Awkward Hello's

I think I'm going to explode; literally.

If I have to count how many outfits, or socks, or if I have enough underway to last me while I'm gone, one more time; I'm going to explode.

For the past 2 hours, I had been packing- or I suppose the more accurate description would be frantically running round like a mad man, literally throwing clothes into a case that I know eventually I will have to take out because they won't fit- for camp.

After a lengthy discussion with Annie, my mother concluded that we had to arrive at the camp- which is 4 hours away- in 6 hours.

That meant I had two hours to pack everything up and leave.

To say I was stressing a little, would be an understatement- I was one missing sock away from turning into the Incredible Hulk.

Once my mother was off the phone she decided to come help me, informing me of the plans as we jogged around my room.

I soon found that, because I was going to be a counsellor, I- along with the other 30 odd counsellors- had to be there a week before the children arrive.

In that week we would be introduced to our positions; whether that be life guard or cabin counsellor or activity manager. As well as, meet the group of people we would be spending the summer with; according to this camp, they relied on a buddy system.

A buddy system, usually only for the kids, meant that it would pair individuals up to assist in their mutual safety in general. Apparently this camp makes the counsellors do it as well.

Basically that meant I would be stuck, either living, or over all just spending every minute of the day with someone I barely knew.

This could end one of two ways; amazingly or horribly- Plausibly the latter.

I say that because I'm not the most sociable person on the planet; as much as I try, it's just programmed into me to be awkward as fudge.

So instead of being worried for myself, as I were at the start, I began to worry for the poor soul who would have to deal with my awkward advances at being friends.

Regardless of my mothers countless lies that I would be fine, I began wondering whether this is definitely a good idea.

But after a good 20 minutes of inner debate, I decided to suck it all up and go; there was no way I was passing up an opportunity like this.

So that's what I'm doing- I'm leaving, right now.

"Mom, I'll be fine. If it makes you feel any better, you could always just get Andy's-" The head of camp, also known as Annie's inside man. "- number off of Annie."

Did I forget to mention that, not only will there be no service, but we aren't allowed our phones?

They believe that modern technology ruins the whole 'camping experience'. Personally I think that's bull, but it's not like I could do much with my phone anyway- I mean there's no service hence no internet.

Without all that it's just a glorified camera.

"I know but that doesn't help the gnawing sense in the pit of my stomach; something doesn't feel right." She confessed, scrunching her face up as if she were in pain.

"Mom, you were the one who encouraged me to do this is the first place, and now you want me to forget about it? Besides, I'm a big girl, I can take care of myself. I have camping experience in case you forgot." I remind her, hurdling my cases into the trunk.

"Sweetie, you cried as soon as you came home. How is that-"

"Oh would you look at the time- I've got to go!" I interrupt, not wanting to relive that traumatic experience.

Let's just say there was poison ivy in place poison Ive should never be.
Don't even get me started on the irony of it all.

"Okay fine but- just stay safe, okay?" She smiled.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few months alright? I love you!"

"I love you too." She hugged me, before retreating to the front door and waving me farewell.

Here we go.

~*~

After that excruciatingly, painfully boring 4 hour drive, I finally made it to the camp.

Camp Comfort; the shiny, bright sign read over head as I drove through the gates.

As I glance around, I understand why they named it what they did.

The homely cabins, beautiful scenery and positive atmosphere, give the whole place a warm, comforting glow. As I get out of the car, I seize the moment and take a deep breath of fresh air, ingesting the beauty around me; before eventually heading back to the car.

Almost immediately after I grab my bags from the trunk, a smiling face is in front of mine.

"Hi there!" She beams in a thick southern accent, causing me to jump. "Oh sorry darling, didn't mean to scare you." She laughed, a kind of southern jolly laugh.

"It's okay." I smiled politely.

"My name is Julie and I'm one of the head counsellors here, and you are?"

"Oh, I'm uh- my names Ivy. Ivy lane?"

"Ah yes, the late comer. Well, what are you waiting for? Everyone else is already inside." She chatted, before gesturing to follow her towards, what looked like, the main building.

"Andy told me about you- apparently his friend referred to you personally. In case you don't know that a pretty big deal around here." She stated.

"What is? That he has friends?" I ask, half serious half jokingly.

"Of corse not!" She chuckled. "Andy is very popular- ever' body loves him. I'm talking about the fact that you didn't have to apply like the rest of 'em. Makes me wonder, what's so special about you?"

While she still had that jolly smile plastered on her face, there was something about the comment that threw me off.

Whether it was the strange look in her eye or the sense that the same smile I had once thought was genuine, seemed to have been forced.

Regardless, I shrugged it off as curiosity. I don't blame her, I'm just as confused as she is.

"I have no idea, I guess we'll have to ask." I smiled, hoping to end the discussion.

"Anyway, like I said earlier ever' bodies already inside getting acquainted with each other. And you have about- 10 minutes to do the same before Andy gives his introduction speech." She explained, thankfully dropping the topic.

