When I woke up the first thing, I saw was the note I had written the night before. A sick feeling came to my stomach, and I quickly looked away to Jory who was fast asleep. The sun was out so it had to be past five but everyone else was dead asleep. I turned around and found the alarm clock on the floor beside a sleeping figure named Mac and Cheese. It was 6:04 in the morning and I was wide awake. I pulled Cutie to my chest and sighed. All I could think about was how I already wanted to go home. I loved all the new friends that I had just met but this was still too much for me. Hayden flashed into my mind, and I frowned. I never wanted to talk to him ever again and being three and a half hours away from him gave me some comfort, but I still wanted to go home and tell Meegan that she was wrong, and I never wanted to come here again. I looked over at Jory again and smiled. Why would I want to leave yet with so many memories unfinished. It's not like I could try and act badly. That just wasn't me and my parents would kill me. When I looked back at the clock it was 6:44 and the alarm was going to ring at any moment. I had let my memory wander way too much. I sat up and started to climb down the bunk bed because people haven't invented ladders yet. I got my clothes, my towel, and my toiletries. Before I left, I glanced at the alarm clock again and it said 6:49. The alarm had not gone off and all the other girls were still fast asleep. I grabbed the door handle and opened the door. The warm sun was on my face. Smiling, I looked around and no one was outside. I walked into the bathroom and made a B-line to the showers and hopped into the nearest open one.
The water hit my bare skin and cascaded down my back. I washed my hair and quietly hummed our theme song. When I was done, I got out and got dressed because who would walk out naked in front of everyone. I went to my cabin once again and all the girls were awake, and Jory was nowhere to be seen. I put my stuff on the pile that had once been neatly in my suitcase and walked back to the washroom. Brooklyn and Jory were in front of the mirrors doing who knows what and Izzy was getting changed in the stall.
When everyone was done, we all walked together to the Pavilions front doors. There was already a crowd of kids waiting for the door to open. Most of them were boys and they were all in a group talking about boy stuff. My group slowly mingled with other groups that had come and talked about the banquet. That was all that seemed to be important to girls at the moment. I hadn't given one thought to it. Yes, I had the dress and a makeup bag that I filled with the most important powders to make me more beautiful, but it was unlikely that I would ever use any of them.
The doors opened and we all piled in. I was one of the last people to get in the doors because I hadn't been in this reality, and I always realize too late that the doors open. Fortunately, my friends aren't like me and always get to the front of the line and I just meet up with them. My mouth started to water as I saw the piles on piles of pancakes. I instantly got a huge smile on my face and turned to my friends.
"Jory there are pancakes and lots of them" I said
"I know, '' Jory said while having a huge smile and she started jumping up and down. We all got our pancakes and ate them. I wanted to go back for seconds but I knew that I would be way too full to eat lunch and that would be very bad. After we were finished, we all went to the lower pavilion and ran around till I couldn't feel my legs. I was talking with my clan when I put my hands deep in my pockets. There was paper in my left back pocket. I pulled it out and realized it was the note I had written to Alex. The sick feeling came back to me instantly and I ripped it up so small that no one could ever take all the pieces and get to read the message. Honestly, I didn't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. When I was done, I walked to the garbage and watched all the little pieces fall and disappear under layers of garbage. I walked back to my group, and we all walked together outside and made a circle around the flagpole.
We sang Oh Canada rocking beside each other. When it was over, we all started chatting again. In the corner of my eye, I see the councilors grabbing warm fuzzies and putting them around their necks. I smiled. One by one eight kids got called up. Alex was in that mix. We sang a song each time. Alex Alex hot to go. H O T T O G O a woo hot to go a woo hot to go. We sang that two times and then we were ushered into the Pavillion. I sat with Jory, Brooklynn, and Izzy. We soon hushed when L-smack walked onto the little stage.
"We are going swimming," she yelled. We all cheered. Then we were split into two groups. Bears and penguins. In my head I mentally kicked myself for showering this morning, but I was so excited to go swimming. Jory was in penguins with me. We listened to L-smack and the lifeguard who has an adorable black lab tell us the rules of swimming and then we all went and got our swimming suits on. I changed and then waited for Jory to be done. Then we got our towels and walked to the back of the pavilion and to the stairs that led to the lake. When everyone was with us, we all walked down the stairs and to the dock.
