My Summer Camp Love Story

Chapter 1- First Day All Over

Camp La Vie, the place of happiness and life. Or that’s what they tell us. This is the place that my mom has dropped me off for summer camp every year since I was six years old, but it’s not like it sucks. I mean you get to meet so many different kinds of people every year and even start over in a way. You don’t have to be ‘that girl’ that everyone thinks you are. Summer camp is even kind of fun, but I would never tell anyone that of course. This year is different though, it’s not the same as the past ten. I’m not a camper anymore. I am a counselor in training, or CIT for short. Yippee, now don’t get me wrong I love kids but this, this is just all really new. I've never like, worked with kids before.

Oh, you’re probably wondering who this almost sixteen year old girl, that is talking to you right now, is. My name is Zombie, but don’t ask what that stands for, it is just a camp name after all. And you should probably also know that my fantastic, wonderful, once in a lifetime sweet sixteen is also this summer. I know, I get to spend my sweet sixteen in the middle of nowhere while a hundred people who you barely even know sing happy birthday to you. I’m so excited (Note the sarcasm).  

But if you don’t know, it works like this, you wake up and your whole cabin says happy birthday to you, then you go out and do your day. You do different activities while everyone says happy birthday throughout the day. Then at dinner, you sit down at your table and suddenly the whole staff starts singing happy birthday. It’s great, really it is. But after ten years, I don’t want it anymore.

While every other teenage girl wants the perfect party, with the perfect dress, and the perfect cake, and the perfect freaking car, all I want is to spend it alone. To me, my birthday is just another day. It’s not really that special. But whatever I guess.

Enough of that, let's get to the actual day that awaits us. I will even paint you a picture. It starts like this, you wake up at the crack of dawn by your mom yelling at you to finish the packing that you have barely started on. Then after that you shower and get dressed and blah blah blah. You run down the stairs with your suitcase in one hand and you hair brush in the other. Sit down on top of the kitchen counter, and brush out your chocolate brown hair that cascades down your back while being lectured on why you should of packed last night.

Then after all of that is done you get in your moms car (because you still can’t drive) and start the drive to the bus stop. While in the car you get into a five minute debate on why you need to stop at starbucks to get some coffee. And by the time that you have coffee and breakfast, you get to the bus stop. Then your mom starts a frenzy of “do you have this?” and “I am going to miss you so much” and lastly, “you are growing up so much, I am gonna cry” and blah blah blah. And finally after all of that, you check in and get on the bus and start the eightish hour bus ride to camp. Feel rushed yet? Good, because that is me every single summer.

Now I will spare you of all the boring details of the bus ride and cut straight to getting to camp. Well cut as close as I can get I guess. So after sitting on a bus for like seven hours, that plays stupid movies for four year olds, we finally pull into the camp. The first day is nothing important to be honest. All we do is meet our new cabin mates, go to swim checks then eat dinner, and lastly we go to open campfire and then bed.

As we pull into the bus lot all of the younger kids start getting super excited and start bouncing around the bus. I remember when that was never me. You see, my first couple of years here I was super shy and would hide in the back, away from everyone on the bus. Then came my awkward middle school years when I thought that I was so cool but was really the weirdest kid ever, I swear.

As the bus comes to a halt, one of the camp directors comes up onto the bus and gives the same set of directions that they tell us every single year.