Escalante

    "So there are exactly five important buildings in this place excluding the dorms. They are the Activity building, Game building - A.K.A fun house- the cafeteria, sick bay and the big hall." Preston said as he took us on the pathway to the Activity building. He had just finished showing us the dorm and they were nicely done. People that didn't want the orientation left the moment we stopped by it.

"That building over there," He pointed at the slightly high but wide building over the arch shaped bridge and said, "That is the Activity building. You can check it out on your own time. They practice basketball, indoor volleyball, table tennis, archery and swimming. Sorry, no lawn tennis this year but there is soccer. The field is right behind the building."

We crossed the bridge and I realized that the stream stopped before it reached the manager's building-that is the building we were all waiting in- and it came from somewhere in the woods because on the other side of the bridge, the water kept going.

Preston answered the question running through my mind when he said, "This stream leads to a lake just further down. We go fishing there sometime when we want to have a bonfire." He glanced at me and smiled. I returned a subtle one and we kept going.

"This building is the fun house." He pointed at the next building opposite it. It wasn't as big as the Activity building but it was a two story building. "First floor has all the games you could find in an arcane and second floor is the bowling court. It is a new instalment requested by last year's campers."

"You were here last year?" I asked him.

"Yup. It was fun and in fact, many of us have been here since Rock bottom was first founded. It's like spring break party at summer."

"Is the sun always this hot?" Carlo asked and I noticed he had taken his shirt off.

Preston laughed, "You are not from around here, are you?"

"No. We came all the way from Australia." Carlo answered, really and slowly pissing me off. I did not expect his courage to come so fast but seriously though. He was barking up the wrong tree. I have mentally called dibs on him.

"Australia, huh?" Someone forced their way to the front and my jaw almost dropped at how confused I was of it. In a way, I thought it was a dude then it spoke and my mind just stopped processing for a second. He sounded so much like a girl.

"You don't have the accent." That was when I even noticed the Aussie accent.

Preston looked behind him at the person and said, "Patrick, you came again this year?" They both frowned at each other, then out of nowhere they hugged. And it wasn't the hug and walk away, it was the lingering type. The type that showed they used to be in a relationship and still had something for each other.

I never knew I was the possessive type until I heard myself growl softly and my hand bawled into a fist. My territory, trans person.

They pulled away and Preston continued the tour as he said to the trans, "I thought you weren't coming this year?"

"Mickey said she was, who was I to say no. Besides, I missed her."

Carlo drew closer to me and said, "This is the closest I have been to a shemale."

"Call them trans or they will kill you. When you start talking, ask her what pronoun she would prefer. Wait is she male or female? Her name is Patrick."

"It's normally Patricia but I changed it."

I hadn't know when Patrick had gotten close to us until she said that, sending chills downs my spine. I chuckled nervously and replied, "Sorry."

"It's she. Use the 'she' pronoun."

"Gotcha." Carlo said and she smiled.

"This is the big hall. We host welcoming ceremonies and closing ones here. If we want to throw a big party we come here too. There is a big party here today so if you are in the mood, grab on your party hat." Preston said to the crowd, pointing at building.

I would have to say it was the biggest building here. It was even higher that the other two. Preston went ahead and introduced the Sick bay and soon we all found ourselves in front of the cafeteria.

    The sun had settled down giving the sky a red hue. It was not as hot as before and instead, grew quite cold. The aroma coming from within the cafeteria reminded me that I haven't actually eating food since I left Sidney. Except if you call the crap they gave on the plane food.

Preston took the stairs up to the cafeteria and turned to look at us, making us stop in our spot. He gave a warming smile and said, "This is the cafeteria. Upstairs are for officials and this first floor is for us, campers. There are a couple rules you must know and failure to obey the rule gets a strike. Five and you are out."

He stopped for it to settle in our heads. Then continued, "One, try not to litter. Our top heads are clean freaks and if the place gets littered up, we won't eat for a day. Two, no one leaves the camp. If you do or you have to, take permission from anyone wearing a yellow Rock bottom shirts. They are the only ones allowed to leave the camp to get anything. If not you will be given two strikes. Three, guys please don't go anywhere near the female dorm from 10pm until 7am. It is a no-no and if found, you will receive a strike with monitoring and you really do not want that.

"Four, no drugs please. Of course this doesn't mean don't smoke weed or cigarettes, it means don't get caught or you are getting two strikes. Try not to drug people's drinks too because the owner of the camp will perform a thorough search and anyone found with drugs will be asked to leave. Cocaine is a complete no-no. If found, you are either sent to jail or deported. Just no.

"Five, anyone causing nuisance and disturbance in the dorm gets a strike. Six, stealing from anywhere, let it be the cafeteria's kitchen, manager's building, fun house or even your roommate's stuff, gets a strike." He smiled at me and I chuckled. "Seven, if you fight, you get a strike but you can redeem yourself by having a debate with that person on our stage. Eight, if you start a food fight you get a strike or you will be forced to clean the mess. Nine, verbal abuse of someone is wrong especially if you are discriminating them for their color or sexual orientation, the manager will definitely kick you out and you might never return seeing as he is black and gay."

He laughed along with the crowd then continued, "The last but not the least because there's a longer version on the wall of every room in the camp, do not and I repeat, do not sexually abuse someone because you won't get a strike. Hell no, you will be going to jail after a thorough investigation."

