Due to budget cuts, when Daniel signed up to be a counselor, they couldn't afford to get him a bed at that moment. They pulled out a futon, set it in the middle of the room as a placeholder until they could get an extra for him. When he left, David planned on keeping it there, just in case he would come back or someone else took his job

The morning after everyone knew that Daniel left, Max was found sleeping on that futon. He was almost unnoticeable; a tiny lump in the blanket near the pillows, moving only slightly to breathe.

Gwen came back that same morning. Early.

"Good morning, Gwen!" David cheered, "Glad to see you back!"

She crushed the foam cup that was once holding her hot coffee, and glared at David.

"How was your vacation?"

"Short." She looked around briefly, "Where's the blond one?"

His smile fell.

"He left." He said plaintively.

Gwen smiled, "Really?"

"Unfortunately." He reminded her.

"That's a relief."

"Gwen."

"What? I've already met someone who said they'd be willing to take the job of things went south and people got fired. We're fine."

"Yeah, but Max is really.." He looked out the door, open so that they would be able to see the tents, "..bummed about Daniel leaving."

"Who?"

"Max. He's the camper that came with him."

Gwen had stared at him blankly for the longest times before finally remembering who he was referring to. Her grin vanished in an instant.

"Oh, him? He didn't- he's still here?"

David nodded, "Daniel left Max and his stuff behind."

"That's.. fucked."

"Gwen, language."

"He just left him here? No notice or anything?"

"I mean, he left a note behind, but.. yeah. He just left."

"David, what are we going to do with him?"

"What do you mean?"

"His guardian just left him here! And, unlike all the other little shits here, we don't know if he's going to come back for him-"

"Gwen. He's a camper. And until Daniel comes back to get him or until summer ends, we are going to keep him here."

"And if he doesn't come back?"

"We'll burn that bridge when we get to it." David's smile returned, "Since you're here, maybe you could try to cheer him up."

She rubbed her eyes, "Somehow I doubt it."

He walked out, saying something along the lines of "Trying never hurt anyone!"

Gwen threw the crushed pieces of her cup into the trashcan, and collapsed on to her bed in defeat, as if she were trying to suffocate herself. Despite the amount of coffee she drank on the drive back, she was still exhausted and felt like she could've murdered someone just to get a full nights rest.

When she turned her head to breathe again, and maybe even take a small nap, she spotted a lump on the bed next to her. At first, she assumed it was an extra pillow, or some of the items David mentioned that Daniel left behind.

Until she saw it move. More than once.

"..David?"

No response from the other counselor, but the lump did twitch slightly.

"Hey, David!" She called out, louder.

"Yes, Gwen?" He asked, poking his head through the door and into the cabin.

She pointed towards the lump, which was now moving more than it had seconds before.

Once he understood what she was talking about, David's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Hello?" He asked it, cautiously moving closer towards it.

"David-" Gwen warned.

A groan was heard when David removed one of the pillows; muffled at first, but becoming clearer once it was fully off his face. David's expression softened.

"Max?"

Gwen saw the boy she met days earlier, only now slightly disheveled and very tired, sit up from his spot on the bed. He looked over at Gwen for a brief moment, then back at David.

"What." He snapped.

"You're supposed to be in your tent with Neil- how did you get in here?"

"You left the window open. I couldn't stand being out there another fucking minute."

Gwen was genuinely surprised when David didn't comment on the use of language. Coming from a child, she thought it would be a more serious issue.

"Why, what happened?" David asked.

"Neil-" Max shook his head, snatching the pillow away from David before continuing. "He just never fucking sleeps. He always keeps the light on, and that keeps me awake with him."

"Just tell him to turn it off," Gwen suggested.

"Then he'll complain about not being able to see what he's working on, dumbass! He's a whiny bitch, and I'll never be able to get some sleep if I'm in the same room as him!"

Max laid back down, and covered his face with the pillow that was taken from him seconds earlier. He no longer cared if they noticed. Instead of curling up into a ball again, Max was flat and spread out on the bed.

"Have you tried telling him all that."

No verbal response from Max.

