Pilot-66
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
David could feel Abby and Max’s occasional glances burning on his skin, but he didn’t dare look up from the table to meet their eyes. He couldn’t. At least, not while the inspector was still droning on about all of the camp’s faults. He studied the wood grain on the table, trying not to look sick as shame and guilt twisted and wove around one another until they’d formed a heavy knot that sat in the bottom of his stomach. He hated that Max and Abby had to be here for all of this. Partly, he’d admit, because he was ashamed…but mostly because it felt like failing them…
David’s hands balled into loose fists under the table. No, he couldn’t think like that. He could still turn this whole thing around. He knew he could! Maybe it was too late to hide just how bad the situation was, but, if he worked hard enough he could still make this up to them. To all the campers. He had to.
Straightening his spine, the redhead forced himself to sit a little taller in his chair as he squared his shoulders and faced the inspector. It was hard not to shirk away from Maria’s scorn, but…he forced himself not to flinch, even forcing a small apologetic smile as the inspector carried on. He had to look confident. He’d be darned if he caused even an ounce more worry in this cabin tonight.
The act became a little easier as soon as Maria assured that she wouldn’t be condemning the camp on the spot. David felt his shoulders rise as he shuffled in his chair, quietly sucking air into his lungs like it was the first breath he’d drawn tonight. When Maria finally stopped speaking and looked expectantly to them for a response, he scrambled for the right words, but once again…Abby was quicker than him.
The lanky counselor blinked and glanced over at Abby when she spoke, surprised and impressed by how easily the words seem to come to her. Especially since this whole thing had just sort of sprung up and this wasn’t really something she should have been having to deal with. Guilt sparked through him like a live-wire again, but the prickly nerves eased a little when Abby’s golden eyes flickered back to him. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw some annoyance flicker in her gaze (entirely warranted annoyance), but there was something else there too. Something that eased him even under the inspector’s scalding ire. Abby wasn’t just placating Maria with what she wanted to hear. She seemed to mean it too…
David searched his co-counselor face for a couple silent seconds. Tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding slowly started to ease out his muscles and all he could do was give her a wary grin—one he couldn’t have hidden even if he’d wanted to.
“Very good, Ms. Morrison. How about you, Mr.Greenwood?” Maria prompted, “Do you understand everything I’ve told you?”
Pulling his attention away from Abby, David practically bounced in his chair to face Maria again, a grin spreading more naturally across his freckled face, “Absolutely!” He beamed, “And Abby’s right. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do but don’t you worry! We’ll have that list of yours done and MORE by the time you come back again!” He swung his arm as he spoke for emphasis, just narrowly missing the table’s edge with his elbow with his renewed vigor, “I promise, Camp Campbell is going to be the best summer camp you’ve ever—”
“Yes, yes…That’s well enough. Thank you.” Maria lifted her palms up to quiet him back down. She reached out and pulled a stapled pile of paperwork from her clipboard and slid them across the desk to towards David, “These are all the violations and concerns we had with more detail. I’ll hold you to your promise of addressing them.”
“You betcha!” David reached across the table and accepted pile of paperwork, trying hard not to notice how dauntingly heavy it felt.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us. It’s a long drive back down the mountain.” Maria stood as she spoke, smoothing wrinkles from her pressed clothing as her heels clicked on the hardwood. Beside her, Abbot slowly unfolded his hands and pushed away from the table as well.
“Of course!” David scrambled to his feet and hurried across the cabin to get the door for their visitors. “Thank you both for visiting! I, uh, just want to apologize again for us getting off on the wrong foot, but…by golly, I just KNOW you’re going to be so impressed the next time you’re here~!”
Still holding the door, David smiled politely after the inspector as he watched her step outside and delicately pick her way over the gravel and grass to reach the shiny black Impala that was parked next to the old station wagon. He drew a deep breath as he watched her go, trying to drink in some of the fresh night air to ease the rest of his nerves, but he stopped short when he realized that Abbot hadn’t left the table side.
