The next morning, Beca made an effort to at least pull her sheet and blanket up over her mattress to make her area look neater. She balled up her sleep clothes and tossed them into her trunk, hidden from view. She even straightened the haphazard items she'd tossed on her shelf. She hoped this would be enough to keep Chloe to leave her things alone.

The breakfast hot selection this morning was fresh waffles. The fresh fruit bar was popular as campers piled their waffles high with the sweet stuff and dolloped fresh whipped cream on top of everything. And again, there was the cereal bar. Beca had not drawn her hated chore stick this time but had gotten sweeper. That meant that once everyone filed out to the covered patio for singing, the sweepers stayed to put the benches on the tables and sweep the floors. This job wasn't bad plus it got her out of singing.

After morning song time, Chloe and Stacie again went to their leadership classes while Beca and Emily headed to something called 'Vitamin N'. This was the morning they learned about the natural things found around Camp Barden. They first gathered on the back patio, and one of the counselors brought out a few large poster boards. She covered the different types of trees and plants that were found at Camp Barden and how to identify them. Then the group walked around, pausing when the campers found something so the counselor could confirm the find or correct their identification.

The counselor handed out a sheet of paper, a pen, and a small roll of tape to each buddy pair. She defined an area of camp within boundaries which were visible from the lodge. Then the girls spread out to do a nature scavenger hunt.

"Look a stick." Beca laughed as she picked it up and taped it to their paper.

Emily squealed when she picked up a pinecone. "I can't tape this Beca."

"Just draw in Ems." Both girls were giggling as this scavenger hunt seemed a little on the childish side. But it kept them busy looking for some of the plants and trees they learned today.

They were able to tape their 'two different leaves' and 'a chewed leaf' to the paper. Oh, and a blade of grass for 'something green'. Many of the things, they just wrote descriptions in the box since the whole tape idea seemed rather silly. Time was almost up and there were several things they had yet to find. Emily took the paper from Beca and hid it from view as she marked on it with the pen. She refused to show her friend until right before they turned in their activity sheet.

The bottom item was 'Something You Think is a Treasure'. Emily had drawn two stick figures, one tall and the other not so tall, holding hands. She had drawn an arrow to the couple and wrote 'My treasure is my new best friend, Beca'.

The shorter girl got a funny feeling in her stomach. She didn't have many close friends, zero to be exact, and wasn't quite sure what to say. "I'm a treasure alright… so bury me." This comment caused the pair to laugh all the way to lunch.

After lunch, Beca returned to their cabin to again find a perfectly made bed and that Chloe had folded her sleep clothes again. And this time, her small wooden side cabinet was now super neat, not just straightened up like she had left it. Beca's anger was about to bubble over as she walked over to what she now called the 'pink corner' and kicked the leg of Chloe's cot, knocking it sideways. "Quit touching my stuff Beale," Beca growled. Chloe ignored her. "I'm serious Chloe. I don't like people messing with my things."

"I can't help I like a clean cabin." Chloe's voice was muffled as her head was buried in that stupid ladybug pillow.

"Well you'll have to deal with a three-quarters clean cabin. Just leave my things alone." Beca stomped off and threw herself on her bed for the rest of Turtle Time.

The afternoon started off just as the day before. The lower swim groups went to the pool for lessons then free swim while the older group had free swim at the lake. The second water activity was fishing at the lake. Since there was another unit canoeing and splashing water wasn't exactly conducive to catching anything, Hofwyl campers went to the far end of the lake where the canoes were restricted from going.

"The lake is stocked with common carp and yellow perch. We use worms for bait." Pitch held up a small container of bait. "And, we are 100% catch and release. New fisherwomen, pair up with someone who has some experience, and if you have any questions, let one of us counselors know."

Beca immediately snagged two poles and a container of worms as she dragged Emily to the far bounds of where they could drop their lines. Her taller friend looked at her curiously. Beca rolled her eyes and shrugged. "I don't want to be anywhere around Chloe. She gets on my nerves."

