Writing this story makes me want to be back at camp. I hope everyone's enjoying it. Thanks for your great reviews. Hope you enjoy Chapter 3. Comment if I should continue. In the next chapter the campers arrive.

Chapter 3: Up in the Air

Dear Mom and Dad,

Sorry I haven't written yet. I've really enjoyed getting your letters and I'm sure you've heard all about camp from Kurt. Well, now I'm finally getting around to writing. This is the only paper I could find at camp and I know it's a little girly…..

Anyway, I'm having a lot of fun. There's six guys in my pre camp cabin besides Kurt and me. They're all totally awesome! Sam's obsessed with Avatar and he thinks he can speak Navi – if that's even a real language. Mike's an awesome dancer, when we all jam out to music, he has some really sweet moves. Artie's the rapper when we jam out. He's in a wheelchair but he said that's not going to stop him from working at camp. Matt's the quarterback of his high school football team and he's good at every sport there is. I'm sure you've heard about Blaine from Kurt – Kurt really likes him. Blaine's the Harry Potter nerd of us, he's counting down the days until the new movie comes out and wants us to all go together. My best friend in the cabin is Puck, he's kind of a bad ass, but once you get to know him he's awesome. He plays the guitar and he's super good at it. Living with all these music guys makes me wish I brought my drums, but improvising with cups and silverware will do.

I've gotten to know some of the girls, too. Puck's hot for a girl named Quinn. She's blond and pretty and she seems nice. There's this girl named Rachel too and she's so cool. I'm sure Kurt's told you about her. She's from New York and she loves Broadway musicals. She's an amazing singer, she even finds a way to rock the cheesy songs we have to sing with the kids once they get here.

Precamp training has been really intense, but I'm SO glad I decided to take this job. In the past two weeks, I've tried so many things I thought I'd never try. They have an amazing pool here, it's got a waterslide and a waterfall and a vortex. It's been hot so we go swimming here a lot. You know how back home I wear a shirt when we go to the pool because I'm sensitive? Well, I decided to just take off my swimshirt the first time we went to the pool. And you know what? I felt perfectly comfortable in my body. Well, part of the reason why I decided to do that was it was Rachel's first time wearing a bikini and she was nervous, so we decided to do this together. And nobody was giving us weird looks or anything.

Also I'm going to admit I was afraid of the horses at first – I mean, I know I'm tall, but they're so big. But they were so gentle and riding them was fun. I got the biggest horse (of course). He was white with black spots. Rachel still rode a pony. She's like 5'2! We got to try riding the horses on trails and at first I was scared I'd fall off but I knew I wouldn't once the horse started moving.

The lake at camp is really nice. We got a chance to try all the boating options. My favorite was the paddleboats. When we went rowboating Kurt, Blaine, Mike and Matt thought it would be funny to tip the boat Puck, Quinn, Rachel and I were riding in over. We got VERY wet, needless to say. Rachel and Quinn were more upset about smelling bad, but at least they have HOT showers in a shower house for the counselors. Puck wanted to push Kurt out as revenge, but I warned him about what happens when Kurt's clothes get dirty…..

The same day as boating we got to try our hands at archery. It turns out I shoot left handed even though I'm right handed. Weird, right? Well, so does Rachel, so maybe it's not unusual. I hit a bull's eye as it turned out and it was exciting!

The fields for sports and games they have here are pretty nice. It's different from the football field back home. Of course they don't play football here. I think that would result in injuries, seeing as most of the kids are pretty young. The kids play soccer, volleyball, kickball and games with hula hoops and jump ropes.

The camp is close to the Potomac River, so we tried canoeing on it. One of the groups goes on a trip on the river canoeing. It was very HOT the day we did that – Rachel practically passed out. We can't swim in the river, but we wade in it and sometimes we'll take the kids to the beach area on camp property to build sandcastles or stuff like that.

We also went on a bike trip along the river. That was SO fun. We took a ferry across the river to the bike trail and then biked down the river. The older kids' bike group even does an overnight trip. The scenery on the trail was really beautiful.

Once a week the kids cook out their own lunch over a campfire. (Or the stove in their cabins if it rains.) Yesterday we tried the different styles of cooking and made hot dogs on sticks, pizza in pie irons (well, pizza sandwiches), pancakes in frying pans, ice cream in an ice cream maker, a foil meal (which is meat, vegetables, cheese, and potatoes wrapped in foil) and my favorite – wacky cake in a dutch oven. Wacky cake is cake using pudding and cake mix mixed together instead of using eggs, butter, milk,etc. It's SO good. I'm going to make sure my campers choose to make it EVERY week.

Today we're going to try the challenge course and rock wall in camp. I'm not going to lie, I'm nervous about that! The high ropes course has to be about 50 feet in the air. And I'm not sure which rock wall looks scarier – the one with real rocks or the one with fake rocks. Like I said though, I've done lots of things at camp I never thought I could do, so I'm sure I'll be fine.

I'm looking forward to our first group of kids arriving on Sunday. They have so many cool programs, every week we alternate which program we're working with, but we usually stay in a cabin for two weeks at a time. I'm not even sure which one I want to be with, they all look so fun. Today at dinner we fill out our preference sheets and tomorrow we find out which group we'll be with. I'm thinking I might want to be with the counselors in training, but the survivor program looks cool too. There's also a swimming program, a cooking program, two late night and arts programs (one for younger kids, one for older kids), a horseback riding program and a program to learn about international cultures. Wherever I end up I'm sure I'll be happy!

