Kurt felt like he was walking on air. He let Josh lead him along the path to the cafeteria with a dreamy smile on his face. He remembered from glancing at the schedule earlier that everyone had dinner together. Surely Eyes of Gold would be in here, somewhere. He could walk through the door at any minute! We could actually speak to one another! Have a conversation! Learn each others' names!

Josh and Kurt got in the buffet line, and Josh handed him a tray. He took it without a word. Kurt made his way through the line, waving his hand at whatever looked least offensive, his eyes still roving the room. By the time he'd made it to the drink station, his face had fallen and his brow was creased.

His plan to “accidentally” sit at the same table as Eyes of Gold was going to be shot all to hell if he couldn't find him. Even if he came in later, getting up and moving tables in the middle of dinner would be a little obvious, even by Kurt's standards. And that was a high bar, since Kurt had dressed up as Gaga, complete with 10-inch Alexander McQueen stilettos.

Josh led them to a table, Kurt following numbly. Kurt sighed and slumped in a chair facing the main doors, ignoring his food. Josh chatted politely with the other people at the table, but Kurt couldn't bring himself to make an effort anymore. He crossed his legs and let his face fall into a distant, standoffish expression while keeping one eye on the entrance.

His elated mood was fading, and he rapidly sunk back towards depression. Unlike before, however, every moment was excruciating. How could he go numb and endure the rest of the week after how awake and alive he'd felt in that auditorium? When somewhere in the camp, or in the world, there was a boy that could make him feel like every nerve ending was on fire with just a look? And what if he never found those eyes again?

“Hey, Earth to Kurt! Come in, Kurt! Hey, there's someone I want you to meet!” Josh's perky voice intruded into Kurt's thoughts. Kurt reminded himself that Josh was nice, and an important ally in surviving the camp, so he twisted his face into a smile.

He turned to the girl who was pulling up a chair and sitting down at their table and offered up his hand. “Kurt Hummel. Nice to meet you.” “Oh, uh, I'm Cate!” the girl exclaimed, shuffling her tray around, freeing her hand to shake Kurt's.

“A pleasure,” Kurt said, with a beauty-queen smile plastered on his face. “What brings you to Camp Reflection, Cate?” His smile faltered briefly as he considered that Cate's reason for being there may not be any more appropriate of a subject for small talk than his own reason would be. His fears were proven correct when the girl winced and changed the subject. Mouth, meet foot, Kurt thought. He lapsed into silence as Josh and Cate engaged in an animated conversation about the merit of the dinner selections, or lack thereof.

Kurt picked at his food and examined the new addition to the table. Cate was tall and stocky, with tanned skin and freckles. Her ponytail was dyed a few shades darker red than could be found in nature, verging on magenta, and she had serious hazel eyes. Her clothes were clean, neat and androgynous: a collared white polo, khaki shorts and skater shoes with no socks. She and Josh sounded comfortable with each other already, and Kurt wondered if she'd been at Camp Reflection before as well. Like Josh, there was something about Cate that made Kurt instinctively want to like her. She seemed easygoing, and didn't seem overly bothered by Kurt's poor manners thus far.

Kurt decided that Eyes of Gold wasn't coming to dinner. It had been a while since anyone had come in the doors, and the lines were starting to shut down. So, he started actually paying attention to the conversation between Josh and Cate. They had moved on to discussing the camp. Apparently Cate was new to Camp Reflection after all. “...so that sticker means that you're on the Butterfly team, and Kurt and I are Lions. There are three teams of boys and two of girls, and that's how we're assigned to activities. But everyone comes together for Worship and dinner. Did you have any other questions about camp?”

“What's the story with that head lady, Wendy?” Cate asked. “She's just so...” Cate gestured with one hand, trailing off hesitantly.

“Oh, she's so nice!” Josh exclaimed, a little too insistently. “She really cares a lot about each and every camper. If you follow the rules and try hard to be a good Christian you won't have any problems with her.”

Cate seemed to flinch at that. “What about the counselors? What are they like?” “Oh, they're all great! Amy is such a sweetie, she's always taking the time to help campers with their problems and pray with them.”

“What about Jessica?” Kurt interjected, “I already seem to be on her bad side. I have no idea why.” That wasn't quite true, he had something of an idea.

“She can be a little intense, but she just wants everyone to do their best. You'll see, I'm sure you can win her over, Kurt. You're a great guy.” Josh beamed.

A great guy, sure, just not enough of a “guy,” Kurt thought. He would have to watch around Josh until he could figure out how much of that garbage Josh really believed.

Kurt decided to switch to a safer subject. “So, Josh, obviously all of the campers eat dinner together, but do the teams ever get put together for activities?” He didn't have to feign interest in the answer.

“Yeah, sometimes. Our schedules for tomorrow should be posted on our door by the time we get back to our room, and it'll say on there if any of the activities are joint with another team. Why do you ask? Have you made friends here already? I'd like to meet them!”

“Not really. I was just making conversation.” Not exactly a friend, no, Kurt thought. Friends knew each others' names. Besides, Josh surely wouldn't approve of the un-biblical thoughts he was having about Eyes of Gold.

The three cleared their trays and walked back to the dorms, bidding Cate goodbye at the corner of the girl's building, identical to the boys' except that the trim was pink rather than blue. Kurt and Josh walked to their room, Josh pulling the next day's schedule off of the door as they entered. Josh sat at the desk and turned on the lamp to read it, and Kurt leaned over him eagerly to see.

It turned out that they had a joint hike the next day with Teams Tiger and Butterfly, but Kurt remembered Josh saying that there were three boys' teams. “Josh, does everyone sit with their teams for Worship? I just followed you today, but... um...” Think, Hummel. “...what if we get separated?”

“No worries, everyone has to sit with their teams but there's a sign above each section. Just look for the picture of the lion.” Kurt tried to recall a sign above Eyes of Gold's section, but he just couldn't remember. How would he find the fascinating boy at this rate? Ignoring the rest of the schedule, he lay down on his bed with a huff.

“Are you feeling okay, buddy?”

“Decidedly not. I am full of ennui.”

“Um... well, it's almost time for lights-out. Would you like to pray with me?”

Kurt rubbed his temples. Be nice. “No, thank you,” he replied flatly. “I prefer ennui to self-delusion. But, you enjoy.”

Josh quirked an eyebrow and turned off the lamp.