Trumperica

Proud Americans!

Rylee's POV

I opened my eyes groggily as Julie and April sat on either side of my bed, shaking me awake. 

"Come on, you have to see this!" April yelled, practically dragging me out of bed. I followed my friends out of our room and down the stairs to see a huge commotion outside. 

Lowlies, both new and old, gathered by the brick wall of one of the dorm buildings. Pushing my way through the crowd, I managed to get a look at what was on the wall. It was April's "Proud Americans" paper, except now, it was filled with signatures! Two new pieces of paper had even been taped to the bottom of it to make room for all of the names!

"Told you it'd work," April smiled proudly. 

"Kevin, it's them!" Indie yelled from the front of the crowd, pointing back at us. "It came from their room first!" 

In seconds, everyone was staring at us, and Kevin, Steve, Rick and Indie walked towards us. 

"Oh, it's the newb from yesterday and her friends!" Steve laughed. "Who would've thought." 

"Hey, that was really cool," Kevin smiled, high fiving each of us. "We've been here since forever and we never thought of something like this," he pointed to the paper. 

"You know, people like you guys shouldn't be in Lowly Camps," Rick shook his head. 

"Yeah," Indie nodded. "There's actually a way we might be able to get you out, to say thank you for doing this...something we've wanted to see here at the STCC for a very long time." 

"It's very iffy though, no promises," Kevin shook his head. 

"Really?" I beamed. "What is it?" 

"Every month, Dr. Powers and her Moderate lackeys pull together a list of the "best behaved" campers," Kevin began. "They get sent off through a program called Outside Opportunities, to work out in the real world." 

"We heard the jobs and the pay aren't the best, but it's sure as heck gotta be better than Lowly Camp." 

"Negative speech about Sunnyvale Third Circle Center detected. Noted," Rick's Cardex said. 

Screw you, Rick mouthed, pointing at his Cardex, and we laughed. 

"So, basically, we're pretty big here at camp," Kevin continued. "We have some influence over who gets on the list, although we could never get on ourselves. Dr. Powers hates our guts."

"Kevin, Steve, and Rick could try to get you on the list," Indie smiled. 

"Really!?" Julie gasped excitedly. 

"Yep," Kevin grinned. "They're making the announcement of this month's list in two days. I'll see what I can do before then. See you around, kids!" 

"Bye!" April beamed, and as soon as the four of them were gone, the three of us almost simultaneously screamed "YESSS!" 

"Hey, Dr. Powers is coming!" An older kid yelled, yanking the Proud Americans list off the wall and stuffing it into his pocket. 

"What are you doing, standing around like this?" the Camp Director barked. "Get to work!" 

Groaning, the Lowlies dispersed to their various assignments. This week, my room was assigned kitchen duty. 

"This is disgusting!" April scrunched up her nose in disgust as we entered the kitchen, where a pot of the typical brown mush, which I had learned Lowlies referred to as Glop, boiled on a stove, already emitting its putrid odor.