I hope everything's going well back home and I'm looking forward to your visit! This weekend a group of us are thinking we'll do something before the kids get here. Write back soon!

- Finn

Finn licked the envelope shut and addressed the letter. It had been long, he hadn't intended to write this long a letter, but it was about time he wrote a letter home. His mom had sent him a letter every day since he arrived at camp and he hadn't written a single letter home. Probably because he'd been so busy. His mom had commented in her latest letter that Kurt had written three letters home, all using the personalized stationery he'd insisted their parents buy him. It was probably hard for his mom to have him away, let alone for ten weeks. She'd only been able to afford sending him to camp three summers when he was a kid and each time he only went for a week. The first time she cried when she dropped him off.

The two weeks of precamp had gone by fast. It was hard to believe the first set of kids would be arriving so soon. There were roughly 200 kids at camp a week. The girls stayed on one side of camp and the boys on another side, but they merged to all do activities together.

Finn just loved being at camp. He felt so free. Here, he could be himself and he wasn't judged for it. Back home, he feared if he let people see what he was like, they'd make fun of him or call him a geek. Here, his weirdness was accepted and encouraged. Heck, he and the boys in his cabin jammed out every night. He and Rachel could be best friends without people thinking they were something more.

Finn put the letter in the mailbox to see Rachel putting hers in. Rachel was biting her lip and it was easy to tell something was up. "You okay, Rach?" Finn asked.

Rachel sighed. "Finn… I'm scared. I know we're doing the ropes course today….. I don't think I can do it. I passed it this morning and it's so scary."

Finn looked down at his friend. He could see the fear in her eyes. They'd be at the ropes course all morning. Poor Rachel looked terrified.

"Remember what I told you at the camp tour?" Finn said.

Rachel looked down and nodded. "You're scared, too."

Finn nodded. "I am."
Rachel smiled. "I have an idea. How about we do it together, partner up for it? That way we can help each other through it."

Finn tried to stop himself from hugging Rachel. "I love that idea."

"Want to go get breakfast now?" Rachel asked, giving Finn a big smile.

Finn's heart fluttered when he saw Rachel's smile. "Let's go." He led Rachel inside, where they sat down for breakfast and began eating. Today they were having eggs, sausage and cantaloupe. "Which group do you want to be with?" Rachel asked Finn as Emma passed out the preference sheets.

"I'm not sure yet," Finn said. "I was thinking I might try survivor to face some of my fears and try new things. Or work with the CITs, that sounds fun. What about you, I'm guessing the performing arts group?"

"Actually, I was thinking I might work with the CITs, too," Rachel said. "I mean, I love the arts, but part of the reason why I came here was to do something different. If I signed up to be counselor for the performing arts group, that would defeat my purpose of coming here."

Finn began wondering if he was getting a crush on Rachel. She seemed so smart, so open. But right now, she was just a friend. He took his form and began filling it out, ranking the CITs as his first choice. When the group headed to the ropes course and began putting on their helmets and belts, his nerves began heating up again.

"Hey Rachel, could you adjust my helmet?" Finn asked nervously, just for an excuse to maybe see if she was still nervous.

"Sure, bend down," Rachel said. She pulled the straps on Finn's helmet and pushed it around. "It feels tight. You ready for this?"

Finn smiled nervously. "I think so."

"Finn, you okay?" Finn turned to see his brother standing there.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Finn asked.

Kurt smiled at Finn. "I know you're not a fan of heights."

"Neither am I, so he and I are conquering our fear together," Rachel said proudly.

The other counselors went up in the harnesses and finished the course successfully. No one else seemed to be having trouble. Now it was Finn and Rachel's turn. Their belts were belayed to the harness and they were lifted into the air. About halfway up, Rachel let out a small scream and grabbed Finn's hand.

"You'll be fine," Finn whispered, trying to assure himself the same thing. When they got to the top, Finn stood frozen on the platform. Rachel turned and looked at Finn. "Ready?"

Finn stared at the ground. "I can't do this."

"We need to believe in ourselves as much as we believe in each other," Rachel said, stepping on to the balance beam. "Come on, take my hand."

Finn took Rachel's hand and stepped onto the obstacle. They could hear their fellow counselors cheering them on about 50 feet below. Together, they made their way across the balance beam, then through the spider web and through other weird obstacles that they didn't know the names of. Every time Finn felt a rope wobble, he looked into Rachel's eyes and knew that it would be okay.

Finally they reached the end of the course and slid down the pole together. When they got to the ground everyone cheered. Finn gave Rachel a big hug. "We did it!"

Rachel smiled, wrapping her arms around Finn. "We did it."

Finn sat down and pulled off his helmet. Rachel sat next to him and ruffled his hair. "I'm so proud of you."

Finn smiled back. He liked the feeling of Rachel's hands in his hair. "I'm proud of you. You did a great job."

"I think this is going to be a great summer," Rachel said. "I mean, Finn, look. We faced our fears here, we've made more friends in two weeks than I've ever had in my life. I'm sure there will be difficult kids, but it'll be worth it."

X

That evening, Finn was packing his bags to move into Green Tree cabin. He would be a counselor for the CITs, and so would Rachel. The CIT director would also be working with them. The boy CITs were sharing a cabin with the adventure group, and Sam was working with that group, so Finn would still be with him. He would miss the other boys he roomed with, but he was sure they'd have a lot of fun together on weekends and during their time off. Tomorrow all the boys from his pre camp cabin and all the girls in Rachel's cabin were going tubing together – then, the kids would arrive.

The summer was only beginning, but so far, it couldn't get any better.