Notebook.ai

Welcome to Camp Balsam! // 5 or 6 // summer camp rp // closed

@croccin-champagne forum 108 comments schedule

When the bus pulled up to the archway outside Camp Balsam, the teenagers aboard were mostly ecstatic to get off of it. It was a town bus, one that took the new and old campers to the camp grounds every single year, without fail. But because it was a public bus, it had all of the 'charming' quirks one would expect. Strange stains on the seats, a smell that never seemed to go away no matter how open the windows were. It served it's purpose, even if it was a sub-par performance.

The teens on the bus, though, were happy for a myriad of reasons. Some of them were just glad to get off of the bus, sure. Others, though, were excited to be back–others still, only there their first summer–to Camp Balsam. One girl, however, was incredibly grateful to finally be off of the moving vehicle. Red hair pulled up into a ponytail, eyes lined with sharp wings of eyeliner and dressed in clothing more expensive than some people's cars, she looked so out of place it was slightly funny. At least she wasn't the only one, though. Just one of likely only two or three currently fending off a panic attack.

They were greeted as soon as they got off the bus by two counselors, one wearing a sunflower-yellow t-shirt and the other, green.

"Welcome to Camp Balsam!" The one in yellow greeted, face split in a happy grin as they waved. Their hair was cut short, and dyed a bright shade of blue that almost hurt to look at. Stood at a good foot or two shorter than their female companion in green, they looked almost like a small animal, bouncing constantly without stopping. "When you hear your name called, please sound off. Haze-er, new campers, please make your way over to Jane here-" They gestured to their companion. "-so she can show you all to your cabin and answer any questions you have. I'll meet up a bit later to take you all to orientation. Old campers, sign in with your counselors and get settled in, then head to the Pit!"

@vibe

(i honestly didn't get the chance to look over everyone's characters until today, but i agree! what can i say? i may be living vicariously through meg, since i've never been to a summer camp… also, i wanted to ask—we are following the lineup you posted earlier, right?)

((dont worry, the closest thing i went to was summer school designed as a 'math camp'. i was shit at math so it was mandatory. and yeah, we are))

@ElderGod-Icefire

(So is it my turn?)

((yes!!))

@ElderGod-Icefire

(alright! Sorry for taking so long, ended up going to bed :') )

Jacen Oros put his phone away, letting out a long slow breath as he piled off the bus with however many other kids. His backpack hung onto him by just one strap; the other was broken and he hadn't gotten around to fixing it yet. Yet being the key operative there. He would fix it, he just needed to remember to. When he had time. And wasn't working on other projects. The backpack, obviously, was not high on his list. His hair was sticking up from his head a little bit, the blue-green strands wild and uncombed. He patted it a little bit to try and calm it down, his eyes looking around for a moment before fastening on the girl who was speaking.

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Being told that you're being enrolled in a new high school due to your 'current habits' is one thing and isn't too much of a big deal. However, it's a completely different thing when you're told that you're being sent to the other side of the Atlantic ocean for a summer camp simply because your parents don't want to deal with you for a few months.

Needless to say, Drew wasn't entirely thrilled with the whole summer camp thing, and was more than happy to jump off that bus the moment the doors swung open. Clad in skin-tight leather pants, thigh-high leather boots with a heel that added another four inches to her height, and a red top that clung to her torso beneath a cropped leather jacket, she was fully prepared to fight a heat-stroke if it meant avoiding a nasty sunburn. She had even twisted her snowy hair into a plait, letting it drape over her shoulder, to keep it out of the way of her oversized hood that shadowed her unpainted face—which was set with boredom as she blew a bubble with her gum.

Even still, however angry she was with her parents, Drew knew to pay attention to the two campers standing before her. It'd be no good to her sanity if she ever got lost, whether that be with what she was supposed to be doing or with learning the layout of the camp. The gum bubble was stolen away and popped with her teeth, creating a satisfying crack. It didn't mean she had to be wholly compliant, though.

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Jax wasn't very happy with the whole camp situation. She was told that she'd be one of the youngest people there. Older kids never took her seriously. She loved the outdoors, but that was only camping trips with her dad. This was not her thing.

Even though she wasn't happy to be whisked away to a camp, she was still excited to be someplace new. And she understood that her dad had work, and sometimes work is more important. Jax straightened out her white t-shirt, and adjusted her mask. Not that her mask needed any adjusting. I wonder how easy it is to get in trouble here.

Jax dug a pen out of a pocket in her cargo shorts, and took off the cap. She wrote her name on her hand, alongside her father's. She put the cap back on the pen and put it back in her pocket. As the bus doors opened, Jax was one of the first to stand up, grabbing her beat-up duffel bag. The stampede of kids pushed her along, and spit her out under the hot sun.

