like it usually held more food and piled high his tray.
There were more people this morning than there had been the night before. There was Elizabeth eating alone, going through a stack of papers by the looks of it. And on the other end of the cafeteria were two older guys deep in conversation. One’s hair was starting to grey and the other wore glasses and had sandy hair that fell in front of his eyes. But the largest and loudest group was at the same table in the corner that they had had last night for dinner. Rodney headed over to the other counselors.
When they saw him coming they didn’t shift to make room for him, instead they seemed to take up more space until there was only one spot left for him to sit. Rodney set his tray down then swung his leg over the bench and sat down next to John, who was the only one who hadn’t looked up and greeted Rodney, although his ears had looked a little redder since the others had moved.
“Yes, yes, good morning.” And that was it; Rodney was out of the conversation while he dug into his food.
He slowed eventually, though he was still munching as he joined in arguing over why he had to spend just as much time teaching the ‘hyperactive pre-teen hooligans’ as he did the older, and undoubtedly wiser, campers. He was still talking when he took a bite of a French toast stick and found that he had gathered no syrup when he dipped it. He glanced down with a frown. His syrup cup was empty, all used up. And, damn, the buffet was already being taken down. He was getting all geared up for a good bout of self-pity at his misfortune when he glanced down again. There was an extra syrup cup sitting right between his and John’s tray. Huh, that hadn’t been there before. He grabbed it like a baby being offered candy, and then continued on like he hadn’t missed a beat. He did, however, miss everyone else’s smirks and another blush from John.
~*~
Everyone had been given a task to help get the campers signed in and settled as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rodney was following Sam back to the cabins when the first cars pulled into the lot.
Elizabeth had the others helping parents and children fill out paperwork and make sure the goodbyes went alright. Rodney was immensely relieved he wasn’t going to be dealing directly with the immediate separation anxiety. That was Jeannie’s element, not his. Sam had volunteered them for cabin duty. It sounded a lot simpler than what the others were having to put up with right now so he wasn’t about to complain. Sam led him to the picnic table where they had all been last night and gave him a copy of the master list with all the children’s names and where they would be sleeping, among other things.
They had some time to wait before the first campers started to show up and Rodney soon found that as long as they stuck to topics like physics, academia, and camp he was reasonably comfortable carrying on a conversation with her.
One by one the campers began to filter into the cabins, most appeared unimpressed and much more knowledgeable about the area than he was so Rodney let them be. A small pack of younger kids moved closer and ran to their respective cabins, yelling and laughing excitedly. Sam got up to make sure they were in the correct cabins. They were followed shortly by John and Ronon, who were both piled high with sleeping and duffel bags. They dumped their piles of supplies onto the ground at the middle of the semi-circle of cabins, John yelling, “You can carry your own stuff the rest of the way, midgets!” The children giggled but ran back out to sort through their things.
John beamed at Rodney, slightly out of breath, “just makin a supply run, see you later.”
“Yeah, thanks. Uh, you too.”
And he was gone again, racing Ronon back down the path, dodging campers headed in the other direction. Rodney paused a moment to admire John’s, uh, technique, then noticed a camper turning into his cabin.
He hadn’t had any of his other campers show up yet and hadn’t gotten a good look at this one, so, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do, he stood up and followed the kid into his cabin.
Rodney stood in the doorway watching a small boy in glasses with longish scruffy hair that had to be older than he looked because Rodney knew his campers where the oldest boys. The little guy was tossing his bags onto the top bunk of the bed next to Rodney’s. When he was done he sat down on the bottom bunk and smiled at Rodney like he had known Rodney was watching him.
Rodney cleared his throat, “Uh, hi, I’m Rodney,” and sat down on his bed.
“You are Carson’s replacement, yes?” He had a small but decisive voice and there was an accent there that Rodney couldn’t quite place.
“Yeah but, ah, he’s still here. Around, I mean. He’s the Camp Nurse. Well, not nurse, you know, but the, ah, medical person, I suppose.”
The kid chuckled. Rodney decided to end that subject.
“You?”
“I am Radek.”
Rodney paused, then consulted his list, the kid’s name and age were right there. Sixteen, wow, “Oh, yes, I see, um, Ze…” He broke off. This kid’s name was hard to pronounce.
“Zelenka. Yes.”
“Okay,” He gave up on trying to repeat it back, deciding to change topics again, “top bunk?”
“Yes, is…roomier.”
“Ah, so why are you on the bottom now?”
Radek ducked his head and Rodney could barely make out the heightened color on his cheeks or his response, “saving it.”