One by one people took their swim test and passed. Some kids didn't go into the lake but who could blame them. The water was freezing. After I was done, I met Jory at the raft out in the lake.
We had fun jumping and diving off. After a while the lifeguard told us to come back to the dock because swim time was over. I swam back to the dock and followed the rest of the kids to the cabins. I changed unwillingly out of my wet clothes and put new ones on. Then I walked to the muster point and waited for the rest of the penguins. When we were all there, we got split into two groups. W0e played kickball and the game felt like it was forever. I really dislike kickball. The only good factor was that most of the kids were worse than me and no one knew that I sucked.
Lunch came and we had grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetables. After we had social time. I saw an opportunity and went to Alex. I felt bad that I was using Brooklynn and Alex so that he wouldn't know I liked him.
"Hey Alex, can I talk to you" I said
"Ya sure" he said. This was it. I was finally going to tell him the truth and ask him to the banquet.
"Brooklynn doesn't like you. It was just a prank" I say. I opened my mouth to say the rest, but he beat me to it.
"Then why did you say that?" He questions.
"I… I thought it would be fun to put two people that hate each other though the other person liked them," I say. I just couldn't tell him I liked him.
"If the prank wasn't on me, I would have thought that was funny too," I said. I watched a small smile drift onto his face.
"Also, could you give this letter to Quinn," I said. I had written a letter to Quinn saying that he may be small, but he has a big personality. I thought it was cute.
"For sure, but one thing. Who is Quinn" Alex says.
"Oh uh… Minion" I answer hoping he knows who that is.
"Oh gotcha," he says
"Ok bye" I said quickly, walking away as fast as I could. We soon got told to go to the back of the Pavillion for a session. I stayed close to Izzy and watched Alex closely. He seemed happier than he was the past two days. I didn't know if it was because Brooklynn didn't like him or because he has had more time to get to know more people. Seanzie made us go into our bear and penguin groups again. Afterwards, we had one person have a shape and the rest of us had to make that shape as best as we could with sometimes lots and sometimes little to no communication allowed. After half a dozen tries, we were sent into the Seminar. We were given a big piece of paper and a few markers per person. We wrote our names, our goals, places we would like to travel to, people we admire, and powers we would like to have.
"Wouldn't it be great if you could talk to animals to see if they are in pain? "Jory says.
"So, you want to be a princess," I said
"Princesses don't talk to animals" Jory says
"If you have seen any Disney movies then you will see that that is the only thing, they do besides marry men they have just met saying its true love" I respond
"I don't want to be a princess," Jory grumbles. I couldn't help but laugh at her. When we were done, we put it on the wall with brown paper bags with our names on them. When we were done, we all sat in front of the stage waiting until further instructions were told to us. After a while the councilors came back up to the front and waited till, we were all quiet. Then the worst news of my life.
"You are all going to write a 2–3-minute speech about a topic and that topic has to be told to Val by tomorrow before lunch. I was so shocked. I loved writing but showing people what I write is a whole different thing altogether. The worst part was we had only two days to write it and I didn't even know what topic to pick. I sighed quietly already worrying about how good my project should be and my parents weren't even here to watch me so why now do I have to be a perfectionist. I guess old habits die hard. After that two chalkboards were pulled out. There were three words on each underlined. The first one had a banquet, rec, and canteen on it and the second one had social, digital, and newspaper. I was sitting with Izzy at the back behind some chairs. The only thing I wanted badly this week was to get into the digital committee. We were all given a number and mine was 19. I waited to hear my number. The first banquet filled up, then rec, then social, then canteen. I was so worried that I wouldn't get into the digital committee. After what seemed forever, I just gave up and not long after that I was getting nudged by Izzy, and I realized my number had just been called. I scanned digital and there were six spots still open.
Digital please" I said in a loud clear voice. After they moved on, I did a little happy dance, and nothing could wipe the smile off my face. I couldn't wait to get started.
When everyone's name was called out, I followed Seanzie to our committee room. There were eight spots open and the kids that filled them were Zach, Justin, Brooke, Brian, Brooklynn, Izzy, Cheyenne, and me. We talked about the PowerPoint and pictures we were going to take. We mostly just talked about what we were going to do and getting all of our equipment ready for our next committee meeting.