From the conversations around her, Jax picked up that new kids had to go to the girl in green. She couldn't see the counselor, but the majority of the people who looked worried or uneasy were streaming in a different direction than the others, so Jax followed them. As she walked, she pulled a map of the camp that her father had given her out of her pocket, and studied it.

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@Moxie group

(so… its been a few hours and vibe hasn't responded. Should I go?)

((yeah, that'll probably be best. with whatever is happening irl for them, they'll probably be a bit spotty))

@vibe

(my bad—again. i swear i'll get more regular with this soon!)

As much as she wanted to be the first one off the bus when it eventually came to its shuddering stop, Meg was forced to wait rather impatiently for the ones ahead of her to file out the door. As soon as her feet touched solid ground, however, a look of easy excitement smoothed over her previously irritated expression.

It had been simple for her parents to convince her to attend summer camp. It didn't take much convincing at all, actually, other than her part in reassuring her parents that she'd be alright by herself in an unfamiliar place. Since then, she'd been eagerly anticipating her arrival, and now that she was there, she couldn't wait to get to know everyone and learn why camps were romanticized in so many movies.

After stretching and observing the flow of the other kids for a few moments, she noticed what she assumed to be a camp counselor calling out names. At least, she assumed she was calling out names because she didn't recognize some of the mouth movements at first, and the lady appeared to be reading something off a list. Her theory was proven when she saw the familiar shape of her own name — Megan Meyers — a moment later, and she followed the other kids over to another counselor.

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@Moxie group

Milo followed everyone off the bus. He had spent most of the ride with his headphones in, his knees pulled toward his chest, protecting his sketchbook he was scribbling in from view. When he drew like this he called it scribbling, not drawing. The lines he made were harsh and black. After a while his hand hurt from holding his pen so hard. It was the kind of art his parents strongly discouraged. It wasn’t beautiful, it couldn’t be showed off or sold, it showed too much emotion. But here, Milo could do as much scribbling as he wanted. There was no mother here to slap him when she found it. There was no father to burn his sketchbook. There was only Milo and his pen and paper.

The bus ride was over and they arrived at the camp way too soon. Milo realized he didn’t know much about this camp. His parents had given him a pamphlet about it, but he didn’t care enough to read it or even glance over it. All he knew about his camp was that his father had come here, so already Milo wasn’t a big fan. He begrudgingly left his seat and walked towards his new best friend, Counselor Jane, not bothering to take his headphones out.

Evan couldn’t get off the bus fast enough. He had never attended a summer camp before, and he had finally saved up the money to go. His house, while being far from awful most of the time, was not his favorite place to be recently, and so that made going away to summer camp this year all the sweeter. When he finally managed to get off of the bus and step into the sunlight, he was practically beaming.

Evan glanced at the other campers and few looked as excited as he felt. He was honestly surprised at some of the expressions of annoyance or gloom, as Evan was ready to do all of the typical summer camp things. He did his best to figure out what was happening amid the crush of bodies and buzz of chatter, and quickly realized that he was supposed to follow one of the older campers. He followed the throng of kids who were all newbies like he was, he assumed. There were quite a few, at least to Evan’s eyes, and it made him as excited as anything else. Maybe he could make some new friends!

Evan slowly made his way to the front of the group, eager to hear what the girl—Jane—was saying. He didn’t care if it was just a list of the rules or something equally mundane; he was just happy to be there. He glanced at the kids next to him, hoping that they wouldn’t think him odd with his effervescent smile and twitchy stance. No, this summer would be different, he was sure of it.

@gracehustle

(I apologize for the wait, sadly this human form of mine requires sleep lol)
Lukas felt out of place in the sea of the first-year campers on the bus, but it did give him a good chance to try to guess what campers might join him in the Tesla cabin. Most looked too put together, with fancy clothes and hands that weren't constantly fiddling with something like his were. That was alright though, the less new campers, the more workspace. He hoped that there were going to be a few out of the Haze kids, but he wouldn't know until the second week.

When the bus finally stopped, he wouldn't deny that he was more than eager to get out of the cramped vehicle. He wormed his way through the crowd of newcomers with his bag clutched tightly to his chest, listening in only momentarily. From the instructions, it was clear he wouldn't have to wait with the nervous new kids, taking the opportunity to follow the string of older campers towards the cabin he had become to call home only last summer. His home in the Tesla group. Where he could make as many of his little trinkets as he wanted and there was always some sort of prank that he could look forward to.