Emily held out her pole and nodded towards the bait for Beca to put a squiggly worm on for her. "I don't know Beca; she seems alright." Beca showed Emily how to cast her line into the water and told her to keep her eyes on the bobber.

"But she's always touching my stuff," Beca whined.

"Two mornings and that's always?" Emily really didn't want to get in between the girls, but she wanted to be supportive of her new best friend. The younger girl's bobber took a dive beneath the surface.

"Jerk up, jerk up on your pole." Beca was excited for her friend as she explained how to reel in her catch. The perch was about four inches long, but you would have thought it was a tuna the way both the friends carried on. Emily posed for a picture with Beca's digital camera before the fish was unhooked and gently set free.

"My first fish ever!" Emily squealed as she threw her arms around her friend and lifted her off the ground.

"Whoa there Ems, let me down. I'm afraid of heights." Despite always looking for the humor in the situation, Beca found herself becoming quite comfortable with the younger camper and enjoying her company more than she thought she would.

Three more perch and two carp later, fishing time was over. After the gear was cleaned off and properly stored, Hofwyl campers went back to their cabins to clean up for dinner and more singing. As they walked back, Beca asked if any of them had heard singing the night before.

Stacie and Chloe looked at each other before Stacie answered. "We must have already been asleep. What song was it?"

"I've never heard it before. But whoever sang it had an amazing voice."

When the two experienced campers looked other again, they said simultaneously, "Pitch."

"That's why her camp name is perfect for her. She's a remarkable singer and is always on pitch."

Indeed, after dinner, the camp did learn some older, more serious songs. One of the songs was called 'Barges' which Beca immediately recognized as the song Pitch was singing the night before.

*Chorus*
Barges, I would like to go with you,
I would like to sail the ocean blue.
Barges, have you treasures in your hold?
Do you fight with pirates brave and bold?

Out of my window looking in the night,
I can see the barges flickering light.
Silently flows the river to the sea,
As the barges go by silently.

*Chorus*

Out of my window looking in the night,
I can see the barges flickering light.
Starboard shining green and port is shining red,
I can see the barges from my bed.

*Chorus*

Beca got the feeling the song was longer than what the counselors were teaching. But that was probably the right decision with the younger girls. Stacie had told her that she didn't learn all the songs her first year. The silly ones were the easiest, but like Beca, was fell in love with the more serious songs. But no matter how much she enjoyed them, she refused to sing more than in just a whisper to learn the words.

That night after showers, Beca returned to the cabin early. After making sure her things were put up as well as readying her clothes and bag for the next day, Beca plopped down on her bed to write some more. Her journal was filling up surprisingly fast, and she realized she might have to buy some paper at the camp store. Her writing had ramped up since arriving at camp.

"What are you doing Beca?" Emily was so innocent that Beca couldn't help to smile from the inside.

"Flying my spaceship Ems. Duh!" She smirked at her own sarcastic remark.

"Aaaaiiiieeeee." Suddenly a long lanky body with wet hair came flying out of nowhere and landed on top of her. "You know I could smush you like the tiny bug you are Becs. Come on, whatcha doing?"

Beca had almost gotten used to Emily's touchy-feeliness. The younger girl often grabbed her hand when they were walking from activity to activity or leaned up against her in the singing circle. But Emily laying on top of her was almost too close as Beca fought the panicky feeling that was creeping into her body. She wriggled her way from beneath Emily and sat up so she could breathe without hurting her friend's feelings.

"Writing, Emily." She explained that sometimes she wrote her feelings and sometimes she wrote about her day but that lately she'd been trying to turn them into song lyrics of sorts. Before Emily could ask, she added, "but I'm pretty private about it."

Emily considered this for a while and answered hopefully. "Maybe someday?"

"Yeah… maybe someday."

