Reluctantly I followed him through the front door, cringing slightly at the run down appearance.
The single beds were lined up against the walls in a neat row and I found myself thinking that somehow I had landed in a boot camp instead of summer camp.
But I'm sure I wasn't far off.
It wouldn't surprise me if Beth was really a drill sergeant in training.
"All right, well I guess you should meet your cabin mates." Henry said, pointing to a group of girls who were busy doing everything but paying attention to him; reading letters, laughing, talking... and whispering.
I wasn't stupid. I knew right away that those whispers and stares were meant for me.
"Girls, this is Melissa Sherwood." Henry said. When he put his hand on my back and guided me toward them, I jumped in surprise.
He rattled off some names, none of which I paid much attention to.
"This is Rhonda, Alice, Rebecca, Margaret, Janie and Jessica"
In an attempt to be friendly, I extended my hand and gave them an uninterested smile.
"How's it going?" One of them (Rebecca I guess) asked.
"Fine." I said, trying to hide my annoyance. I was totally not in the mood to meet anyone. This was completely lame.
To my dismay, another girl (whose name I'd instantly forgotten) came up to me, despite my best efforts to ignore her.
"I'm Janie!" She said a little too brightly.
I smiled out of pure obligation, but at that moment I would have rather watched grass grow.
But judging from the looks of the dismal looking yard that I could see through the window, this was proving to be my best option.
"I'm Melissa." I finally said. Unfortunately this started her rambling on and on about her life.
Like I really cared.
"Okay, campers, It's chow time!" Beth's scratchy voice yelled through the loudspeakers that were hung in the trees just outside our cabin.
My cabin mates rushed past me, nearly knocking me over in the process. Geez, you'd think that they were going to a gourmet restaurant.
Little did they know...
Not that I'd ever tried Camp Firewood's food, but all camp food was the same... horrible!
Finally I smiled, having found myself alone for once since I'd gotten here. It was the perfect opportunity to have some peace and quiet before the stampede returned.
I shuddered, realizing that this precious moment of tranquility might be the only chance I'd have to enjoy what was shaping up to be a truly awful summer.