We all met in the Seminar again and then were told it was supper time. I smiled and started heading out the door with my friends when something caught my interest. People have been getting their secret friend gifts. I quickly walked to mine and found a note in a heart-shaped card. I put it in my pocket and followed my friends out the door. I was surprised how well everyone was getting along with one another. When I had finished supper, I grabbed my note out of my pocket and opened it. It said, Dear Chloe, you are the most kind and warm-hearted person I know. Love your secret friend. I thought it was so sweet that I put my dishes away and went to my cabin. Then I went to my bed and put it on the side so I could sleep with it around me. Then I went back to the Pavillion. When I got outside my cabin, I saw kids going back into the Seminar, so I followed them. When I got inside, I spotted my friends at the front and sat beside them. There was a Co-op poster on the back, and I started to suspect that there was going to be another session. We chatted about boys and the dance. None of us have dates yet and honestly, I just thought it was another popularity contest I didn't want to be a part of. Micky walked up to the little stage, and we all hushed after a while.
"This is going to be a contest against all the color groups," Mickey said. I got this huge smile on my face because I loved competitions against anyone or doing anything. We got told where to go and my color group had to stay in the main room in the seminar to do a little game. We had to mitch match words with there definition with Lars. When we finished we went to the newspaper room and we had to wait outside until the group after us was
When I woke up the first thing I saw was the note I had written the night before. A sick feeling came to my stomach and I quickly looked away to Jory who was fast asleep. The sun was out so it had to be past five but everyone else was dead asleep. I turned around and found the alarm clock on the floor beside a sleeping figure named Mac and Cheese. It was 6:04 in the morning and I was wide awake. I pulled Cutie to my chest and sighed. All I could think about was how I already wanted to go home. I loved all the new friends that I had just met but this was still too much for me. Hayden flashed into my mind and I frowned. I never wanted to talk to him ever again and being three and a half hours away from him gave me some comfort but I still wanted to go home and tell Meegan that she was wrong and I never wanted to come here again. I looked over at Jory again and smiled. Why would I want to leave yet with so many memories unfinished. It's not like I could try and act badly. That just wasn't me and my parents would kill me. When I looked back at the clock it was 6:44 and the alarm was going to ring at any moment. I had let my memory wander way too much. I sat up and started to climb down the bunk bed because people haven't invented ladders yet. I got my clothes, my towel, and my toiletries. Before I left I glanced at the alarm clock again and it said 6:49. The alarm had not gone off and all the other girls were still fast asleep. I grabbed the door handle and opened the door. The warm sun was on my face. Smiling, I looked around and no one was outside. I walked into the bathroom and made a B-line to the showers and hopped into the nearest open one.
The water hit my bare skin and cascaded down my back. I washed my hair and quietly hummed our theme song. When I was done I got out and got dressed because who would walk out naked in front of everyone. I went to my cabin once again and all the girls were awake and Jory was nowhere to be seen. I put my stuff on the pile that had once been neatly in my suitcase and walked back to the washroom. Brooklyn and Jory were in front of the mirrors doing who knows what and Izzy was getting changed in the stall.
When everyone was done we all walked together to the Pavillions front doors. There was already a crowd of kids waiting for the door to open. Most of them were boys and they were all in a group talking about boy stuff. My group slowly mingled with other groups that had come and talked about the banquet. That was all that seemed to be important to girls at the moment. I hadn't given one thought to it. Yes I had the dress and a makeup bag that I filled with the most important powders to make me more beautiful but it was unlikely that I would ever use any of them.
The doors opened and we all piled in. I was one of the last people to get in the doors because I hadn't been in this reality and I always realise too late that the doors open. Fortunately my friends aren't like me and always get to the front of the line and I just meet up with them. My mouth started to water as I saw the piles on piles of pancakes. I instantly got a huge smile on my face and turned to my friends.
