“Right- bye!”
My dad briefly waves and then he’s off in his dirty car, speeding down the road to his work. I’m left standing there, my massive bags surrounding me. I sigh a little and then attempt to drag them all into the dreary, grey meeting point. Somehow I succeed- with aching arms that is. Then a leader from the other unit comes up to me, a way-too-excited smile fixed upon her face.
“Hi there! What’s your name?” She beams, clutching a clipboard.
I grimace at her expression and say,
“I’m Elowen Devereux. Nice to meet you.” I hand her a bag of medicine which is for “just in case” as my mum said, and then walk away, desperately trying to move my bags as close to the coach as I can get away with. When I’m done I dust off my hands and notice a girl from the other unit watching me. I smile politely and she waves quickly and then turns away to one of her friends. Oof. Am I that weird? I shake my head as if to clear the thoughts (I wish it worked!) and then stand as confidently as I can manage. I notice my friends come up to me.
“Hello!” I say, quite relieved I don’t have to stand around like I don’t have any friends anymore. They ignore me for quite a while, being glued to each other’s sides and having a conversation I clearly can’t be involved in.
“Oh- hi!” They say after a while and then they carry on chatting. I feel the sinking feeling of loneliness setting in so I listen in as much as I can.
“So heavy…. Not excited…” I catch and give myself a thumbs up in my mind. See? They’re just passing around negative thoughts. You’re NOT missing out. I tell myself sternly and so I pivot around and suddenly see Grace and Robjn! Perfect! These are the people I love to hang out with- they’re never negative. So I walk over.
“Hi Elowen!” Grace says cheerfully.
“Hiya!” Robjn chimes in.
“Hello!” I respond and after that we have a whole conversation that leaves us in tears from laughter. Suddenly it’s time to get on the coach and my other friends are calling me over. They need someone to go with to make the three into an even number. I look between the two groups and with a silent, slightly disappointed wave, I join the other group.
We get on the coach, wave to parents and we’re driving far, far away from home into a place where the weather scorches fields. I’m taken out of my daydream when I’m asked on my opinion and I just pretend to be asleep. I want to hear the conversation but I don’t want to be in it. I’m just the window seat- the placeholder… the fourth corner of a square I don’t fit into.
485 words!

We step out of the coach and I can already feel the sun blazing- even through our uniforms. We’re handed our bags and for a while we have to stand in a crowd while the leaders count us and give us wristbands. I stand quite awkwardly in the middle. Grace and Robin have each other and are starting to find their friends they recognise from the other unit and my other friends moved away from me as soon as the coach arrived so while everyone else is chatting I’m looking around at the barren fields. I spot a massive colourful circus-style tent in the distance and hear loud clatters from the main stage while they set up. Suddenly I realise my name is being called. I look back at the leaders and see them waving a wristband at me. As I go up to collect it my other friends but mainly my best friend are all laughing. I blush furiously and grab the wristband. As soon as I do they decide to move again so I’m left struggling to put on the wristband in the dust of everyone else dragging their bags along. But then I see a shadow next to me. I look up. Robin!
“Hiya! Need some help?” He asks, smiling.
“Yes please!” I sigh and then start laughing.
We pick up my bags once I’ve put on my wristband and start walking.
It’s a few hours later and we’ve set up the main shelters and our tents and after we eat we’ll set up the marquees. My best friend and her friend are sitting on the other side of the circle of camp chairs that we’ve made and their friend who’s very clingy to me has decided to sit next to me so I’m sitting next to Robin and her. She starts complaining to me again as well as making more plans where I’m the placeholder. I look at Robin and their friends and see that they have their perfect group of four so it only makes sense… I try to tune her out. That doesn’t work. I try to tell myself she’s just being negative. That doesn’t work either. I end up with a massive sinking feeling in my stomach and I’m trying not to let it show but I sink into my chair. I barely even notice Robin turning over to me and looking at me with a concerned face.
“You alright, Elowen?” They say, not breaking their gaze.
“Yeah…” I say quietly. I push some sandwich into my mouth but my stomach churns. This really is what camp will feel like…
“So what do you like to do in your free time?” He asks gently, sensing something’s wrong. I feel a spark of excitement in the storm of sadness.
“I love reading but mostly writing… I’m glad I brought a notebook!” I say, starting to smile a little bit.
“Cool! Me too! Would…. Would you like to write together sometime?” They ponder shyly. I want to scream YES, but I shift in my chair nervously.
“Y-yeah! Yeah that’d be great! I beam, very grateful that I won’t feel alone for at least some of the camp.
Soon lunch is over and we have to set up the marquees. It takes ages and we’re all exhausted afterwards from being in the hot sun all day lifting heavy bags and tent poles so the leaders let us have a break for the rest of the afternoon. I’m too anxious right now to ask Robin and Grace if I can chat to
them and maybe meet the others in their tent so I sit in ours and actually manage to have a normal conversation for a while…
Now it’s after dinner and we’re going along to the open ceremony. I’m actually enjoying this, cheering and dancing while everyone else is sitting down. I’m not sure if I can convince the older guys to join in so I turn to my best friend and her lot but when I ask they blank me and when the leader tells them to get up they whine. I sigh but then the leaders turn to the older kids and reluctantly but chuckling all the same they stand up and for the last song we’re dancing together. This feels like home, I think to myself happily as I walk back, tagging along with the older people and although I don’t understand a lot of what they’re saying they don’t say anything like “You’re too young to understand” and that’s enough for me right now. Maybe with these guys I have a place to belong? I ponder this when we come back from brushing our teeth and I get into the tent. They’re making plans. The loneliness settles in again and I slump down in my sleeping bag as they talk.
“Elowen?” My best friend asks with a trace of a giggle in her voice.
“Yes?” I respond sharply, knowing something bad will come next.
“Me and Osie are going to go to the giant deckchair. Can you and Alivia cover for us?” I notice mischief in her voice.
“Fine. Have fun. Bye. Zip up the door on the way out.” I try my best not to show how much that made me feel bad and just wave them off and bury my face in my pillow. A silent tear falls and I turn off the light.
“Good night Elowen!” I hear faintly.
“Night,” I croak and turn away so she doesn’t hear the disappointment in my voice.
I hope tomorrow will be better.

The sun rises on the dry, yellowing fields as I brush my teeth over The Spit Bucket tiredly. I glance at the noticeboard schedule again. Oh,right! The camp challenge! As fast as I can I rush to get to Robin and Grace’s tent to asks we can go around together but when I reach it the tent is quiet. They’ve already gone. I sigh in my mind and trudge back towards my tent mates.
“Hi guys,” I poke my head inside the tent door.
“Oh hi! Yeah me and Osie are going to stay here in secret- you can go round with Alivia.” My best friend says before turning back to Osie. “We’re going to get in so much trouble aren’t we?”
“Yeah, so much trouble.” Osie echoes.
“But surely you’re trying not to… never mind. Well alright then! Let’s go, Alivia!” I say as cheerfully as I possibly can.
“Yaaaaay!” She squeals.
Wow, I think to myself. How old are you, three? We walk around for hours in the boiling hot sun. There’s no shelter apart from in a couple of activities but Alivia insists we keep going. I drag myself along while she talks non stop and I want to scream. Suddenly she gets tired and tells me to come with her back to camp.
“Finally!” I mutter under my breath and when we eventually reach camp I dive into our tent and sigh in relief. I clamber into the sleeping area where my best friend and Osie are sitting. They have a thick stack of rare and shiny badges in front of them.
“Oh! Cool badges! Where’d you get those?” I ask curiously.
“Yeah, the leaders gave us loads of badges to trade when they found us. Look!” My best friend responds and, bragging, they start to show them off. Somehow they’ve managed to get 20 badges each.
“So were the leaders annoyed when they caught you?” I wonder out loud.
“No, not really…” they shrug.
“Oh… you did say they'd be annoyed so that’s kinda the reason I didn’t come… you know I don’t like being in trouble…” I add under my breath.
“Oh well yeah but it’s not that deep.” They brush it off. How I hate this feeling… Surrounded by people but feeling so alone…
I stand up and go into the pod with our bags in it and start digging around in mine. I don’t want to be in their conversation anymore. I come back in when they aren’t talking about anything so hostile anymore and sit in my corner and just listen for a while. My best friend finally notices I’ve come back in and changes the subject very unnecessarily.
“So we can all agree that I’m the strongest one here right?” She pulls back her sleeve and flexes her muscles. I really don’t like when she does this. Just because she’s small she thinks everything is a competition.
“Y-you don’t know that for sure…” I reply uncertainly.
“Really?” She looks at me and tilts her head, smirking.
“Um.. yeah.” I say and I start trying to wrestle her playfully. I even laugh a bit! It’s all going my way until she grips onto my leg and throws me to the ground. My head slams into the floor. Hard.
“That was a bit too far…” I hear Osie whisper to my best friend and Alivia agrees.
“Oh no! Are you ok?” She asks me cautiously but I can see through her mask of pretend care.
“Y-yeah…” I sit up slowly. “Maybe… you didn’t have to throw me so hard?” I turn to her, rubbing the back of my head.
“I mean- you started it! You didn’t have to start that if you didn’t want to…” she snaps back.
“I didn’t actually mean it! I guess…fine maybe you are stronger but I can be stronger mentally…” I defend.
“I suppose… that’s what makes us friends right? Similar strengths!” She says, trying to guide the attention to how grumpy I still look.
“You didn’t think that in the year 5 residential when you said I could be stronger…” I mumble.
“When did I say that? She retorts, starting to get a little defensive.
“The year five residential.” I repeat firmly. You were going around feeling people’s arm muscles and telling them how strong they were by your judgement and when you came around to me you said “Hmm… needs a bit more work.” and walked away.” I look at her.
She looks at the floor. “I didn’t, but ok…” she chimes in.
“Yeah, you did…” I say again.
“I didn’t…” she tries to keep calm because she’s trying to frame me as the bad guy.
“Pretty sure you did… why would I lie about something like that?” I say. She falls silent.
“I didn’t say that.” She says again.
“Yes you-“ I start.
“Alright everyone just LEAVE IT! Just stop!” Alivia and Osie shout at us but mostly me.
“Ok. Whatever.” I say and faceplant into my sleeping bag. Then I decide to leave an step out into the cool air. I move my camp chair away from my best friends seat and closer to the older people’s chairs and sigh. Robin and his friends walk in all holding the reward badges and laughing. They see me.
“Uhm…. Uh…. R-Robin…. Grace… everyone… can I hang out with you? And… move my camp chair near you?” I stutter shyly. I hear a flurry of agreement and grins. I smile and nod my thanks and come with them to their tent. I find out that the two from the other unit are called Iotee and Elena and for hours we have possibly the most fun conversation I’ve ever had. We laugh until our stomachs hurt and it’s time for dinner so we sit comfortably as the sun goes down.

