Camp Aldrin

Check-In

Ryan's Pov

As I sit in the backseat of my dad's sedan, I think of the horrors of summer camp. Bullying, pranks, truth or dare, crushes... I've never been a fan.

Last time I was at summer camp, they lined me up next to other girls and decided I was fatter than the rest of them.

After that I've been able to convince my parents not to make me go to that camp again. And I haven't.

But this year I've been going through some stuff.. My family found out how depressed I've been, about my thoughts of suicide. I started seeing a therapist and now I'm on the way to some psycho kids camp. Camp Aldrin, I think? Like the astronaut.

"Ry, wake up, we're here" my dad yells as he slams into park, causing me to snap out of my dream-like state.

I roll my eyes, unbuckle the seat belt I was pretending to use, and push open the car door.

The second I step out, the smell of dirt and lake and wood surrounds me, and my eyes take a moment to adjust to the sunlight.

Once adjusted, I see a long line of kids waiting outside a cabin with a plastic banner on the side labeled "Check-ins here!".

Great.

My dad slams his door and walks over with me to the line and we stand in the back, remaining silent.

The people in front of me talk to each other, girls reconnecting from last year, boys pointing out which girls they thought were cute. Some parents were talking to their kids about the camp, some kids talked back. I did see a lot of people that didn't look like they were happy to be here.

I was one of those kids.

***

After they opened the doors, the line of kids all ages flooded into the big room that looked like all camp cafeterias. Gross.

The first station was sign-ins, to make sure your name was on the list.

The second station was medication, where I had to go hand in my prescription drugs for anxiety and depression.

So embarrassing..

The third station was group sign-ups. There were papers spread on a table, with the name of the group leader, the names of the people in the group, and where it was.

My eyes found a list with a leader named "Julia".

Julia was a sweet name to me, she sounded kind and funny and relatable.

I scribbled down my name on that paper and moved on to station four.

Lice check.

I cringed at the thought of lice being in anyone's hair.

Vomit.

While I wait in line, only a few spots behind, a girl in front of me refuses to do the check.

What was her problem?

She was short, maybe 5 feet tall, and had thick brown hair that was tied up in a bun. She looked like a nice kid, but she really didn't want to be lice checked.

Her mom, who looked nothing like her, had to come and force her to sit down while a counselor parted different bits of her hair and checked them.

I looked closely and noticed the girl was crying.. I wanted so badly to go give her a hug but I didn't know her.

"I hope she's okay" I whisper to my dad as the girl trudges out of the cafeteria, shielded by her mom's arm.

When it gets to my turn, I sit still as the counselor combs through my thin, ginger hair.

"Have you been here before?" she asks, tugging through a tangle.

"No" I reply quietly.

"No? Well I bet it'll be a great week!" she says perkily. How annoying.

I don't reply, but she tells me I'm done so I wave before leaving the cafeteria.

"Where to now?" dad asks, scanning a pamphlet.

"Cabins. You can go, I'll see you in a couple weeks." I blow a stray hair out of my face and pick up my luggage.

"Okay. Love you, kiddo" he pats my back before getting back in the car.

"Love you too" I whisper, hauling my heavy luggage up to the cabins.

**

I scan the titles of the cabins, trying to remember the name of mine.

One is called "C2" which seems familiar from the list, so I try that one.

Opening the door, I peek inside at the two women sitting on a big gray couch. They have lanyards with name tags on them, so I assume they're leaders.

The shorter one jumps up from the couch, "Hi!".

Great, another perky one.

"Hey" I say back, closing the door behind me with my foot.

"I'm Maggie. You can go pick a room, each room has a bunk bed, so if you find an empty one you'll have your choice of top or bottom. Once you're done moving in and unpacking, you can come join us in the family room for get-to-know games!"

Maggie is kind of hard to take, but I smile and thank her before going and unpacking.

I did manage to find an empty room, so my buddy hasn't arrived yet.

The cabin was kind of odd, something I'd never seen. They were long, so the "rooms" had plenty of space, and a curtain that you could close. Across from every room was another room, so if the curtains weren't closed, you could see the buddies across from you.

I just thought it was interesting.

I looked around the cabin a bit before heading into the "Family room".

There I met the people I'd be spending the next couple weeks with.

If they didn't like me, my time would be ruined.

What if they were like the girls from last time?

Oh gosh..

A panic attack was on the way.

Great.