Summary: Prank wars, bug juice, tetherball, and ghost stories - summer camp is all fun and games until you fall in love for the first time.

AN: Here we go, Camp AU for Reverb 2015! Art for this story can be found on internetfeet's tumblr- definitely check it out! Special thanks to ilana, ProMa, Kat, Julie, Bendy, Ness, and Amanda for betaing, commenting, and forcing me to finish.

That Summer Feeling

Chapter 1

June 29th was circled repeatedly on Maka Albarn's calendar, marked with a little gold skull sticker and the words ARRIVE AT CAMP written in metallic pen underneath.

She was packed and ready to go the day school ended. Five years at DWMA Summer Camp and Maka still got so excited that she could barely sleep between the day school closed and the day Spirit would drive her upstate to her home away from home. This year was especially exciting, as Maka was finally sixteen going on seventeen - young enough not to have the boring responsibilities the counselors had, but old enough that her group would be awarded privileges not given to younger campers. Adult supervision would be minimal. And, best of all, she would get ample alone time to study her SAT prep flashcards and read her smutty romance novels in peace.

Even though Maka enjoyed school, liked her friends, and sometimes even sort of appreciated her philandering father who flirted with all the mothers at the PTA meetings, there was just something special about the people at camp. Her summer friends were so different from one another - she'd never seen a group of people more diverse in terms of background, hobbies, and disposition - and without camp, they would have probably never found each other. It hardly mattered at all, however, because even though they barely contacted one another in the off months other than the occasional birthday card, as soon as they were together again, it was as if no time had passed at all.

Camp was sort of magical that way. Maka loved it.

The short drive was uneventful and completely predictable. As every other summer, Spirit lamented being forced to to say goodbye to his "sweet baby angel." Loudly. He cried messily the entire ride up, nearly crashing the car twice as he sobbed that he would be Maka-less for two months. Spirit went through every stage of mourning - denial, anger, bargaining, depression and finally, acceptance - in the span of the two hour trip. There was less melodrama at her grandmother's funeral when her cousin took a hysterical head dive into the freshly dug grave and begged to be taken instead. Maka would have honestly welcomed a moose walking right into their car if it would stop his whining.

But all of her negative feelings immediately evaporated in a puff smoke as soon as the familiar wooden arch appeared in her line of vision, DWMA sprawled across the oak in archaic, curvy letters. Even with its lack of technology, bare bones cabins, mutant mosquitos, and a forest that potentially housed a serial killer with a rusty hook for a hand, Maka wouldn't want to spend her summers anywhere else.

She was home.

Tsubaki Nakatsukasa, camp mother and all around good-natured, sweet, even-tempered girl, was the first to greet Maka at the gates. She was still as tall and beautiful as Maka remembered, all strong limbs, curvy figure, and gentle, comforting smiles. Tsubaki had started camp with Maka back when they were pre-teens, and even though Tsubaki lived three hours away in the off season, she was one of the few people Maka managed to keep in touch with during the winter months. Texts and emails and silly snapchats were not nearly as good as being face to face, Maka thought, and as Tsubaki enthusiastically waved down the car, Maka unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped right into the taller girl's arms.

"Tsubaki! I missed you so much!" Maka cried as her good friend lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. She smelled like suntan lotion and a subtle, flowery perfume that was just so Tsubaki-ish, it made Maka's heart ache. "When did you get here?"

Tsubaki held Maka like small child, putting her down so they could walk back to the car to retrieve Maka's bags. "Only about an hour ago. I've missed you, too. It's been much too long."

Spirit dragged Maka's luggage out of the car as Maka and Tsubaki caught up. He offered to help her to her cabin but Maka waved him off, trying to ignore the pathetic way his face crumpled. She appeased him with a small cheek kiss and a hug (which prompted another crying fit), and said her goodbyes. Tsubaki carried Maka's heavy backpack and Maka wheeled her luggage over the familiar, rocky paths that led to Cabin 42.

"Any new girls in the cabin?" Maka asked.