I’m sitting in the tent. It’s night now and I’ve layed out my outfit. Now I’m waiting for the others. They don’t come for a while so get into my sleeping bag and start reading my book. I hear a flurry of excited whispers and my best friend comes in with Osie. They sit down.
“Hey! So we’re sneaking out with our new friends… we’re going to get in so much trouble and there’s kinda not room for any more people.. we just want to bond with our new friends first…” my best friend says, pretending to be guilty.
“They aren’t just YOUR friends… I could make friends with them too… and where are you going anyway?” I hold back tears.
“We don’t know actually! And yeah but it’s our bonding time not yours. Anyway byeee! Oh and Alivia is coming too.” She flicks her hair and walks out. “OH AND ELOWEEN?!” She calls loudly once she’s outside.
“Yeah?” I respond quietly.
“Cover for us!!” She yells and I hear quiet laughter and cheers as they walk away. I bury my face in my sleeping bag. I just want to go home…
I must have drifted off because suddenly I hear being shouted into our tent:
“Everyone accounted for in there?!” A leader shakes the tent. I leap out of my sleeping bag and shuffle around the sleeping bags. I make whispering noises and then say,
“Yes! Goodnight!” As I get back into my sleeping bag. I don’t know if I can take this anymore… I fall asleep.

I wake up to the tent being full again. Thank goodness. I get dressed and wake everyone up.
“So…” I say casually. “How was last night? Where’d you end up going?”
“It was SO FUN!! We snuck around and then went to the giant deckchair and then hung out by the toilet blocks! So amazing!” They all say enthusiastically.
“Wow. Fun. Good for you guys.” I say flatly and start grabbing my cutlery bag.
“Look just because you’re jealous and have your stupid anxiety about missing out or whatever doesn’t mean you can control what we do.” She says rudely. My eyes widen and I poke my head around the door.
“I-I-That was private!” I whisper urgently and then run out of the tent. The last thing I see is my best friend’s smirking face. I run past my chair, past our campsite, into the open fields. Tears stream down my cheeks and I sit next to the trunk of a tree, sobbing. I run my fingers down the cracked bark. Why? I think to myself again and again. I look back at the campsite. I see Alivia looking for me. I sigh. I suppose I’d better get back before she tells the leaders… I wipe my eyes and walk in. I feel like a deflated balloon as I get my breakfast and I sit.
“Hey Elowen?” My best friend’s snooty voice says.
“Yes?” I mumble. She snickers.
“Remember that time you got so upset because I told everyone you had expensive concealer?” She laughs hysterically, looking around to try and get others to join in. I sink deep into my chair. Suddenly I hear Robin’s voice. “Really? Just cool it!” He says to my best friend warningly. Then he turns to me. We lock eyes. We both blush and suddenly he’s very interested in playing with his fork. I look at my thick hiking shoes and smile. As I reach for my cup they do too and our fingers brush. I blush even more and now we smile at each other. My loneliness melts away.

A little while after, Alivia comes up to me.
“Elowen?” She asks, smiling.
“Hi, what’s up?” I reply cautiously. I don’t know what she’s going to say…
“Do you need some advice?” She wonders hopefully.
“Umm…not really but sure! Go ahead!” I answer politely.
“So don’t take this in a rude way or anything, but you know how you mentioned it hurt extra because you said you were a bit sensitive?” She begins.
“Yeah… why?” I brace myself for something either utterly ridiculous or just rude. Or both!
“Maybe stop… being… so… um.. sensitive?” She says slowly and sheepishly.
“What do you think I’m trying to do, Alivia?” I sigh quietly.
“Good point!” Then she turns on her heel and walks away. Thanks. Great advice. I think to myself sarcastically.

In today’s activity I walk around with Robin and the other older people. It’s so much more fun with them. If they tell secrets they mean it respectfully because it’s genuinely something they want to keep private, they help me to understand things, it’s brilliant! Today it’s the arts and crafts guild and Robin, Grace and I are sticking together. Grace has coloured in a sunset on her guild bag and Robin and I are colouring in fridge magnets! I draw a bunch of purple smiley faces on mine and then I’m waiting. Robin offers me a suggestion.
“Maybe you could colour in your bag like a rainbow?” They say, very focused on his own design. I agree and start. Once we’ve done that we go to the bead lizard making station. Robin aces it despite him saying it’s wonky and Grace decides to make it so it’s not on string by sticking the beads on tape. I can’t figure it out at all so I make a bracelet instead. It falls apart in my bag but I don’t mind. Then we go to the now not so busy clay making station. Grace makes an adorable shark, Robin makes a really cool dragon with a baby dragon too and I make a cute toucan to match the toucan woggle that I got from the stall that Grace and Alivia showed me. A lot of people confuse it for a parrot and a penguin when I show them but I know what it is and I know the story.
We head back to camp and it’s time for lunch! We eat and my best friend starts feeling sick. She says she has a headache.
“Eloweeeen can you get me my water bottle? I’m thiiiirsty!” She whines. I sigh and grab it for her. I put it by her feet and she doesn’t even thank me. How nice of her.

I check out what Iotee and Elena made. Iotee made a really cool bead flag where instead of a country flag she made each colour of each row represented something she looks for in her friends and Elena made a rainbow bead lizard that was absolutely so beautiful! I loved it! After lunch we have the challengers guild and we play lots of games together. It’s quite fun but I still think the arts and crafts one was better. I lose hard at the timed challenges and am really quite bad at the aimed games but I’m good at one where you have to run as fast as you can while being pulled back and slam a piece of Velcro down before you get yanked back by the system! I beat someone- although they are quite small. Still an achievement I guess!
“A win is a win,” Robin reminds me. I nod, pleased and we walk back to camp, sweating but smiling. I wait for a while to let the older people get settled in before I come up to their tent door.
“Can I…” I start, nervously.
“Anytime, Elowen! Just… maybe not at 3am or while we’re asleep!” Robin laughs, their eyes sparkling. I blush and smile my thanks.

Soon it’s the evening and a massive commotion is around the edge of our campsite. Lots of people from our campsite are talking to people from Scotland!
“What’s going on?” I ask the crowd in general.
My best friend whips around. “Oh, we’re talking to our new Scottish friends. We’re definitely going to get shouted at!” She laughs. I sigh and walk away. Well I don’t really care, I tell myself. They seem boring anyway. I sit back in the tent with Robin and Grace and we just sit comfortably for a while. It’s calm compared to the waves of chaotic yelling outside and we just relax. Robin reads and Grace reorganises her dragon woggles. I glance at Robin. How is he so calm when he’s called Spring by the leaders? How does he not react? I ponder that for a while…

“So how was last night?” Robin inquires suddenly. I laugh.
“You don’t even know! I was running around like a wild animal in there! Everyone left me in the tent alone so I had to cover for them. I was rustling their sleeping bags and whispering and everything!” I grin and they both burst out laughing.
“Seriously?” Robin chuckles. “That’s crazy!”
“Yep!” I reply, shrugging happily. “Welcome to my life!” Soon it’s time for dinner and my best friend calls me over.
“So tonight we’re going to stay up till like… 1am should we say? Yeah that’s good. Ok! See you later!” She says. I look at her doubtfully. You always say that you’ll stay up late and then end up being the one to say we should get some sleep early instead! I think to myself but I nod, walk away and don’t say anything.

