camp saga

v

i know more queer people than i know cishet people at this point. aaaaanyways, this chapter has a lot of important details. i had to put a lot of planning into multiple parts of it, it even required some (ugh) basic math. what i'm saying is, love me 😂😂 jk

anywayyys enjoy!

"i slept on my own those nights / was still in my parents' house / And I cut off my t-shirt sleeves / and claim a new continent"

"okay, everyone, please quiet down! take your seats!" alan calls to get our attention. a few kids randomly sit at our table, one particular kid catching my eye. they look like a freckled, grunge, androgynous babe. and i think they're lowkey glaring at me.

once everyone's seated, alan gets up again. i quickly check the time. 7:24.

alan clears his throat. "okay. hi. welcome everyone, again, to camp saga. as i said earlier, i'm alan. alan gibson." dawn gets up next to him and he puts a hand on her shoulder. she smiles.

"my name's dawn watson. i co-founded camp saga 7 years ago, with a good friend of mine, peyton gonzalez." another woman, a pretty hispanic lady, stands up and grins, then puts her arm around dawn.

"when peyton and i founded it, it was because we knew how hard it could be for lgbt kids to live in unaccepting households, and we wanted to find a way to help them. i'm not ashamed to admit that peyton came up with the idea of a support camp." peyton grins.

"hell yeah i did. anyways, you're all here because of your parents. but you don't need to have any kind of toxic environment. you're safe here." she clears her throat. "i began my transition when i was 19. i'm 26 now. and while i'm sure that you may not be able to live safely at home, or transition, or love who you want...here, you can."

"today's been a bit of a mess," alan says, "but as of tomorrow, we will be following a specific schedule. said schedule is being handed out right now."

i turn my attention to the green-haired guy, terrence. damn green hair. why green? he's handing out papers, and when he gets to ours and places a few on the table, i'm the first to get one. he looks me in the eyes and grins, and i realize that he was the other guy signing people in, next to aria.

my schedule reads:

6:30-9:00 ~ breakfast

9:00-9:15 ~ daily announcements

9:15-10:00 ~ free time

10:00-12:00 ~ recreations w/ counselors

12:00-1:00 ~ lunch

1:00-1:15 ~ free time

1:15-3:30 ~ group activities (w/ assigned group)

3:30-5:00 ~ woods activities (w/ alan) (on saturdays this time is used for camp adventures, along with the time for group activities)

5:00-6:00 ~ individual counseling for anyone who needs it, otherwise free time

6:00-7:30 ~ dinner

7:30-9:00 ~ campfire (not mandatory but 100% recommended)

9:00-9:30 ~ end of day talk/announcements/recap

9:30 ~ curfew

some of these look particularly intruiging. like, group activities with assigned group? camp adventures on saturdays? individual counseling?

alan looks at me and chuckles as he says, "i'm sure you have many questions. we've got more to say, so wait until the end for questions, please. so, camp rules. peyton?"

she leans against a post. "yeah. okay, rule one is that nobody's allowed in the woods before 10 am or after dinner. you'd do well to follow that one. rule number two, is that you need an adult's permission to go into the woods unless you're going with your group. even then, your group needs to be with you."