((sorry for the really long posts! in the beginning, there's a lot to go over, so expect them to start shortening up! because of that though, and how many people there are, feel free to just write as though there aren't so many people, and then each characters questions will be answered at the same time))

Role call for the new campers didn't take as long as one might have expected, and soon Jane was leading them through the arch that served as a camp 'gate'. The pathway was lined with trees, and through, them, various things were visible. A lake, to the right. Campers gathering at various large rocks and pick-nick tables, happily catching up after the year. And to the left, the cabins. Cutting down a path through the thin trees, Jane gestured to them. "There's the cabins. Your new home is the one down there at the end."

Set in two rows, each row of three faced the other, watched over by a slightly larger cabin at the end, facing the open space. A sign just above the door, obviously carved out of a flat chunk of wood someone had found laying around, was spraypainted with the words 'Haze House'.

The inside looked every bit a summer camp cabin, with a small rec-looking area to one side, and rows of bunks to the other. It was decorated more plainly than the other cabins, which all obviously featured the themes of their namesakes. But there was one thing that stood out. Along the wall least obstructed in the rec-area, were what looked like hundreds of names. Messages and names and little doodles, all done in varying inks and handwritings, some even carved in. Previous campers had left them behind, a reminder that this cabin was only a transition, but that it was one to cherish.

"Take a seat, and I'll go over the rules. If you have questions, ask 'em after." Jane stood, arms crossed as each new camper filed to find a seat on a couch, chair, the floor, or table. Von chose to perch on the back of an armchair, legs crossed and drawstring bag–she'd brought two, one for clothing, which had been transported with the luggage, and this one–set in the seat itself.

"Rule one. You stay indoors at night, unless you're with a counselor and-or a supervisor. Basically, astrology kids and camping trips are fine. No fun outside other wise though. If you gotta hit the bowl, you get Wren. That's the crazy lookin' bundle of energy you met. They're in charge of you Haze kids this week. That'll be explained later. Rule two, same thing, just about the forest. Three is that any delinquents get kitchen duty, or cabin cleanup. Fourth rule is that if you ain't on time to things, you'll find yourself losin' points fast." While she spoke, the aggressive looking counselor made eye contact with each of them, about fifteen or so.

"Five? No hangin' in other cabins that ain't your own after lights out. And six is gonna be told to ya at orientation. Rule number seven ain't official, but it's an important one." Suddenly, her face split into a mischievous grin, and she winked. "Rules are made for breakin'. Just do so at your own risk. And don't tell Wren I said that. I don't need a repeat of the hair-dye incident. Now. Questions?"

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(Ice?)

@ElderGod-Icefire

(Eep! Sorry!)

@ElderGod-Icefire

Jace plopped down on the arm of a couch, straddling it and leaning forward as he listened, head cocked to one side. He ran a hand through his hair again, studying the counselor currently speaking. "Why do we have to stay indoors at night?" he asked, not bothering to raise his hand, just arching an eyebrow at the counselor. He knew he looked like a trouble kid, but hey, it's whatever. This was going to be fun. He pulled out some wires, twisting them together just to have something to do with his hands, some way to keep himself busy.

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Drew didn't care much about personal space, so when she spotted one chair one girl was using by sitting on the back of it, she drifted over and perched on the arm of the chair and drew one leg up to drape her arm over. The rules were simple enough, not as strict as her parents had made it out to be, but reasonable—and she decided that she liked how lenient this girl was when it came to following the rules. However, there was a slight issue with the wondering restrictions, especially at night. Drew flicked her wrist to lazily indicate to herself and said without a hint of shame and just a hint of an English lilt, "Violent sleepwalker on the premises."

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Right away, Jax could tell that the only rule she'd be sticking to was rule number seven.
She chose a bunk near a window, and threw her bag on the top bunk, then pulled herself up, ignoring the ladder. "What's so dangerous at night? Night is the best time for getting things done, and I don't intend on missing out."
She swung her legs off the edge of the bed, and pulled a book from her bag. It was a thick, heavy book about surgery procedures that used to belong to her father. She opened it to a page indicated by a lime-green sticky note, and started reading, resting the book on her legs as she read, occasionally scribbling notes in the margins with a pencil.

@vibe

There were a few words Meg couldn't quite make out, but from context clues she'd gathered a pretty good idea of what they were and were not supposed to do.

The only questions she had…

She raised her hand, clearing her throat in the process. "Does anyone know sign language? And what…'hair incident'?" she asked, signing as she spoke despite the couple of curious glances she'd drawn. Okay, so her pronunciation, especially with words she didn't often use, wasn't the greatest. Sue her.

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@Moxie group

Milo sat in a chair and leaned his head on his hand while his elbow rested on his knee. His hair fell in his face but he couldn't be bothered to fix it. He listened intently. Rules were something he was all too familiar with, and he knew they were important. Though it sounded like the limits on these rules were up for interpretation, which made Milo weary. Where there any counselor's that agreed with rule number seven? Would Jane punish him if she did catch him breaking the rules? Were these even rules worth breaking? Milo stuck his bottom lip out and blew at his bangs. Only time would tell.
He looked around as other kids asked their questions. He didn't plan on talking unless he needed to, and he wasn't about to quit that now. Besides, its not like he had any questions that anyone could really answer.