Tonight I actually go down to the concert (although by myself) and a really good band is playing! I vibe and when it’s the last song I look over at a massive huddle that’s forming. Oh no… that’s not going to end well… and I was right. A security guy ran in front of it and signalled to the band to stop very abruptly so we all left disappointed. When I get back into the tent, no one is there (again) so I sit and wait. Then they finally come in. My look asks them where they were and they say,
“Scottish people.” And dismiss it. I nod and very soon it’s lights out but the people in my tent aren’t even whispering and they’re laughing really loud to the Scottish guy next to our campsite who is in speaking range.
“Guys! Guys! Be quiet! Guys!” I hiss at them over and over. As responses I get:
“No!” And laughter at me, “Oh yeah that’s just Elowen, she’s just tired. Say hi Elowen!” And I say hi but they drown it in their laughter and then later when I get annoyed they say I wasn’t saying anything but I did. I fume silently in the corner. “Wow guys look how genuinely creepy she look just staring at me…” my best friend says really loudly.
“Actually guys! Please be quiet! It’s just selfish! There are other people on this campsite and if you get in trouble so do I!” I plead them.
“If there’s anyone who’s selfish it’s you, Elowen. It’s three against one.” My best friend shoots back.
“And we’ll defend you! We’ll say it’s not your fault! It was just us!” Alivia tries to convince me.
“That’s not how it works.” I grumble and I bury my face in my pillow. Later on in the night my best friend calls my name. I don’t respond for a while because I’m still angry at her.
“Yeah she’s asleep.” Alivia giggles.
“I’m awake and have been listening to you yelling for the last three hours. I’m not falling asleep anytime soon.” I say firmly.
“Ooh so scary…” my best friend mocks me. They chat for longer and then my best friend suddenly starts trying to get to sleep- I checked my watch- way before she said. Typical. However now I’ve rested enough lying down so I sit up. The other two start whispering. I want to scream at them, so you listen to her but not me?! But I don’t- I just keep calm and stay sitting in the cool night air. The sleeping bag was hot and now I feel refreshed. After a while my best friend says desperately, “Guys PLEASE! Just go to sleep.” And the others nod and so we all lie down. I punch and kick my sleeping bag as quietly as I can to get out my anger at how unfair tonights been and then finally I fall asleep.

I wake up with a jolt and wake everyone up then leave the tent right away. The air is different today… it’s getting cooler! I huff gently at the memory of last night and move my camp chair permanently away from Alivia, my best friend and Osie’s chairs. I sit and wait for breakfast quietly. Then Robin and Grace’s group show up. I grin. I just listen to their conversation for a while, nodding and smiling occasionally and then Iotee brings me in.
“What about you, Elowen? Do you actually write or are you more of a reader?” She asks curiously.
“I-I… um…” I get shy and start stuttering.
“You know… when you write there’s a beginning, and a middle…” Robin explains slowly. I want to scream at them: I know what a plot arc is! But I don’t.
“Y-yeah… I write… um.. and I read… I’ve been writing for a few years now… uh…” I finish. It definitely sounds super fake. I facepalm in my mind. Then it’s time to go to our activity: the wheels zone! We all gasp as we walk in. There’s wheelchair basketball and human hungry hippos on skateboards! It’s really cool! I’m queuing up with Grace and Robin to do the hungry hippos when suddenly my best friend comes up to me.
“C-can we go toilet can we go toilet can we go toilet?” She asks worriedly, not looking me in the eyes. I know that face.
“Um… uh… I’m a bit busy…. Can’t you go with Osie or Alivia?” I say, watching the technique of another girl doing it.
“I tried but I need to go with you!” She whines.
“Fine.” I say and leave the queue. “Do you know where the toilets are?” I ask Robin. He doesn’t.
“Don’t you have to ask a leader first?” She wonders, still frowning. I sigh and start looking. They aren’t here so we ask a staff member where the nearest toilets are. We get directions and my best friend starts crying along the way and explaining her situation. I just nod. I don’t speak. We get to the toilet and she takes forever and then she finally comes out and we walk back. The time in the activity is almost over. Brilliant. The leaders have arrived and my best friend says she’s homesick to them. Then the leaders force me to stay with her so I find Grace and Robin and eventually Osie. My best friend doesn’t want to be with me and goes with Osie instead and, relieved, the three of us sit in the shade together. I manage to win a free spfife (spoon, fork, knife) and then Robin and I go inside and try the challenge where you have to cycle and generate the set amount of energy as fast as you can. I do really badly but Robin’s really good.
“How… did you do that… so… fast?” I pant between gulps of air.
“I don’t know! I just… like cycling, I guess!” He blushes gently. We smile and sit back in the shade together. I share some of the sweets my best friend told me to buy that are too sour for me and then a leader eventually spots us but instead of rushing us to move, she sits and chats with us! I find out that she’s actually really sweet and funny and we all eventually walk back, laughing together.

It’s after lunch and I’m starting the washing up to save our tent time later. My best friend comes up to me with Osie.
“We’re going to the bathroom. Be back in a minute!” my best friend chirps, and they walk off. Alivia takes a while to arrive, but she does, and she helps out. My best friend and Osie come back twenty minutes later, just as the washing up is finished.
“Guys! Where WERE you?!” Alivia yells. “We did all the washing up all by ourselves!”
“We were just in the toilet—chill out!” Osie shoots back. “Jeez, someone didn’t sleep well last night!” She turns to my best friend. I shrug and rejoin Elena and the others. Then, we go to our next activity.
It’s in a nice, shady area, which is good, but it’s the water area and I’m not sure if I want to get dirty or wet. Robin feels the same, so we chill there for a while and play hook-a-duck! We get cool badges from that. When we come back to the shady area to wait and watch the colour run, we see Grace. She’s absolutely covered in duck stickers and doing hilarious impressions of the old lady running the game, telling her to “only take one!” We look at her for one second and we're already rolling on the floor in fits of laughter.
Then, we hear screams and look up. The colour run has started! Huge clouds of coloured powder dust are falling through the air. It’s really pretty! Suddenly, the leaders come out, caked in dust. Robin and I back away and quickly blurt out, “Can we go back to camp now?” We half-shout, trying to avoid the crowd of colour-stained people.
“Sure! Meet you there!” they agree, and we sprint away to the taps. We stand there, catching our breath.
“Well… it is hot…” Robin begins, looking at me.
“Why not!” I grin. Pretty soon, we’re splashing water at each other and laughing.
“Hey! The ground's bad enough there already, you don’t need to be making it worse!” a plump, grumpy lady shouts at us.
“Okay, okay. Sorry!” Robin shouts back politely, and we walk away. We’re cool and refreshed in the hot summer sun. My fingers brush against his, and instead of moving away, he takes my hand. I look up, blushing and smiling a little. He glances at me and blushes, too.
We get back to camp and almost everyone from both units is sitting around someone reading a book. Huh, I think to myself. Seems fun! And it really is—people keep interrupting by yelling bizarre additions to the story. Then, we get bored and start playing the One-Word-at-a-Time Game! It goes a bit like this:
“An…”
“Army…”
“Of…”
“Eggs…”
“Held…”
“Rain…”
“Umbrellas…”
“And…”
“Danced…”
“In…”
“The…”
“Sunlight!”
“Until…”
“Mr…”
“POTATOOO…”
“Rode…”
“The…”
“Moon…”
“And…”
“Crash-landed…”
“On…”
“Them!”
“So…”
“They…”
“Held…”
“A…”
“Funeral.”
“The…”
“EEEEND!!!”
We all look mock-solemnly at each other but end up bursting into laughter in unison. That was hilarious, I grin in my head.
“That grammar was so bad!” someone half-laughs, half-groans.
“I know, right?!” someone agrees enthusiastically.
The sun sets and I make my outfit for tomorrow before sitting in my camp chair, waiting eagerly for dinner. I’m starving! I grab my food and sit. The food’s delicious and I savour every bite. I take my time chewing one of the pieces in the middle because it tastes so good, and then suddenly, my best friend picks up my plate. Frantically, I try to swallow my food, but it’s too thick to swallow that fast, so I just stand up and grab my plate. I make a clear motion to her—“Still eating!”—but she takes my plate to the bin and empties it anyway. She shoves the empty plate back to me and I exclaim,
“What did you do that for?! I was still eating!” I stare at her, shocked.
“Oh, no! I’m so sorry! Were you still eating? You should have just said!” She fakes being concerned.
“But—but—I—” I stutter, looking down at my empty plate.
“That wasn’t cool. You knew full well she was still eating, and she couldn't say anything because she’s polite enough to swallow her food before she speaks!” Robin says to her, looking annoyed.
“Prove that I knew. Go on!” She smiles menacingly, looking over at her friends.
“Your smirk as you stole her plate.” Robin folds his arms.
“No, I didn’t!” she says innocently.
“Such a liar,” I mutter under my breath.
“Anyway, what does it matter? If she wants more, she can have mine!” she says. She dumps her food straight onto my lap just as I’m trying to get up and put my plate into our washing-up bowl. Sauce trickles down my legs and my eyes well up with tears.
“Oops. I missed,” she says sassily. She smiles as she sits back down like nothing happened. Everyone stares at her, and her old friends and new friends grin, patting her on the back. I notice some of the Scottish people looking over the fence at me, pointing and laughing.
A tear rolls down my cheek and I remember what it was like five years ago. The two of us. Hugging, laughing, playing together. I shiver and start trying to wipe the food off. Once most of it is gone, I run into the tent and change. I don’t even notice that I’m drenching my top in tears; they just fall down my face and I can’t stop them.
I sit in my sleeping bag and curl up. I don’t move for three hours- up until lights out. Then I start to fall asleep…
My name is being called.
“Elowen! Elowen!” It’s Alivia.
“What?” I ask flatly.
“Um… hi Elowen.” I hear the Scottish guy say.
“Hello.” I say back quietly and then I’m silent again. That was random…
“The guy just wanted to say hi, Elowen! You don’t need to be so rude about it…” my best friend says like she’s telling off a toddler.
“And I said hello back. What is it that I’m supposed to do other than that?” I reply, honestly wondering how that’s considered rude.
“You don’t need to be so flat, so blunt!” She says.
“Ok, I’ll try again! Hello!” I exclaim as happily as I can manage.
“Uh… hello!” The Scottish guy says again.
“Much better!” My best friend giggles. I roll my eyes in the dark and go back to sleep.

