On a hot first morning of camp, Z.Z. and Telly were in their rooms, continuing to hang things up and put their clothes away. While their building was nice and cold from the air conditioning, they were eager to get started on what Counselors Tavernese and Casey had to offer them. They were also starving; their section was not allowed to go get breakfast because Santiago and Putney's group was still there.

"Is there anything else besides environmental stuff you're looking for?" Telly asked her roommate as she hung her Michael Jordan championship poster next to her bed.

"That's about it, but if there's something else that catches my eye in the future, I'll be open to it," she replied as she took out her books on air pollution, the ozone layer and how to recycle effectively.

"When are we going to be able to go eat?"

"They said that when the announcement comes, we can go."

"That's stupid. How come they get to eat before us and we can't go while they're there?"

"I agree with you. I'm starving."

They were greeted by their perky next door neighbor, Hannah, who was dripping wet and dressed in towels from the shower.

"Morning, sleepyheads," she said, poking her head in the door.

"Hey," Telly replied, somewhat unenthusiastically. "Are you as hungry as we are?"

"Sure am, but we have to wait for the others to finish up and get to their activities before we can eat."

"Why does that have to be the case?" Z.Z. chimed in.

"Well, the catch is that it alternates; we eat first tomorrow and them the day after and so on."

"Why?"

"It's been this way since I've been here and they give no explanation. I guess it's because Dr. Saniuk wants us all in our groups with no separation."

"That's pointless," Telly scoffed as she sat back down on her bed.

"Hannah, can you help me with this light bulb?" her sister, Molly called from their room.

"Be right there," she called back. "So, maybe I'll see you guys at breakfast when we get called?"

"Hopefully," Z.Z. replied as Hannah went back to her room.

"Already a day in and I have a feeling that we're not going to have as much fun here."

"What makes you say that?"

"The rules seem rigid and inhumane. What other camp do you know divides and separates people like the Berlin Wall?"

Z.Z. wasn't as strongly skeptical as Telly was, but she did have a feeling the whole thing was going to be difficult to get used to.

Meanwhile, Donkeylips had woken up and was heading back to his room from the shower. His roommate, Rick, was much more of a slob than he ever was and already, he was fuming at it. When he opened the door, he spotted something very disgusting.

"Who said you could lay your underwear on my pillow?" he said as he got into the room.

"Hey, man," Rick replied, reading his comic book. "We have to learn to live together and make peace and harmony."

"Are you kidding me? Carelessly leaving any clothing on your roommate's bed is not peace and harmony."

"Welcome to my world, pal."

If people thought Donkeylips wasn't the brightest person in Ug's group of campers, you couldn't possibly argue that Rick was a lot worse.

"Rick," he started, trying to keep himself under control. "If you're living in a room with me, you have to..."

Then a buzzer sounded, giving the building the signal to go to the cafeteria for breakfast.

"Hold that thought, Donkeylips," Rick said as he skipped ahead and out of the building. Donkeylips resist letting out a very disgusted groan.

The cafeteria was still somewhat messy from the previous group's breakfast, but Chef Lasko assured everyone that there was still plenty of food left for anyone who was hungry.

"Is there anything you recommend, Mr. Lasko?" Z.Z. asked him when they got in line.

"There's French Toast on the skillet here," he replied, pointing in front of him. "And there's cereal over there and beverages on the other end of the room."

"Is the French Toast any good?"

"That's for you to determine." He took one off the skillet and placed it on her plate. "Tell my associates and me what you think of it when you finish. Syrup and powdered sugar are right behind you."

"This stuff doesn't exactly look five-star," she told Telly once they left the line.

"You know I can't have that because it causes my stomach to act up badly," she said, pouring herself Cocoa Puffs.

Not too far away from them was Donkeylips, popping a lot of food on his tray. He sat down at a table not too far from where Z.Z. and Telly were to sit. As he dug into his oatmeal, he noticed Tavernese and Casey file into the room and get in line for breakfast themselves. Once they got their food, they sat down at the same tables that he was at, but on the other end.

The girls sat down and got cozy as they had gotten drinks – Z.Z., apple juice and Telly, strawberry milk – and added fruit to their plates. Casey passed them by and they were expecting him to be firm, but he smiled to them and said good morning.

"Well, he's made a good first impression on me so far," Z.Z. commented to Telly. "I wonder what the other counselor will be like to us and others."

"Added to that, the eating place is also better," Telly observed. The cafeteria in Camp Anawanna was small and it couldn't fit a lot of people.

"And there are some nice people here, save for some others who are nasty," Z.Z. added, looking towards someone who was eating his cereal with his hands.

