Letters to Space: Above and Beyond.... Camp

[Blitzen]

((INTRO))

She sat on the edge of his desk chair, elbows leaning on her thighs as she watched him pack, wishing the lump in her throat would go away. It was stupid. The whole situation was just stupid. It was just four weeks. Not even the entire summer. She rolled her eyes as he picked up the clipboard next to his suitcase, checking off item after item according to the list of what he needed to bring. Just like a boy scout. Always prepared. He returned to his dresser and counted out seven pairs of rolled up white tube socks, one of them rolling from the balanced pile atop his clipboard to a stop by Sam's left foot. She picked it up and southpaw tossed it into his case as Bryan made a check mark in that box as well. Just say something. Anything, jeez, brain, make yourself useful.

"So... Four weeks?" She cursed her brain, she already knew the answer, they just spoke about it yesterday at prom.

"Still four weeks." He said with a chuckle, grabbing seven neatly folded white t-shirts from his second drawer. She imagined him packing to go off to some college somewhere, and it just made the situation worse. He thoughtfully tapped the pencil against his chin before recounting the t-shirts and putting them in the case as well. Her eyes followed him back and forth to where he was selecting which gym shorts to bring. The small container of orange flavored Tang she'd picked up as a going away gift sat next to the slew of personal care products he lined up to bring. On the desk behind her was a brochure of the Space Camp he'd be attending next to his wallet and plane ticket, so she busied herself reading about the adventure he'd be having that summer. G-force simulators, astronaut PT, classroom learning.... you could run track, go to summer school and I could just shove you in a dryer. But he was looking forward to it. It was mostly all he could talk about, and besides, she had things planned too, like a trip to California and working at Jules' to pay it off.

Before long, he was finished. She held the case closed for him while he zipped it up, the two friends sitting silently on the edge of the bed afterwards. She leaned into his shoulder, and he leaned his chin across the top of her head. The cab would pick him up in the morning and he'd be down in Alabama for four weeks playing astronaut. Four weeks is really long.

He sat up after a bit and checked the watch on his wrist, holding it up to demonstrate it'd be coming with him, causing her to smile and roll her eyes. Stupendous Man. She'd bought it for him after he'd broken up with Nix, him finding the dress watch she'd bought him brought up too many memories. But time passed, he could once again wear Nix's watch, and still he usually made it a point to let Sam know hers was getting good use. His favorite comic hero. I'm gonna miss you.

"It's not like it's all summer." He said, as if he read her mind. "And did you check out everything I'm going to get to do?"

"Yeah! It looks like it'll be a blast! And you'll totally be in shape for football season this August." She replied with a nod.

"The cab's coming kind of early." He replied after a pause.

"Well, yeah, and I guess you can use all the beauty sleep you can get." She kidded.

"I need to maintain my boyish good looks as a public service for all the girl campers." He said, giving her a playful shove. Why was stuff so much harder now?

"Well, I'll write. Keep you up on what's going on and stuff. You know."

"I'll send you a postcard at least, from the final frontier."

"Alabama." She scoffed. "It's hardly the final frontier."

"It's below the Mason Dixon." He countered, and they shared a small laugh. It's like a billion miles away.

"Well, I should let you get to sleep." She said, standing up hesitantly. "You sure you don't want help getting your stuff down to the curb in the morning?"

"Artie should be up." He shrugged. "Plus..." He levitated the bag over to the door with a wave of his hand. "I can do that. And besides, what sort of boy scout would I be if I let some girl carry my luggage?"

"Some girl?" She shoved him this time and smiled, he tousled her hair in response to show he was kidding.

"I'm gonna miss you." She finally choked out, staring at one of the recessed lights in his ceiling. He grinned and pulled her into a hug.

"It's just a few weeks." He reminded her, squeezing tightly. "But I'll miss you too. And I'll bring you back a moon rock."

"You'll pick up a normal old rock and know I won't be able to tell the difference." She said, hugging him back. "Just don't forget the freeze dried ice cream." And don't go and change too much. You come back the same guy you packed up in the suitcase. Don't change anything. Not ever.

"I won't. Scout's honor." He hugged her one more time. Even though he couldn't read minds, she'd take that as a promise.

[Gravwarp]

Hey Sam!

Just like I promised, here's my first official "camp letter". Yay!

