Up The Down Escalator

Chapter 8

This year, I was going to a new camp. It was called Camp Tazmir. My sister had been going there for a couple of years and I was really happy to be starting it. Camp Tazmir was a performing and visual arts camp. That basically meant that it was the only place that social outcasts like me and my sister Hannah could go and actually be ourselves.
It had majors and minors like at college. The major that you choose is the thing that you spend most of the day working on. The minor that you choose is the thing that, for two hours per day, you talk about, while drinking coffee.
Camp Tazmir was only two weeks long because apparently, it is too expensive for the owners to hire the staff for longer than that. Evidently, the camp was not very well known.
That year, I was majoring in chamber music and minoring in dance. I had never really been that into dance but I could dance and I needed some form of exercise daily. Camp Tazmir didn't have any sports options.
The second I boarded the bus, that would take me and the rest of the camp to the campus in upstate New York, I could tell that this camp was different from Roses, my other sleep away camp.
All of the girls (yes, this is all girls too) on the bus actually went up to other people and introduced themselves instead of just sitting in their own little cliques.
A girl with dirty-blonde hair comes up to me. She looks a lot older than me but seems nice enough.
"Hi," she says with a smile. A genuine one.
"Hi," I say, returning the smile.
It seems to encourage her to go on.
"I'm Violet Reance. I assume you're new here."
"Oh, am I that obvious?" I ask.
Violet laughs.
"Don't worry," she says "I've been here five years. At this point I know the signs: half nervous half excited expression, not hugging anyone, hidden instrument." She points to my flute, slightly visible, peeking out from a space in my backpack.
"Oh yeah, that" I say, shifting my bag to my other shoulder.
"It's okay," Violet replies. "We're all very open about our majors here. No one will judge you or anything. I'm majoring in vocals. You're the first flutist here, you know"
Suddenly, Violet sights Hannah stepping onto the bus.
"See you later," she says, walking down the aisle towards her and then she stops and turns around "you look a lot like your sister by the way."
Violet runs to Hannah and hugs her hard and the two start talking animatedly. 
I stand there open mouthed. She had known I was Hannah's sister the whole time and hadn't commented on the fact at all!
So, yeah, within the first five minutes, I was impressed by the place.
My camp experience only got better after that. The activities were awesome, the people were awesome. The second I met the staff, I knew that I had finally found people that I could actually trust forever.
I tried to wear long sleeved shirts every day to cover up the scars on my arms that hadn't totally faded yet. It was really hot but it worked.
In all, camp was great.
But, then the two weeks were up and I went back home. Once I got home, there were two weeks left until I headed off to Roses.
I filled it pretty well. The first week, I went to this really geeky, week long, engineeringoish program. That was fun and I actually think I learned more there than I had through my entire nine years at RYNJ. Like the important lesson that, when you're going to a program where the ratio of boys to girls is 4 to 1 and there are twenty four kids in all for gods sake STICK WITH THE GIRLS.
Anyways, the next week I spent at a horseback riding camp, we're all we did was sit around talking about pop culture. Yeah, that place was weird.
And then Roses started and that was when my freaking mess of a life decided to start acting up again.

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Well, that was fun.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck by me so far. A promise, thing will get more interesting sometime soon. I have LOTS of ideas *evil cackle*.
Anyways, please continue to read, vote, and comment. It is much appreciated.
Don't die.
(;(: ;):)
__Abigail__