"Darn right, it's when," you say, with a confident grin.
Josephine is not the grinning type, but she gives you a thin smile and inclines her head in an approving nod. "Indeed."
Josephine rises smoothly. The lesson is over. "You will win," she says once more, looking down at you. "I did not choose lightly when I chose you. And I did not choose incorrectly. I expect the cup in one week's time."
No pressure, right?
Next
There's a restless feeling on the Great Field at morning announcements the Monday after you return from Kingsport. The campers are fidgety with excitement, and there's a buzz of gossip circulating among the counselors.
That's unusual, actually; the camp has been pretty calm. There are hardly ever any campers waiting outside Ms. Martin's office for the camp equivalent of a visit to the principal's office, and most of the counselors are getting along with each other pretty well, too.
The Great Field instantly falls silent when Ms. Martin steps up with her megaphone and calls, "Good morning, Camp Cedarcrest!"
"GOOD MORNING, MS. MARTIN!"
"I see a lot of excited faces out there!" Ms. Martin exclaims in her usual too-bright tone. "And I bet I know why! You know what this week is, right?"
Everyone who's been to Camp Cedarcrest before shouts back, "Colorwars!"
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"That's right!" Ms. Martin beams. "It's Colorwars! We're going to divide the camp into two teams, Green and Blue. And on Friday, those teams are going to compete in a series of events. There will be sports and talent shows and a lot more. And I'm going to want to see your team spirit, too! There will be victory points awarded for the best-decorated cabin.
"The winner gets the Cedarcrest Cup! Every cabin on the winning team gets to keep the cup in their cabin for one night!"
"Just like the Stanley Cup!" Noah says, setting off another round of excited murmurs from the other campers.
You already know all about the Cedarcrest Cup, because Josephine told you—and you already know what you want to do about it.
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"…and here are the team assignments for the Muskrats," Ms. Martin is saying.
The youngest campers—the Otters—are already bouncing around with excitement from their team assignments, especially the ones on the Blue team, whose leader is Graham, the Otters' head counselor. Across the field from him is Casey, ready to lead the Green team.
Now it's your turn. "Cabin 11, Blue. Cabin 12, Green." Another wave of cheers goes up—and then another, as the next set of cabins is sorted into their teams.
Next to you, Pearl is grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, this is going to be fun," she murmurs, with a glint of anticipation in her eyes. "I want that cup. We're gonna win this thing."
On the other side, Violet—the arts-and-crafts counselor, who's been hanging around with Samira a lot lately—isn't feeling as happy about it. "Are you sure you're okay with this? I mean, you're friends! It feels wrong to have the whole camp divided up against each other."
Samira gives her a little smile of reassurance. "Oh, no, it will be fine. I do model UN, remember? People take sides, but that's just the game. It's like being in a play where your characters are enemies, but you're not enemies. That's how I want to play Colorwars. And that's how I'm going to tell Cabin 11 to play it, too."
"Right," Pearl declares. "We just play the game straight up, and we'll be friends after. May the best team win."
Violet doesn't seem to have noticed a thing; she smiles with just as much relief as if you'd actually meant what you said. "Good! I'm glad you feel the same way."
Pearl doesn't call you out either. "Okay. Let's go find a lot of green things to decorate the cabin."
Back At The Cabin
Ten minutes later, every camper in Cabin 12 is tearing through their belongings, pulling out every bit of green they can find so you can get started on decorating the cabin.
What are you going for in your decorating scheme?
Something that celebrates camp spirit will win you a lot of Colorwars points. But it might not be the most beautiful thing you could come up with, and definitely won't be the most orderly. Or, maybe order and spirit aren't your priorities at all—maybe you should just let the campers decide what to do, so that they'll be happy. It will be chaotic, but it will be fun.
"You know what would make the best decorations for the cabin?" you ask. And then you answer your own question: "The best decorations are the ones that you love the most!"
"Yeah!" everyone calls back.
"Glitter is beautiful!" Justine shrieks.
"Dinosaurs are beautiful!" Dylan shouts.
"Wait—" You try to redirect them, but it's too late; the chaos has already taken hold.
For the next hour, the campers flail around the cabin, strewing clutter everywhere as they assemble their most beautiful things. Funny-looking rocks, their favorite T-shirts, an extravagant waterfall of green streamers framing a pile of Camp Cedarcrest hats.
Campers keep wandering off, too, to bring back new beautiful things from outside. "I found a frog!" Cody announces proudly, holding it out so that you can see. "It's green, for the Green team."
At least they're trying to go along with the green theme and celebrate camp spirit?
They might be having fun, but they're not making the cabin any more beautiful—or any neater, for that matter. You're starting to suspect that taking decorating tips from nine-year-olds might not have been the best move.
You're even more sure of it when Ms. Martin and the rest of the judging team come around. "Er," says Ms. Martin. "I can see that you were all…enthusiastic." She gives you a severe look over the tops of the campers' heads; clearly she blames you for not reining them in more.
And just as clearly, you are not winning any points for the Green team.
Even worse, Cody's frog has hopped away. He looks like he's about to cry.
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