Oh- um… Hi.
“Who the fuck are you?” Ryan is in the middle of trying on a bikini and doesn’t quite have the straps tied.
“Oh shi – Goddamn grey-faces!” Carlos quickly turned away so that he was no longer looking. “Sorry. Hi. I didn’t mean to drop in like this.”
Ryan snorts and finishes tying up the bikini. “I don’t blame you. You can look now.” The scars on his forearms were glaringly obvious and Ryan ran a hand over them. Well, so much for his date. Time to make the worlds worst first impression.
Carlos sighed lowly and turned around. Once he got a good look at the kid in front of him though, he frowned. “I think someone lied to me,” he said suddenly – seemingly out of nowhere.
“How so?” Ryan raised a brow and crossed his arms defensively. This whole situation was weird.
“THe grey-faces said that you were, like, Ahava’s older sibling. That you were responsible for him – you’re still a kid yourself. How old are you exactly?”
Ryan tensed. “Sixteen. I know I look eleven but I’m just short. Also, Ahava goes by they/them pronouns.” She narrowed her eyes.
Carlos was startled. “Oh.” But he nodded, acknowledging the mistake.“Excuse me. I apologize.”
Ryan nodded, accepting the apology warily. “So, why am I here exactly? Because all I’m getting is that you have very little knowledge of my relationship with Ahava…”
“I was told that you’re in charge of Ahava, and then was brought here. I have some concerns about them, but I”m not sure if you’re the right person to bring it up to…”
A bit belatedly he realized something. “Um, before we go on… I’m Carlos. I’m a parent to a couple of kids at a nearby camp.” He gingerly offers his hand to shake.
Ryan hesitated before shaking Carlos’ hand firmly. “Ryan. But you probably knew that. I go to camp scambell. Any of your kids go there?” Well shit. Another fucking parent.
“If you mean ‘Camp Campbell’, then yes,” Carlos said. He sighed and gave Ryan a very serious look. “Look, my kids are ten years old. And Ahava gave one of them alcohol.”
The Perfect Scientist 