"Jory there are pancakes and lots of them" I said
"I know, '' Jory said while having a huge smile and she started jumping up and down. We all got our pancakes and ate them. I wanted to go back for seconds but I knew that I would be way too full to eat lunch and that would be very bad. After we were finished we all went to the lower pavilion and ran around till I couldn't feel my legs. I was talking with my clan when I put my hands deep in my pockets. There was paper in my left back pocket. I pulled it out and realised it was the note I had written to Alex. The sick feeling came back to me instantly and I ripped it up so small that no one could ever take all the pieces and get to read the message. Honestly I didn't know what I was thinking when I wrote it. When I was done I walked to the garbage and watched all the little pieces fall and disappear under layers of garbage. I walked back to my group and we all walked together outside and made a circle around the flagpole.
We sang Oh Canada rocking beside each other. When it was over we all started chatting again. In the corner of my eye I see the councillors grabbing warm fuzzies and putting them around their necks. I smiled. One by one eight kids got called up. Alex was in that mix. We sang a song each time. Alex Alex hot to go. H O T T O G O a woo hot to go a woo hot to go. We sang that two times and then we were ushered into the Pavillion. I sat with Jory, Brooklynn, and Izzy. We soon hushed when L-smack walked onto the little stage.
" We are going swimming," she yelled. We all cheered. Then we were split into two groups. Bears and penguins. In my head I mentally kicked myself for showering this morning, but I was so excited to go swimming. Jory was in penguins with me. We listened to L-smack and the lifeguard who has an adorable black lab tell us the rules of swimming and then we all went and got our swimming suits on. I changed and then waited for Jory to be done. Then we got our towels and walked to the back of the pavilion and to the stairs that led to the lake. When everyone was with us we all walked down the stairs and to the dock.
One by one people took their swim test and passed. Some kids didn't go into the lake but who could blame them. The water was freezing. After I was done I met Jory at the raft out in the lake.
We had fun jumping and diving off. After a while the lifeguard told us to come back to the dock because swim time was over. I swam back to the dock and followed the rest of the kids to the cabins. I changed unwillingly out of my wet clothes and put new ones on. Then I walked to the muster point and waited for the rest of the penguins. When we were all there we got split into two groups. We played kickball and the game felt like it was forever. I really dislike kickball. The only good factor was that most of the kids were worse than me and no one knew that I sucked.
Lunch came and we had grilled cheese sandwiches and vegetables. After we had social time. I saw an opportunity and went to Alex. I felt bad that I was using Brooklynn and Alex so that he wouldn't know I liked him.
"Hey Alex can I talk to you" I said
"Ya sure" he said. This was it. I was finally going to tell him the truth and ask him to the banquet.
"Brooklynn doesn't like you. It was just a prank" I say. I opened my mouth to say the rest but he beat me to it.
"Then why did you say that?" He questions.
"I… I thought it would be fun to put two people that hate each other though the other person liked them," I say. I just couldn't tell him I liked him.
"If the prank wasn't on me I would have thought that was funny too," I said. I watched a small smile drift onto his face.
"Also, could you give this letter to Quinn," I said. I had written a letter to Quinn saying that he may be small but he has a big personality. I thought it was cute.
"For sure, but one thing. Who is Quinn" Alex says.
"Oh uh… Minion" I answer hoping he knows who that is.
"Oh gotcha," He says
"Ok bye" I said quickly, walking away as fast as I could. We soon got told to go to the back of the Pavillion for a session. I stayed close to Izzy and watched Alex closely. He seemed happier than he was the past two days. I didn't know if it was because Brooklynn didn't like him or because he has had more time to get to know more people. Seanzie made us go into our bear and penguin groups again. Afterwards, we had one person have a shape and the rest of us had to make that shape as best as we could with sometimes lots and sometimes little to no communication allowed. After half a dozen tries we were sent into the Seminar. We were given a big piece of paper and a few markers per person. We wrote our names, our goals, places we would like to travel to, people we admire, and powers we would like to have.
"Wouldn't it be great if you could talk to animals to see if they are in pain?"Jory says.
"So you want to be a princess," I said
"Princesses don't talk to animals" Jory says
"If you have seen any Disney movies then you will see that that is the only thing they do besides marry men they have just met saying its true love" I respond
"I don't want to be a princess," Jory grumbles. I couldn't help but laugh at her. When we were done we put it on the wall with brown paper bags with our names on them. When we were done we all sat in front of the stage waiting until further instructions were told to us. After a while the councillors came back up to the front and waited till we were all quiet. Then the worst news of my life.