“Um,” David turned to look at the taller man from the doorway, “Was there…something else you needed?”
Abbot’s dark eyes swept briefly around the cabin one last time before he slowly let his focus drift back to David. “No.” The man finally spoke, his voice deep and surprisingly rich for someone so apparently withdrawn, “Nothing in particular. It’s just…”
The tall stranger paused and strode forward towards the door, only stopping when he stood alongside David in the doorway. He stared out into the swaying shadows of the forest outside, seeming to be weighing something in his mind before speaking again, his voice as cool as the night air outside, “You should know that there are a lot of people eyeing this place. It’s good land. Lots of resources. Sell to the right people and you could stand to make a profit instead of going down with the ship.” He rolled his large shoulders in a noncommittal shrug, then turned to cut a pointed glance at David, his voice dropping to a low frigid whisper, “…Just thought I should remind you, Davey.”
A black sucking hollow opened up in David’s gut at the sound of his old nickname. He stared up at Abbot with wide eyes, then slowly pulled his gaze away from the tall man to glance back at his phone on the table. The ominous text message from the day before flashed in his mind—first warning. That text had been no accident. It’d been everything he feared and this…Abbot was his warning. Proof that he’d gone too far and that Mr.Campbell could reach him anywhere, anytime. No matter how impossible that should have been.
Every bit of enthusiasm and lightness that David had managed to salvage earlier drained away with the color in his cheeks. He stared up at Abbot, suddenly terrified of the man’s size and the calm knowing glint in his eye, but David forced himself to stay put in the doorway between Abbot and the inside of the cabin.
“Abbot! Please, we’ve not got all night!” Maria’s voice sounded distant and muted to David as his mind whirled, but to his relief, Abbot slowly turned away from him. He watched numbly as the tall man looked back into the cabin, giving Abby and Max a quick glance before politely wishing them a goodnight and stepping outside and joining Maria in the car. David stared out after Abbot in silence, to dazed to even notice that Max had slipped down out of the desk chair and come to stand beside him in the doorway to watch the Impala pull away.
“What the fuck was that about…?” Max’s voice at his side made him jump.
“I–! Uh…” David glanced down, feeling all the more unnerved when Max arched a brow up at him. New panic surged through him, but David forced himself to clear his throat and at least try to act like nothing had happened. At least in front of Max. In the back of his mind, he knew the boy was too smart for that, but…
He forced a shaky grin and plucked his hand off of the doorknob, only just now realizing his knuckles had turned white with how tightly he’d been gripping it. “I-it’s pretty late, Max. You should get to bed…we don’t want you getting sick again.” He urged, bending down and gently urging the boy back into the cabin, trying his best to hide the tremble in his hand when he reached out to Max. When the dark haired boy was back inside, David glanced up at Abby warily, “Do you, uh, mind making sure he gets settled? I’m—I’m gonna…go make sure the quartermaster got everyone else all tucked in…”
David started backing out of the cabin before he’d even finished speaking. Not looking where he was going, he accidentally bumped into the door frame at first before turning and hastily finding his way outside. Praying that Abby would forgive him later for not waiting on her answer, he turned and hurried down the path towards the camper’s tents, vanishing into the night.
A couple hours later, David was hardly aware of the time that had passed since he left the cabin. Everything had seemed perfectly in order around the camper’s tents when he’d checked in on them. All the kids had been safe and tucked away in their cots and he knew that he could have—should have—gone back to the cabin after seeing that, but…he couldn’t. It was too hard, too stifling, to keep still while his mind raced. Besides, Max and Abby were probably already asleep and he didn’t want his restlessness to disturb them…
So, he tried to at least make himself useful in the mess hall. At least if he kept his hands busy, his mind couldn’t race too far ahead of him. By now, he had the hall mostly spotless. He’d wiped the kitchen down at least twice, all the dishes were put away, and he’d lost track of how many times he’s obsessively swept over the floor. Now, he’d found himself a seat a the end of one of the dining tables. He scrubbed a piece of sandpaper absently against the table’s rough edge, meticulously filing it down to a safe rounded edge.