Preston released a breath and said, "Now that all that is said and done, any questions?"

There were a couple hands raised and I could almost see the annoyance in Preston's wrinkled forehead. Even Carlos was raising his hand.

Preston frowned and pointed at some dude in the crowd, "What's your question?"

"Can we participate in all sports?"

"No. Three sports maximum."

"Can we volunteer to help in the kitchen?" Someone in the crowd asked.

"If you want."

"What is this thing about gays having a whole 10 to 19 block? Isn't it discrimination?" Carlo said from beside me and I looked at him, surprised.

    Surprised for the fact that he was asking the question and surprised that that was the reason he was mad. When he said he was pissed about the gay block thing I just thought he didn't just like to be in the block. I never thought it was deeper than that.

I smiled.

"It isn't." Preston laughed lightly, "The gay people just like to be on that block. At first, it was always coincidence that they kept picking it but then after a few years, it became a thing. But that doesn't mean there aren't other gays in the dorm all through the blocks."

More questions were thrown at him and he sighed, "I am sorry but if you have more questions you can meet the patrol officers. They make sure we don't stray too far away from the camp and they wear yellow Rock bottom shirts. Now please, it is time for dinner."

    Just then a horn rang out and I cringed at how loud it was, but when it finally stopped, we were greeted with another noise. It was the sound of people talking and they grew noisy by the second.

Preston gestured me to come forward and I did, pulling Carlo with me. He said to the crowd and I looked out to the people that were coming from different angles to the cafeteria, "Breakfast is by 8am, lunch is by 12pm and dinner is by 6pm. Vending machines can be found in the cafeteria, fun house and Activity building."

By the time Preston was done, people had joined up with our crowd and were watching him. I felt his cold hand slip in mine making me forget all about Carlo's and he said, "Okay campers, let's not hit Rock bottom!!"

Of course the people that just came wouldn't have known it was the motto but the ones that joined them shouted and hooted at him.

He rolled his eyes and said to Carlo and me, "Come quick before they take the good tables."

    Preston pulled the both of us through the door and I was amazed by how spacious the Cafeteria was. Someone was calling to him but he just ignored it until we were the first on the line. The cafeteria ladies served us rice, some kind of sauce and chicken. Preston then took us to one of the table close to the stairs and we sat there.

I was mesmerized by the crowd. "I never expected us to be this much."

"Relax, we are just like six hundred or so." He said.

    On every table there was a basket filled with cutlery, ketchup, salt and pepper. I took a fork from the basket and passed one to Carlo who murmured a thank you and ate quietly.

I quickly assumed his change of attitude must be his shyness so I turned back to Preston and said, "Someone was calling you when we were rushing to get food."

He swallowed the food in his mouth and said, "Probably Patrick or one of my friends. Many of them came from last year." He smiled. "One advice I can give you right now is never be late for food because there won't be any left."

"Would you look at that, foodie made it first with friends." Preston, Carlo and me looked up at the person that said that.

I swear the people in this camp are Adonis. They all looked beautiful and the guy who was slowly entering the table with his friends was no different. The last guy who crawled in looked very normal like one of the regular Aussies I knew. I knew we would be good friends right off the bat and I told him just that.

"I like you."

He looked at me with a raised brow, definitely amused, "Why?"

"You don't look very Greek like them." I tried to whisper across the table to him but the dude that entered the table first frowned at me.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means he doesn't look like a Greek god to me."

"Is that supposed to offend me?" The normal person on the table who I didn't call an Adonis asked.

"Nope. It means we will have a very long and lasting friendship."

"He's not joking." Carlo helped. "If he doesn't think of you as a Greek god then he doesn't want to get in your pants. That's what he was trying to say."

The table fell silent and I had to gape at Carlo who didn't even bother to look at me. What the fuck was that? Was he mad or something?

"You are gay?" The first guy to enter the table asked with a slight amount of interest making me drop my cutlery and prepare myself for a race.

"Yes. I'm an open gay guy. Is there a problem?" I tried to look as confident as I could but I knew deep down, I was shaking. I glanced at Preston to see that he wasn't the least bit bothered about my sexual preference and I didn't know if that was good or bad.

The guy caught my attention back again and said, this time with a smile apparent on his face, "Welcome to the gay part of Rock bottom then. Try not to hit it first. The name is Valentino Crane but just call me Val." He then pointed at the three boys he came in with including the non-Adonis. "This is Alex Osborne, Dave Keilah and Jacob Foster."

"Even your names sound awesome." I sighed in bliss and I was glad Carlo did the pleasure of introducing us because I was literally mesmerized by them.

"Cool name too. Anyways, we are having a meeting before the party. What cabin are you?"

"He's in 13 and I'm in 14."

Alex's eyes widened and he looked at Preston, "Hey, You have a roommate now. And after all your talk about getting Ariesa to not give you a roommate." He laughed out loud and Preston looked at him when he continued, "I cannot wait to laugh in your face when you try to bring your girls here." Then Alex turned to me, "Don't let him bring any girl into your room. Trust me, it leads to sex and you sleeping on the couch."

I was in shock, that was why I didn't laugh along with them. Preston wasn't gay but straight and he didn't leave any clue to point that out. Like dude, he held my hand in front of everyone and gave me that look that he was into me.

Or was I just the one who mistook the whole thing.