"No, not this year. We've got Blair as a counselor, though," Tsubaki said.

"Ah, which means it'll be like having no counselor at all. Perfect," Maka laughed. Blair was fun and pretty and exciting but it was no secret that she spent most of her summer tanning in a string bikini or hooking up with anyone attractive and wealthy within a hundred mile radius of camp. "Boys?"

Like summoning Candyman or something equally as terrifying, Maka had no sooner uttered the b-word before she felt herself being picked up from behind in a rib crushing embrace. She didn't have to crane her head back to know what it was behind her (the overabundance of Axe body spray and killer biceps were a dead giveaway) and try as she might, wiggling out of his embrace was impossible.

"Yo!"

"Black*Star, put me down right now or I swear -" Maka attempted to elbow him in the stomach but Black*Star just laughed obnoxiously. Blake "Black*Star" Barrett had been a childhood friend and general pain in the ass since she was young. She might be tempted to sell him to the next passerby on the street for a dollar, but deep down, Maka adored him.

In small doses.

He finally put her down and Maka whirled around to lecture him. There he was in all of his Black*Star glory - shock of blue hair, butchered camp t-shirt, and basketball shorts - grinning at her widely. It was hard to stay annoyed with him. "I was just sayin' hi. Calm your tiny tits, Albarn."

Maka immediately slapped Black*Stat upside the head. She heard a small chuckle behind him and stopped attacking Black*Star to get a closer look at the person who was enjoying Black*Star's suffering. His face was new around these parts, and, after a cursory glance, Maka knew he wouldn't last very long. Everything about him from his slightly awkward posture to his perfectly styled hair (held back by a headband) to the tips of his stupidly expensive looking sneakers screamed rich kid. Maka gave it a week before Mr. Fancy Headband decided to go home back to his mansion, privacy, and air conditioning.

"Black*Star, I can't believe you already cut the sleeves off of your camp shirts," Maka said derisively, lightly punching him in the arm for good measure.

"Sun's out, guns out." Black*Star shrugged and the white haired boy snorted. "I don't make the rules, Maka."

Tsubaki giggled and Maka glared at her for encouraging Black*Star's, well, Black*Star-ness. Maka silently prayed to the camp gods that this would not be the summer that Black*Star realized that Tsubaki was painfully in love with him. She didn't think she could stomach watching them hold hands or worse - make out. Maka felt the bile rise in her throat just imaging it. "Don't listen to anything this guy says," Maka said to the mystery boy. "He's an idiot."

"I know," he replied, and Maka was surprised and oddly intrigued by how deep his voice was.

"Hey! Come on, dude. Bros before -"

"Don't you even think about finishing that sentence," Maka growled.

Black*Star folded his arms across his chest, sighing deeply. "No respect. Anyway, meet my newest minion, Soul Evans. Fresh meat."

"Hey," Soul Evans said, shifting uncomfortably. He had his hands buried deep in his pockets, and even though his facial expression was somewhere between bored and too cool for school, Maka could see the anxiety in his body language. It was never fun to be the new kid. Even though Maka tried to stay away from boys as a general rule (too annoying, too loud, too messy, too untrustworthy), it couldn't hurt to extend the hand of friendship.

Maka flashed her best smile. "I'm Maka and this is Tsubaki. We've been coming here for years so if there's anything you don't know, you can ask either of us. Right, Tsubaki?"

"Of course!"

Soul's expression relaxed slightly and Maka took that as a cue to continue. "Don't ever use the bathroom by the tennis courts, stay away from any and all meatloaf in the mess hall, and of course, never go into the woods at night." Tsubaki nodded sagely. "There's a serial killer who roams around at night, you know."

Soul rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay. Sure." He craned his head to give Black*Star a dirty look. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this stuff, man?"

Black*Star threw his arm around his new friend. "Experiencing it firsthand is half the fun, dude! Camp's not exciting if you don't blow chunks or flood the toilet once or twice."

