Camp Firefly Sisters, Chapter Three
Chapter Three
Finding my sister wasn’t a particularly easy task.
The parking lot was just as chaotic as it had been when we arrived, and Mckenna could be anywhere. I assumed she would have changed into her counselor polo at this point, and was relying on the bright red to spot her amidst the crowd. Similar to what lifeguards wore, it made sense that the girls in charge here had a color that was more distinct and easily noticeable.
If she hadn’t taken my fucking phone, I could have just texted her. Then again, there was no guarantee she’d be checking hers if she was busy catching up with counselor friends, herding campers, etc. