Campfires & Rainbows

Chapter 3

"Hey! Hey! WAKE UP! Oh. My. God. Are you two like deaf or something?"

I awoke to the most annoying voice in the world. I slowly blink, my eyes opening to find Tiffany drooling on my shoulder. And a tall, freckled, hazel-eyed girl looking down at us. She was wearing a gray t-shirt, black leggings and black vans.

"Oh My God, is she drooling on you? Oh my gosh, ew!" The girl ran away, acting like she was about to barf.

Tiffany finally woke up. "Huh? Oh, but," A redhead came up to both of us, replacing the brunette. She looked a lot like the brunette but had fiery red hair.

"Sorry about Brittany, she's just in a bad mood. My names Riley," She extended her hand to me.

"She's always in a bad mood," Tiffany grumbled.

Riley shrugged, "She's my sister, I'm stuck with her for the rest of my life; might as well be optimistic."

Tiffany was still groggy but just shrugged.

"So, Tiffers, you gonna tell me who your cute friend is?" She probably didn't mean it in a flirty way but none the less, I started blushing.

My face was probably as red as her hair.

"Oh, this is Devin Chase. She's a newbie. By the way, what did Brittney want?"

"Well, in case you haven't noticed, the bus is practically empty and we're at a complete stop." Feeling dumb, both Tiffany and I looked around the bus. It was true. Riley, Tiffany, and I were the only ones left on the bus.

"Shit, let's go. I don't want to be late for the first meeting." Tiffany quickly stood up and put on her bright yellow backpack.

~~~

Outside, there were 5 lines all leading to a tiny table with a counselor. The lines were extremely long and I honestly felt like turning around, going back on the bus, and sleeping some more.

"Devin!" I saw a tiny girl with bright pink hair, violently waving her arms to get my attention. She was very close to the front of the line, second in line.

"Hey, guys, c'mon follow me," I said, grabbing Tiffany's and Riley's hands. "Hey, Tiny, I brought a few others with me hope you don't mind."

"Hi!" She exclaimed excitedly. "My name's Tiny, what's yours?" Nope, she didn't mind.

There were so many kids here. Each bus could hold about 40 kids. There are three buses so that's about 120 kids...120 kids whose families have a problem with who they are. 120 kids whose summer, hopefully, gets better.

"Excuse me?" I snapped back into reality to see a woman with a kind face looking at me. "May I take your name?"

"Devin Chase." She squinted her eyes and typed something into her computer.

"Ah, here we are... I'm going to ask you some questions and please don't be shy about answering. We're here to help you." She smiled.

"Uh, yeah, okay."

"What gender do you identify as?"

"Female."

"Are you comfortable with your real name?"

"Yes, I am."

"Sexuality?"

I blushed at that question, "Homosexual."

"What pronouns would you like us to use?"

"Um, her, she."

"Are there any other campers you would like to be roomed with?"

"Aurora Ross, Riley Anderson, and Tiffany Johnson."

"Okay, is there anything else you would like the counselors to know?"

"Uh, no I don't think so."

"Okay, feel free to tell the counselors if there is something," She beamed. I passed the table and went over to where the girls were waiting for me.

"She's so nice, I already love her!" Tiny squeaked ecstatically.

"Tiny, you love anyone in a ten-mile radius." Tiffany rolled her eyes.

"Enough talking, there is food calling my name," I said. We all got in line. The food looked fantastic! The food actually looked like real food, which is surprising since most school lunch looks like something even a rat would reject. I loved that they were very open in their options; they had options for vegans, vegetarians, and so on. I got some yogurt, a subway sandwich, and lemonade. When we sat down the head counselor, Dean Higgins, walked up to the stage; the mini, hastily assembled, and lowered stage. I honestly didn't know how to describe it.

"I hope you guys are enjoying your food!" A bunch of cheers erupted. "Now, each of you will be assigned to a cabin. There are 12 cabins in total. They are all named after animals. The first cabin is the Wolf Cabin. Its members are Asmaa Almasi, Brittany Anderson, Riley Anderson, Aurora Ross, Eva Mills, Tiffany Johnson, Megan Lance, Natalie Ward, Nicole Vega and Devin Chase, and the wolves will be led by counselor Page Randall." He announced.

At that, Tiffany and Riley tried to make wolf howling sounds but failed miserably; they sounded like dying cats.

After he finished reading the list for the other cabins, he then introduced us to the head counselors.

"I would like to introduce you all to my husband, ." A boy from the next table over whistled at Josh.

"Mine." Dean grabbed Josh into a protective hug, playfully glaring at the boy. " Sarah Prince her wife Arsama Prince. Also, our transgender counselors Hannah May and James Fey . The reason why I presented them to you like this is so that you know we are just like you. We went through the same things as you did and are here to help you. Support you. And most of all, accept you."