Once all of the campers had arrived, Marjorie had all of the divisions gather together in the outdoor auditorium.

She recited a quick, welcoming speech, before giving a short talk about the history of Camp Hippodrome. She also talked about the camp, and the activities scheduled for the day.

After Marjorie dismissed the campers, they scampered away to get settled in their cabins.


The campers went to their assigned cabin areas, which were separated by division and gender. Each cabin was named after a musical or play.

There were six Secondary Division girls' cabins. They were positioned in a line, forming the curved part of a semicircle, with a flagpole in the middle. The order (from left to right) of the cabins was as follows: the Evita Cabin, the Les Misérables Cabin, the Matilda Cabin, [flagpole], the Pippin Cabin, the Annie Cabin, the Phantom of the Opera Cabin.

Inside of each cabin was three bunkbeds, one single twin-sized bed, three bureaus, three wooden desks, a walk-in storage closet, overhead lighting fixtures, and several electrical outlets. The outside of the cabins had murals depicting famous scenes and characters from the musical that it was named for on three of the four sides. The front, which was the side without a mural, had the name of the cabin painted on it and two flag holders attached on each side. The Camp Hippodrome flag was in the left flag holder, and a flag with the cabin's musical's playbill design was in the right one.

The campers entered their cabins and met their cabin counsellors.


Annabelle excitedly bounded into the Phantom of the Opera Cabin, hopping over all three of the front steps.

She and her new cabinmates' luggage was already inside, next to the door. The girls met their cabin counsellor, Christine, then they explored the small cabin and picked out beds.

Sierra and Sienna Callahan, the 11-year-olds that Annabelle befriended first, called dibs on the bunk against the left wall. Annabelle and her new friend, 11-year-old Carrie King, took the middle bunk. The two 12-year-olds, with whom Annabelle has yet to introduce herself, were left with the bunk against the right wall.

Although Sierra and Sienna were twins, no one would guess it by looking at them. Sierra, the older twin, had pale greyish-blue eyes, straight strawberry-blonde hair, and a rounder face with smooth features. Sienna, the younger twin, had cat-like green eyes, wavy dirty blonde hair, and a slimmer face with more defined features.

Carrie, who was sleeping on the lower bunk due to her epilepsy, was tall and thin, like a rail. She towered over all of her cabinmates, standing at five feet, six inches tall. A sensible pair of hipster glasses sat over her curious hazel eyes. Freckles were sprinkled over her cheeks and the bridge of her ski-jump nose. Her medium-brown hair gently framed her pale face, and bangs that were little too long were continually pushed away when they fell over her eyes.

Rowan Browning was one of the 12-year-olds. She had curled jet-black hair, an olive skin tone, plain grey eyes, and a slight overbite. Her small head, slim hips, short torso, and long limbs emulated the ideal characteristics of a ballerina. Rowan's body build and lightness on her feet, led Annabelle to suspect that she was a dancer.

Scarlett White was the other 12-year-old. Her flat-ironed dark brown hair was dip-dyed bright red at the bottom. Her icy blue eyes and ghostly pallor stood out against her dark makeup and wardrobe. She wore a small silver hoop in her left nostril and on her lip. Scarlett's tough exterior made Annabelle fear that her cabinmate was a mean goth girl.

Annabelle introduced herself to Scarlett and Rowan. After talking with them for a while, her suspicion was confirmed: Rowan really was a ballet dancer. She also learned that despite her dark appearance, Scarlett was actually a very sweet girl.


Amelia conversed with her new friend, a lanky 11-year-old named Josh Needlemeyer, while she headed back to her cabin.

Josh, who had just gone through a growth spurt, was exactly five and a half feet tall. His limbs were long, and his joints were knobby. His shy blue eyes hid under bangs that swooped across his forehead. A constant, playful half-smile rested on his lips.

As they talk, Amelia learned that Josh was from Wisconsin and that he was interested in special effects and stunt work.

They walked and talked until they got to the place where the trail to the boys' cabins and the girls' cabins split into two. When they reached this place, they said goodbye and made plans to sit with each other during lunchtime.

Amelia skipped up the three steps to the Evita Cabin and entered.