I wake up like usual and then get ready super fast. Today activities start early because it’s hot. When I’m all dressed I wake my tent mates up and leave straight away, ignoring them as they call me, asking what time it is. I’m the first one ready so I patiently wait. For the first time I really notice how many people are here. It must be breathtaking to look at this place from the main stage…
To get to this activity we have to take a bus! Ours has two floors so we obviously take the top one and bundle in. I sit next to someone I don’t really know because she doesn’t have someone to sit next to-but I don’t mind! I almost fall asleep a few times… for some reason I’m just so tired! Finally, we arrive and the first thing that we do is… well it’s either kayaking or canoeing- I can’t tell the difference! I’m with Grace and Robin, Iotee and Elena are in a different boat. We paddle around (some of us in sync, some of us… VERY out of sync) and we even have to do a game where we have to stand up and swap places with someone else! There’s another one that we play later on where we all stand in the middle and then jump at the same time- it’s fun but also quite scary! Next we move on to rafting but we don’t build the raft- they built it for us which I find quite strange. Then, we get out onto the water. This time it’s Grace, me, Robin and Alivia and her friend. Everything’s going great! We’re paddling around, throwing the wet pom-poms at other people until suddenly Grace is reaching over to get a pom-pom and Alivia falls in! It looks very much like Grace pushed her in but I know she didn’t. Then, Alivia’s friend tries to pull her up but ends up falling in herself! Then an instructor comes over.
“Right guys, that’s it. Back to shore! You can’t be messing around and pushing each other in like that.” And so we’re forced to pull up Alivia and her friend and paddle back even though we didn’t do anything. My heart is pounding. “What if we get in trouble?” I whisper anxiously to Grace.
“It wasn’t our fault, Elowen.” She calmly explains and I nod and keep paddling. We get dressed fast, while the changing tents are empty and then when the leaders and anyone else from our units ask, we argue our situation and they nod sympathetically.

We get back on the bus and soon enough, we’re back. I’m excited to eat lunch but the leaders force us to have showers first. I sigh.
“If you want, I’ll come to the shower block with you!” Robin offers kindly.
“Yes please!” I nod gratefully and we walk there together.

We head back, clean and refreshed and we sit down for lunch. I put my hands on my sandwich when suddenly a handful of crisps hits one of the leaders square in the face. There’s a short, scary silence.
“Who,” she begins, her voice dangerously quiet, “threw that?”
“FOOD FIGHT!” Someone screams wildly and suddenly it’s like a battlefield. Tomatoes are flying through the air, pieces of lettuce are being thrown like ninja stars, and chunks of bread are landing on people’s tops. My eyes widen and I panic. Robin looks over at me.
“Duck!” He shouts and we slip out of our chairs and quickly crawl under one of the serving tables while the leaders yell unhelpful orders to try and organise this mess. We sit for a minute, catching our breath. Suddenly I notice how close our shoulders are. Robin turns to face me. His eyes look so pretty… a soft blush creeps across both of our faces and we smile gently. He takes my hand and we wait for the food to stop raining through the air. Finally, it does and we come out from under our shelter. The place is a mess but luckily our chairs seem to be safe. I let out a sigh of relief and finish my sandwich that I left on my chair quickly. Then it’s time for our next activity but it doesn’t seem to be close at all… it’s a very long walk. Grace and Robin start a conversation but they look very focused so I don’t want to interrupt, and Iotee and Elena are talking about a movie that I don’t know or understand so I just walk by myself- but for some reason I don’t feel lonely! I think about ideas for my story and notice how the dry fields fade into shady trees. We’re given a quick briefing on where the activities are and then we’re off! Robin instantly finds me but we can’t find Grace anywhere… we look around everywhere for her. Then one of the leaders comes up to us.
“Who are you looking for?” She asks, smiling her huge smile.
“Grace- do you know where she is?” We keep glancing around us.
“No, I don’t, but you can’t spend this whole session just looking for her so go and do an activity.” She says, all of a sudden stern. We start frantically looking for an activity to do.
“You should try cooking fish!” She starts trying to guide us there. “Oh wait- Spring, you’re vegetarian. What about Welsh cakes?” She keeps trying to persuade us so we walk off and reluctantly decide on wood carving. It’s a long wait so I pull out some snacks and munch while we wait. Then we’re called in and we can either make a tent peg which looks really hard or a feather stick! We choose that but we’re so bad! I get one curl which at the end snaps off and Robin doesn’t get any so we end up taking back some sticks. We laugh as we walk out.
“What’s our leader going to say when she sees these?” Robin grins.
“Oh, nice sticks!” I imitate her high pitched voice and we both burst out laughing again. Then suddenly we see Grace. We call her over, show her our beautiful sticks and we go over to the cave bus. As we walk there, we chat!
“So where did you go, Grace?” I ask, curious.
“I went with Alivia to stick carving, then we went to rope weaving. Check out this bracelet I made!” She holds up her wrist, grinning. There’s a loose, blue and green bracelet! It’s really cool! We get to the cave bus, equip our helmets and then Grace puts her head inside. She gets stuck straight away so we have to pull her out and so she decides to wait outside for us. I go in first and at the beginning we’re almost crawling, there’s that much space, but by the end we’re sliding along on our stomachs. When we clamber out, the outside air feels so cold compared to in there which was hot, stuffy, and dirty- although somehow our clothes are still probably just about as clean as they were when we came in. Alivia comes along, fake smiles at me, grabs Grace and takes her to fish cooking…but through a gap in the fence I can see what they’re really doing. They have to gut the fish and then the instructors cook it on a fire! It’s really gross and since we don’t have long left Robin and I decide to go and try Welsh cakes! It’s not as messy as I expected because we mix everything in a bag and then we just make them into balls and put them on the fire! Suddenly a realisation hits me- my best friend isn’t here! She must have been feeling sick again…
We take the cakes off of the fire and sit in the only green grass in the whole site. I take a tentative bite. The outside is crispy and the inside is still soft and warm- it melts in my mouth and it’s so delicious!
“Mmm!” Robin and I sigh in unison and we let out a muffled laugh as we chew. When we finish those, we go back to the main group of people who are getting ready to leave. When we number off, I bellow my number happily. Then we start walking. I walk alone again but come up with an amazing idea for my story! I pick up the pace as I think, smiling to myself as I start to make outlines of my story in my mind. But then I see Robin and Grace together way ahead and a pang of jealousy strikes me in the chest. I slow down and start trudging as bad thoughts creep into my mind through the walls of my creative flow. They look so happy when they’re together… what if they don’t need me? My eyes fill with tears. They only hang out with you because they feel sorry for you, the voice in my head whispers. The smirk in its voice reminds me of my best friend. I blink angrily at my tears and push these annoying thoughts out of my mind with all of the might I have. I think about the fun moments the five of us have had together and the new friends I’ve made… they do like me. I know it.