"Hopefully there won't be any bullies and I can't wait to get started with the activities."

"I wonder what Donkeylips and the counselor are talking about over there." At his table, he was sitting across from Tavernese discussing events.

"Bummer for him," Telly said, assuming he was already in trouble.

"...So that's exactly how we got transferred over here," Donkeylips said, explaining to Tavernese the story of their displacement.

"My daughter would know how you feel," he replied, sipping his coffee. "She had a head lice breakout in middle school and they were all moved out for two weeks while the school was fumigated."

"Did she have any?"

"She didn't, but some of her friends did and we couldn't allow them in the house for a while."

"That's a tough break."

"I've got to go check up with Mr. Casey. He and I have some last minute planning to take care of."

"Okay, I should go talk to my friends."

"Good idea." He stuck out his hand for a handshake, which Donkeylips accepted.

"Good talking to you."

"You too, sir." With that, Tavernese disposed of his trash and headed out the door with Casey.

"What was that all about?" Telly asked coming up behind him.

"Just talking and getting to know what he's like."

"You know you gotta be careful with that," Z.Z. reminded him. "You said it yourself: seeing counselors outside of when you're supposed to isn't good."

"I know, but a first impression like that couldn't hurt."

After roughly ten more minutes of eating and finishing up, it was time for everyone to head to activities.

Actually, they weren't much of activities as far as the campers were concerned. They consisted of clubs, the camp newsletter, office assistance and food service to name a few.

The campers were free to join whatever they chose, but had to choose something; they could not be lazy and decide to tank it for the rest of the summer. There were consequences for choosing to do that and they were not desirable.

Telly took part in the camp newsletter and went to the meeting that initiated it in the library. She took on the role of sports writer and got settled into her computer, writing her summer report on the Chicago Bulls.

Shortly after getting started, a guy called Peter, who was just about her age, sat down in the computer next to her and got started on writing his news piece. He introduced himself to Telly.

"What's your business in this club?" he asked, not rudely, but unsure about a new person in his domain.

"I'm writing my preview of the Bulls and how they're going to win another championship next spring.'

Peter just scoffed. Like her, he was from Chicago, but wasn't much of a Bulls fan.

"What's that scoff for?" she asked, offended.

"If only the Bulls weren't so successful. Then my team would get just as much attention."

"Who's that?"

"The Blackhawks."

Telly scoffed at this in return. "How can you not like the Bulls if you like them too?"

"I'm not a basketball fan. I'm jealous of all they've gotten, while my team can't keep up."

Just to rub it in, Telly said, "We've won championships with a great team three times already. The Blackhawks haven't won a championship since when? 1989? 1982?"

"1961."

"So there you go, my team's better."

"You are such a..."

"Guys," Casey cut them off, putting an end to the argument. "Let's not argue and get back to work, please."

Peter scowled at her and got back to work. Telly was proud of herself and went back to typing herself. Even while she was enjoying this, a touch of her still wanted to do the physical hands-on activities and sports that she was used to.

Z.Z., meanwhile, decided to help Mrs. Rosenstein, the nurse. Of course, if there was anything there that had to do with the environment or if there were recycling problems, she would be right on top of it.

"Z.Z., honey," Mrs. Rosenstein said, poking her head into a cubicle on the other side of the office. "Dr. Saniuk called me and asked if you could send some paperwork that I have over to him."

"Sure, no problem."

"Great. It's on my desk." Mrs. Rosenstein certainly seemed like the kind of nurse who was helpful and approachable. She had her M.D., but took a leave of absence a few summers ago from her institution to get married and eventually decided to work here to be closer to home and have more time with her family. And at age 38, she was right where she wanted to be in her career.

Z.Z. grabbed the paperwork in a manila folder and walked outside towards the administration offices which were right next door to the nurse's office. When she returned, her neighbor, Hannah, was there, getting treatment for a paper cut.

"Hi, Z.Z. How are you enjoying your first day here?" she asked.

"It's okay, I guess. It's not exactly what I'm used to doing, but I'll make do with what I have."

"Well, if there's anything to look forward to, it's that semiformal to mark the halfway point of summer."

"That's right, I almost forgot about that. Telly and I had begun the preliminary plans for what to wear."

"You have plenty of time. It's not for another four weeks." Hannah had taken her medicine for her recent asthmatic episode and then went back to rejoin her animal club.

"Doing okay, Z.Z.?" Mrs. Rosenstein asked her when she seemed a little preoccupied.

"I'm fine," she said. "But, tell me: have any really serious injuries or illnesses occurred on campgrounds?"