When their two cabinmates returned, Emily again shared her excitements of the day including the news about the first fish she had ever caught. By now, the four-inch fish had grown to over twelve inches long. Neither Chloe nor Stacie corrected her despite knowing there were no twelve-inch-long perches in Lake Barden, or anywhere for that matter.

Beca couldn't decide if she wanted to lay facing the wall of the cabin or the center. She finally chose to lay where she could see the middle of the cabin, but she pulled her sheet up all the way to her eyes. Soon everyone was done with their nightly routine and were settling into their cots when Chloe shrieked. "Owwwwww! Oh my god. Seriously?" She flipped her light back on.

A voice came from across the unit. "Lights out Cabin Three. Time for bed."

Beca kept her sheet pulled up to her eyes and watched as a furious Chloe got up and dumped out her sleeping bag. Four pinecones fell from the bottom of the bag. Apparently 'someone' had decided Chloe needed a prank. She expected Chloe to start ranting, but all the redhead did was pick up the pinecones and hurl them towards Beca's corner. She crawled back into her sleeping bag and turned out the light.

After she was sure she wouldn't laugh, Beca stage whispered towards Emily, "Seed of pinus palustris commonly known as Longleaf Pine."

For the next several days, Chloe did not touch Beca's corner. In fact, Chloe steered as far clear of Beca as she could which the tiny camper had no issues with since she couldn't stand Chloe anyway. Emily finally convinced her friend to make a more concerted effort at keeping her area cleaner for inspection to keep tension a bit lower. Beca did admit that the cabin did look better after Chloe had straightened up before inspection. But that wasn't enough for her to change her mind. She still didn't want her things touched.

The morning activities were keeping Emily and Beca busy which was certainly okay with them both. One particularly rainy morning, they went into one of the indoor classrooms for arts and crafts. As usual, Beca was trying to make Emily laugh about making 'macaroni art' or 'finger painting'. Because there were two units of girls together, they were given a choice either tie-dye or bracelet-making.

"OMG Beca! I've always wanted to learn how to tie dye. You have no idea. Can I do that one?" Emily was quivering with excitement. The counselors had requested that buddies split up so everyone could meet new people, and Beca had absolutely no interest in making bracelets. However, the joyful look on her friend's face was impossible to resist.

"Sure nerd. Just make me something cool."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." Emily grabbed her friend with her normal exuberance, gave her a big hug, and trotted off to the tie-dye room.

Making bracelets ended up being not as bad as Beca had imagined. They learned how to make either round or square bracelets out of plastic lacing then cool survival bracelets with paracord. She decided to give the plastic bracelets to Stacie and Chloe (why not) and made matching paracord bracelets for herself and Emily. She couldn't wait to tell her friend all about the survival bracelets and how they could be used in the outdoors. If, of course, your plane crashes in the forest or you are stranded on an island.

Looking around, Beca saw a lot of the younger girls still working on their bracelets. Many of them had to redo parts of theirs to make them 'perfect'. Even Beca found the elementary age girls cute and she didn't even like younger kids.

She then spied an older counselor in the corner working with leather. Beca went over and watched. The counselor had just finished a leather bracelet and handed it to Beca. "Wanna see?"

Beca took the leather and examined it. It was a little over an inch wide and had three braided strips. When she looked closer, she noticed something odd. "Where are the seams? How did you do this?" She was honestly impressed. The counselor showed her that the bracelet was indeed made of a continuous strip of leather artfully woven.

"It's called a magic bracelet. Wanna try your hand at one?"

"Would I be two greedy if I said two?"

The counselor chucked and replied, "not at all." She pulled out the strips which had pre-fastened snaps and pushed a razor over towards Beca. "Be careful. It's extremely sharp." She directed Beca where to cut. The second came out much more even than the first. "That's great."

She told Beca how to pull one end all the way through, criss-cross the others, and to continue to manipulate the strips until the bracelet was finished. "Just like that – magic."