We finally get back to camp and my best friend is sitting in her camp chair, with an ice pack on her head. She looks pale and a little bit sweaty. I forget what she did to me and rush up to her.
“What’s wrong? Are you ok?” I ask worriedly.
“Y-yeah… I just feel a bit…” she replies. Her friends strut up to her and suddenly she looks alright again. They form a tight circle around her. One of them looks at me and then elbows me out of the way so she can look at my best friend closer. I stumble back. Suddenly a leader comes over and the girls scatter into their tent. My best friend looks like she wants to join them but puts her ice pack on her face again and looks sick again.
“Noemi was so lonely all day waiting for you…” the leader says. Noemi nods slowly, but keeps looking at the tent where giggles can be heard erupting.
“Why don’t you sit with her? She’s been waiting all day! I’ve got some games you can play if you want!” The leader beams.
“I guess…” she responds weakly but she really doesn’t want to sit with me. To be honest- neither do I… nevertheless, we’re handed the game, and for what seems like hours but is probably only a little while, we awkwardly sit and play, until FINALLY Osie shows up. She says hi and I wait a bit before quickly blurting out,
“Oh, great! Osie’s here! Caaan I go now?” She scans my face and shrugs.
“Yeah, sure. Why not?” She says and turns to Osie, shutting me out. But I don’t mind- I just want to see Robin, Grace, Elena and Iotee. I hop into their tent and I expect to see all of them but it’s just Robin and Grace. Robin is holding a pen and notebook and they’re laughing.
“Whatcha laughing about?” I slide in smoothly next to them.
“We’re picking names!” Robin says quickly and they carry on laughing. I want to laugh but I’m confused.
“Names for who?” I say but they don’t hear me over all of their laughter. I repeat it over and over until I’m practically pleading them to tell me. Then they finally notice that I’ve been asking.
“It’s for me.” explains Grace quietly. I’m half surprised but there’s a part of me that doesn’t react. First Robin and now Grace…
“Are you changing your pronouns?” I shift on the sleeping mat that I’m sitting on comfortably.
“Yeah- to they/them.” Grace looks at me.
“So what names were you thinking?” I look over Robin’s shoulder at the notebook. Robin tilts it to me and I look down at them.
“We were thinking Fern…” He begins, looking at Friend.
“But I feel like it’s more of a boyish name- like- do you know any girls or people who have that name?” They finish, deep in thought.
“I knew a girl called Fern… but she moved away…” I answer encouragingly. I think it’s a really good choice. Suddenly, Robin grabs the notebook and starts scribbling down names, asking us what we think of them as they go. Then he asks Friend to rate each one out of ten. They start off sensible but by the end we have stuff like:
“Chicken wing out of ten!”
“Macaroni cheeeeeez outta ten!”
We’re in tears of laughter by the time we hear the music starting and we have to turn on a torch to see each other in the dark. Out of nowhere, a familiar commotion starts. Scottish people, I think to myself. They start shaking the tent we’re in and I poke my head outside. This causes a roar of laughter from the Scottish.
“Hey! You’re the one who needs 23 hours of sleep and got food poured down her lap- right?” Guffaws the one I recognise as the one who the girls in my tent are always talking to.
“Yeah, yeah. Very funny.” I brush it off and sit back down. My best friend stands in the doorway, Osie still glued to her side. They’re laughing like the funniest thing in the world just happened.
“Did you hear what he called you?!” She screams with laughter.
“Yes. I’m fully aware of what he yelled for half of the camp to hear.” I respond flatly and annoyedly.
“You don’t need to take everything so seriously!” She stops laughing and looks at me like I’m a piece of gum on her shoe before turning away on her heel, whispering and giggling about something to Osie. Nice. But then I look back at Robin and Friend.
“So… did you decide on a name?” I say as quietly as I can but still very loudly to be heard over all of the shouting.
“Not yet!” Friend grins and starts listing cartoon names that they think are cool. Me and Robin share a look that means: oh gosh! And we listen to them. Finally they decide on Victrini, which is very unique but I suppose it works! So for the rest of the evening, as we decide to go on a walk, we call them that. We both slip up a couple of times but after a while we get used to it as the new, normal thing- and it feels so good. I’m so glad I was able to be included as part of this today: I feel like I’m really a true friend to both of them.

When we come back, it’s almost time for lights out so I climb into my tent. To my surprise, everyone is already there, so I just sit in my sleeping bag.
“Hi everyone! What’s up?” I say cheerfully.
“Oh! Elowen! Hii!” Says my best friend. She suddenly bursts out laughing. “Do you remember that time when you and Alivia got super upset and started yelling at us because we were in the toilet? You were being such drama queens!” Her and Osie laugh hysterically.
“It wasn’t that funny.” I shrug. “And besides- that was a couple of days ago so I don’t really get how that’s still hilarious to you…”
“Obviously you wouldn’t get it…” my best friend scoffs, rolling her eyes at me. “But you never really get any of our jokes anyway, do you? Just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean we can’t laugh either…” she scrunches up her nose and turns back to her friends, whispering and grinning.
“What are you guys talking about?” I ask, keeping my voice calm.
Noemi smirks as she leans back. “Just stuff. You wouldn’t understand anyway.”
I feel the sting in my chest, but I don't let my face drop. I look her straight in the eye.
“I’m pretty sure I’d understand,” I say bluntly. “Why would you exclude me like that if you know I have my ‘stupid anxiety about missing out or whatever’? I just didn’t realize talking about nothing required so much maturity.”
Noemi’s smirk vanishes instantly. Her mouth stays slightly open like she’s trying to find a snappy comeback, but nothing comes out. The new girls stop giggling and exchange an awkward look in the dim torchlight.
I calmly turn away, kick off my shoes, and crawl into my sleeping bag. There’s an awkward silence and some shuffling before the light goes out. I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

I wake up in the middle of the night. All I can hear is sniffing.
“Scottish guy- is that you? Someone whispers- shouts.
“Y-yeah. Just having a nosebleed!” A muffled voice says, sighing. “I’m so tired… and I have to pack up.” he groans.
“Why are you packing up?” Someone else whispers.
“I texted my mum. It’s boring here- I’m going home.” He says bluntly.
“Fair enough!” My best friend says and Osie agrees. A wave of tiredness washes over me again and I slip off with the tide of sleep.

I suddenly sit bolt upright. Why is it so loud? What’s going on? My eyes adjust to the bright lights that my best friend and Osie have turned on. Noemi is weeping dramatically, and groaning as if she’s dying. A leader is standing in the doorway with a torch, peering in.
“It’s literally a tiny splash on the floor, Noemi,” the leader sighs, shining the light on a tiny puddle. “You don't need to scream the camp down. Just wipe it up and go back to sleep.”
The leader leaves, and I instantly scramble out of my warm sleeping bag. I rush up to Noemi with a clean water bottle. “What’s wrong? Are you ok?” I ask worriedly.
Noemi wipes her eyes, shivering. But the second she realizes I’m the one offering help, her posture hardens. She wants to look tough in front of Osie and Alivia, so she completely masks her embarrassment. She ignores my water bottle and reaches right past my arms to grab Osie's hand instead. “I’m so glad you’re awake, Osie. I was so scared.”
Osie looks up at me standing there in the dark. “Elowen, you can go back to sleep. I've got her.”
I freeze, my hands dropping to my sides. Then, I look down near Noemi's feet and my heart drops. My favourite comfy hoodie is lying right next to her bag—and Noemi has deliberately kicked it right into the middle of the mess to clean up the floor.
“You… you just used my hoodie as a rag?” I whisper, my throat tightening as pure anger and hurt hit my chest. “Why would you do that?”
Noemi just shrugs carelessly, turning back to Osie to whisper a secret.
“What are you guys even talking about?” I ask, my voice trembling slightly.
Noemi lets out a sharp, mocking laugh, her mean voice bouncing off the tent walls. “Oh my gosh, Elowen, don't worry about it. You wouldn’t understand. You’re too young, and you're not dirty-minded enough to get it anyway. Go back to your little sleeping bag.”
Alivia chuckles meanly from the corner, and Osie smirks, watching me stand there helpless. The words hit me like a physical slap, making me feel incredibly small, pathetic, and excluded right after my clothes were ruined.
But then, Noemi notices my brand-new plastic notebook sticking out of my bag. To completely shut me out of their secret, she grabs it and tosses it carelessly into Osie's lap. “Keep it, Osie. You can use it to write down everything we say so she can't listen in. She isn't grown-up enough to hear it anyway.”
Osie smirks, clutching my pristine notebook, while Alivia chuckles again.
My heart pounds in my throat. The disrespect is too much.
“You can’t have that,” I say bluntly, and I walk straight up to Osie.
“Why not?” she retorts sassily, holding it tightly.
Suddenly, I have a brilliant plan. You’re so smart! I shout at myself in my head.
“That was my grandfather’s before he passed away,” I lie, whispering solemnly.
The entire tent falls completely silent. Even Alivia stops laughing. Noemi just stares at me, her overdramatic tears instantly freezing on her face with shock and guilt.
“Y-you never told me that!” Noemi stammers angrily, her cheeks flushing red.
“I haven’t told anyone. I don’t have to. This is my personal matter, and you have no right to even think about it,” I stare at them firmly, keeping my voice completely calm and level instead of angry.
Osie looks completely mortified. She immediately shoves the notebook back into my hands. “I’m sorry,” she mutters, looking down at the floor.
Alivia quickly turns over in her sleeping bag, pretending she wasn't involved.
I nod, take my notebook back, and crawl back into bed. I hug it tight against my chest, grinning triumphantly in the dark while Noemi sits there looking absolutely pathetic.

That’s it, I think to myself. I don’t have a best friend anymore. I have an enemy.

