John Laurens woke up with a start. Great, he thought. I have to leave today.

It's not that John was upset to leave. It wasn't that at all. He just didn't feel like getting out of bed at 5:45am the day after school let out. Who could blame him?

It's not like he exactly had a great wake-up call either. His dad was pounding on his wall, yelling at him that if he wasn't packed and in the car in ten minutes, he'd be walking to summer camp.

John got out of bed, a million thoughts racing through his head. He didn't have so much as a single acquaintance at his school. How could he be sure that the kids at summer camp would be any different? Plus, he didn't know what they would support-would he have to go closeted the whole summer, pretending he was obsessed with girls? THAT was NOT something John was looking forward to.

It was bad enough his dad rejected him when he came out. No wonder he signed him up for this camp.

Good job, John, he thought to himself, as he double-checked his bags. You couldn't wait one more year to tell him? You'll be off the college soon, anyway-why didn't you just wait?!

As John headed down the stairs, he found something on the floor-a pamphlet for the camp he was going to. He quickly pocketed the item to read on the way over. The LAST thing John felt like doing was making conversation with his dad for a 3-hour drive. He would just pretend to be a slow reader.

"Let's go!" bellowed Henry Laurens. John hurriedly raced down the stairs and out to the car. He stuffed his bags in the back, then took his place in the passenger's seat.

The first few minutes of the car ride were silent. John didn't start looking at the brochure yet-he tried to get a bit of sleep, seeing as he had been up late the night before, stressing over the day to come. Then, his father spoke.

"I want to see you come home with a girlfriend, John," he said gruffly. "Maybe this place'll straighten you out a bit, eh?"

John didn't answer. He just sat up and attempted to pull his poofy hair into a decent ponytail. After a half-an-hour of trying, he finally got it, and celebrated by dozing off again.

Another hour passed. John was awakened by a rough shaking of his shoulder. "I'm filling up the gas tank, ok?" said his dad.

"Ok," John replied, too tired to understand what was going on.

After 15 more minutes, he was fully rested and ready to pretend to be a slow reader. He pulled the paper out of his pocket and began to read:

Welcome to Camp Revolutionary! read the front cover in a bold print. There was a photograph of a vast lake and some tents beneath the writing. John opened up to the first page.

Activities for everyone!
-Canoeing!
-Trivia!
-Astronomy!
-Surfing!
-Biology!
-And much, much more!

John raised his eyebrows. He was pretty good at trivia. He shifted his attention to the center fold.

Make friends that last a lifetime!
Gain memories and make new friends here at Camp Revolutionary! Our 4th of July Celebration is always the highlight of the summer! Plus, bonfires take place every Friday night!

Age Groups:
Freshmen: 13-14 year olds
Sophomores: 15-16 year olds
Juniors: 17 year olds
Seniors: 18-19 year olds

John was going to be in the Junior group, it looked like. He hoped he got some good people in with him. He examined the final page.

Rules/Regulations:
1. There is to be NO bullying of ANY kind. Reports of bullying will result in being sent home for the summer.
2. There will be a mutual respect for all. Any type of harassment by a staff member or other student should be reported to Mr. or Mrs. Washington immediately.
3. There will be no rejection of anyone based on race, sexuality, or gender identity. Any reports of THIS will send said student or staff member home as well.
4. It is OKAY to feel uncomfortable. We will try and help you adjust as soon as we can. If it's been a little while and you still don't like it, you may go home.

Hope to see you there!

John chuckled to himself. He guessed his dad hadn't looked at the last page. All he must've seen on this was "Goodbye John!"

John carefully put the pamphlet back into his pocket. There was no way he could get back to sleep now. He was anxious with nerves.

Henry and John sat in silence for the rest of the car ride. John jumped in his seat a little when he spotted a sign labeled "Camp Revolutionary-3 miles!". What would it be like? Would the kids care he that he was gay? Would he have to be sent home at some point? John hoped not. He couldn't spend another summer with his dad, ESPECIALLY since he just came out.

