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After Gwen left Camp Campbell to pursue her career as a writer, I was hired on by David as a co-counselor. I considered myself an "outdoors enthusiast" (in theory, not practice) so I leapt at the opportunity to get some practical, hands-on experience with which to put my extensive knowledge to use.

I was able to use my organizational and financing skills to help renovate Camp Campbell and make it a little more...hospitable, for lack of a better word. We installed proper cabins for the campers, which was a big hit with the group that summer, and restored some dilapidated structures, amoung other improvements, though we didn't quite get to fixing everything before the campers arrived. Mostly due to lack of funds.

I admired and respected David for his extensive experience as a camp counselor and someone who had spent real time in the outdoors. He certainly taught me a thing or two about how reading books would never prepare me for the outdoors until I went out and experienced it for myself, which came as a learning curve for me. However, for all the respect I had for him, I still couldn't help but question some of his more...controversial decisions, such as, but certainly not limited to: re-hiring Daniel.

Yes, that Daniel. The same Daniel who attempted to sacrifice a camp full of children on not one, but two occasions, plus a third incident David didn't elaborate on much at the time, but that I now know to be the impersonator incident. Daniel was allegedly undergoing rehabilitation while on probation since his sentence was cut alarmingly short on account of his being manipulated by the cult of Scientology and therefore deemed "mentally unsound" at the time that he committed his crimes. David advocated on his behalf when Daniel came to the camp looking for work and a way to reconnect with the "real world" now that he had been "disillusioned". It was also a position that would contribute to Daniel's community service, which meant that David didn't have to pay him, which also meant more help for the camp at no additional cost. I wasn't buying any second of it, but David ate it up without a second thought. He always was a sucker for redemption arcs.

Well, anyway, it didn't turn out to be so bad. There were a handful of close calls and almost-but-not-quite attempts at reverting back to his old ways, but surprisingly enough, Daniel really did put in the effort to change. He started off somewhat despondent, rarely ever smiling and, when he did, it was obviously forced to play the role of a cheery camp counselor. Gradually, though, I observed David inspire change in him. I like to think I had my own hand in Daniel's redemption, but, honestly, it was mostly David. I wonder now if the reason were because David saw something of his past self in Daniel's lack of lust for life and wanted to reignite it the same way he found his passion for summer camp.

By the time that summer came to an end, that's exactly what David managed to achieve. Those two also happened to fall creepily in love. I had the awful misfortune of walking in on them in the act of "consummating" their relationship when it happened and, needless to say, I was scarred for life. As was Max when word inevitably found its way to the campers.

Although, I imagine it hit Max especially hard, considering that when the bus dropped him off in town to be picked up by his parents...they never came. It was the middle of the night when he finally found his way back to camp, tears spilling out from under the hood of his jacket that only got worse when David pulled him into his arms. We called and called, but the numbers that were left as Max's contacts were non-operable. I offered to inform the local police station, but Max vehemently objected, saying that he would rather die than get carried off to a dead-end orphanage where he'd be cooped up with no hope of escape until he came of age. His words, not mine, but I couldn't say his fears were unfounded.

Instead, David allowed him to stay at the camp while the three of us finished cleaning and organizing the place in preparation for its long hibernation until next summer. That only took three days, though, and by then we had stopped trying to call the useless numbers that were supposed to have belonged to Max's parents. I wasn't present for the conversation about Max's adoption, but he came to me about it afterward, confessing his trepidation about going through with something like that when Daniel was part of the equation. It goes without saying that I felt sickeningly under-qualified to guide Max through that kind of decision, but as his camp counselor, I felt obligated to assure him that, no matter what, David would always have his best interests in mind, and if Daniel ever threatened that, I was sure David wouldn't think twice about dealing with it swiftly. Of course, at that point, I had a lot more faith in Daniel than I cared to admit. He had shown nothing but improvement over the past two and a half months and I could see the genuine concern in his eyes when Max had come back.

With the help of Cameron Campbell's masterful skill in forgery, it was made "official". Max was now, formally, Maxwell Anderson, son of David Anderson. We all returned the next summer, this time with Max as our very own counselor-in-training. Nikki and Niel were quick to follow and the three of them made a surprisingly effective team, despite their rambunctious reputations. I was mainly left in charge of managing them, while David and Daniel spent the majority of their time doing...God knows what. That was all well and good, though, since it reduced the awkwardness of third-wheeling all the time.

That summer was probably the best one Camp Campbell had ever seen, but there were plenty more to come after that. Luckily, we left it in good hands.