The morning sun blinds me as I sit up, stiff from sleeping curled up in a ball all night.
Noemi wakes up and so does Osie and they start complaining about how tired they are.
“Morning guys!” I say to make them notice me.
“Oh hi…” Noemi wrinkles her nose and they keep on chatting.
“You know, I was up with you last night too!” I point out. Not angrily, not cheerfully and definitely not sadly. Neutral.
“Yeah but we were up before you, when I threw up.” Noemi says sassily.
“But don’t just treat me like I wasn’t there!” I wink, trying to avoid a hostile moment.
“Well you sort of… weren’t.” Osie finishes bluntly and they turn completely away from me.
“Well if you guys want to be late to the activity, your problem.” I shrug to them and I get ready.
“It’s not like we care! OMG she’s such a pick me right?” They stage whisper.
I zip open the door, ignoring them and then I’m met with the leader from last night!
“Oh! Hello, Elowen!” She smiles. I smile too and nod a hello. I want to see what she does so I pretend to pack something in my bag.
“Girls! D-“ she stops talking as she looks down. My stained hoodie has been thrust over to the corner.
“Whose hoodie is this? And why is it so dirty?” She asks, confused. I look at my hands silently. Then she looks over at Noemi, who is trying very hard to pretend she’s asleep, and then to me, and then to my hoodie again.
“Noemi…” the leader says slowly. “Would you like to explain why Elowen’s hoodie is covered in your mess instead of using these tissues I left by the door?” She folds her arms and Noemi sits up super fast.
“Elowen was being super mean and she chucked her hoodie at me and it landed in the sick! I didn’t do anything!” She whines desperately, her voice high and pitchy in the quiet morning air. “Come on! Back me up, guys! She was being really rude, wasn’t she?” She practically pleads the others.
They murmur a reluctant agreement but shuffle on their sleeping mats uncomfortably. I raise my head from looking at my bag and meet the leader’s eyes. Mine are tired and gentle, and hers are anxious. She looks at me for a while longer and then she just… knows. Her eyes light up with recognition and she says firmly,
“Right. Noemi, since you clearly used Elowen’s hoodie as a rag to wipe up the sick, you’re going to clean that corner where you threw up until it SPARKLES. Do you hear me?” I can’t help myself from smirking so I have to dig into my bag so that my face is buried in it, still pretending to look for something. When I’ve calmed down, I sit up again.
“Ugh! You’re so annoying!” Noemi practically screams. I cover my ears and slip out of the tent, ready to leave. People are flooding out of the tents.
“Who was that?” People are saying, looking around. I shrug as if I don’t know and sit down casually in my camp chair. Robin and Victrini come over quickly.
“What happened?!” They whisper-laugh.
“Well Noemi just got sentenced to scrubbing the tent floor after she used my camp hoodie as a rag- last night she was sick.” I smile sweetly. They laugh with their mouths wide open in shock.
“That’s so crazy! Anyway, do you want to come to the activity with Fern and I?” Robin asks, still half-gawking.
“Fern? What happened to Victrini?” I wonder out loud, confused.
“Oh, I just decided that Victrini was a little too bold- Fern is a better choice for me.” Fern smiles. I nod.
“Cool! Right- let’s go!” I grin and we all march out, down the “streets” of tents and towards the activity. Fern has to stop to fill up their water bottle so Robin quickly leans over to me:
“I’m actually really glad they didn’t choose Victrini- can you imagine?” He whispers.
“Me too… that is a really interesting name…” I snicker quietly.

Anyway, today it’s the performance zone!
There are balls to juggle, unicycles, space hoppers, and, my personal favourite, pogo sticks! I grab one straight away and suddenly the Scottish appear. The one from the tent next door shows up.
“I thought you left?” I pant between bounces.
“I have until lunch- then I leave.” He explains. I nod and keep bouncing. I even fall into rabbit holes a couple of times but manage to keep bouncing for almost the whole session while the Scottish guy keeps falling off.
“I’m beating you!” He keeps trying to yell at me. Our whole unit chimes back with:
“No you’re really not!” In unison and then laughter and high fives. As I bounce I watch this one guy on a unicycle. He falls again and again but keeps trying to get back on. He keeps getting bruised as he hits the floor but still he tries… he doesn’t know how much that’s going to hurt later…
Soon it’s time to head back to our campsite for lunch so we put the equipment where we found it and start walking back to the place I’ve noticed some of us have started to call home. As I’m grabbing my cutlery bag, a realisation strikes me. That unicycle guy? It’s like how Noemi and I used to be. Our friendship- when we were younger or less bold, it was stable, like when you hold onto the bar on the unicycle. Then when we got older, or you let go of the bar, it became so, so unstable. I kept falling off. And the more invisible bruises I got, the harder it was to get back up, until I couldn’t. That was it. Time to pack up the unicycle…that friendship is over. I mull this over as I make my sandwich. I guess maybe it wasn’t built to be long term? Was it me… or was it her? Or was it her new friends? Or her competitiveness? Or maybe… is it possible to be… too different? It feels hard to think but I know that it must be true. As I’m eating, I notice something going on in the Scottish area. The guy is leaving! He looks over to our camp to see who will actually say goodbye. He yells a farewell but no one responds. They really did only want drama…
“Bye!” I shout back and wave. He looks over and genuinely smiles. It’s not a laugh at my reputation and it’s not a smirk at something dumb I did, it’s an actual, real, smile. I feel my heart lift and I grin back. Suddenly all of the drama girls have got out of their seats and are waving dramatically. His smile fades a little and he briefly waves but then walks off. I sit back down. Night will seem so quiet now…