All of a sudden, they were pulling into a parking lot, and Henry was getting out of the car. John followed suit, nervous, yet excited.

They grabbed his bags from the back and headed up to a registration desk. A young, cheerful, woman sat with a clipboard.

"Hello!" she said, giving John and his father firm handshakes. "My name is Isabella. I'll be one of the main instructors here at Camp Revolutionary!" She turned to John. "What's your name, hon?"

"J-John Laurens," he stuttered. Maybe this place wouldn't be so bad after all. She seemed pretty nice.

"Nice to meet you, John!" She then turned to his father. "We can handle everything from here, sir. We'll be helping your son sign in and get all of his bags unpacked and into his cabin. You may leave, if you like."

"Really?" asked Henry, ecstatic. The sooner he could leave, the better. "All right, then. Bye!" He thumped John on the back harshly with his palm, then strolled back to his car, a little spring in his step.

As soon as his dad was out of earshot, Isabella turned to John.

"Here's all the information you need," she said, handing John a packet with his name on it. "It has a daily schedule, your cabin arrangements, and an information sheet that you'll hand in at the Welcoming Ceremony." She smiled broadly. "It's nice to have you here, John. You'll fit right in! I'm sure your roommates will love you as well, they've been looking for a fourth bunk-mate since their Freshmen year!Oh, and make sure to check off your name on the clipboard here!" Isabella winked, then sent John on his way, right after he had signed.

He opened his packet carefully. The first page he pulled out was a schedule. Half of the sheet had a daily schedule, the other half had the first day's schedule.

"Let's see here," muttered John, checking his watch. It was 9:00am. The Welcome Ceremonies started at 11:00am, according to his schedule. Good. He had about 2 hours to get situated. John didn't even bother looking at his daily schedule. He'd check that out tonight.

The second page had his cabin arrangements.

Name: John Laurens
Status: Junior
Cabin Number: 74
Roommates: Alexander Hamilton, Hercules Mulligan, Marquis de Lafayette
Curfew: 11:00pm

He carefully put the paper back into its envelope. Then he pulled out the final sheet-the information they needed.

Name:
Preferred Pronouns:
Gender Identity:
Sexuality:

Nice, thought John, impressed with the camp already. He slipped that sheet back in as well, then noticed a small piece of paper buried at the bottom of the envelope.

"Be sure to put that on!" called Isabella cheerfully. "No need to look worried-it's just your name tag! You only have to wear it today."

John took it out and peeled off the paper, then stuck it to his shirt. He then picked up his bags and started trying to find Cabin 74. All of a sudden, however, a truck pulled up with 4 people in it. One was obviously a parent, but the other 3 looked like students about John's age.

Then they stepped out.

And. His. Heart. Stopped. 

John had never seen such a beautiful human in his entire life.

The boy in the middle of the other two, his eyes-his hair-his SMILE-it was gorgeous.

Wow.

"Good to be back!" he called out as his friends whooped and hollered. "Yo, Isabella! What's up?"

Isabella grinned and shook her head. "I'm assuming you guys DON'T need the introduction?" she said, laughing.

"When have we ever?" the boy responded, reflecting her grin.

Isabella handed over their welcome packets. The three of them quickly opened them up and skipped right to the second page.

The tallest one gasped. "Do we-"

The one to the right of the boy widened his eyes. "I think we might-"

But it was the boy's reaction that caught John's attention. "Yep!" he exclaimed, beaming. "WE FINALLY HAVE A FOURTH BUNK-MATE!"

The three of them started yelling and jumping up and down with glee. John. couldn't take my eyes off the boy, though. Man, he WAS adorable.

"All right!" he said, gasping for breath. "We should go find him."

"Yep!" the tallest one agreed.

"Isabella," said the boy, "has a certain John Laurens arrived yet?"