Camp Firefly Sisters

Chapter 14
Camp Firefly Sisters, Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

Second place.

An improvement from our circle’s showing in Dodgeball, and pretty much the exact result my team expected with the strategy they came up with. While the girls around me were excited to be keeping up with the 8th grade circles for the most part, the near-victory didn’t mean much to me when I needed our team to actually win something before Paige lifted a finger to help me out of the mess she created.

We were all given a break to get changed before the next activity of the morning. In proper camp fashion, there wasn’t really any time to shower. The majority of the campers were fine going about their day after sweating, being covered in lake water, and so on. There were probably a few who had been sent to camp without realizing just how outdoorsy it was, but not many based on the energy of the girls I was surrounded with most of the time.

The walk back to the cabins was just as uncomfortable as when some of the girls and I had to make our way to the other side of the lake. I still had all that sand in my one piece. Aside from the chafing that I could absolutely feel after the extended time dealing with Rachel’s ‘challenge,’ girls this age were all kinds of immature. I received several comments about how it looked like I pooped myself, which eventually led to my second dare/challenge from one of my cabinmates.

“Hey, I have an idea,” Ally said, “How about we revoke Maddie’s bathroom privileges?”

Umm, what? She had waited until the girls from our cabin had broken off from the rest of the group heading to Circle B. Even so, I was immediately embarrassed by something being said so casually in front of a number of others.

Bailey giggled and immediately agreed. “That’s a great idea! It’s your first year at camp, Maddie. You need to embrace the outdoors! How long, Ally?”

“Hmm, three days seems fair,” she said, “No toilet paper, either. You’ll have to find a good leaf!”

“Absolutely not,” I scoffed. I couldn’t help myself. This was all Mckenna’s fault, so I had been playing nice with the campers I was stuck with. Being aloof had already made me seem a little bit shy; I didn’t want to be seen as rude or bitchy when I’d be sleeping in the same room as girls who were probably into childish pranks or whatever. But the suggestion that I needed to relieve myself outside was too much. “I’m not doing that,” I flatly responded.

Bailey stepped in front of me, stopping abruptly and crossing her arms. “You have to, Maddie. Everyone gets to give you a challenge. This is Ally’s.”

She was weirdly intimidating as a young teenager with wet hair. Mostly since this was a dramatic contrast to her usual more friendly and bubbly demeanor. That, and she was a little taller than me. I had also been treated like a girl her age for several days now, which didn’t help my confidence. “Then I’ll just do the forfeit, or whatever,” I muttered. That was how dares worked, right? I had already forgotten the details of the hazing-like ritual she and Rachel had explained. At the time, I had been more focused on the ranked relay.

“It’s not a forfeit, it’s a pass,” Bailey rolled her eyes, “And you only get one. Is this the challenge you want to skip?”

Well, a pass was better than a forfeit penalty. The only issue is that I would be wasting it on the second challenge thrown at me. It had been less than two hours since Rachel had given me hers, which meant I couldn’t count on getting back to my normal summer life before dealing with any number of future challenges from the other Cabin 4 girls.

Trying to negotiate, I said, “One day. That’s fair.” 

“Ally? It’s your challenge.” Bailey didn’t look impressed by my counter, but she deferred to the other girl for the ruling.

“Four days,” Ally smiled, “Three for my challenge, and the one Maddie just offered for complaining about a Camp Firefly tradition.”

“Four days it is,” Bailey nodded, “So, is she allowed in the bathroom at all?”

“Hmm. Well, she can brush her teeth outside. And shower in the lake.” As if those were perfectly normal alternatives to using clean, running water. Glancing up in thought for a moment, she decided, “Maddie can wash her hands in the bathroom. But she needs someone to go with her to make sure she’s not cheating.”

There was no way. “Then I’m using my pass.” The Camp Firefly facilities were bad enough as it was. Having to use nothing but nature, however, was something well outside my comfort zone.

“Too late,” Bailey said, “You had your chance for that. Bargaining with a challenge means that you’re up for it.”

“What? That’s not fair; you never said that.” For a moment, I really did sound like a girl their age. Even if I was right.

Bailey just smiled. “That’s part of the fun. You don’t get to know all the rules. You’re a new Firefly, Maddie. You’re going to have to learn as you go.”

So much for Bailey always being on my side. While she was perfectly welcoming on the first day, she clearly appreciated camp traditions too much. Now that I had been eased into camper life, I was being thrown in the deep end by her and the others. Dares and pranks and all the other nonsense girls their age thought was fun.

When I failed to further argue, mostly since I was so thrown off by being bossed around by Bailey, she said, “Alright, four days without bathroom privileges. Have you ever taken a lake shower?” The look on my face must have said everything, as she chuckled in response. “They’re kind of fun. Just make sure you choose a private spot!”

Uh huh. I was already thinking about sneaking off to the bathroom in the middle of the night, kind of like I had been doing. If I absolutely had to use the lake, I’d keep my underwear on. There was no way I was getting naked in the woods.

After I ‘agreed’ to the terms, completely under duress from the peer pressure of the whole group expecting me to rise to the challenge, Rachel pointed out that we needed to get moving or we’d be late to the next activity. Not that being punctual meant much. Unlike classes at school, the counselors didn’t seem to mind girls filtering in. Partly since most of them were teenagers themselves that didn’t take rules too seriously, as well as how it would be difficult to time the shifts perfectly when everyone was so spread out with different circles, outdoor activities, etc.

Right away, I had to deal with the complications of Ally’s challenge. Theoretically, I could just change out of the one piece in the cabin. Except getting naked in front of the younger girls felt a lot more awkward and inappropriate than being seen in my underwear when getting dressed for the day. That, and how I needed to deal with the sand. I was less concerned with it spilling onto the cabin floor and more focused on how it was going to take more than simply removing my swimsuit to get rid of all the grains that would linger. From my experience at the beach, a simple rinse wasn’t enough to remove everything; even if I could take a shower, there wasn’t enough time.