Rodney pursed his lips, “saving it? A friend of yours?”
Radek looked up, “Yes, he is, ah…coming soon.”
“Oh, well, I’ll just leave you to your vigil then, I should probably get back to the, ah, helping.”
Radek nodded and turned away. Rodney nodded to himself then stood up, sighing at the chaos he didn’t want to help sort out.
John and Ronon made several more trips loaded with the supplies for the youngest kids and Rodney was kept well and truly busy helping Sam sort out and contain the younger campers. He was relieved to look up and find Jeannie and Teyla had accompanied John and Ronon this time. Surely this meant all the campers were here and accounted for. Jeannie and John waved to him but they were all heading toward their now full cabins. Rodney was finally able to break away from the younger crowd and return to see who else had appeared in his cabin.
The small boy from earlier, Radek, was now on his top bunk along with another boy. The bottom bunk was neatly covered with a sleeping bag and Rodney could see empty bags under the bed so this must be the friend he was saving the bunk for. This boy looked taller and older than Radek, though that didn’t mean much. His hair was neat and short, and he sat straighter than Radek, who was propped lazily against the wall. They were talking quietly, Radek’s hands fluttering to accentuate his words and the other boy just nodding along and adding a few words here or there, his hands rested in his lap.
Rodney continued his perusal of the cabin. Another boy, tall with very short cut hair and a manner that made Rodney think immediately of the military, had claimed the next top bunk, his bags lay across the bottom bunk as the amount of beds meant only two kids had to share one while the others got their own. Next was an average looking boy with thin glasses and bags that looked like they all came in a set. He had opted to take a bottom and was now laying out a matching sleeping bag. On the next bunk over was the tallest kid. He was lying across the top bunk, not asleep but humming tunelessly. Rodney thought it sounded like he was trying to meditate. This kid had really long wavy hair with a bandana tied around his forehead and was wearing ragged clothes. In the last bunk was another average looking kid but with curly hair, like the white version of an afro.
Rodney cleared his throat. The boys slowly quieted and took seats.
“So, ah, I guess I’m gonna be your councilor for the summer. My, ah, name is Rodney, ah, McKay. You probably know my sister, Jeannie, already. Haha, well, maybe we should all start by introducing ourselves. I will be getting a Phd in Astrophysics this year, I have a masters in engineering and am only a couple of years from a PhD in that, too, ah, this is my first year here and I’m in charge of the science stuff, so, ah, who’s next?”
Rodney decided he could probably sit down too so he sank onto his bed and pulled out his list of kids for reference.
Military kid, true to his Rodney-made nickname, stood up, placed his hands behind his back, at ease Rodney thought and smirked.
“Name’s Steven Caldwell. First year here.” Then sat back down. Rodney frowned. Well he hadn’t said much about himself but Rodney wasn’t about to push it and his name was on the list. The other boys were looking at Steven like he had just beamed down or something. Then they glanced amusingly at each other. Rodney cleared his throat then looked at the only person he knew so far to help him move this along. Radek mumbled something then spoke up.
“Radek Zelenka, I have just got, ah, undergraduate degree in engineering in Prague. My mother is, ah, diplomat here, wanted for me to do something … normal, for summers. This is my, ah, third year.”
Rodney’s eyebrows shot up. Okay, maybe his sister wasn’t joking when she said the kids here were smart. The kid next to Radek spoke up.
“Hi, I’m Evan Lorne, just finished freshman year of college, getting a communications major. Thinking of enlisting when I’m old enough, help with the bills, you know, and, ah, it’s my second year here.”
Rodney glanced back at his sheet, fifteen, yeah, that’s still a few years off, then. Hippie kid raised his hand, still lying flat on his bunk.
“Halling Wex, one more year of high school then on to an ecology degree. Second year.”
The kid with the matching bags coughed politely.
“Hello, I’m Richard Woolsey, starting pre-law at Harvard this fall. This is my first year here.”
All eyes turned to the last kid, he looked kinda shy but gave a small smile.
“Hi, um, Kaleb Miller, gonna be a senior in high school but then I wanna get my degree in English Lit, and this is my first year here.”
Rodney did a quick glance through at his sheet, yep, all names accounted for. Now for more important things. He looked over at the clock.
“Well, that was, ah, interesting, but it looks like they should have lunch starting about now. Then the rest of the afternoon is for you all to get settled in, so, ah, I guess I’ll see you all at dinner. I’ve just got ‘anouncements’ scheduled for after dinner at the cafeteria, so I guess we’re all in for a surprise.”