My flight down to Alabama was alright, it's weird being crammed in with so many people. I got two free Mountain Dews though... yes, I'm awesome like that.

Camp is really cool. I have five roommates for the first eight days. There are John and David, they're brothers from Georgia. There's this awesome kid named Anan, his folks are Thai. I got roomed with another comic guy, his name is Rich. The guy in the bunk below me is Jared, he's come to space camp every summer since he was 9. His dad and older brother are in the Air Force.

The food in the cafeteria here is miles beyond the food at school. We had pizza last night. Good stuff.

I've already done some really neat things. The first two days we had parachute training, where we landed in the water. We also had a crash survival seminar. They have a huge pool with a plane on hydraulics that "crashes" into the pool.

It's strange not being able to use my powers here, but it's nice just hanging out with new people. I really miss you and the gang though, I hope everything is well back in the old hustle and bustle of the city.

I miss you Sam. I'll be glad to get back,

Bryan

[Blitzen]

Dear Bryan,

Jeez, I miss you. There's just a ton going on, you know? Okay, you know Matt, right? The rabbit? Well, he's no longer a rabbit. I mean, he is, sometimes, but it's like now he trades back and forth. Mostly I'm afraid I'm gonna go on patrol with 'em and he's going to norm out and get real hurt, but I think everyone's bein' good about lookin' after him. I don't think he so much knows what's happening either, but I worry about him, he's a good guy and all.

Aside from that, we got some new kids at the school, there's Wavver or Eugene and he seems super nice, he grew a strawberry plant over in Atlas the other day out of thin air and some of the kids had the berries and stuff but I'm still sorta wary about things that grow right before my eyes. Then there's Pete. 'Member when me and you went to see that old movie "Creepshow" during Creature Feature Week at that theater in Skyway? Well, he looks a lot like what Stephen King turned into 'fore he blew his head off. Stephen King that is, not Pete. Pete was all "plants have feelings" and like saying they scream and stuff so I don't think I'll be walking on the grass for a long, long time. I briefly met a couple of the other new kids too, there's this girl Jester, only I dunno if she's just quiet or she's not a people person, on account of some people just aren't people people, you know? Like Frank. He's still Frank. He's not mean to me or nothing though, but he's still got a chip on his shoulder as big as the Mississippi is long.

Nick is back, and you know how Violet came back? She's totally not acting like Violet. Nick is totally acting like Nick though, and he started giving me a whole lot of scientific mumbo jumbo I was supposed to relay to you, but I can't remember most of it on account of it went over my head, so I'm just gonna go ahead and leave it as Nick says hi.

Ty had sort of a party on the beach and I went for a bit, but Garrison is back in town, so me and him ended up goin' bowling instead and I totally kicked his ass. I didn't know I could bowl either. Did you know he's rich? Yeah, apparently, he's been going to this rich and snooty school for the rich and snooty over in Paris. I think it was an all boys thing. He left but didn't tell anyone that he was coming back to visit. I saw Stephen Reed for a couple, and I hope he comes back this year to quarterback for us.

Tony's back home in California for the entire summer. I'm gonna go visit him for a week over the July 4th break, and I'm totally looking forward to it, I mean... California! I SO want to see Hollywood and Universal Studios and do that tour with the tram where Jaws swims over and looks like he's gonna attack you. I so can't wait! I'm totally gonna send you a bunch of postcards.

Jules and Dom have been showin' me how to drive. Sorta. Dom's got this fancy European stick shift, so mainly he's showing me how to restart the car after I stall out, but he and Ty keep talking about going drifting or what not, and I really, really don't think Jules is gonna let me try that with her jeep on account of she doesn't even so much let me hit the freeway.

Diego's showing me how to fight, which I'm finding out is kind of more than just hit the guy that's hitting you. But he's a really great guy, we've been hanging out, we talk a lot and stuff, and I think we're gonna double sometime with Artie and Ves, who by the way says to say hey, and tell you that SJS isn't the same without our resident gravity guy. We were talking all about Miguel Sanchez the other day when it was two for Tuesday Taco day at El Mex. So yeah. You're missed.

I miss you like crazy and then some. I'm glad to hear you're having a blast and that you didn't land on anyone during parachute training. Your roommates sound great. Take a ton of pictures for me!

See you soon,

Sam