Chapter 1: Meet Becky
Story Rating: M
Chapter Rating: G
Authors Notes: Hey there- anyone who decides to read this. I've gotta say I'm pretty excited to release this story. I've got some awesome things in mind with it, so just bear with the first few introductory chapters, but I hope it fits the summer needs of whomever decides to read this. ALSO, this is alternate universe so please go off of what is set up in the first few chapters. Beckdam doesn't exist, so Becky isn't going to be a super tolerant person, and Eli has /just/ been diagnosed as bipolar. Eli is going into the summer before senior year and Becky, the summer before junior year. x
Meet Becky Baker. Standing at five foot, seven inches since grade eight, the perky blonde had grown accustom to the standoffish behavior the opposite gender tended to take towards her. The small bit of insecurity she harbored towards her appearance stemming from her height, making her the slightest bit more human than she sometimes seemed.
Even so, Becky was far more confident than any sixteen year old girl had the right to be. While most of her fellow peers thought that by changing something about themselves physically, that it would change the way the world perceived them, Becky was almost certain that nothing physical about a person (except, maybe, the way they dressed) would ultimately change a single thing about the perceptions others gathered. Maybe it was that she spent her time worrying about things beyond boys and parties. Maybe it was that she was born without the ability to properly process adolescence in a normal fashion. Either way, it served to keep her in good standing with her parents at all times, while her brother struggled indefinitely to remain off of grounded status.
Everything about the girl screamed clean cut and pristine. From the hemline of her dresses, to the lack of plunge to any of her blouses; Becky lived by the motto of "modest being hottest", feeling that the sort of attention low cut shirts attracted was not that of God's, and therefore not what she desired. In fact, Becky was that girl every other girl wished would get laid or to simply fall of the face of the earth—whichever happened first—to assist in becoming less judgmental towards the actions of others.
Going to an all girls' Catholic private school served for a total focus on the educational aspect of her school life-the other part being her impressive list of extra circulars. Already focused on how her college application would look in the eyes of top universities, Becky sought to make every action of her life geared towards the future. A future she intended to go perfectly according to plan. As devout as Becky Baker claimed to be, she was a selective Christian in the way that she ignored that anyone had a better plan for her life. Not even God could possibly laugh in the face of her astute plans.
Moving to Canada was one of the last things Becky had in her mind in the realm of long term plans. As far as she was concerned, her parents were putting the needs of her brother's so far above her own that they threatened to throw off her possibility of getting into any university that her heart desired. She was going to be the low man on the totem pole when it came to clubs and organizations now, with only her word to stand testament to how good of a leader she was. In staying true to her over dramatic adolescent nature, she dubbed moving to Canada as "the end of the world" with no compromises to calm her tantrums—ones that didn't subside until a week after being settled in Toronto. In fact, Becky made it so that her parents had no other option but to home school the blonde for the rest of her sophomore year seeing as she refused to attend the public community school that her brother attended.
All judgmental and uptight behavior aside, Rebecca Baker was nothing but a joy to be around as so much as you let her be. Sure, if you had a predisposition towards the macabre and other dreary aspects of the world—she simply wasn't going to be anything you contented yourself with. The other group of people that took an automatic disliking towards Becky was anyone with a pragmatic grounding. Becky's imagination often got the best of her, causing her actions to reflect on the whimsical and impulsive thoughts that happened to inspire her in the moment. The only thing that made it seem like impulsive recklessness was actually creativity was her complete conviction and determination towards any and everything she did.
With a lesser upbringing in her faith, surely Becky would have taken on something more traditionally foolish than being a devout Christian. In her youth group, she was considered inspirational—a true leader with a faith in God so strong not even the strongest nonbeliever could shake. If anyone had the determination to convert the masses to the way of the Lord, they were sure it was her. Perhaps they never realized how clearly her participation within her Church revolved on the attention it brought her. It wasn't that she even consciously realized this, but the fact of the matter was that it was true—being religious was Becky's niche. The reason her parents doted on her despite her fits, what gave her the façade of the perfect daughter. It wasn't just that people perceived her as being religious, it seemed as if her Christian identity that was one born into her very DNA and to view her as something else would be severing a crucial element of herself.
Becky Baker: every parents' dream and every cynic's worst nightmare. Her history aside, the true story does not lie within her past, but rather her summer plans. Soon realizing her desire to be homeschooled the last few months had taken away precious time in terms of leadership positions, she immediately began searching for summer opportunities that would fill the void that currently existed. Becky wasn't looking for a position that would be financially lucrative; in fact, she couldn't give less of a care of actually having a summer job. She needed to find something that would show flexibility. That would show her creativity and most importantly: how competent her leadership skills really were.
Camp Ptloem wasn't her first choice. Nor was it her second or third on account of how impossibly difficult it was for her to both pronounce and spell. It was, however, the only camp that wasn't already fully staffed. Her first choices involved the equivalent of a twelve week Bible Camp, and second rested in a Gifted Campers program that seemed just as promising. Camp Ptloem didn't seem much of anything besides typical and conventionally boring. With a brochure not updated since the late 90s, it held the charm of a plastic covered sofa.
Becky shouldn't have held the shock that she did when she came to learn that all the other camps had already staffed their counselors. If anything, her go-to phrase of the early bird catching the worm should have made it more than evident that she deserved to go metaphorically hungry considering her search started a mere three weeks before summer was about to start. Even Camp Ptloem had been fully staffed a few weeks prior and only had one opening due to a previous employee opting out of position for a better opportunity of summer employment. They warned her that it meant she had little choice in where she would be dorming and that she would have to prove herself on multiple levels in order to compensate for her less than timely sign up date.
Despite the negative opinions she held towards the less than impressive camp, this wasn't something she planned to take lightly. This was going to be a shining example for her future resume and she was going to make the most out of the twelve weeks that she had ahead of her.
As she stared at her packed luggage at the foot of her bed, she took a deep breath, steadying her thoughts from becoming too farfetched. Even though Becky often acted as if she was above most adolescent concerns, the idea of spending twelve weeks away from home in the middle of nowhere with little actual supervision created a variety of worries, but also things that caused her stomach to do flips in excitement. She wondered if she'd make any friends with her fellow counselors, if she'd hate them all, or if she'd find some cute boys to flirt with to help pass the time (nothing more, of course). These were the types of concerns she'd never voice aloud. Concerns she felt would ruin the persona she had so carefully crafted. There was definitely more to Becky Baker than what met the eye, but it was something she planned to keep carefully stowed away with her perfectly packed bags for the rest of the summer.
Next chapter is already written so it's a matter of me completing chapter three before I post two. Review? haha.