As she lead me towards the doors, holding them open for me, she offered to take my bags to my bunk. "I'll leave you be, sweet pea. If you ever need anything, just let me know, okay?" She smiled.

"Okay, thank you." I smiled genuinely.

"No problem- you go make some friends now, you hear!" She chuckled before waving goodbye.

Make friends. That's easy enough- all I need to do is go say hi to someone.

As I looked around the room, I suddenly felt intimidated.

They're we're a lot of people here. And every single one looked as though they knew everything about everyone in that room;

Besides me.

"Hi!" A chirpy voice called from beside me.

As I turned to my right, three girls stood with simper smiles all directed at me.

The one on front, the one who spoke, was extremely pretty; they all were. She had long, blonde hair, styled perfectly; not a hair out of place. Her makeup just a perfect and her body slender; skinny and toned.

The other two mimicking her perfect appearance, the only difference being hair colour and clothes; instead of blonde, one had brunette locks while the other was rocking the grey look. 

I suddenly felt self conscious; they were all walking models and there I was, looking like I'd been dragged through a bush backwards.

"Hi." I replied, with a cautious smile.

"I'm Lacey." She introduced, before gesturing to the two behind her. "And these two are Chelsea and Nicole; are you the new counsellor? I haven't seen you here before."

"Yeah. I'm Ivy nice to meet you."

"Ivy? That is such a cute name! I love it." She smiled, although it didn't look sincere.

Why was this girl giving me some serious Regina George feels?

"Uhh, thanks?" I laughed a shaky laugh.

"No problem; so why are here?" She asked, earning wide eyes and raised eyebrows from me. "Not to be rude, it's just we never get new counsellors around here."

"A family friend recommended it." I answered vaguely, not trusting her completely.

She opened her mouth to say something else before her eyes caught something behind me. Immediately, a cruel smile took over her face as she stared at the object behind me, almost tauntingly.

"Well would you look at that, our favourite little loser is back again this year girls." She laughed. "You'd think Bambi would've learnt her lesson by now, guess she isn't as smart as she thinks she is."

It was then I decided that I was right; this girl is a real life Regina George.
A bitch.
A bully.

And I don't mesh well with bullies.

Without sparing the plastics another glance, I stalked over to the so called 'loser' with a new found confidence and determination.

"Hi." I smiled.

She looked up at me through her eyelashes, full of surprise.

"I'm Ivy, and you are?"

She hesitated, looking at me then back to the plastics. "You know if they sent you over here, you can tell Lacey to-"

"They didn't send me over here- I just thought- you looked like you could use a friend. Now, I still haven't caught your name." I smiled, ignoring the burning stares of the three barbie dolls.

"Tilly." So why did they call her Bambi?

"Well Tilly, it's nice to meet you."

This time she smiled, genuinely. "You too."

We didn't get a chance to talk anymore after that because someone had called out for the hall to quiet down.

Just then a man walked out and I concluded that this was presumably Andy.

"Hello everyone." He called out, his voice casual and inviting. "It's lovely to see you all again- and to see some new faces. As you know, today is orientation and you will be finding out your jobs and bunk mates for the rest of the summer. Usually we would do this before dinner but there seems to have been some complications so we're going to clear those up and let you know after you've eaten.

Once you find out who your bunk mate or 'buddy' is, you will be spending the remainder of the evening with them to get a bit more comfortable with each other; and tomorrow we will be starting training for each job.

As you already know, pay checks will be given weekly and you will be allowed 1 day off a week with either your 'buddy' or a fellow counsellor to explore the surroundings of the mountain.

Exactly a week from now, the children will be arriving- once they do, I expect all of you to be on your best behaviour and to follow the guidelines set in the booklet we gave you."

I should probably get one of those.

"Oh and one more thing- don't come whining to one of the camp directors looking to change bunk mate because you all know that is not going happen- no exceptions." He added, sounding exasperated. "That's all for now, if you make your way to the counsellors dinning hall, dinner will be served. Enjoy your night and I'll see you later."

And with that, he left.

I turned to face Tilly, "Is he always like that?" I ask, thinking about his laid back attitude with everything- bunk markets excluded.

"Pretty much." She answered, looking at me with questionable eyes. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Well technically you just did, but sure; shoot." I replied, shocking myself at how comfortable I feel around her already.

"Why did you come talk to me? And I don't want some made up bull, what the real reason you came and talked to me?"

Okay, wow. I was not expecting that.

"Honestly?"

She nodded.

"The plastics over there said some stuff about you that I wasn't comfortable with, so I decided to really give them something to talk about. She was being a bitch and I guess I thought you needed some help when it came to her considering you ignored her when she called you out." I confessed.

"So basically, you talked to me out of pity?"

"No! Well- yes. Sorta? Look it doesn't matter, your genuinely nice and I want to be your friend; if that's okay with you?" I asked, suddenly afraid that she might turn my offer down.