And with that Rodney turned, not bothering to see if he was being followed, and headed for the cafeteria. It had been a long morning.
Part 5
Author: snowglow1275
Rating: PG for this part
Word Count: 17,396 total
Summary: AU where Atlantis is a summer camp and Rodney gets talked into being a counselor. This part: John apologizes and Rodney meets his kids.
Pairings/characters: Rodney/John, Jeannie/Carson, Sam, Tayla, Ronon, Zelenka/Lorne, Elizabeth, Jack/Daniel, Cadman/Miko, Ford/Madison Miller friendship, and everyone else in the Stargate universe is fair game.
Author's note: I've had some requests for longer chapters. I tried.
Beta: Thanks so much to the lovely momma_66 for being so wonderful and patient with me about this fic!
Disclaimer: Not my toys!
Part 1 l Part 2 l Part 3
Despite spending the whole night tossing and turning John was up early, he could help it, he just didn’t sleep in. There were no kids in the cabin yet but he still dressed in the dark before silently leaving, as though he didn’t want to wake anyone. John looked around, enjoying the dawn breaking and the bird song starting to fill the air, while bouncing slightly on his toes. Then he took off at a fast jog following a familiar path toward the lake.
There was a trail through the mountainside all the way around the little lake. It was quiet and the dawn shone pink and green through the leaves while the mist rose from the lake and made the air smell of moisture. This was John’s sanctuary, his favorite place at his favorite place, and his favorite time to be here. He let the tension and worry leave him as his muscles relaxed into the familiar pace.
Sweating but refreshed he trotted back to his cabin to grab his shower things when the door to cabin six opened. Rodney stepped out in flip flops, sweats and a T-shirt carrying a towel and a few bottles of what must be body wash and the like. John stilled. He hadn’t been noticed yet and was silently debating with himself whether it would be best to try to run for it or face the inevitable like a man. His mind was made up for him when Rodney spotted him standing there only a cabin away.
He went for it, “Hey, Rodney.” He walked closer, the cool morning breeze chilling his sweat-slicked skin.
“Um, good morning.” Rodney’s eyes were shifting, like he was worried he was being watched, or, more likely, didn’t want to look right at John. He knew he needed to say something but he was never any good at apologies. John ducked his head nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Um, about yesterday, I didn’t mean to, well, I, what I mean is…” He cleared his throat and looked directly into Rodney’s eyes, “I’m sorry.”
Rodney just looked at him for a moment before giving a barely noticeable nod. John really hoped that meant they would be alright.
“So, you, ah…” Rodney scanned John’s body quickly, John hoped he didn’t blush, “been running?” he finished somewhat lamely.
John gave an embarrassed side-tilt of his head, “yeah, it, ah, helps me wake up. It’s really pretty down by the lake. You headed to the showers?”
Rodney looked back down to where he was holding his supplies, like he had forgotten he even had them, “Oh, yes, I was just heading there.”
“Ok, well I guess I’ll let you get on with that then,” He paused, “and Rodney?”
Rodney had already started to turn but he tilted his head back around to see John, “Mm?”
“I’ll, ah, see you later?” yeah it was lame, but he was just happy they were apparently back on speaking terms.
“Mmhm,” and a backward wave of his hand were John’s only answer.
As Rodney headed away toward the showers John bounced a bit on the tips of his toes then let a bright smile cover his face and hopped the few steps into his cabin. He had been planning on catching a shower right away but it might be best to give Rodney some space. He didn’t want to push it, and he could wait 15 minutes.
~*~
Rodney was pleasantly surprised to find the showers were clean and comfortable and each stall was private enough that Rodney decided getting up at an ungodly hour to catch a private shower would be unnecessary in the future. The water was even hot.
By the time he had made it back to his cabin the sun was really coming up. He was starting to feel hungry but Carson had said the kids would start showing up after breakfast so he had better get unpacking what he should have yesterday before it really got to be too late. It didn’t take him long, he was never big on unnecessary neatness, and the clock by his bed (a battery powered one that he had brought along, and good thing too because this place had no clocks) said that breakfast was still being served for another half an hour.
Rodney made the trek back to the cafeteria, finding that he didn’t entirely despise mornings, as long as they managed to look like this, at least. He made his way along a very short buffet that looked like it usually held more food and piled high his tray.
