"It's time to go." Papa Belo, my grandpa, had told me. I was browsing Tumblr during the time and all of a sudden I was rushing to get my items packed, stuffing things in random places where they'd fit in my travel bag. I was going to Baptist Youth Camp, but I was under the impression that we'd leave on Monday, tomorrow. That's what caused the confusion and hurry. I went to this camp previously, 2 years ago. I would've also joined last year, but it wasn't up. Fortunately I had packed beforehand, but I didn't have every single thing ready. I searched my mind to try to remember what else I would need for the trip, but I simply didn't have time. I had to just accept that some things would be forgotten and went to the car waiting on me outside. We drove to the church from Vacation Bible School, where the van taking us to the campus was. "Do you have everything you need?" My grandma asked as I left the car. I answered yes. "Are you sure?" She asked again. "No," I replied honestly. I think I have what I'll need, but I didn't have any time to make sure I did. I guess we'll just see on the trip. The van driver took my things and put them in the back of the van and I went to a seat. The van was freezing and Gray Malachi was nervous being around all these people he didn't know. It was simply dreadful being there. An eternity later we were at the university. I strangely didn't remember much from the last time we were here, but then again it was 2 years ago, and my memory of things suck. There were iguanas though. A lot of them. When we parked we unloaded the van and prepared to go inside. Inside the lobby I was immediately recognized. I recognized some staff too, but like I said, my memory sucks so I couldn't remember any names. We dropped the luggage off and went back into the van to eat. We drove to Burger King. Social anxiety struck again while I had to decide what to get. We were going to eat in the van I assumed. I grabbed the wrong straw for my drink. It was a coffee straw, but it worked just as well, so it was a minor mistake. I had already eaten at home, so I didn't really want anything, but I'd just have to force myself to eat. The next time we'd eat would be near dinner time. On our way back to the university I saw the pickles on my order, which I remembered asking to take off. I didn't bring any napkins so I tried not to make a mess while I took them off, which proved to be a challenge.
Pepper: You seem to be in quite of a 'pickle.'
I barely finished my burger before we were back at the university. I didn't think we could eat inside the lobby so I continued to sip my drink, which seemed to be endless. Eventually it was over and I threw the empty cup away. But I still had the bag of food in my arms. I wasn't even hungry. In fact, my stomach ached from over eating. I began to debate with myself whether to keep the bag or throw it away. There was still about 70% of the burger left, and I didn't want to be wasteful. Ultimately I decided to put the bag in the trash, and felt instant relief afterwards. With worrying about that out of the way, I noticed there were quite a couple of interesting characters presently there. I wondered which one would be my roommate. Soon all the boys in the lobby were told to go to a room, where we'd get to know who our roommates are and what room we're in. We were grouped by age of course. This building is new to the old one we were at last time. There were only 2 beds each room rather than 4 this time. There's also a bathroom in each one now. The rules were pretty much no horseplay, which was a simple task to follow. I noticed someone here who was here last time. Rodrick. Dude, 2 years ago he looked exactly like the main character from Everybody Hates Chris. I remember even regretting not taking a picture with him back then. My roommate would turn out to be a boy named Timothy. We were assigned to room 204. Carrying our things, we went upstairs to the room. He asked me if I brought my bed sheets. Missing items count: 1. Thankfully he said I could use one of his sheets. The room was similar to the last ones, with the bed, drawers, and desk. Plus we have a sink this time. Looking into the bathroom made me realize I didn't bring any bathroom supplies like a towel or washcloth. The only toiletries I did bring were my toothbrush and deodorant. Missing items count: 2 & 3. We were told not to fully unpack yet, because we weren't the only people who were going to be in these dorms, and we might have to change rooms at some point. Tim said he was gonna go visit some other dorms and left, leaving me alone to contemplate with myself.
Octavia: I only exist because of this place. If you didn't come here 2 years ago then I wouldn't be here. It's a weird thing to think about.
Soon Timothy came back. He told me he was nervous around new people and thus talks a lot. He also explained that he has adhd and didn't take his meds today. All the boys in the dorm were called down soon. In the lobby we were given a green bag and a name tag, along with a yellow wristband that we used for our meals. The wristband had our name on it, and mine was wrapped around to a point where it cut off the last letter and said "Malachi Hobb." But we were also called downstairs to help unpack a bus, which carried another camp here. Greeze came in once again. When we were done with the bus, Mr. Funderburk brought us upstairs and told gave us some extra rules. He told us to be mindful of the things here, mainly not to break anything that was in the room. He said we'd have a 3 strike system. After the lecture we went back to our rooms. With the free time, my roommate and I got to learn about each other. Because of Narrative confidentiality, I can't spill the details of what we discussed, but it was definitely interesting. I showed him the first episode of Narrative and he read it. He seemed to enjoy it. We were talking about the consciences and he had a group of his own. Their names are Michael, Iggnory, Michelle, and Linda. Then we heard through some type of PA system that all of us were due in the lobby, so we went. I was told to lead the line to the chapel, but for the life of me I couldn't remember how to get there. Rodrick was also leading the way, so I simply kept up with him. The church was just across the front of the university. It was cold inside and everyone had wished they brought a jacket. Fortunately for me though, I always have my jacket. Once we were inside, Ms. Cooke introduced the staff and herself. Then she talked about activities and what would happen during the week. Tomorrow, Monday, we have Ms. Hayes, president of the Florida General Baptist Convention, speaking to us. Ms. Hayes is a staff member and will be with us for the week as well. Tuesday is the talent show, Wednesday is family game night, Thursday is the shoot out (whatever that is), and Friday is the pageant. We'd go back home on Saturday morning. As for staff this week, there was Deacon Milton, Minister Ron, Ms. Cooper, Ms. Joseph, Mr. Funderburk, Mrs. Derico, Ms. Lane, and Reverend Jackson. I probably left out some, but Narrative-wise they don't appear in the story. The afternoon progressed into the evening and at the dorms we received pizza. It was cold, greasy, and hard to bite into to, but I'm not one to turn down free food, especially when the last time I ate was in the morning. There were chips and juice along with the pizza, but I didn't get either. As you can see I am a being of simple needs. We socialized a bit downstairs but eventually we went upstairs. Tim said goodnight as I took my shower. He was asleep when I was out, and I was soon to join him.
Malachi: So... How do we sleep?
Nick: You close your eyes and blank your mind.
Malachi: No I mean how if we don't have any pillows?
Nick: ....
Then, a kid named Antoine barged in our room and woke Timmy up. Antoine and Timmy seemed to be those duos where one of them commonly annoyed the other. He was probably going to be a reoccurring character.
Malachi: Wait wait, what's his name?
Timothy: That's Antoine.
Antoine.
Antoine: Wait what are you gonna write about me?
Malachi: That you barged in our room and woke Timmy up.
Eventually we managed to get him out of the room. When we heard a knock on the door we assumed it was him again, but it was just Deacon Milton giving each room toilet paper. Timmy was annoyed by me not having my bed set up properly, but I had just a thin sheet, so I wasn't sure how to. He taught me how and even gave me his pillow. He's ocd he says. It would definitely be a bit easier to sleep with a pillow added to my bed arsenal. Nothing else happened after that so I did some extra narrative additions and went to sleep.
Nick: See you when the rooster crows.
Malachi: You know, I think I'm really going to enjoy this week.