"There haven't been any deaths as long as I've been here, but there was one incident where a camper not too long ago almost suffered a heatstroke when the air conditioning wasn't working properly."

"It's all set now, right?"

"That happened about six years or so ago. How come you ask?"

"Just curious. First week in new camp being in a nurse's office gets my curiosity going."

"Nothing for you to worry about, dear. And I appreciate your help." Z.Z. smiled and helped her with some filing.

As for Donkeylips, he had trouble choosing what to do. He wanted to go into food service, but it was decided that he was better off not doing that because of his husky figure and they assumed he had an insatiable appetite. He had no desire to be an assistant to anybody because he wanted to be active and lose some weight.

So after consulting with Tavernese, he became the camp's apprentice janitor. He hated it. He was always summoned to clean something nasty up and was required to clean the bathrooms everyday. If someone spilled something, he had to clean up its contents, no exceptions. He wasn't obligated to clean the dorm rooms, but he felt he should at least clean his room, growing more and more fed up with Rick's messiness. Once, there was even a case where three people vomited, and all he could think of was "Why me?"

At dinnertime on Friday, the cafeteria was like a zoo. That's because every Friday was pizza night and they were all packed into the small room. Luckily, though, there was another room that campers could eat. They were permitted there only if there wasn't enough room to sit down in the cafeteria, which was the case here.

Chef Lasko was in his usual hurry-up mode, especially now. But he did say that the pizza on the near side of the line was New York-style, the middle had Chicago-style and the far side had California-style. All three of the friends grabbed their pizza slices and went off to the alternate room.

"This place bites, big time!" Donkeylips vented as he sat down with his three-topping Hawaiian pizzas and soda.

"What is it that bugs you the most?" Z.Z. asked. She had plain solid cheese, refusing to touch anything that came from animals. She also had lemonade with her.

"For one, my roommate's a slob and they gave me the stupid janitor's job."

"You know, if memory serves," Telly started before having a bite of her deep dish chunky tomato slice. "You weren't exactly the cleanest person back in the day."

"Guess now you have a taste of your own medicine, huh Donkeylips?" Z.Z. asked.

"I just hope I can somehow do something to clean his act up."

"Hey, dude, how are you doing?" Rick said, sitting down next to him with his three slices of every type they had. He had woken up from a nap and was not in the best-looking shape. He had bed-head and didn't care to brush it.

"Fine, no thanks to you," he curtly replied. Rick dug into his pizza and started eating.

Z.Z. and Telly, seeing how uncomfortable Donkeylips was by this development, spoke up.

"Hey, pal, what's going on?" Telly asked in the defense of Donkeylips.

"Just sitting down with my roommate," he replied wrapping his arm around him, much to his disgust.

"You do the environment a grave disservice with your condition, you know that?" Z.Z. exclaimed.

"Who cares about that?"

"I do, and I don't think you're being a good companion to him."

"So why don't you get lost before you become dead meat," Telly chimed in.

"But that's against the rules, you can't touch anyone."

"Oh, yeah?" Telly lunged towards him and, weak and out of shape, Rick ran away with his food.

"Thank you so much," Donkeylips sighed.

"You gotta stick up for yourself sometime, you know," Telly said.

They were almost done with their food when Tavernese and Casey walked into the room with their dinner and sat down to talk about business. Z.Z., seeing this as an opportunity to voice her concerns, walked over and sat by them. Telly grabbed a smoothie from the dessert section and went back to her room.

"Hello, Z.Z., how are you doing?" Casey greeted her. They knew her from being in the nurse's office a few times.

"I'm doing okay, but there is something I feel like I need to talk with you about."

"Shoot."

"Well, I haven't helped but notice that the camp isn't exactly the cleanest. Is there anything that can be done?"

"Our janitor does a good job maintaining it," Tavernese replied. "And there is an environmental group that you're more than welcome to join."

"I'll do that. And another thing that I'm curious about is: how come there are group activities here and physical activities on the other section? My room neighbor told me."

"That's the way this camp is set up," Casey explained.

"The other two counselors have the skills for the games and our expertise is the social stuff," Tavernese added.

That night, Donkeylips returned to his dorm room to find Rick wasn't there. He didn't know where he was, but he was glad. He plopped down on his bed and lay down, exhausted.

"What a week," he groaned to himself. "End of summer, why can't you come fast enough?" He shut his eyes and fell asleep right away.

Z.Z. and Telly finished their duties for their respective positions and were tired themselves. They were happy, knowing it was the weekend, which meant no activities for the next couple of days and they could sleep in. Z.Z. had relayed Tavernese and Casey's answers to Telly because she was curious too. They felt they had some of their questions answered, but only time would tell if they were satisfied.