There were more people this morning than there had been the night before. There was Elizabeth eating alone, going through a stack of papers by the looks of it. And on the other end of the cafeteria were two older guys deep in conversation. One’s hair was starting to grey and the other wore glasses and had sandy hair that fell in front of his eyes. But the largest and loudest group was at the same table in the corner that they had had last night for dinner. Rodney headed over to the other counselors.
When they saw him coming they didn’t shift to make room for him, instead they seemed to take up more space until there was only one spot left for him to sit. Rodney set his tray down then swung his leg over the bench and sat down next to John, who was the only one who hadn’t looked up and greeted Rodney, although his ears had looked a little redder since the others had moved.
“Yes, yes, good morning.” And that was it; Rodney was out of the conversation while he dug into his food.
He slowed eventually, though he was still munching as he joined in arguing over why he had to spend just as much time teaching the ‘hyperactive pre-teen hooligans’ as he did the older, and undoubtedly wiser, campers. He was still talking when he took a bite of a French toast stick and found that he had gathered no syrup when he dipped it. He glanced down with a frown. His syrup cup was empty, all used up. And, damn, the buffet was already being taken down. He was getting all geared up for a good bout of self-pity at his misfortune when he glanced down again. There was an extra syrup cup sitting right between his and John’s tray. Huh, that hadn’t been there before. He grabbed it like a baby being offered candy, and then continued on like he hadn’t missed a beat. He did, however, miss everyone else’s smirks and another blush from John.
~*~
Everyone had been given a task to help get the campers signed in and settled as quickly and efficiently as possible. Rodney was following Sam back to the cabins when the first cars pulled into the lot.
Elizabeth had the others helping parents and children fill out paperwork and make sure the goodbyes went alright. Rodney was immensely relieved he wasn’t going to be dealing directly with the immediate separation anxiety. That was Jeannie’s element, not his. Sam had volunteered them for cabin duty. It sounded a lot simpler than what the others were having to put up with right now so he wasn’t about to complain. Sam led him to the picnic table where they had all been last night and gave him a copy of the master list with all the children’s names and where they would be sleeping, among other things.
They had some time to wait before the first campers started to show up and Rodney soon found that as long as they stuck to topics like physics, academia, and camp he was reasonably comfortable carrying on a conversation with her.
One by one the campers began to filter into the cabins, most appeared unimpressed and much more knowledgeable about the area than he was so Rodney let them be. A small pack of younger kids moved closer and ran to their respective cabins, yelling and laughing excitedly. Sam got up to make sure they were in the correct cabins. They were followed shortly by John and Ronon, who were both piled high with sleeping and duffel bags. They dumped their piles of supplies onto the ground at the middle of the semi-circle of cabins, John yelling, “You can carry your own stuff the rest of the way, midgets!” The children giggled but ran back out to sort through their things.
John beamed at Rodney, slightly out of breath, “just makin a supply run, see you later.”
“Yeah, thanks. Uh, you too.”
And he was gone again, racing Ronon back down the path, dodging campers headed in the other direction. Rodney paused a moment to admire John’s, uh, technique, then noticed a camper turning into his cabin.
He hadn’t had any of his other campers show up yet and hadn’t gotten a good look at this one, so, it wasn’t like he had anything else to do, he stood up and followed the kid into his cabin.
Rodney stood in the doorway watching a small boy in glasses with longish scruffy hair that had to be older than he looked because Rodney knew his campers where the oldest boys. The little guy was tossing his bags onto the top bunk of the bed next to Rodney’s. When he was done he sat down on the bottom bunk and smiled at Rodney like he had known Rodney was watching him.
Rodney cleared his throat, “Uh, hi, I’m Rodney,” and sat down on his bed.
“You are Carson’s replacement, yes?” He had a small but decisive voice and there was an accent there that Rodney couldn’t quite place.
“Yeah but, ah, he’s still here. Around, I mean. He’s the Camp Nurse. Well, not nurse, you know, but the, ah, medical person, I suppose.”
The kid chuckled. Rodney decided to end that subject.
“You?”
“I am Radek.”
Rodney paused, then consulted his list, the kid’s name and age were right there. Sixteen, wow, “Oh, yes, I see, um, Ze…” He broke off. This kid’s name was hard to pronounce.
“Zelenka. Yes.”
“Okay,” He gave up on trying to repeat it back, deciding to change topics again, “top bunk?”
“Yes, is…roomier.”
“Ah, so why are you on the bottom now?”
Radek ducked his head and Rodney could barely make out the heightened color on his cheeks or his response, “saving it.”
Rodney pursed his lips, “saving it? A friend of yours?”
Radek looked up, “Yes, he is, ah…coming soon.”
