The bus ride was mostly uneventful. True to their word, Kurt and Rachel had saved him a seat next to an overstuffed duffel bag that hadn't fit anywhere else. Throughout the ride, Blaine learned that the pair were in high school together, starting their senior year. Rachel was the captain of the glee club (this earned a questioning eyebrow from Kurt) and held the lead in several school musicals as well as had two gay dads and was well on her way to being a Broadway star.

In fact, a majority of the bus ride was Rachel talking about Rachel, although Blaine couldn't really complain. Not when he'd been so worried about having people like him or not being able to make any friends. It also gave him a chance to watch Kurt, whose expressions in response to Rachel's comments were quite a bit more entertaining than Rachel herself.

"So, Blaine. Do you have a girlfriend?"

Blaine was only moderately surprised at the question, as it cropped up more frequently than he'd prefer. "Actually, I'm gay. So no, no girlfriend. Or boyfriend, since that would probably be the next question."

Even though Kurt already had an impossibly good sense of fashion and a higher voice than most other men, Blaine had learned before never to assume anything. But the look Rachel shot to Kurt after his answer left Blaine with the suspicion that he wasn't the only gay guy on the bus.

Camp Howard was the last stop on the route, and there was a flurry of activity at each camp before them as groups of student leaders exited the bus and somehow managed to pull their bags out of the fray in back. Soon, there were just twelve of them left along with the driver and the Howard staff member assigned to deliver them.

Blaine glanced around at the others. There was a small girl in the back with a head of wild blonde curls who had her nose stuck in a book, a lanky looking boy with dark skin and apparently a great sense of humor, as the brunette girl in the seat behind him burst into laughter. There was also a girl with short black hair and glasses, talking quietly to a redheaded boy who seemed to be bouncing up and down in his seat, and two frat-looking boys chatting with a tattooed blonde but completely ignoring the girl next to her.

They all looked to be around Blaine's age, though the staff member couldn't have been much older. He'd been quiet most of the trip, going through what looked to be schedules, but by Blaine's guess had to be in his mid-twenties. If he was any older than that, Blaine certainly couldn't tell- the full beard and long hair hid any additional signs of age.

The bus eventually slowed and made a turn onto a gravel road, causing everyone to stop their chatter and look up expectantly. It wasn't long before they passed underneath a large sign hanging between two trees that read "Welcome to Camp Howard" and laid eyes on what would be their new home for the next few weeks.

As the group got off the bus, it took a few moments to really take it all in. The area they'd arrived in looked to be a main gathering space- a large open field sprawled in front of a sizable building labeled with a wooden sign as "Dining Hall", with several smaller gravel trails leading away in different directions. They couldn't see much beyond the mass of evergreen trees that seemed to be everywhere, but as Blaine was craning his neck to catch a glimpse of what looked to be another large building in the distance, he was called back to attention by the bearded staff member stepping off the bus.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Camp Howard!" Everyone echoed back their hellos, and the man smiled before continuing.

"My name is Moose, and I'll be just one of the many staff members you'll encounter during your stay here at Howard. That's not my real name, of course- you'll find those out at the end. Speaking of which, I hope you all came prepared with your chosen names. We like to make it fun for both the kids and staff to come up with a different name to use during the week. Usually they're nature-inspired given our surroundings, but pretty much anything goes."

At that moment, a woman with long dreadlocks exited the Dining Hall, holding a crate and making her way down to them.

"Ah, here's Osprey now with your wood cookies!"

It became apparent just why they were called 'wood cookies' right away. Each student leader was handed a thin ring of wood with two holes drilled in it and a thick cord looping through them to make a necklace.

Blaine turned his over in his hands. The wood was smooth, though the shape was a bit off from being a perfect circle, and he was trying to picture just how he'd write his name on it when Moose began speaking again.

"These are what you'll be writing the names you've chosen on and will serve as your nametag during your stay. Please make sure to wear them at all times unless showering or sleeping. Once we get you all settled into your cabin assignments, you'll meet back at the dining hall where we'll have dinner and have some Sharpies available so you can decorate your wood cookies. Now gather 'round so we can pair you off into cabin mates. Each cabin is assigned two student leaders and ten kids. It is your responsibility to keep them all alive for the next few weeks."

He waited for the laughter to die down before continuing, "Since most of you don't know each other, we've assigned you all randomly to cabins. We do this with the hopes that you'll all be mature and get along, however if any problems arise, do not hesitate to let myself or one of the other staff know and we'll get it sorted out."

The boys and girls, they learned, would be in two separate cabin areas. The boys would be in a cluster of cabins on the South side of the camp, while the girls were placed in an area to the North of the dining hall. Each area had a communal bathroom with showers, and cabins would be on a rotating schedule of whose kids got showers during free time.

Student leaders, they were told, were afforded the luxury of having a blocked out spot of "meeting time" each day ("but don't tell the kids that it's just time for you to take a break from them"), so in theory they could shower daily if they wanted to. And boy did Kurt want to. He'd hardly gone a day in his life without showering or going through his skincare routine. It wasn't that he minded getting a bit dirty- he just preferred not to wallow in it if he didn't have to.

After a few more instructions, during which each of them was handed a tiny laminated schedule with their cabin assignments on the back to keep with them, the groups set off to their respective areas with bags in tow.

It wasn't a terribly long walk, but the added weight of his bags made Kurt lag behind a bit. Blaine took this as an opportunity to hang back.

"So which cabin are you in?" he asked, shifting his bag from one shoulder to the other.

Kurt looked down at his schedule, "Cougar cabin. You?"

"Bear." Blaine said, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He'd hoped to be paired up with Kurt since he hadn't even spoken with any of the other guys, and he certainly wanted to get to know him a bit better, but knew that it would have been too good to be true. "I wonder who I'm paired up with, then..."