He dragged a very uncertain Soul off, whose face was alternating between white and green at the mention of vomiting and drowning in sewage by the tennis courts.

Maka gave it five days before Richie Rich called his butler to come retrieve him.

Maka was a morning person - six am jogs before morning lacrosse practice were her jam - but shuffling out of bed before dawn to help set up for first day orientation (a favor for Mira, one of the camp directors, who was still waiting on the new counselors to arrive) was taking its toll on her.

She had made the mistake of staying up all night to gossip with all the girls in her cabin. Liz and Kim had spent four, very brutal, very long hours discussing which boys were datable (new kid, Soul, because nice hair and nicer butt) and undateable (Black*Star, because how lame was that nickname and the stupid little wingding he used in his signature?). Maka was forced to hear about their numerous boyfriends, girlfriends, fluffy romances and backseat hookups until she cried uncle and passed out just as Kim was explaining the ins and outs of oral sex with girls. In graphic detail.

Poor Jackie, Maka thought as she rubbed her eyes tiredly. Having Kim as a girlfriend was truly a full time job and then some.

Maka yawned as she threw some jump ropes near the play area for the younger kids and meandered towards the mess hall for some breakfast. She hoped that she could talk one of the older counselors - Marie, maybe, because she was a soft touch - into letting her have some of their coffee. Maka was pretty sure if she gave her body over to science for experimentation, Stein, the very odd but lovable doctor on the premises, would give her whatever she wanted.

The staff was cleaning up just as Maka rolled in and she almost cried as the eggs and bacon were carried away. All that was left were semi-stale pastries and soggy fruit, neither of which seemed particularly appetizing. Her stomach rumbled ominously; was this the thanks she got for being a nice person? She looked over to the table where the girls in her cabin were sitting. Of course none of her friends had saved her anything to eat. That would have been much too decent of them. And Black*Star was no help, as usual; he was currently shoving an entire pound of bacon into his mouth, leaving nothing behind except the plate.

Jerks. The whole lot of them.

She reached for the last blueberry muffin in the basket but was intercepted by another hand blocking her from her prize. Maka narrowed her eyes at Soul Evans, who looked slightly worse for wear than she did. From the looks of the bags under his eyes, he was not a morning person.

"Do you mind?" Maka asked tersely. "That's my muffin."

Soul squinted at her and held onto the muffin like a lifeline. "No, it's not."

Maka clenched her jaw. She was going to eat this muffin even if she had to gnaw through his hand to get there. "I have seniority. It's my muffin."

"Like hell it is! I got here first!"

She could not believe the nerve, the gall of this guy! He clearly had slept in - spoiled brat that he was- - while she had been up all morning doing honest, hard work! Maka couldn't explain why he was getting under her skin so much. Maybe because he looked like he hadn't done a single day of physical labor in his life. Maybe it was because she couldn't stop thinking about Liz and Kim's discussion of his cute butt. Whatever it was, out of principle, Maka was not handing the muffin over to him. Over her dead body would he get to indulge in her stale blueberry treat. "Too bad." Maka swiped it out of his hand and then licked it. "Now it's mine."

Not her finest or most mature moment, she would admit, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Soul openly gaped at her. "You - you -"

"Dude." Black*Star slung his arm around Soul and leaned on him heavily. "Are you just going to let her get away with that?"

"Shut up, Black*Star," they said in unison and then glared at each other.

Soul grimaced. "You licked the muffin. What is wrong with you?"

Maka only munched on her breakfast, making sure to eat it with extreme pleasure. Victory tasted delicious.

"She's challenging you, man. You know, fucking… natural selection! She's marking her territory. And mitochondria, can't forget that. Yeah. Now, I'm the strongest, so you two can battle it out for second strongest," Black*Star said. He wiggled his fingers at them. "I don't make the rules. We've gotta respect Mother Nature and God and shit, so you two have to battle it out. First blood loses."

Maka rolled her eyes. "Well, boys, this has been fun and I'd love to explain why everything Black*Star said about biology and evolution is completely wrong, but I'm off to volleyball. Later."