" You are all going to write a 2-3 minute speech about a topic and that topic has to be told to Val by tomorrow before lunch. I was so shocked. I loved writing but showing people what I write is a whole different thing altogether. The worst part was we had only two days to write it and I didn't even know what topic to pick. I sighed quietly already worrying about how good my project should be and my parents weren't even here to watch me so why now do I have to be a perfectionist. I guess old habits die hard. After that two chalkboards were pulled out. There were three words on each underlined. The first one had a banquet, rec, and canteen on it and the second one had social, digital, and newspaper. I was sitting with Izzy at the back behind some chairs. The only thing I wanted badly this week was to get into the digital committee. We were all given a number and mine was 19. I waited to hear my number. The first banquet filled up, then rec, then social, then canteen. I was so worried that I wouldn't get into the digital committee. After what seemed forever I just gave up and not long after that I was getting nudged by Izzy and I realised my number had just been called. I scanned digital and there were six spots still open.
Digital please" I said in a loud clear voice. After they moved on I did a little happy dance and nothing could wipe the smile off my face. I couldn't wait to get started.
When everyone's name was called out I followed Seanzie to our committee room. There were eight spots open and the kids that filled them were Zach, Justin, Brooke, Brian, Brooklynn, Izzy, Cheyenne, and me. We talked about the PowerPoint and pictures we were going to take. We mostly just talked about what we were going to do and getting all of our equipment ready for our next committee meeting.
We all met in the Seminar again and then were told it was supper time. I smiled and started heading out the door with my friends when something caught my interest. People have been getting their secret friend gifts. I quickly walked to mine and found a note in a heart-shaped card. I put it in my pocket and followed my friends out the door. I was surprised how well everyone was getting along with one another. When I had finished supper I grabbed my note out of my pocket and opened it. It said, Dear Chloe, You are the most kind and warm-hearted person I know. Love your secret friend. I thought it was so sweet that I put my dishes away and went to my cabin. Then I went to my bed and put it on the side so I could sleep with it around me. Then I went back to the Pavillion. When I got outside my cabin I saw kids going back into the Seminar so I followed them. When I got inside I spotted my friends at the front and sat beside them. There was a Co-op poster on the back and I started to suspect that there was going to be another session. We chatted about boys and the dance. None of us have dates yet and honestly, I just thought it was another popularity contest I didn't want to be a part of. Micky walked up to the little stage and we all hushed after a while.
"This is going to be a contest against all the colour groups," Mickey said. I got this huge smile on my face because I loved competitions against anyone or doing anything. We got told where to go and my colour group had to stay in the main room in the seminar to do a little game. We had to mitch match words with there definition with Lars. When we finished we went to the newspaper room and we had to wait outside until the group after us was done. When they left we all shuffled into the room where Teeth and Seanzie were waiting for us. We had to unscramble the words on a whiteboard. The boys started to cheat and used the words that they could see because the board marker didn't erase very well. After Sara got lots of the hard ones and I got one. We only had two left out of 15 when the five minutes were up. Then we went into the Pavillion and had six trivia questions in the higher Pavilion. I got the two hardest and Liam joked around saying that he had no idea that I was smart. I laughed along with everyone and said neither did I. Taigen did that station. Then we went to lower Pavillion and Val had a station. We had to put words in order correctly and then we had to go to the deck at the Seminar. Mac and Cheese were there and we had to go inside because it started raining. We were at a colour Co-op pictures section. Then we went into the digital room to see Lady Zoe and discuss what a Co-op is. She showed us pictures and explained to them. Then we went into the Seminars main room to do our green books. I got my green book from my purple folder and found a space on the floor. I opened my book page and started writing my answers. When I was about to write my first answer Bunz told everyone to look at her.
"If you haven't got a gift from your secret friend please stand up.' I looked around and found Quinn standing up. I looked at Alex and found him looking at me. We met eyes and I knew it wasn't his fault but I still wasn't convinced.
My Personal Daily Reflections - Day Two
Friday, July 6th
Three things I learned today:
Its Co-op national day
I can't trust Alex
I love swimming with Jory
How I feel about my group: They are awesome and I have made a lot of new friends
How I feel about myself: Sad
Notes about progress towards my goal: I haven't had to sing in front of everyone for elbows yet.
Things I intend to do differently: Not talk to Alex because I can't trust him.
