Confessions of a Band Camp Geek

I'll keep you my dirty little secret,
(Dirty little secret)
Don't tell anyone or you'll be just another regret,
(Just another regret, hope that you can keep it)
My dirty little secret.

-All American Rejects "Dirty Little Secret"

Confession #2: I Broke the Most Important Rule

"Shit," Aimi, who was hanging upside down, mumbled out of nowhere and I looked up from my phone. I had been staring at it in hopes that Inuyasha would text. Not that I'm obsessed or anything, but I'm bored, and hungry, and god damned frustrated.

Aimi had been explaining the social networking of Talent. My stomach started to churn as I realized how similar it was to East High. There were art scouts, drama scouts, photo scouts, dance scouts, and music scouts and the music scouts ran the camp, dance scouts coming in a close second. And they say summer is your escape. That was some bull.

"What?" Sango asked from below me. Rei also looked up in question from where she sat across from Sango, her bunk mate now Aimi.

"Our Cabin Counselor is here," She answered and we all turned to the entrance of the cabin to see a lady with short, frizzy brown hair, glasses and wearing jeans and a t-shirt. "Ms. Enoki."

"Is she evil or something?" I asked looking the lady over, searching for gleaming red eyes that would indicate she really had the soul of a devil. I couldn't find any. In fact, she looked nice to me.

"No," Aimi sighed as she sat up right on her bed. "She's just annoying."

"How?"

"Alright Crazy Frogs!" Ms. Enoki called and the once loud cabin of sixteen girls hushed. "I want you all in a circle in the middle of the cabin pronto!"

Aimi hopped off her bed and I followed in suit. She looked at Enoki's gushing smile and shuddered. "She likes bonding methods."

"Is that really bad?" Sango asked with a raised brow as we sat on the dusty wood floor, forming part of the circle.

"She's too damn perky and the bonding"—Aimi shuddered again—"drives you crazy. It's like she's some family therapist trying to get a torn family to be one again, or a mother who wants to know everything about her kids. It's frustrating."

"I don't—"

"Now look at all these bright faces!" The lady gushed and I felt like I was in Kindergarten again. "I hope you are all ready for a fun filled summer here at Talent, I know I'm going to enjoy getting to each and every one of you personally."

Was it possible to smile that big and not have your cheeks crack?

I leaned towards Aimi and whispered, "I see your point." Aimi nodded her head in an affirmative gesture.

"What we're going to do is say our name, our talent, and something interesting about ourselves."

Bleh. How I hate these stupid first day rituals. At least these are better than what we have to do at school; they used to make us do that stupid thing where you say your name, do a hand gesture and then the person after you had to the same gesture as you, remember your name, and come up with another clever gesture. The farther you go, the more names and gestures you have to be sure to remember. Imagine how much this pissed me off, a person with a horrible memory.

Still, this little get-to-know-you activity was frustrating. How am I supposed to think of something really interesting that would blow the socks off everyone? I could say I swim, but that's being uncreative and lazy which doesn't seem to fit art camp standards. Do you see how frustrating this is?

"Alright," Enoki looked around with clasped hands held together in excitement. "Who wants to go first?"

Not me.

Aimi's hand shot up and I fought the urge to keep my groan in check. I sat beside her and we'd probably move around in a circle meaning I'd either be next or last, neither was good. If I go next, it's not enough time to think of an interesting fact and then if I go last it leaves a lasting impression and if my fact sucked I'd prefer not to be remembered by that.

"Alright, my name is Hirose Aimi, I'm an abstract painter and last year I spent winter break in New York visiting Galleries and seeing a lot of Shakespeare plays."

"Wow…" Ms. Enoki's eyes widened. "Well that must have been exciting!"

Perky, waaaay too perky.

"Alright, now how about we have the young lady to your right go next."

The young lady to the right would be me. Way to go Aimi for volunteering. Nothing I did over the past year was as exciting as that. My interesting fact was going to be I joined a band, but that's not really telling the truth and I assume these bonding moments are meant to reveal something about ourselves.

"My name is Higurashi Kagome, I'm an artist, and I, um, I…" Crap. I had nothing. "I love the Lion King," I lamely offered, already hanging my head in shame.