The camper was pumped and did the second one on her own. The second wasn't as neat at the first that the counselor did, so she claimed that one for her own and planned to give Emily both the paracord and leather bracelets. "How do we take care of these? Special oil?"

The counselor held out her arm which displayed a dark brown, tighter version of the ones they had just made. "I wear mine everywhere, even the pool and shower. The water will make the knots tighten-up, shrink. But it also gives it this cool color. Or you can rub them down with vegetable oil."

"Dude," Beca was staring at the bracelets. "these are way cool. Thanks so much!"

"I hope your buddy likes them."

"We just met here. She's pretty cool."

"That's what camp is all about. Making new friends."

After lunch, the girls were walking back to their unit for Turtle Time. Beca caught Chloe hopefully eyeing the unit shelter for the 'Cleanest Unit' award they had won a few times before. The redhead's face fell when she saw that, once again, they had not earned the top honor. Before coming back to the cabin, Chloe was talking to Pitch as they looked over the inspection sheet. Chloe was shaking her hand and pointing to their cabin. The redhead finally rolled her eyes and trounced back to the cabin.

She and Chloe still were not on speaking terms, but Beca decided to give her peace offering anyway. She tossed the plastic bracelets onto Stacie's and Chloe's cots. "I know it's not much. You don't have to wear them. Maybe put them on your backpack or something."

Stacie examined hers. "Good job on your first try Shortie. Took me a few tries to braid these suckers."

A mumbled 'thank you' is all that came from Chloe who was again laying face first with her head buried into her ladybug pillow.

On the other hand, Emily was ecstatic about her paracord bracelet. "Just wait until I tell you want all this stuff can do." Beca was just as enthusiastic about hers as she stuck out her wrist. "Look, they match."

"Toss that here Mitchell. I've always wanted one of these, but this is the first year they've made them in crafts. I suppose I'll learn sometime during this leadership stuff. If you go to crafts again, will you make me one?" Beca agreed and asked her what colors she wanted. She guiltily looked over at Chloe's area and made a note to check for paracord in shades of pink.

Then Beca felt the other bracelets in her pocket. "Heyyyyyyyyy Emily. Where's my awesome tie-dye whatever? You got a cool bracelet, and I got lousy nothing." Emily's confidence was growing every day, and the younger camper had definitely gotten used to Beca's taunts.

Emily stuck out her tongue at her friend. "It's raining nerd. They aren't dry yet. Plus, the colors probably would run or something if we brought them back in the rain."

"Okay, so what did I get?"

"Oh, I made all of us cool bandanas and you and me t-shirts."

Beca did a fist pump. "Yes! Just what I've always wanted. Something to wear on the first day of high school." Even Stacie laughed at that comment. She pulled the leather bracelets out of her pocket and tossed one across the cabin to Emily. "In that case, have another bracelet." She snapped hers on her wrist with the paracord one and waved it around.

"Whaaaaaa?" Forgetting it was Turtle Time, Stacie ran over to Emily's cot. "Is that a magic bracelet?" When Beca nodded, Stacie took it upon herself to show Emily the mysteries of the leather bracelet. "I've seen Pongo's, and she gave one to Tigger today. That's so cool." She chucked Emily in the shoulder. "You have the best buddy ever."

When Emily snapped on her bracelet, she noticed two words stamped into her leather. 'JUST BE'. When she looked at Beca, her friend just grinned as she mouthed 'be' and pointed to herself then Emily. After a few moments the younger camper realized that the words were a reference to her new friendship – 'Just Beca and Emily'. She ran over to Beca's cot and gave her another tremendous hug. "Thanks Bec. I love it."

After another admonishment from the counselor cabin, the girls decided they needed to settle down and rest. Emily was pleased with her bracelets and that's what mattered to Beca. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, she heard a sniffle. She squinted her eyes open a bit and saw that Chloe was looking at her. The redhead wiped a stray tear from her eye and quietly turned over to face the wall.

A/N: Being a teenager sucks sometimes!