Now, it’s time for the most exciting activity yet- the climbing and mining area! It has rock climbing, abseiling, a drop, crate stacking, net climbing, and even caving! We arrive and there are a bunch of inflatables to use while we wait for our session. I’m at the back of the queue that our unit have decided to use first. I wait, and wait but then our session gets called. Some people have been on two inflatables but I haven’t even been on one! Actually- I’m quite glad I didn’t go on the one our unit chose… it looks quite scary! But still, you can imagine that I’m a bit upset. However my bad mood is wiped away when we join the queue for getting harnesses. I’m so excited! We get kitted up and our unit is at the front! Then, we’re let out and I find Robin.
“Ready?” They ask, grinning.
“You bet!” I wink and together we decide to do crate stacking! We almost reach the maximum height but I accidentally misplace my foot and I fall. Robin stays on but the instructors think we both fell off and kick the stack down. As we’re lowered, we’re laughing.
“Oh well!” I shrug and Robin smiles and nods. Then, we do the rock climbing! I find it really easy and ace all three walls but when I finish Robin’s only started one… something must be up. I’ll ask later. We then do the net climbing which Robin does way faster than me this time- I’m not amazing with core strength stuff. Next we head over to abseiling- I get to cross a wobbly bridge to get to the higher, harder abseiling but they rush Robin down. I frown a little as I make my way down as fast as I can to meet him on the other side. When I do, I remember something.
“Hang on a second… where’s Fern?!” I ask, suddenly panicked.
“Fern tripped… I think they hurt themselves pretty bad because they had to get carried away on a stretcher…” Robin bites his lip, worried.
“Oh no! That’s terrible! We have to go see them when the activity is over.” I nod firmly.
“I asked a leader if I could go with them but they said that no visitors were allowed…” Robin looks even more upset. I can’t bear it.
“I’m sure Fern is ok. They have to be!” I take Robin’s hand and look him in the eye. They seem to calm a little.
“You’re right- Fern is too strong to break like that.” says Robin slowly. I nod, and together we go out of the climbing area and back into the inflatables area. This is where caving is. Three boys appear behind us.
“It’s SO muddy in there- there’s a whole literal mud pit!” They start whispering excitedly. I look at them and they really are covered in mud. I try not to let it get into my head but I do really need this shirt… Robin goes in but I’m too scared. They guide me out faster than I can say that I’m not doing it to Robin… a guilty lump sits in my stomach as I wait at the exit. He comes out, not too muddy.
“I’m so sorry, Robin! The boys just got into my head… I didn’t want to get my camp t-shirt dirty and then I couldn’t say anything because the instructor made me leave really quick!” I explain frantically.
“It- it’s fine. It wasn’t that muddy anyway!” Robin seems to be ok about it… I decide to leave it behind and be pleased again.
“Alright! Let’s go see if we can be with Fern!” I yell determinedly and we sprint to the leader.
“Can we go and be with… uh… Grace?” I think the leader would be confused if we called her Fern…
“I don’t know- you’ll have to go and check with the other leaders.” She says dismissively. I pull a face at her, being glued on her phone, and then we walk back to camp, a little gloomily. The weather seems to match our mood. It’s getting very dark and cloudy but it’s still warm. We’re about to turn into the “street” where our campsite is when the leader of our unit suddenly meets us.
“Oh! Hello, girls!” I flinch a little for Robin but still he doesn’t react.
“Hi. We were wondering if we can go and see Grace?” Robin looks so guilty when he says Grace…
“No. They aren’t having any visitors at all. She’s happy and fine. Laughing and everything. Now go back to camp.” Suddenly the leader’s voice is stern. I frown, defeated. We walk a little further when suddenly Iotee comes bounding up to us, Elena close behind.
“Fern was waiting for you!” She smiles.
“All the leaders have been telling us we can’t go, though…” Robin replies, confused.
“Well we just went, and Fern’s going to hospital soon so if you want to wish her luck and stuff, you’d better go now!” Elena finishes, and they run so happily by it looks like they’re almost skipping.
“Seriously?!” I shout after them and then Robin and I look at each other, and then start sprinting as fast as we can to the Medical Tent. We arrive there and it’s not like an office and a bed, it’s like a full on hospital! There’s a reception, and then lots of beds with privacy curtains and everything! We walk past them until we find Fern. Never have I been more glad to see a foot in my life.
“Hiii!” We grin at Fern.
“Hi guys! I just ate a whole bag of marshmallows and a cinnamon roll and then stuffed the wrappers in my shoe,” she gestures to the boot that’s resting by her leg.
“Now it smells like… mmm. Cinnamon!” She says in a funny voice and so we all laugh.
“You guys snuck in here too, then?” A leader sitting in the corner says, folding her arms but smiling.
“Yeah…” I laugh awkwardly.
“It’s fine- I mean, who wouldn’t?” She shrugs. I smile gratefully at her.
“So how are you?” Robin asks.
“Well, I can’t really walk, so I’m going to the hospital for an x-ray.” Fern explains, but she seems completely unbothered.
“How did you even do that?” I look at her ankle. It looks quite red and puffy but not out of place.
“I tripped on a harness and then my foot caught in a rabbit hole.” She pulls a face. I wince. “Bad luck, right?” She grins. She’s sticking her tongue out.
“I wish I was as brave as you!” I smile gently.
“Yeah… well…” she looks at Robin then back at me. “I’m just glad I have such awesome friends.” I’m about to say thank you but then two nurses come in with clipboards. They say that it’s time to go to hospital and say that apparently there’s someone who’s got it way worse than they have so they should be thankful. Fern nods.
“Now… how are we going to do this?” The leader chuckles.
“You could hop, and hold onto Robin and I’s shoulders!” I suggest.
“Good idea.” Fern agrees, so I stand on my tip toes and together we help Fern to the minibus. It’s started to rain by the time we get outside. Then, Fern lets go and hops the last few steps by themselves. The leader takes her bag and together they get inside. Robin and I wave to Fern through the window.
“Good luck!” We shout. A muffled “Thanks!” comes through the window and we grin as they drive off. We wave until we can’t see the bus anymore, then decide to run back before we get drenched. We quickly hop into Robin’s tent. Our campsite is deserted since everyone is still doing activities.
“Want to hear a story?” Robin asks out of nowhere.
“Sure!” I smile as I hop onto the sleeping bag next to him.
“When I was younger, my best friend and I were playing tag. I was winning, and then she tagged me. She said, “Haha! You can’t catch me! I’m going to beat you!”, so I jumped onto a stage. Now by stage, I mean tiny wooden box. Then, I jumped off of the stage because I thought that would make me faster. Instead, I ended up breaking my ankle. Don’t ask me how.” Robin chuckles. He’s describing this so vividly I can practically hear the voices in my head. “I was crying, and limping. The leaders and especially my best friend’s grandma didn’t believe me. Everyone was telling me I was just being overdramatic. But you know who was the only person who actually cared? My best friend. She stayed with me the whole time, even when she got told off. Then, I had to run all the way home. My parents decided they should probably check out my ankle, and then I came to the next unit meeting on crutches. The grandma was there, and I got to give her the biggest “I told you so,” look EVER. It was hilarious.” Robin smiles fondly. I’m left gawking.
“That actually happened? Wow… that’s crazy!” I shake my head slowly in disbelief.
“It’s a good story, right?” He asks.
“Of course!” I grin. “Oh! Right! Now I guess we can have the writing session we wanted to have together, right?” I remember suddenly.
“Oh yeah! Sure- let’s do it!” Robin pulls out his notebook and I take out mine from my daypack.
“Here’s what I’ve written…” Robin turns his notebook towards me. I read it as I listen to the pitter-patter of the rain on the tent.
“This is actually amazing!” I gasp in awe as I pass the book back when I’m done.
“Thanks…” Robin mumbles. He’s blushing.
“Really, it’s so good.” I clarify, quieter. He looks at the page, then we lock eyes. Instead of looking away like we normally do, I just notice how quiet it is… how pretty his brown eyes are… he looks down at my lips then back up at my eyes. I smile, flushing pink, and then he leans in and kisses me. When we pull back we both grin and he gently adjusts his glasses. But then I hear footsteps. We look at each other in dread and hide our faces behind our notebooks, trying so hard to look like we’re just studying.
“Oh hello, guys…” Iotee and Elena say in a playful tone. “What’re you doing?”
“Oh… uh- we went to go and see Fern and then we came back to do some writing!” I blurt out, flustered.
“Uh huh…” they giggle. I shrug at Robin and suddenly I notice that it’s not raining anymore. I step outside and the sun is shining.
“Oh! Brilliant!” says Robin behind me. “It’s time for Ye Olde Washing Experience!” I’m very confused but once I see the tub of soapy water, I understand. We pile in our coloured clothes from the Colour Run as well as my sick-stained one and then swirl them around. We dip them, rub them, and then hang them out to dry! Some of them, two of the four of us grab one end of it and then wave it up and down to shake out all of the water but it’s really tiring so we decide to just let them dry. Then, girls start coming back from the activity. They all gradually find out the news about Fern, and then someone has a crazy idea! They decide to make a version of Fern with a jumper, some gloves, and their shoes! It involves a lot of pegs and of course Fern’s camp chair, but we take a selfie which gets sent to Fern, and then put Jumper Fern into a wagon, still on her chair, and take them to both concerts! We get front row in both somehow and then decide to get Fern’s flag and get signatures for them! At some point, Robin decides to go back to our campsite. Later, someone says,
“Can someone explain why we’re doing this?” And so along the way I keep yelling to staring passers-by,
“Our real friend is in hospital!” But then a little bit later someone gets annoyed.
“You don’t have to keep shouting that.” They say. It feels like a shove out of the project that I did so much of the work for.
“Oh… ok.” I reply quietly. So I stop. For the rest of the trip I don’t say anything and don’t help, I just tag along. As a final stop, we decide to go to the Giant Deckchair. I only just realised that Noemi is there when all of them are squished up on the chair. There’s a clear sign that says,
“MAX LIMIT: 2 PEOPLE”, but Noemi always decides to ignore it however I’m different and like to follow rules so I sit on the grass.
“Elowen! What are you sitting down there for? Come and join us!” Noemi says. I’m not being drawn in by her niceness again.
“No thanks. I’d rather stick to the rules.” I reply bluntly.
“You don’t have to follow the rules all of the time, you know!” She says like she’s explaining it to a five-year-old.
“Fine.” I say flatly and sit in it for a few seconds. It’s not comfortable at all. “Overrated.” I mutter to myself and then go back to our campsite.

The sun is still in the sky, it seems to be setting very slowly today. The tents are empty except one where practically EVERYONE is gathered. I look inside. One camper is holding a mallet and everyone is sitting in a circle now that they’ve come back.
“What’s going on?” I’m really confused.
“Sallow is trying to break her thumb with a mallet so she can go home.” Noemi explains, smiling sweetly. “I don’t think you want to see this, I know you don’t like gruesome stuff…” she assumes, laughing.
“Actually, I don’t mind it! But if you really think so, then I suppose I can leave. I’ve got more interesting things to do than sitting in silence.” I turn away and leave the tent. I never hear yelling so I assume everything was fine. During dinner, I pay extra close attention to Sallow’s fingers and she can move each one perfectly fine. Not yet, I suppose! After dinner a few of us stay in our chairs and lazily chat about nothing. Suddenly people start bringing up roles in some sort of family… that rings a bell! Of course! Last year- I was a cousin!
“Hey, uh… wasn’t I a cousin last year?” I ask subtly.
“Uh… no. You’re not part of this family.” Someone laughs.
“Oh… ok. Thanks.” I say quietly.

The sun is finally starting to set, and out of nowhere, Fern appears! They’re on crutches but they hop in very stylishly.
“Fern!” I shout. Robin, Iotee, Elena and I all come up to them.
“What happened?” Elena asks. Fern starts presenting what happened like it’s a spy movie:
“I got taken to the ambulance… then I had to wait in the waiting room for hours… and THEN… we got burgers! Some nice guy bought them for us and he didn’t even want us to pay him back- free food! Anyway, then I finally got the x ray and… it turns out- my ankle isn’t broken!” We all cheer enthusiastically and hug each other.
“However it is still sprained so I’ll be on crutches for a while.” Grace adds, smiling anyhow. We’re all still really happy and grin as we say goodbye for the night.

Now it’s later on and I’m sitting in my tent with my tent mates. Suddenly, Noemi puts on a sad face and starts fake crying.
“Guys, Elowen’s being really mean! She’s giving me the cold shoulder and bullying me just because of a jumper!” She whinges.
“She’s right, Elowen, you have to knock it off. It was just a jumper and it’s literally clean now.” Alivia agrees.
“If you think I’m such a bully, care to check my diary?” I say calmly and pull out my diary from my pocket. I open it, take a deep breath, and start to read my list of every bad thing the three of them have done at this camp to hurt me. From ignoring me, to leaving me in the tent alone, to calling out my FOMO and saying it’s stupid, to throwing me onto the floor, to laughing at me, to pouring food onto my lap, to wiping the sick with my jumper. I close the plastic cover with a snap and smile, satisfied. The three of them gawk in silence. It feels like the whole camp was listening.
“Anyway! Goodnight everyone.” I say flatly and turn off the light next to my bed.