"Well we can tell by your shirt," Ms. Enoki said enthusiastically along with a laugh and I remembered why naptime wasn't the only thing I missed about Kindergarten. The teachers never put you down no matter how dumb something you did was. Even when you did something bad they'd baby talk you while you pouted in time out. That was back when life was actually simple.

"Alright, who's next?"

We went around the circle and I realized Aimi was right. Everybody here was a music scout except three other people not including Aimi. Two were dancers and the other one was a photographer, everyone else played an instrument or sang. I learned that Rei played the piano and sung and her interesting fact was that she did a big concert in the park this spring. Everybody's interesting fact was better than mine. It had something to do with improving themselves, not some weird elementary school obsession.

Ms. Enoki clapped her hands together and smiled really big at us as she stepped into the middle of the circle. "Okay, I'm Ms. Enoki, but you can call me Ms.E, I am a drama instructor as well as your cabin counselor, and I love Desperate Housewives." She winked at me although it just made my embarrassment worse.

"Now, that we've gotten to know each other a bit, let's go in depth," She looked around the circle with crazed eyes of someone who was too excited. "Let's…"

"Here it comes," Aimi mumbled from beside me.

"It can't be that—"

"Talk relationships!" Ms. Enoki called out and I froze. I froze up like the North Pole and I felt the ice running through my veins and I saw Rei and Sango do the same. "That's what you girls like to talk about these days," She lifted her eyebrows suggestively. "Boys. How they look, what they do, how they can improve, their skills."

I almost gagged.

This. Lady. Was. Crazy.

"I told you," Aimi whispered, grimacing. "This is one of her bonding methods."

"And she's with us for the entire six weeks?"

"Unfortunately, we're supposed to have another counselor, but she's not here—"

The door slammed open and we all looked away from the lady who stood in the middle of our circle to the one who stood in the doorway. She was a lot younger—early or mid twenties—she had long black hair pulled back and a cap resting over her head. She wore knee length baggy cargos and a blue shirt that matched Ms. Enoki's, but she wasn't gushing like her.

"Oh, we got the perfect pair," Aimi whispered, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Perkyopolis and the Strict Bitch. Yeah, this summer just keeps getting better and better."

"The strict bitch?" Yeah, that sounds like a load of fun.

"Two counselors for each cabin," Aimi whispered, eyeing the new lady carefully. "While Ms. E is all fun and feelings, Kiyoko over there is all rules. She's young, but no fun." Aimi's eyes widened. "Ha! That—"

"Rhymed!" I finished at the same time and immediately called, "Jinx! You owe me a soda."

"Whatever. Soda here is free anyways."

"All right girls!" Ms. E called, clapping her hands for our attention once again. "This will be your other counselor, Kiyoko."

The lady stepped into the room, her aura screaming that she wasn't one to fool around with. Her words matched her aura like a charm.

"I am Kiyoko. Not, Ms. Hanada or Ms. H or any other god forsaken nickname, but Kiyoko. I went to camp here, did four semesters at an art school and then came back to work here over the summer while owning my own business for hip-hop dancing during the time you all attend school." She didn't let us react to this information and turned to Ms. E. "Did you take role?"

"Oh! We were getting to know each other and I completely—"

"Akera Yui!" She called, looking at the clipboard in her hand before glancing around circle. A girl shot her hand up and Kiyoko made a mark by her name. "Ando Eri!" And she continued with the roll.

"Intense," I whispered, Sango and Rei nodded their heads.

"At least she saved us from relationship talk," Sango shuddered.

"Asahara Rei!"

Rei raised her hand.

"Why were you so scared? Afraid you'd have to admit to everyone Miroku has a serious disease where he has to stare at the chest of every girl with a loaded rack?"

"I saw you freeze up too, Kags. What's wrong with your relationship?"

"Nothing, thank you very much!"

"I told y'all you would hate bonding moments," Aimi spoke up as she eyed Kiyoko. "Now we have her to even out the perkiness and Ms. E to even out the bitchiness." She scoffed and shook her head. "It's not going to help anything."

"Think positive," I waved off before turning to Rei who sat on my left. "I saw you freeze up there too Rei," I lifted my eyebrows suggestively. "How's your love life treating you?"

"Umm…"

"Fuwa Miki!"