He was vaguely aware that the edge wasn’t going to get any smoother than it already was, but…he kept working, anxiously trying to let the methodical rasping distract him from the whirl of thoughts in his head.
David’s hands balled into loose fists under the table. No, he couldn’t think like that. He could still turn this whole thing around. He knew he could! Maybe it was too late to hide just how bad the situation was, but, if he worked hard enough he could still make this up to them. To all the campers. He had to.
Straightening his spine, the redhead forced himself to sit a little taller in his chair as he squared his shoulders and faced the inspector. It was hard not to shirk away from Maria’s scorn, but…he forced himself not to flinch, even forcing a small apologetic smile as the inspector carried on. He had to look confident. He’d be darned if he caused even an ounce more worry in this cabin tonight.
The act became a little easier as soon as Maria assured that she wouldn’t be condemning the camp on the spot. David felt his shoulders rise as he shuffled in his chair, quietly sucking air into his lungs like it was the first breath he’d drawn tonight. When Maria finally stopped speaking and looked expectantly to them for a response, he scrambled for the right words, but once again…Abby was quicker than him.
The lanky counselor blinked and glanced over at Abby when she spoke, surprised and impressed by how easily the words seem to come to her. Especially since this whole thing had just sort of sprung up and this wasn’t really something she should have been having to deal with. Guilt sparked through him like a live-wire again, but the prickly nerves eased a little when Abby’s golden eyes flickered back to him. For a heartbeat, he thought he saw some annoyance flicker in her gaze (entirely warranted annoyance), but there was something else there too. Something that eased him even under the inspector’s scalding ire. Abby wasn’t just placating Maria with what she wanted to hear. She seemed to mean it too…
David searched his co-counselor face for a couple silent seconds. Tension he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding slowly started to ease out his muscles and all he could do was give her a wary grin—one he couldn’t have hidden even if he’d wanted to.
“Very good, Ms. Morrison. How about you, Mr.Greenwood?” Maria prompted, “Do you understand everything I’ve told you?”
Pulling his attention away from Abby, David practically bounced in his chair to face Maria again, a grin spreading more naturally across his freckled face, “Absolutely!” He beamed, “And Abby’s right. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do but don’t you worry! We’ll have that list of yours done and MORE by the time you come back again!” He swung his arm as he spoke for emphasis, just narrowly missing the table’s edge with his elbow with his renewed vigor, “I promise, Camp Campbell is going to be the best summer camp you’ve ever—”
“Yes, yes…That’s well enough. Thank you.” Maria lifted her palms up to quiet him back down. She reached out and pulled a stapled pile of paperwork from her clipboard and slid them across the desk to towards David, “These are all the violations and concerns we had with more detail. I’ll hold you to your promise of addressing them.”
“You betcha!” David reached across the table and accepted pile of paperwork, trying hard not to notice how dauntingly heavy it felt.
“Now, if you’ll excuse us. It’s a long drive back down the mountain.” Maria stood as she spoke, smoothing wrinkles from her pressed clothing as her heels clicked on the hardwood. Beside her, Abbot slowly unfolded his hands and pushed away from the table as well.
“Of course!” David scrambled to his feet and hurried across the cabin to get the door for their visitors. “Thank you both for visiting! I, uh, just want to apologize again for us getting off on the wrong foot, but…by golly, I just KNOW you’re going to be so impressed the next time you’re here~!”
Still holding the door, David smiled politely after the inspector as he watched her step outside and delicately pick her way over the gravel and grass to reach the shiny black Impala that was parked next to the old station wagon. He drew a deep breath as he watched her go, trying to drink in some of the fresh night air to ease the rest of his nerves, but he stopped short when he realized that Abbot hadn’t left the table side.
“Um,” David turned to look at the taller man from the doorway, “Was there…something else you needed?”