She found all of her cabinmates arguing over the fact that 12-year-old Lana Brayer had designated an entire bunk bed for herself.

As Amelia was entering Lana noticed her and stopped bickering with the four other girls. She stared the tiny girl down, like a hawk sizing up its prey.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What are you doing here!?" Lana questioned.

Amelia introduced herself and told the older girl that she was assigned to the Evita Cabin during registration.

"You need to go back to the Primary Division! What are you? Like four? You don't belong here! The people in this cabin are women! We don't need some baby hanging around!" Lana said to Amelia.

Standing her ground and refusing to let the older girl intimidate her, Amelia informed Lana that she was indeed in the correct division because she recently turned ten.

"Ew! I am not sharing a cabin with some lowly, prepubescent little kid who is too dumb to understand the concept of even becoming a woman. I bet you don't even know what a bra is! You've probable never even heard of puberty!" Lana snidely asserted, directing her words at Amelia.

"Okay, first of all: I'm not dumb. Second of all: I know what a bra is. And third of all: Yes, I've actually heard of puberty," Amelia said in response.

"Oh yeah? Use both words in a sentence," Lana challenged. A soft rustle occurred as she crossed her arms over her chest. This went virtually unnoticed by everyone except Amelia.

Amelia cleared her throat.

"Sentence number one: When you crossed your arms and something rustled, it was blatantly obvious that you stuff your bra, since you are not well-endowed up top. Sentence number two: Due to a weird hormonal irregularity that I have, I have not gone through puberty; therefore I am not yet a woman," she said coolly.

Lana tried to hide her shock at Amelia figuring out that her bra was stuffed. She put her hands on her hips and glared at the tiny girl.

"So what if I stuff!? I still have something even when it's not stuffed. I'm just adding on to what's already there, so HA!" she fired back.

"What's already there? Two mosquito bites?" Amelia sassily retorted with an amused eyebrow raised.

Lana's eyes narrowed into tiny slits, determined not to let Amelia to have the last word.

"At least my boobs can be seen without a microscope!" she exclaimed to Amelia.

"Roots," Amelia simply replied.

The other girls in the cabin giggled as Lana gasped. She whipped out a handheld mirror and frantically checked her hair.

The Evita Cabin counsellor, Eva, came through the door holding a clipboard. She greeted the girls cheerfully, but they complained to her about Lana claiming an entire bunkbed.

Eva sighed and put the clipboard down on a desk. She assigned each girl to a bunk because Lana refused to voluntarily let someone else share hers.

Eventually Lana's bunkmate ended up being 12-year-old Cece Peron. Amelia's bunkmate was 12-year-old Amanda Kelly. The two remaining 12-year-olds, Rena Ray and Phoebe Hirsch, are bunkmates.

Amelia walks over to her three suitcases and drags them over to her assigned bunk. She and Amanda quickly decide who's getting the top bunk and who's getting the bottom bunk.

Lana, who was quickly dubbed the "mean girl" of the cabin, had dyed hair that's tightly coiled into long ringlets. Her natural brown roots peeked out from under her golden hair. She had big blue eyes and long eyelashes that were most likely fake. Lana's nose was too sculpted and perfect, leading Amelia to believe that the girl has had a nose job.

Amanda was a slender girl with smooth, dark skin. Her hair was textured and neatly cut into a shoulder-length bob. Her expressive brown eyes twinkled with excitement. She had well-manicured nails, which were meticulously painted with maroon polish.

Cece was a friendly girl of Argentine descent. She had a button nose and chubby cheeks. Her ombré hair hung in loose waves, and her eyes were a light shade of amber brown.

Rena was a petite Filipino girl, who was adopted as a baby. She had an oval-shaped face and prominent cheekbones. Her almond-shaped eyes were a very dark shade of brown, and her nose was small and dainty. Her pin-straight black hair was long and tied back in a low ponytail.

Phoebe was tall girl with an athletic build. She had frizzy platinum blonde curls and ocean blue eyes. She had a pointy nose and a perky, gap-toothed smile.

Amelia and her cabinmates settled into their cabin. All of the girls (except Lana) congratulated Amelia on the "massive shade" that she threw, and they told her that she "roasted Lana's butt."