"Do you have some guy pining over you at home?" I pushed, praying it was a lie because that would completely crush Bank.

"Higurashi Kagome!"

I raised my hand. "Were you madly in love with some guy, but he didn't return those feelings?"

"Are you having a bit of déjà vu there, Kags?" Sango teased and I reached my arm over Aimi to shove her.

"Shut up. It all worked out in the end."

"Hirose Aimi!"

"Here!" Aimi called before she looked to Rei with a dangerous grin. "Were you involved in some hot, sexy, dangerous love affair that put all morals aside just to be with your love?"

Rei's face was bright red and she started scratching her arm. "No. That's not—"

"Damnit!" Aimi cut her off snapping her fingers. "That would be so cool if you were. That way those adult romances with half naked guys and women with their fancy salsa dresses almost kissing on the covers wouldn't seem so cheesy."

"That is so true."

"You two," Sango pointed to me and Aimi, shaking her head. "Are crazy! It's like you were made for each other."

"Crazy loves company."

"Misery loves company."

"Ugh, that's such a negative way to look at things," I waved off, shaking my head. "No one likes a pessimist, Sango."

"Tanaka Sango!"

Sango only rolled her eyes at me before raising her hand.

"Alright, listen up!" Kiyoko tossed the clipboard on a nearby bed and folded her arms over her chest as we all turned to face her. "We're going to go over some of the basic cabin rules before lunch. All other rules will be explained at the bon fire later tonight."

"Rule number one," she held up a finger. "No leaving your clothes around the cabin. Talent expects all cabins to be in tip top shape for any surprise inspections. Ms. E and I will not be staying here with you—" I quietly thanked all things mighty—"so we expect you, as teenage girls, to know how to pick up after yourselves.

"Rule number two," she added another finger. "You are in and stay in by lights out. Sneaking out is prohibited."

"Been there, done that," Aimi mumbled. "Punishment was brutal."

"Failure to comply with this rule will result in you being given a reasonable and fair punishment."

"Lies!"

Kiyoko hearing Aimi's statement glared her direction, shutting Aimi up.

"Rule number three is that you get up when the morning alarm goes off and you will be at breakfast no longer than an hour later. Failure to show will result in you missing a meal." That sounded kind of harsh. "Rule number four is that there is not fraternizing with the opposite or same sex. Just because you share a cabin doesn't mean it's okay." She pinned us all with a hard look.

"And now, the most important rule; No food." She looked at us all. "Any kind of food or drink could attract forest animals and the last thing we need is for a cabin of girls to be screaming their heads off because of a few squirrels or raccoons that happened to make their way in. We'll be doing an inspection after lunch and any and all forms of something that is edible will be tossed."

I gulped. For some odd or paranoid reason I thought that lady was staring right at me. It would make since though, considering the huge bag of candy I have resting in my duffel bag. Still, the thought of throwing away all that candy Inuyasha had gotten for me out of love made me even sicker than the thought of that lady finding it. That's even worse than the outdoor animals actually sneaking in.

"Alright, now everyone may go to the mess hall for lunch."

I had to find a way to hide that candy.

-x-

"That Kiyoko lady was evil," Sango spoke as she slid her tray down the metal bars, looking for something that would satisfy her appetite. "Did you notice that if you knock off an 'O' and rearrange a letter or two, her name spells Kikyo?"

"That was the first thing I noticed." I picked up a carton of fries and set them down on my tray by my burger. "That's definitely got to be a sign that she's a bitch."

"You need a sign?" Aimi asked shocked and we all started cracking up. That's when realized we were one person short.

"Where's Rei?"

"She's…" Sango looked around the mess hall, unable to find a head of purple streaks in the vast sea of campers. "She disappeared."

"Oh, invisibility. Best superpower ever!" Aimi declared as she stocked up on deserts.

"What! Are you crazy?" I grabbed two M&M cookies. "Flying has been and always will be at the tippy top of the best superpowers list."

"No way! Flying is way too cliché. It's like… fifth."

"Fifth?"

"Yeah. It goes, Invisibility, Super strength, Telepathist, the ability to shoot lasers from your hands—"

"Laser shooting before flying!? Maybe if you put… stretchibility like Elastic Girl, but—"

"Elastic Girl was extremely flexible, Kags. So much it was like she could reshape her body and stretch really far." Sango corrected me. "Stretchibility isn't even a word."