Black*Star cackled and Soul looked like he wished he could be anywhere except right here, muffin-less, with Black*Star breathing all over him. "This means war, Albarn!"

She only scoffed. "Bring it."

Campers started feuds over nothing and everything because that was just what happened when three hundred pubescent teenagers were stuck together in tiny cabins all summer with little adult supervision. Teen dramas and unresolved sexual tension had primed them for trouble and no one, not even someone as serious as Maka, was immune. Last year there had been a fierce battle over who stole Liz's hairbrush (Patti was the culprit and Liz broke down in sobs as she hugged her sister; she could never be mad at her for long). The year before there was an all out war as everyone had to come to terms with Kim and Ox's breakup - then subsequent reconciliation - then breaking up again - on and on until the boys and girls lost interest.

This year was the Muffingate Scandal of 2k15 and Maka shouldn't have been surprised, especially because it was instigated by Black*Star, who was arguably the most immature and ridiculous of all the boys, but even she couldn't believe that one stolen muffin had turned into such a blood bath.

Maka, Patti, and Liz had been walking back from volleyball when they spotted it:

Bras. A lot of bras.

Their bras.

Their bras, hanging from the flagpole, waving in the wind like colorful little flags. Maka's mouth immediately dropped open and she turned bright red, stuttering indignantly. Not only had someone infiltrated their cabin to steal said bras, but her tiny, A-cup bra with its cute strawberry pattern was next to Patti and Liz's much fuller, grown up, lacy bras. It filled her with intense shame. Not, Maka thought, that she disliked her body. It was more that teenage boys were terrible and teasing was a thing that happened often and she did not appreciate their unnecessary, unsolicited opinions on her breasts.

Shame soon gave way to pure, unadulterated, homicidal rage.

Patti and Liz were still gaping at the flagpole. Liz couldn't believe that someone had both the gall and the talent to steal from the infamous Demon Sisters of Brooklyn, who used to make ends meet by stealing from the rich and giving to themselves like modern day self-serving Robin Hoods. Patti eventually broke off into giggles because it looked so silly but was also arguably more fun than the usual flag that hung there. Coincidentally, her sister's bra was sporting red, white, and blue rhinestones in the form of the American flag, and she saluted it, screaming, "GOD BLESS AMERICA!"

Maka took off into a run, making a beeline for boys' tennis. She was fueled by adrenaline and fire and her anger could only be quelled by sinking her fist right into Black*Star's smug face. How dare he infiltrate the sacred barrier of the girls' cabin? How dare he touch her underwear? Now she would have to burn them all and start over from scratch. Maka mourned the loss of cute underwear; RIP, cotton boyshorts and bikini briefs, your sacrifice will not have been in vain.

It took the combined efforts of Kilik, Harvar, and Ox to hold her back from launching herself at a cackling, unrepentant Black*Star. "YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!" Maka shrieked.

"Nice training bra," Black*Star snickered. Soul tried to hide his own laughter with a cough, but he completely sobered up when Maka turned her furious glare on him. He had a hand in this, Maka was sure of it. How immature was he to hold a grudge over a breakfast pastry? This is why she hated boys. "I think my little sister has the same one!"

"IT'S A LEGITIMATE BRA, YOU UNCULTURED NEANDERTHAL!" Kilik winced as Maka screamed right in his ear. "DEAD. YOU ARE DEAD!"

Black*Star continued to laugh riotously, so proud of himself for his "ingenious" and not very original prank. The other boys were trying - and failing - not to smile. How dare they? How dare they embarrass her like this? Maka could not just let this stand. Her pride would not allow it. They were all accomplices, she decided, and thus were the enemies.

She stomped on Harvar's foot and elbowed Kilik in the stomach for good measure. Kilik let her go, gasping for air, and the other boys backed off, afraid to be in Maka's direct line of sight. Maka got right up in Black*Star's face and barely resisted the urge to headbutt him. "You want a war? You got one."

Now it was personal.