I blink as I sit up slowly. It’s our last full day… I’m glad to go home, but I don’t think I want to leave these memories behind. I briefly wake everyone up, then, because I packed my daypack for today yesterday to avoid wasting time in the tent, I pick it up and leave straight away. I don’t even hear them say a word. The cool morning breeze makes me feel serene. As I zip up the tent, a shadow falls over me. I whip around in surprise and Robin is right in front of me! I smile and blush.
“Morning, Robin!” I say cheerfully.
“Hiya!” He looks me in the eyes, and before I can say anything else, he kisses me again. I wrap my arms around his shoulders. The sun seems to shine for just this moment. Time slows. It feels like when you hear your favourite song for the first time. When we pull back, it’s just like last time. We’re blushing like crazy and grinning. He takes my hand, and we walk over to the shelters. We take a seat. I don’t think I could be more glad to see the seating area empty… if someone had seen… I shudder and shake the thought away. It takes a while for the leaders to get up and make breakfast but we get first servings because we were so early, and then we quickly wash up our plates and are allowed to go to the activity before everyone else with a leader because they’re late and we’re on time. It sounds AMAZING! We go to the area where everyone doing the activity is gathering. People are dancing to music that a guy dressed as a candy cane is playing from a speaker. Our units finally arrive with us, and so we all follow the candy cane guy in a massive conga while we’re stared at, but we don’t care! It’s hilarious! When we get there, we’re handed a slip of paper which tells us which group we’re in. It’s completely random so I end up in a group with a bunch of random people. All of them except one person are older than me… I just help out as much as I can, trying not to worry about how I don’t know these people. We have to make treats by buying ingredients! I’m on decorating and I think ours look really good! Finally, the time comes that I’m excited for… we get given “money” to spend on other people’s sweets! The first thing I buy is some chocolate fudge. I pop it into my mouth. It melts satisfyingly and the sweet chocolatey taste makes my mouth water. IT’S SO GOOD! I love it so much that I only buy the chocolate fudges and the chocolate truffles that people have. Some look nice and solid, but others look quite liquidy. They all taste amazing though! When I’ve spent it all, I come back and start scribbling down the recipes in my notebook as fast as I can. I’m definitely going to make these when I get home! I finish writing just in time, and I go back to camp. Somewhere along the way I find Grace and Robin. The rest of our unit seems to be walking really slowly so when we get back it’s quiet. My hands are a little bit dusty from the flour so I wipe them on my t-shirt but they just come off even more floury. Confused, I look down at it. There’s a massive trail of flour all over it. Robin catches me looking.
“Ye Olde Washing Experience?” He asks, smiling.
“Ye Olde Washing Experience!” I cheer. I quickly change my top and leave the stained one in a safe place for later. Then it’s time for lunch. That’s another reason I’m ready to go home… here we get dry, dull sandwiches every day, I’m ready for my actual meals, thanks! I smile to myself as I fill my plate. I sit in my chair and catch Noemi looking. She scowls at me and I chuckle a little and shrug. I’ve realised, that today, no matter what Noemi says, she can’t hurt me.

We’ve just finished the washing up and I slot neatly into a conversation with Iotee and Elena as we head over to the notice board.
“So you know what this pin means?” She points at a flag badge on her overalls.
“Uhh…” I do, but I don’t want to be a geek about it.
“It starts with a D!” Iotee hints proudly.
“Is it… uh…demi…” I start as if I’m unsure.
“Yes, you’re so close!” Iotee encourages me.
“Demigirl!” I exclaim finally.
“And what does that mean?” Her voice is playful.
“That you use she/they pronouns!” I nod confidently.
“Correct!” They grin.
“I didn’t know that about you! Thanks for telling me- that’s really cool!” I smile. I’m so glad she told me! If I were them, I don’t know if I’d be able to work up the courage to say that.
“No problem!” She replies and we look down at the little timetable and planner.
“Oh my gosh!” Elena breathes in amazement.
“The leaders have left us free time!!” I yell, jumping in the air. I run across all of the tents where people are getting bags ready and I hear gasps and excited squeals erupting. I find Robin quickly and invite him to go to the tuck shop with me.
“Oh, sorry Elowen, I was just going to write my story for a while- when you come back I’ll be done! I promise!” He says guiltily.
“Sure! No problem!” I grin and wave. I sprint down to the shop and buy a little pack of sweets. When I finally get to the cashier I have to rummage around for my money and then I have to run right back. I arrive back into the campsite and see Robin standing in the middle, waiting. They’re casually swinging their arms, humming. Suddenly, Noemi throws herself onto the floor in front of him.
“Leave me alone! Someone help!” She screams. A crowd of concerned campers and leaders forms around them. I frown deeply and push my way through the tight circle.
Fire pulses through my veins. You’ve hurt me before and you’re not about to do it again.
“I just got cornered! He told me to never say anything to Elowen ever again or else! I’m being threatened here!” She yells again, sprawled across the floor.
“Wh-what? I was literally just waiting here for her, what are you talking about?” Robin splutters down at her, confused.
“Noemi.” I step into the scene.
“Elowen- you shouldn’t even talk to him. This guy’s a bully!” She smirks to her friends that can see her on a bench behind the crowd. Robin shares a glance with me that looks so hurt and terrified that I grit my teeth and say something I never thought I’d say.
“Noemi… you are the cruelest person alive. This friendship is over in case you weren’t aware. Goodbye.” I stare into her cold eyes as I say this as loudly as I can so she can hear me. Then I take Robin’s hand and together we run over to the trees at the edge of the site, leaving behind Noemi’s gaping jaw. We lean against one, panting and out of breath, but grinning all the same. We catch our breath for a while and then we sit on the dusty floor which has grass scattered around it, close together in the hot afternoon air. It’s peaceful until we hear rustling in the bushes. We turn around and through the bushes we see Noemi and one of her friends! Curious, we hide, holding our breaths.
“Camp’s almost over, Noemi. Elowen has Spr- I mean Robin, Iotee, Elena and Grace and you’ve got no one except Osie and Alivia because we’re all from the other unit. You’ve lost.” Noemi’s friend says, frowning at her. We wince at her getting Fern’s name wrong but grit our teeth and keep listening intently.
“Oh please,” Noemi smirks and flicks her hair. “I haven’t lost anything. Elowen thinks she’s going to go home tomorrow and become our new Patrol Leader. She’s got no idea that I snuck into the leaders’ tent and read the private feedback notes.”
Noemi’s friend gasps, grinning. “What do they say?” She asks, a sparkle in her eye.
“They say that Elowen is their top choice because she hasn’t broken any rules. But when we lock her in a big storage container, she’ll have broken the curfew rule and I’ll be the Patrol Leader instead.” Noemi giggles madly and I shake my head in disbelief. Robin turns to me.
“No way. This is not happening. She’s not going to even CONSIDER taking your spot. We’re going to stick together the whole night and catch her doing it.” He whispers fiercely. I smile at him and nod. This is going to be great.

The music has started booming in the background just like it did in the opening ceremony but for the opposite reason. I nervously shuffle from foot to foot as our units gather and start going to the concert. My heart thumps louder and louder until I think everyone must be able to hear it over the music- of course, they can’t. I nod at Robin as we end up near a storage container- just like we planned. I purposely excuse myself to pretend to go and look for something in it. I feel Noemi’s shadow looming over me. I stand near the door, “searching”. Then, Noemi suddenly says,
“Going somewhere, Elowen? If you think you’ve got a chance against me in being the Patrol Leader, you don’t stand a chance.” She sneers. Then she throws the door wide open. I take a deep breath. “Have fun spending the rest of the night in the dark. When the leaders find you ignoring the curfew, that position is all mine.” She laughs.
“Actually… I don’t think so.” I smile faintly and point behind her. A click echoes through the container as 10 flashlights all turn on in unison, illuminating Noemi’s face. At the front is a furious Robin, and behind them is almost all of the leaders who came with us, plus Iotee, Elena and Fern, and two camp security members. They heard everything.
“The only person who’s lost their position, Noemi, is you.” Robin says, looking down at her guilty expression. Suddenly, it flips from guilty to panicked.
“Guys! Oh, thank goodness you’re here!” She stammers, pointing a shaky finger at me. “Elowen was about to lock me in! She said I’m just jealous of her! She’s trying to frame me!” Her voice cracks but I see a huge smirk through her mask of fear.
“Nice try, Noemi, but we heard every single word.” A leader says calmly.
“I’m sorry, little girl, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave.” A security member says. Noemi’s face goes from shocked to horrified. She hates being called little, and she’s just been kicked out of camp. Wow. Some of the leaders escort her back to camp and the rest take us back to the concert where the celebrations are just getting started! Robin and I party like it’s the best day ever- and who’s to say it wasn’t? We dance and dance right up until they set off the last firework and it’s time to leave. We skip back to camp, breathlessly singing random lyrics from songs. I get ready for bed, pack my bag as much as possible and then collapse onto my sleeping bag and fall asleep straight away.

I wake up to blinding sunlight and notice the empty space and grin. She’s gone. The rest of the day passes in a blur. It’s mostly just packing up tents, heaving along bags, signing out and getting the coach back home. The coach is way too big for just a group of guides so we all sit at the back and sing silly songs that we’ve customised as it trundles along. Finally, it pulls to a stop and we step out. The air is much cooler than over there so I breathe it in gratefully, refreshed. I heave my bags into my mum’s car and before I can say goodbye to any of my friends, I’m whisked off. I wave sadly out of the window as we drive away. Memories flood my brain. What a ride…

I’m sitting on my sofa while my brother watches the TV on full volume. I type frantically. Hmm… what should I call this story? Oh! I know!
“The Silent Fourth Corner.” I type, nodding enthusiastically. “The plot is altered for dramatic effect and the characters are fictional.” There!
The End!

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g1lt6hy wrote:

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Hi!!