"It's a word in my book. Anyways, there is no way laser shooting is above flying. Are you out of your mind!?"

"Alright then, shape shifting, like Beast Boy. Shape shifting is way better than flying."

"No it isn't!"

"What! Are you out of your mind?"

"Considering the fact that both of you aren't ever going to get superpowers, this conversation is beyond ridiculous." Sango gave us a look that showed just how much more mature she was compared to us. "You're both out of your minds."

"Pessimist!" Aimi declared, slamming her hand down on the railing for emphasis. "I will get me so kick ass superpowers."

"How? By jumping in a bin of radioactive batter?"

"Don't tempt me."

Sango rolled her eyes, but by the way the corner of her lip was twitching it was completely obvious that she really wanted to smile and laugh at our randomness.

"I'm going to grab a soda. I'll find where y'all are sitting later." Sango picked up her tray and left us.

Aimi shook her head at Sango's retreating form. "She can't handle this awesomeness."

"Mmhmm."

"Kagome!"

I looked up to see Bank jogging towards us and Aimi lifted her brows at him appreciatively. Aimi is great and all, but man, I actually missed Bank in the half hour I was forced to sit in the cabin, learning how my high school horrors have come to haunt me over the summer.

"Sexy can I," Aimi mumbled and I hit her arm.

"No. You can't."

"Damnit. He's taken?"

"No. But if all goes according to planned, he will be."

I made a resolution this summer when I saw Bank's eyes glued to Rei. That resolution is that I will put those two together no matter what. Unless it's a life or death situation then Bank can just stay single and heartbroken. Really, there are other fish in the sea.

"Hey, Kagome."

"Bank!" I dramatically threw my arms around him. "I missed you so much."

"Yeah. I missed you too."

I pulled back and glared at him. "It would make me feel better if you actually meant it."

"I do mean it."

"No. You don't. Considering your tone and the fact that Inuyasha is the only guy I know who will say those words after only being thirty minutes apart, it basically gave you away. And the fact that you're loading my tray up with food for you makes me think you really only came to me to skip that ginormous line. You're burying yourself in a deep whole here mister." I placed my hand over my chest and shook my head. "It really hurts to know that I'm nothing but a ticket for food to you. It really does."

Bank smirked and flicked my forehead. "You should be here for Drama."

"Uh uh, no way. Drama is not my forte."

"That rhymed," Aimi sang from beside me and I rolled my eyes.

"Bank this is Aimi, Aimi this is Bank. His real name is Bankoutsu, but I find it tiring to keep saying the whole thing."

"Nice to meet ya." Aimi shook Bank's hand and then narrowed her eyes. "What are you here for?"

Uh oh.

"Uh… I'm in a band. I'm the drummer."

To my relief Aimi smiled and let go of Bank's hand. "You're still a music scout, but I like bands and the drummers that are wild."

Bank gave her a funny look. "Uh… Okay."

"I believe you owe me a soda," I told Aimi and she scoffed rolling her eyes. "I'd like a Sprite."

"I'll make you a suicide."

"That, was cruel."

"Live with it baby." Aimi lifted her tray and started towards the drinks. "Tootles!"

"Now that she's gone…" I turned to Bank and looked him in the eye. "I need you to do me a favor."

Bank popped a fry in his mouth. "Okay…"

"Did your cabin inspections happen yet?"

"When they go through your stuff looking for food?" He dropped about five different cakes on my plate. "Yeah. Might I add that it's a complete invasion of your privacy? I mean—"

"Okay," I cut him off before he went all rant mode on me. "I need you to hide my candy bag in your cabin until our inspection is over and then you can hide it in the bushes by my cabin right before the bon fire tonight."

Bank raised a brow at me. "Why don't you just let them toss it? Did you not hear about all those creepy critters?"

"Did you not learn over the past year that I am addicted to candy? Besides, Inuyasha gave it to me."

"Your clinginess to all things Inuyasha is creeping me out."

"That's just because you're anti-mushy, unless…" My eyes sparked with something Bank should be afraid of. He caught my look and lowered the cookie he was about to cram into his mouth.

"Unless what?"