Against my better judgment, I tossed on a pair of shorts and the camper tee over my one piece once we were back at the cabin. That way, I didn’t have to strip, and I could step outside before the other girls started removing their swimwear. The downside, obviously, was that I was going to have to suffer through the large lump of sand until I had a chance to steal away from the next activity. Or from lunch afterwards.

This time, I decided to break off from my group. They were interested in doing frisbee golf; that much walking in my current state didn’t sound particularly appealing. I opted for some arts & crafts activity, at which point Ally asked if I could be trusted by myself. “She could try and cheat,” she pointed out.

She wasn’t wrong. That was the other potential upside of separating myself from the others, though I’d still have to deal with the buddy system thing. “I’m not going to cheat,” I insisted.

“Hmm, do you want to babysit her?” Bailey asked Ally, “You could always do Maddie’s activity.”

Ally considered the idea, as the other girls quietly laughed at the suggestion that I needed such supervision. “I guess I could keep an eye on her. I’m pretty terrible at throwing frisbees, anyway.”

“I don’t-” I started to say, only to be cut off.

“You’re a new Firefly, Maddie,” Bailey said, “That makes you the youngest in spirit. At least, in Cabin 4. So yes, you do need a babysitter. You’re not allowed out of Ally’s sight, okay?”

Whatever. I probably would have been stuck in the next activity anyway, since there would only be so much I could do about my situation if someone was sent to the bathroom with me. Plus there was a chance one of the girls in my cabin would hear about it, if they were friends with that camper. If anything, I was more annoyed that Ally was going out of her way to supervise me, especially when the other girls were amused by the concept.

Echoing my internal sentiment, I just said, “Whatever.” As far as I was concerned, I was once again just waiting things out until the next ranked game. Only this time around, I couldn’t just keep my head down and be a regular camper. Not when I was dealing with the aftermath of Rachel’s challenge, as well as this new complication to my routine. And there were still three girls to go in terms of the ‘initiation’ I was expected to get through.

“Such attitude,” Bailey rolled her eyes, “Good thing you have a babysitter. Ally, do you think you can manage her?”

“Of course!” Ally exclaimed. Sidling up to me, she took my hand and gave a small squeeze. She was only an inch or two taller than me, but that felt like a lot more when she was only in middle school. “Come on, Maddie. You’re with me. Have fun at frisbee golf, everyone!”

The only reason I let Ally keep my hand was because I didn’t want to make a scene. Being perceived as a 7th grader by campers and counselors alike was embarrassing enough; now, I was being patronized thanks to how I was both the newbie and on the smaller side compared to those I was sharing a cabin with.

As soon as we separated from the group, I tugged away from her grip. “You had to do challenges like this?” I asked, on the way to our activity. It belatedly occurred to me that she and the others would have all been first-time campers last year.

Understanding what I was getting at, she said, “Camp Firefly used to have rising 4th and 5th grade girls, too. Pixie told me they changed the cut-off because it was easier to plan activities when everyone’s around the same maturity. I heard they started some Camp Firefly Junior or something for just the elementary school girls.”

That must have been before Mckenna’s time. And so much for calling bullshit on the ‘tradition’ being thrust on me. “Do the counselors know about it?” That could be an option to get out of it.

Ally shut that down right away. “Those that were campers, yeah. They turn a blind eye to us, and you won’t be doing yourself any favors by tattling. Come on, you’ll be done with our challenges before you know it. And next year, you can pick something for a new girl in your own cabin.”

Uh huh. Except I wouldn’t be here next summer. And the likelihood of a rising 8th grade girl joining a new camp out of the blue seemed less likely. Either way, not a motivator for me.

With how Mckenna had plenty of sway over her fellow counselors, and the one or two eye rolls I had received from Gwen on that first day, I was inclined to take Ally’s advice. Whining to someone about camper drama wouldn’t exactly look good, plus my cabinmates would probably work together to deny my accusation. Bailey already seemed like she was in a bit of a mood over the course of the morning; I didn’t need to get on her bad side, or on the bad side of any of the girls that I was sharing lodging with until we finally managed to win something.

For whatever reason, I had expected arts and crafts to be indoors. While it wasn’t that much cooler in the mess hall, a break from the sun would have been nice. Instead, the counselor in charge had set things up on a handful of wooden picnic tables near the main area of camp. She looked like she was Mckenna’s age; I hadn’t met her yet. Save for me and Ally, and a handful of other girls, the majority of those present were rising 6th campers. Presumably those who had been pressured to attend Camp Firefly by their parents, and were currently doing the exact same thing I was doing. While part of this had been to take a break from the girls I had been with practically 24/7 since my arrival, it was also a way to avoid even more physical activity in the summer heat.

The activity? Painting rocks. A little bit childish, but it wasn’t as if something like that was just for children. Plenty of girls in my grade colored as a way to kill time in class and/or because it was somewhat relaxing. This was no different. Mindless painting certainly beat a long hike.

I followed Ally to a mostly open table, grimacing a bit as I sat on the pile of sand trapped between my backside and the one piece. There was still so much in there. I hadn’t managed to get a moment of privacy since Rachel’s challenge. All I needed was a minute or two, and I could let a decent amount out by stretching the leg holes away from myself down there.

Ally sat across from me. She reached over and grabbed two small paintbrushes–one for each of us–and handed me one of them. “As your babysitter,” she said, sounding both teasing and casual about her unofficial role in the absence of the others, “We should go over some ground rules.”