Something I learned about myself: I'm actually smart/Alex can't be trusted
Overall, today was: Good
"Dreams are so important. You need to have big goals and expect a lot of yourself, but you have to enjoy the ride too." *Sidney Crosby - Professional Hockey Player*
Then we all shuffled outside. Then we were finished, and we all went outside to do flag lowering. We sang the tap song and then we walked back to our cabins. I went to the bathroom and got changed into my Star Wars pj's. Then I walked back to my cabin, and I started writing what happened today, but I couldn't think straight. Why would Quinn stand up when I saw the note in his hand before. When everyone was ready the councilors came in and said goodnight. As soon as they left and shut off the lights all the girls turned on their flashlights. I crawled down and started to talk to all the girls. Then some went to sleep, and I stayed in Jenaye's bed talking to her about our families. One thing was said, and it led to another, and it turns out we were both adopted. We talked about that for a good half hour. Then she went to bed and Jory had to go to the bathroom, so I tagged along because I needed some air. When we were outside, I took a deep breath and smiled. The trees were so pretty in the moonlight. We went to the bathroom and washed our hands. Everything was normal as we kept on small talk. Out of the blue all you hear is hi there. Shocked, we looked around and all that was left of the voice was a curtain shifting until it was still. We went back into our cabin, and I crawled into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.
. When they left, we all shuffled into the room where Teeth and Seanzie were waiting for us. We had to unscramble the words on a whiteboard. The boys started to cheat and used the words that they could see because the board marker didn't erase very well. After Sara got lots of the hard ones and I got one. We only had two left out of 15 when the five minutes were up. Then we went into the Pavillion and had six trivia questions in the higher Pavilion. I got the two hardest and Liam joked around saying that he had no idea that I was smart. I laughed along with everyone and said neither did I. Taigen did that station. Then we went to lower Pavillion and Val had a station. We had to put words in order correctly and then we had to go to the deck at the Seminar. Mac and Cheese were there and we had to go inside because it started raining. We were at a colour Co-op pictures section. Then we went into the digital room to see Lady Zoe and discuss what a Co-op is. She showed us pictures and explained to them. Then we went into the Seminars main room to do our green books. I got my green book from my purple folder and found a space on the floor. I opened my book page and started writing my answers. When I was about to write my first answer Bunz told everyone to look at her.
"If you haven't got a gift from your secret friend please stand up.' I looked around and found Quinn standing up. I looked at Alex and found him looking at me. We met eyes and I knew it wasn't his fault, but I still wasn't convinced.
My Personal Daily Reflections - Day Two
Friday, July 6th
Three things I learned today:
Its Co-op national day
I can't trust Alex
I love swimming with Jory
How I feel about my group: They are awesome,
and I have made a lot of new friends
How I feel about myself: Sad
Notes about progress towards my goal: I haven't had to sing in front of everyone for elbows yet.
Things I intend to do differently: Not talk to Alex because I can't trust him.
Something I learned about myself: I'm actually smart/Alex can't be trusted
Overall, today was: Good
"Dreams are so important. You need to have big goals and expect a lot of yourself, but you have to enjoy the ride too." *Sidney Crosby - Professional Hockey Player*
Then we all shuffled outside. Then we were finished, and we all went outside to do flag lowering. We sang the tap song and then we walked back to our cabins. I went to the bathroom and got changed into my Star Wars pj's. Then I walked back to my cabin, and I started writing what happened today, but I couldn't think straight. Why would Quinn stand up when I saw the note in his hand before. When everyone was ready the councilors came in and said goodnight. As soon as they left and shut off the lights all the girls turned on their flashlights. I crawled down and started to talk to all the girls. Then some went to sleep, and I stayed in Jenaye's bed talking to her about our families. One thing was said, and it led to another, and it turns out we were both adopted. We talked about that for a good half hour. Then she went to bed and Jory had to go to the bathroom, so I tagged along because I needed some air. When we were outside, I took a deep breath and smiled. The trees were so pretty in the moonlight. We went to the bathroom and washed our hands. Everything was normal as we kept on small talk. Out of the blue all you hear is hi there. Shocked, we looked around and all that was left of the voice was a curtain shifting until it was still. We went back into our cabin, and I crawled into bed and slowly drifted off to sleep.