“Oh, well, I’ll just leave you to your vigil then, I should probably get back to the, ah, helping.”
Radek nodded and turned away. Rodney nodded to himself then stood up, sighing at the chaos he didn’t want to help sort out.
John and Ronon made several more trips loaded with the supplies for the youngest kids and Rodney was kept well and truly busy helping Sam sort out and contain the younger campers. He was relieved to look up and find Jeannie and Teyla had accompanied John and Ronon this time. Surely this meant all the campers were here and accounted for. Jeannie and John waved to him but they were all heading toward their now full cabins. Rodney was finally able to break away from the younger crowd and return to see who else had appeared in his cabin.
The small boy from earlier, Radek, was now on his top bunk along with another boy. The bottom bunk was neatly covered with a sleeping bag and Rodney could see empty bags under the bed so this must be the friend he was saving the bunk for. This boy looked taller and older than Radek, though that didn’t mean much. His hair was neat and short, and he sat straighter than Radek, who was propped lazily against the wall. They were talking quietly, Radek’s hands fluttering to accentuate his words and the other boy just nodding along and adding a few words here or there, his hands rested in his lap.
Rodney continued his perusal of the cabin. Another boy, tall with very short cut hair and a manner that made Rodney think immediately of the military, had claimed the next top bunk, his bags lay across the bottom bunk as the amount of beds meant only two kids had to share one while the others got their own. Next was an average looking boy with thin glasses and bags that looked like they all came in a set. He had opted to take a bottom and was now laying out a matching sleeping bag. On the next bunk over was the tallest kid. He was lying across the top bunk, not asleep but humming tunelessly. Rodney thought it sounded like he was trying to meditate. This kid had really long wavy hair with a bandana tied around his forehead and was wearing ragged clothes. In the last bunk was another average looking kid but with curly hair, like the white version of an afro.
Rodney cleared his throat. The boys slowly quieted and took seats.
“So, ah, I guess I’m gonna be your councilor for the summer. My, ah, name is Rodney, ah, McKay. You probably know my sister, Jeannie, already. Haha, well, maybe we should all start by introducing ourselves. I will be getting a Phd in Astrophysics this year, I have a masters in engineering and am only a couple of years from a PhD in that, too, ah, this is my first year here and I’m in charge of the science stuff, so, ah, who’s next?”
Rodney decided he could probably sit down too so he sank onto his bed and pulled out his list of kids for reference.
Military kid, true to his Rodney-made nickname, stood up, placed his hands behind his back, at ease Rodney thought and smirked.
“Name’s Steven Caldwell. First year here.” Then sat back down. Rodney frowned. Well he hadn’t said much about himself but Rodney wasn’t about to push it and his name was on the list. The other boys were looking at Steven like he had just beamed down or something. Then they glanced amusingly at each other. Rodney cleared his throat then looked at the only person he knew so far to help him move this along. Radek mumbled something then spoke up.
“Radek Zelenka, I have just got, ah, undergraduate degree in engineering in Prague. My mother is, ah, diplomat here, wanted for me to do something … normal, for summers. This is my, ah, third year.”
Rodney’s eyebrows shot up. Okay, maybe his sister wasn’t joking when she said the kids here were smart. The kid next to Radek spoke up.
“Hi, I’m Evan Lorne, just finished freshman year of college, getting a communications major. Thinking of enlisting when I’m old enough, help with the bills, you know, and, ah, it’s my second year here.”
Rodney glanced back at his sheet, fifteen, yeah, that’s still a few years off, then. Hippie kid raised his hand, still lying flat on his bunk.
“Halling Wex, one more year of high school then on to an ecology degree. Second year.”
The kid with the matching bags coughed politely.
“Hello, I’m Richard Woolsey, starting pre-law at Harvard this fall. This is my first year here.”
All eyes turned to the last kid, he looked kinda shy but gave a small smile.
“Hi, um, Kaleb Miller, gonna be a senior in high school but then I wanna get my degree in English Lit, and this is my first year here.”
Rodney did a quick glance through at his sheet, yep, all names accounted for. Now for more important things. He looked over at the clock.
“Well, that was, ah, interesting, but it looks like they should have lunch starting about now. Then the rest of the afternoon is for you all to get settled in, so, ah, I guess I’ll see you all at dinner. I’ve just got ‘anouncements’ scheduled for after dinner at the cafeteria, so I guess we’re all in for a surprise.”
And with that Rodney turned, not bothering to see if he was being followed, and headed for the cafeteria. It had been a long morning.
Part 5