"Unless it deals with Purple Streaks."

"Her name is Rei," Bank spoke almost defensively and I smirked. He was so caught in my trap.

"Well guess what."

"What?"

"Rei's in my cabin and we have this crazy counselor who's all about bonding and she wants to know about our relationships and guys we have our eyes on." I lifted my eyebrows suggestively at Bank. "Do you want to know Rei's relationship status?"

"No!"

"The fact that you said it too quick and too soon, makes it obvious you really mean yes." Bank opened his mouth to protest, but I continued on. "So, if you do this little favor for me I'll help you with Rei." Not like I wasn't going to already.

Bank was silent and I smiled, patting him on the back.

"I'll take that as a yes."

-x-

The walk from our cabin to the bon fire that rested on some little, mini island in the middle of the lake, actually was a mile. And to make matters worse, there was some crazy steep hill that was a pain to walk up. On the bright side though, I passed the inspection with flying colors.

"And here we are, the most boring place on the planet," Aimi complained as she dropped on a log and I sat down on her left, Sango taking the end of the log on Aimi's right. "It's like the assemblies at school, you have to go over the rules we've already heard billions of times. Even if it's your first time, it's all boring as hell."

"Where is Rei?" I asked again, feeling frustrated. How am I supposed to play matchmaker when the girl keeps disappearing on me.

"Invisibility is the—"

"Let's not have that conversation again." Sango cut in with her hand raised. "Please."

"Party pooper." Aimi scanned over the growing population of the super mini island. "Hey Kagome, there's your boyfriend."

"What?" I scrunched my nose up. "My boyfriend is back home."

"Then who's that guy you told me was off limits?"

"He's just my friend," I sighed. This mistake happened a lot and it made Inuyasha want to rip people's heads off. "My best friend."

"If I had a dime for every time I heard that one."

"Hey! It's true!"

"Then why did you tell me he's taken?"

"Because when I'm through putting my class A matchmaking skills to work, he will be."

"She really means class F."

"Hey!"

I looked up at Bank and my jaw dropped as he stealthily tried to make his way over to our log. "Is it just me or does Bank look pregnant."

"He is definitely carrying a baby."

That idiot, he really needs to find better hiding places for my forbidden stash. When he got to us, I let him have it.

"Where the hell is your brain?" I jabbed my finger in his forehead and he grimaced. "You were supposed to hide it in the bushes."

Bank snatched my hand away from his head. "Yeah, well I couldn't make it to the bushes." He pulled the bag of candy from under his shirt and I took it. "Besides, you can now eat all of your glorious candy and increase your chance of cavities sooner."

"I've told you already, you're not my dentist."

"You don't have to be a dentist to know your teeth are going to rot."

I shoved him. "Jerk."

"Hey Kags," Jakotsu greeted as he sat down on the other side of Bank. He looked down at the bag of candy in my hand and tsked, shaking his head. "Still breaking laws I see."

"Rules and Laws are two totally different things."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Aimi cut in, giving me a wide eyed look. "You broke the law before and you gave us that 'I love the Lion King' crap as your interesting fact!?"

Glad to know she thought so much of it. "I can't really say that out loud to my counselors."

"Wimp." Aimi gave me a hard look. "How many times did you break the law?"

"Too many," Bank answered for me and I hit him.

"It was all under a good cause."

Aimi snorted just as some guy stood up demanding out attention. "You're a bad ass Kagome."

Aimi had been right.

The entire bon fire meeting was just like the school assemblies East has at the beginning of each semester. It was two hours of complete boredom and when I'm bored I tend to eat. Let's just sat a lot of candy was digested.

I did pay attention to the important stuff like, the camp director is Mr. Otsuka and considering he paid for half my trip, I figured I should remember his name. Also the stuff about how we have to take two art activities a day and one outdoors activity. One has to be in your area of expertise while the other art activity can be in your division or you can branch off and try something new. You can switch a class every week if you end up not liking it.

I also listened to how there will be some big event every Sunday, Saturdays were visitor's days and at the end there's a gallery for Art and Photo Scouts, a Play for Drama Scouts, and the Talent show for the dancers and musicians.

There was a lot of talk about rules and stuff too, but I tuned that out. For some reason, I just have a feeling I'm going to break them all anyways.