At 6:00 am the next morning, Annabelle woke up. She quietly climbed out of bed and disclosed to her cabin counsellor that she was going to the camp showers. She gathered her towel, clothing, and toiletries, then silently slipped out the door, making sure she didn't wake anyone up.

Annabelle made her way to the Camp Hippodrome showering facility for the Secondary Division girls.

Much to her expectation, she was delighted to find that the showers deserted. She placed her clothing in a neatly folded pile outside of the stall, then hung her towel over the shower's curtain rod. She stepped into the first shower, stripped off her pajamas, and dropped them next to her clothes. She turned the knob, and a lukewarm spray came out of the shower head.

Annabelle quickly bathed, wanting to get out of the tepid stream of water, which was not warm enough for her liking. She turned the water off, wrung her dripping hair out, and wrapped her fluffy towel around her waifish body. She dried off, then dressed herself in her camp uniform. She wore a navy blue button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and a pair of mid-thigh length cuffed khaki shorts. She gathered her towel, toiletries, and pajamas, then she left the camp showers and went back to her cabin.

When Annabelle returned to her cabin, everyone was still asleep. She put her pajamas in a pile next to her duffel bag. Then, she climbed up to the top bunk and made her bed as best she can. She laid flat on her stomach, playing on her cellphone until everyone else woke up.


Amelia awoke to light shaking. She groaned. Rolling over, she covered her head with her pillow.

"Come on, Amelia! It's time for breakfast!" her bunkmate, Amanda, urged.

At the mention of breakfast, Amelia sprang out of bed. She rapidly changed out of her pajamas and threw on her uniform: a purple short-sleeved teeshirt with the camp logo screen-printed in white on the front and a pair of white athletic shorts with the camp name printed at the bottom. She quickly ran a comb through her dark, wavy hair, then she and the rest of her cabinmates headed to breakfast.

She and Amanda talked together on their way to the dining/mess hall. As they conversed, Amelia learned that her bunkmate is a ballet and lyrical dancer and that she is from Arizona.

"What do you like to do?" Amanda asked Amelia.

"I like to sing and act. My dad plays a cop on a TV show called Shields. We're moving to Los Angeles at the end of the summer because he got his own spinoff, Shields: L.A.," Amelia answered. She and Amanda continued to chat as they made their way down to breakfast.


When Amanda and Amelia arrived at the dining/mess hall, they found it filled with clamorous campers.

"Hey, Amelia! Over here!" Amelia heard Josh, the friend she met yesterday, call. She pointed out the lanky boy to Amanda and explained that she met him the previous day. The two ran over to Josh's table to reserve seats for themselves.


Annabelle was politely conversing with the twins from her cabin that she befriended the night before. She learned that Sierra and Sienna like to sing, like her. She learned that they played orphans during Broadway's run of Annie. She told them that she currently plays Matilda Wormwood in Matilda the Musical on Broadway. The three girls were joined by Carrie, who placed her food tray down and took a seat next to Annabelle. The girls greeted Carrie, then they filled her in on what they were talking about.


After breakfast, the campers gathered in the outdoor auditorium. Standing on the stage, Marjorie ushered a booming greeting to the campers into her handheld microphone. She told them that there was a record-breaking number of campers this year and, for the first time in Camp Hippodrome history, the campers would be putting on two musical productions at the end of the summer. She listed the musical options and told everyone that their votes were due to their cabin counsellors by the end of the day. The two shows that had the most votes would be the ones that the campers perform in. She then went onto explain the schedule for the day, then she dismissed the campers to their first class.


Amelia's first class was Advanced Stage Combat. Josh was also in the class with her. Aside from Amelia and Josh, Annabelle West was the only other camper from the Secondary Division in Advanced Stage Combat. The rest of the twenty-one campers in the class were from the Senior Division.


The Advanced Stage Combat class took place outside near the lake. It was taught by a young woman named Michelle.

The roped off area was big and spacious. The grass was soft and lush. There were mats and pads strewn about. There was a huge prop bin, and there were extra mats and pads to use for combat stunts.

Amelia and Josh were the first ones to arrive. They introduced themselves to Michelle and made small talk with her until more campers arrived.

Annabelle showed up next. She also introduced herself to Michelle. Then, she introduced herself to Amelia and Josh.

The three chatted until everyone else came to class.

Once everyone was present, Michelle took roll and played a few introductory games to get everyone acquainted with each other. She taught them the safe word, "butternut." After that, the class warmed up. When everyone was warmed up, Michelle separated the class into two groups. She told the first group to partner up and practice the skills they already knew. She worked with the second group to teach them new skills. Halfway through the class, she switched the groups and taught the first group new skills.

Amelia and Josh were in the first group. Annabelle was in the second group.

After working with both groups, Michelle announced that they will use the skills they already know and the skills they've just learned to improvise fights. She matched fight partners up by size, putting Annabelle and Amelia together.

Annabelle and Amelia's improvised fight scene was last.

Annabelle pretended to be an old woman, and Amelia pretended to be a mugger. They started the scene, Annabelle hunched over and walked slowly with a cane, making comments about bingo and cat food. Amelia grabbed her from behind and commanded her to hand over all of her money. Annabelle whirled around, swinging her cane at Amelia. Amelia jerked backward, skillfully dodging the cane. Unfortunately, she backed into the rope that closed off the combat area. She lost her balance, tripping over the rope and falling into the lake. Everyone gasped, and Annabelle dropped her cane and ducked under the rope. She hurried over to Amelia, who was flailing around in the water, and offered her hand.

"Let me help you," Annabelle said, holding her hand out towards Amelia.

"No, let me help you!" Amelia responded, taking Annabelle's hand and pulling her into the lake.

"Hey! I was just trying to help you!" Annabelle exclaimed, splashing water in Amelia's face.

Amelia splashed water back into Annabelle's face. The two get into a splash fight, arguing and yelling at each other. Michelle ran over and broke up the fight. She pulled each girl out of the water and lectured them about the importance of spatial awareness.

"Now, girls, apologize and shake hands," Michelle instructed.

Annabelle and Amelia stood with their arms crossed and their backs turned away from each other. Neither turned around.

Michelle cleared her throat, "Girls..."

Annabelle and Amelia sighed and rolled their eyes. They turned around and glared at each other. They stiffly apologized to one another, then engaged in a quick, unceremonious handshake.


I'm going to let you all vote! The musical options are:

Phantom of the Opera

Into the Woods

Footloose

Grease

Les Misérables

Sound of Musical

Matilda the Musical

Heathers the Musical

So leave a review with your votes for the which two musicals should be done!

And thanks for reading! :)