Free Now

chapter two - the kids they call the goonies

The girls piled into their room, dropping bags and duffels everywhere. Daisy glanced around the new room. There were four bunk beds, with dressers next to each and a bathroom next to the door. She saw the corner bunk and ran over to it claiming it as hers by yelling "I got the best bunk, sucks to be you guys." and realized they weren't alone. "Hey!" a voice chirped from the top bunk  across from Daisy. A girl with long, dark hair and a bright smile waved down at them. "I'm Juliana, but everyone calls me Jules. Looks like we're roomies." Lola threw herself onto a bottom bunk. "Sweet. The more, the merrier. I call bottom bunk, though—I'm not about to fall off the bunk in the middle of the night." Juliana grinned. "Smart move." she agreed.

Before they could settle, a knock came at the door. Daisy opened it to find Tyler, Andrew, and Chase standing there, looking like the boys' version of camp chaos—backward caps, tank tops, and that cocky "we-own-this-place" vibe. "Oh look, it's the boy band," Lola deadpanned. Tyler flashed a grin. "I prefer 'boy squad,' but I'll let it slide." He gave Daisy a playful nudge. "What's up, you ready for CIT life?" Daisy smirked. "As ready as you are to get eat shit in every camp game." Chase leaned against the doorframe. "Bold words for someone who almost fell off the dock last year." "That was part of a bit" Daisy shot back. "Sure it was," Andrew added with a laugh. He glanced at Juliana. "New recruit?" "Yep!" Juliana said, hopping off the top bunk. "Well, let the games begin," Daisy quipped, gesturing between the boys and her friends. "Ok guys, we need to get unpacked, so we're gonna dip" Chase said. "See you guys at dinner." Daisy smiled and waved at them.

As the girls finished unpacking (or more accurately, tossing their clothes in random corners of the room) while blasting Chappell Roan, their door opened "Fig room! Dinner at the lodge in five!" Jamie, their RC, was poking their head in, tapping her watch with exaggerated urgency. "I don't know about you, but I'm not missing chicken nugget night. Let's go!" "Did she say chicken nuggets?" Lola asked, her face lighting up. "I'm suddenly starving." "Last one there gets the soggy fries," Cassie called, already halfway out the door. The girls rushed out, laughing as they made their way down the stone path toward the lodge. 

At the lodge, the long wooden tables were filled with campers and councilors, so the CITs had to find a table to fit all 8 of them. As they dug into their food, the conversations started flowing, and naturally, it got weird fast. "So, real talk," Daisy started, pointing a fry at the group, "if you had to choose between fighting one horse-sized duck or a hundred duck-sized horses, what's the play?" Tyler, without missing a beat, said, "The duck-sized horses. Obviously. You can just kick them." Chase squinted. "Are we talking wild horses? Cause those things could be vicious." "I'd take the horse-sized duck," Cassie cut in, shrugging. "At least it's just one. Plus, I bet I could ride it." "Ride it?" Daisy laughed. "What, like, into battle?" "Exactly," Cassie said, spearing a chicken nugget with way too much confidence. "Imagine flying into camp on a giant duck. Who's gonna mess with you?"

Gemma, sitting at one table over with her cabin, overheard and jumped in, eyebrow raised. "You know, I've always wondered how I'd explain to the immigration office that my visa was revoked due to a giant duck incident. 'Yeah, sorry, I was trampled by a horse-sized mallard, please don't deport me.'" They all laughed at the ridiculousness of the conversation.

Andrew leaned across the table, grinning at Daisy. "Alright, serious question. What's the weirdest thing you missed about camp?" Daisy thought for a second. "Honestly? The campfire songs. They're ridiculous, but they're, like, the good kind of ridiculous." Lola groaned. "You and those songs. By the end of the summer, they'll be stuck in my head for months." "Don't act like you don't love a good 'Boom-Chicka-Boom,'" Daisy teased, wiggling her eyebrows, smiling widely. Hannah, quiet up until now, chimed in, "I missed the lake. Mostly because it's the only place you can pretend you're not sweating to death out here." Chase nodded in agreement. "Yeah, pro tip: jump in fully clothed at least once a day, no shame." Juliana, still getting to know everyone, looked around with a smirk. Daisy smiled as the conversations swirled around her. It was her first night back at camp, and already it felt like she hadn't missed a beat.