Abbot’s dark eyes swept briefly around the cabin one last time before he slowly let his focus drift back to David. “No.” The man finally spoke, his voice deep and surprisingly rich for someone so apparently withdrawn, “Nothing in particular. It’s just…”
The tall stranger paused and strode forward towards the door, only stopping when he stood alongside David in the doorway. He stared out into the swaying shadows of the forest outside, seeming to be weighing something in his mind before speaking again, his voice as cool as the night air outside, “You should know that there are a lot of people eyeing this place. It’s good land. Lots of resources. Sell to the right people and you could stand to make a profit instead of going down with the ship.” He rolled his large shoulders in a noncommittal shrug, then turned to cut a pointed glance at David, his voice dropping to a low frigid whisper, “…Just thought I should remind you, Davey.”
A black sucking hollow opened up in David’s gut at the sound of his old nickname. He stared up at Abbot with wide eyes, then slowly pulled his gaze away from the tall man to glance back at his phone on the table. The ominous text message from the day before flashed in his mind—first warning. That text had been no accident. It’d been everything he feared and this…Abbot was his warning. Proof that he’d gone too far and that Mr.Campbell could reach him anywhere, anytime. No matter how impossible that should have been.
Every bit of enthusiasm and lightness that David had managed to salvage earlier drained away with the color in his cheeks. He stared up at Abbot, suddenly terrified of the man’s size and the calm knowing glint in his eye, but David forced himself to stay put in the doorway between Abbot and the inside of the cabin.
“Abbot! Please, we’ve not got all night!” Maria’s voice sounded distant and muted to David as his mind whirled, but to his relief, Abbot slowly turned away from him. He watched numbly as the tall man looked back into the cabin, giving Abby and Max a quick glance before politely wishing them a goodnight and stepping outside and joining Maria in the car. David stared out after Abbot in silence, to dazed to even notice that Max had slipped down out of the desk chair and come to stand beside him in the doorway to watch the Impala pull away.
“What the fuck was that about…?” Max’s voice at his side made him jump.
“I–! Uh…” David glanced down, feeling all the more unnerved when Max arched a brow up at him. New panic surged through him, but David forced himself to clear his throat and at least try to act like nothing had happened. At least in front of Max. In the back of his mind, he knew the boy was too smart for that, but…
He forced a shaky grin and plucked his hand off of the doorknob, only just now realizing his knuckles had turned white with how tightly he’d been gripping it. “I-it’s pretty late, Max. You should get to bed…we don’t want you getting sick again.” He urged, bending down and gently urging the boy back into the cabin, trying his best to hide the tremble in his hand when he reached out to Max. When the dark haired boy was back inside, David glanced up at Abby warily, “Do you, uh, mind making sure he gets settled? I’m—I’m gonna…go make sure the quartermaster got everyone else all tucked in…”
David started backing out of the cabin before he’d even finished speaking. Not looking where he was going, he accidentally bumped into the door frame at first before turning and hastily finding his way outside. Praying that Abby would forgive him later for not waiting on her answer, he turned and hurried down the path towards the camper’s tents, vanishing into the night.
A couple hours later, David was hardly aware of the time that had passed since he left the cabin. Everything had seemed perfectly in order around the camper’s tents when he’d checked in on them. All the kids had been safe and tucked away in their cots and he knew that he could have—should have—gone back to the cabin after seeing that, but…he couldn’t. It was too hard, too stifling, to keep still while his mind raced. Besides, Max and Abby were probably already asleep and he didn’t want his restlessness to disturb them…
So, he tried to at least make himself useful in the mess hall. At least if he kept his hands busy, his mind couldn’t race too far ahead of him. By now, he had the hall mostly spotless. He’d wiped the kitchen down at least twice, all the dishes were put away, and he’d lost track of how many times he’s obsessively swept over the floor. Now, he’d found himself a seat a the end of one of the dining tables. He scrubbed a piece of sandpaper absently against the table’s rough edge, meticulously filing it down to a safe rounded edge.
He was vaguely aware that the edge wasn’t going to get any smoother than it already was, but…he kept working, anxiously trying to let the methodical rasping distract him from the whirl of thoughts in his head.
))