For a minute she just stared at me; but then she smiled, causing me to release a breath I didn't even know I was holding. "Of corse it is!" She laughed.

"Oh thank god! Because you are literally the only person I know here." I laughed breathlessly.

Her laughing was cut short as she sent me a confused yet amused look. "The plastics?"

"Yeah." I laughed. "Haven't you seen mean girls? She is a real life Regina George from what I can see."

"Well, it seems as though you have good instincts on first impressions- she would out bitch Regina George."

"Oh god, really?" I laughed. "I suppose she has her own Aaron Samuels then, right?" I joked.

"Oh yeah."

"Wait, seriously?" I asked, my laughing coming to a halt although my smile still evident. 

"Yeah- you see that guy over there." She said pointing to a guy who looked to be the centre of attention, of the group surrounding him. "His name is Parker Jones, his friends call him Grizzly, and he is-"

"Wait, why on earth would people call him grizzly?" I interrupted.

"Because he looks cute and cuddly- or hot- but he will bite your head off if anyone outside his exclusive group of friends, attempts to talk to him. Anyway, that is your Aaron Samuels."

I had to admit, he was hot- like, Greek god, drop dead gorgeous: drop a girls panties with one smile- type of hot.

But, if what Tilly said was right then it didn't matter if he had the face of an angel- because his personality was a steaming hot pile of shit.

"That reminds me, I've been meaning to ask you- earlier, queen bitch referred to you as Bambi, care to explain?"

"Right." She sighed. "I was wondering when you were gonna ask that. Believe it or not, Lacey wasn't always a bitch; she was actually really nice.

When we were younger, this whole group kind of meshed together." She said gesturing to the people around the room. "But, as you can imagine, eventually we all started drifting into our own little groups.

Originally I was with Lacey and her group, but once we got to around 16- let's just say they were doing things I wasn't comfortable doing. But because I didn't join in, they kind of cast me out; started calling me Bambi because I was 'so damn innocent'."

"You used to be friends with her?!" I echoed genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, crazy right?" She smiled.

"Definitely, I didn't think you'd ever be friends with lucifer."

She laughed before directing us, finally, to the dinning area. I was so hungry, I could eat a horse- actually no, screw that.

I was so hungry, I could eat the whole damn farm.

The selection wasn't really varied: there was chicken, fries and food that should not be considered edible. In the end I decided to just go for the chicken- not that it looked that appetising- and some curry sauce.

Tilly and I were seated at the end of the never ending table that sat in the middle of the long cabin, almost isolated from the others.

During that time, we got to know each other a little better; I found out that her birthday was in July- making her a month younger than me and still eighteen- she had a cat named Roosevelt and her original hair color was blonde, not the flaming orange that it is now.

As I looked at her, I thought about the name Lacey had called her; Bambi.

If I'm being honest, the name suits her. She had big, innocent looking eyes and a sweet smile that always graced her face.

She was incredibly pretty, but with the constant wrath of Lacey weighing on her shoulders, I think she decided to suppress her confident side and stick to the baggy jumpers and 'non-skinny' jeans.

Not that there's anything wrong with that style- I mean half my wardrobe are baggy jumpers- although from what she tells me, that's the only thing in hers.

Going off the topic of her style, and back onto the name; what had Regina George and the plastics been doing that Tilly didn't want to join in?

Was it that bad?

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?!" Andy shouted over various different conversations.

In seconds, the room was silent; I guess everyone wanted to find out who their bunk buddy was-

Oh god, that sounded so wrong. I'm sorry.

"Like I said before, there were some complications about the housing situation but everything is sorted now. Pairs will go in the following order- and remember, no asking to change. These people will be stuck with you for the rest of the summer- now, let's get started."

As he began rhyming names as he read of the sheet in front of him, there were mixed responses of groans in annoyance and squeals of happiness.

What I noticed though was the plastics and most of their group, had all been roomed together.

"Tilly Donavon and Felix Mathews"

As I turned to see Tilly's reaction, her face suddenly grows red.

"Who is he?" I ask, suddenly intrigued.

"Who Felix? Oh- nobody, he's one of Parker's friends, the joker type. I don't really know him that well." She shrugged.

Although she tried to sound unaffected, I could tell that something was off.

Nobody, smobody- there's something she isn't telling me.

As I open my mouth to get answers, I'm interrupted by the sound of my name finally being called.

"And finally, Ivy Lane and Parker Jones."

Oh shit.

~*~

A/N

Did I mention there was going to be swearing in this book? Well there is.

Anyway, what did you think? I feel like for such a long chapter (what felt long for me) there's barely anything in it??

Comment your thoughts on this chapter and predictions for the next.

I decided to post this tonight (Tuesday) instead of tomorrow to make up for the first late upload. Next chapter coming Saturday;)

Until then,
Byeeeeeee

L.J. xx

*unedited*