When David noticed that Max was struggling to breathe under it, he took away the pillow from Max again. But this time, he held it away from him.

"You should join the other campers for breakfast."

"I don't think so." He rolled over, pulling the blanket over his head this time.

David looked towards Gwen, just as he saw her rip the sheets off of Max.

"No-"

"Come on, Max. Join the other campers in the mess hall."

"No. No no no no no. Do you want to hear it in Spanish? No."

Gwen carefully picked him up. Despite him kicking and yelling at her to put him down, she held him as far away from her as possible, and carried him all the way to the door that was still open.

She dropped him off outside, and slammed the door behind him, locking it.

"Gwen, that wasn't very nice." David scolded, even though he wasn't planning on letting the little shit back inside.

"He wasn't going out otherwise."

The doorknob shook as Max tried opening it. He slammed his fists against the door.

"Go back to your tent!" Gwen called out.

"Fuck you!" He called out.

When no response was heard, Max brushed himself off, and stormed straight into the bathroom.

When he looked back in the mirror, he sighed.

He looked like a mess.

Besides managing to keep his outfit as neat as possible, the rest of his appearance was more than just disheveled. He had noticeable bags under his eyes, and his hair looked like it had a mind of his own.

"Daniel would be disappointed." He muttered to himself, rubbing water on his hands and using to manage his hair.

------

He hasn't stepped foot in the Mess Hall for a while, never in the mornings, despite being there a while now. He knew how much of a shithole it was, how loud everyone was, but he always assumed that everyone would be been calmed down after they first woke up.

Oh boy, was he wrong.

Max pushed around the crap on his tray with his spoon as the sounds of screaming children became normal background noise. How these kids had the natural energy to do that was beyond him.

When his spoon dipped into the mashed potatoes, something he didn't think was allowed to be served during the morning, he held up the spoonful in front of his face.

He had to eat this soon.

No.

They aren't Daniel.

With the scowl on his face now directed towards the counselors standing away at a safe distance, he made sure that they saw him drop his spoon and push the tray away.

"I'm not eating this." He announced.

Gwen sat in the seat in front of him, not bothering to hide how angry she was, especially since David couldn't see her face.

"Eat." She pressed, pushing it back.

"No." He pushed it back towards her.

They both pushed it back and forth, determined to make the other give in. Gwen pushed a little too hard at one point, and managed to get some of the food on his once clean sweater.

The only thing that was acceptable about his appearance was now ruined.

He looked at it in complete horror.

"Bitch!" He screamed, grabbing the tray and throwing the rest at her.

She hissed in disgust, wiping what she could off of her hair and on to the floor.

They glared at each other for a moment, both feeling the expected urge of wanting to strangle the other. Well, one more than the other. Max reached into his pocket, but wasn't very surprised to find that there was no knife sitting there, waiting for him to slip up and use it with so many witnesses.

Their staring contest broke shortly after the sound of a tray hitting the floor.

"Nikki!"

"Food fight!" She cried, throwing a handful of mash potatoes into the air.

Max could only watch in complete shock as all of the kids grabbed handfuls of their own food, and threw it across the room. David and Gwen were mostly the targets, getting smacked in the face getting too close when trying to apprehend them. He even saw some, not all, scrape some off the floor and use it instead of what was left on their trays.

Slowly, Max's shocked expression turned into one of amusement. Seeing all of these children so eager to cause this much destruction, it-

It gave him an idea.

These children- these little monsters- just listened to the little girl if it meant causing some kind of destruction. All she had to do was say something in order to get all of them doing the same thing.

Max's hand twitched in delight as he came to the realization. He knew exactly what these kids needed if he wanted them to listen blindly to his commands.

A leader.

In the midst of complete chaos, nobody noticed that he successfully managed to slip out of the mess hall. He walked at his own pace towards the counselor's cabin, knowing damn well that nobody would be able to stop him anytime soon.

Underneath Daniel's temporary bed was a smooth and silver suitcase, void of any dirty spots or smudges. He grabbed the handle, and dragged it all the way back to his tent.

He knew it would be useful later.