Evan bit his lip, listening to the rules nervously. He ran a hand through his already messy hair, a habit that he had. He wondered how many people broke the rules here, as that was not something he was used to doing. He was a bit of a scaredy-cat goody two shoes, and Evan wasn’t sure if the rule breaking would even be worth it. But the punishments honestly didn’t even sound bad.

“What’s so bad about the forest?” Evan ended up asking, his mind going back to the second rule. He was curious about that, at any rate. Though despite his original nervousness, he was still pretty excited about camp. What camp didn’t have a few rules, right? Besides, those were simple enough and left a lot of things that one could do. His mind raced with ideas before he forced himself to focus again. He didn’t want to miss the answer to his question.

@gracehustle

Lukas was visibly excited to finally reach the Tesla cabin, wasting no time as he followed a few other campers in and rushed to claim a bed. Much to his enjoyment, he got a top bunk, as well as an empty one below him. More than likely, it would be taken by a Haze kid, but until then, he tossed his bag on top of it to make sure it stayed empty as long as possible.

With that, he had finished getting his space set up, only worrying about checking in with his counselor before moving onto the more fun part. Greeting friends from last year. Their conversations didn't end as the counselor ushered them out of the cabin and towards the Pit.

"The forest is dangerous, 'cause y'all are kids who haven't gotten to know it. That's one rule I'll suggest following, just 'till you learn your way around a bit. Gettin' lost is a lot easier than you think it is." Jane said, shrugging a shoulder. "As for goin' out at night, just keep to the buildings. And don't watch the forest too long, either. There's things you're better off not getting to know out there." Leaving that as it was, Jane turned to Meg. "I don' know sign language." She said, making sure to turn enough so that the girl could see her face. "But the hair incident came after I told last year's Haze kids how to make PVC shrapnel bombs, just for fun. Wren wasn't too happy, even after I explained that it was just for use in the woods. They stuck hairdye in my conditioner bottle, and I ended up with green hair." She tugged on a strand of short, blonde hair, making a face.

Von wasn't all that peeved when a girl sat on the arm of her claimed chair, arching a brow and not saying much else. Something about the way this girl carried herself was intriguing, and she had to admit, the girl had one incredible taste in jewelry. If there was one thing Von liked more than a good robot capable of blowing up your kitchen counter–a long story–, it was jewelry.

When the girl with the strange accent spoke, she tilted her head. It took her a bit to decide whether or not to speak, but soon she was waving a bit to get the girl's attention, hands moving along with her lips. "I do, a bit. A friend of mine and I learned it together." She wouldn't admit to the reason why, of course. That she'd lost her hearing in one ear. Not in front of these people.

@ElderGod-Icefire

Jace cocked his head at the conselor's words. "What's out there?" he asked, sitting straighter. He was still seated on the arm of the couch, looking over at the woman. What could possibly be out there that's so scary? He had to admit, he was…well. Extraordinarily curious about what she could mean.

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Drew tilted her head up curiously at the girl she shared a chair with and pulled off her hood to idly unbraid her hair. Only when she got it all undone did she comb her fingers through the snowy locks to fluff it out a bit. It's strange that Jane would be so vague about the woods, but so adamant that they stay out. Now all Drew wanted to do was explore the forbidden forest. Hopefully they'll cut me some slack for my sleepwalking—and keep me from taking responsibility for any injuries acquired in the pursuit of waking me up. The thought had her huffing a small and private laugh, and she turned away from the girl nearest to her when she finished speaking.

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Jax pouted from her perch, putting the sticky note back in her book and closing it. "That's no fair! I wanna make a shrapnel bomb, too!" She swung her legs more aggressively, accidentally kicking the kid in the bunk below her.
"Oh, sorry! Are you hurt?" She asked, leaning down and letting her long hair fall over the edge. She swung back up and got back to complaining. "Anyways, you'd look pretty with green hair."

@vibe

Meg nodded at Jane's first answer, then suppressed a laugh a little at her explanation of how her hair had been turned green. I'd dye my hair green if I didn't think it'd look so bad, she mused to herself, glancing at her bracelet which had a variety of different shades of the color, seeing as it was her favorite.

Noticing movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to see Von and, watching the signs, broke into a huge grin. Perfect, she signed back, her eyes sparkling mischievously. She pointed at the girl, then herself, and added new partner in crime. Judging by Meg's facial expression, it wasn't a question.

She didn't check to see if she'd been understood, instead turning back to Jane and raising her hand again. "When do we start activities?"

((bump?))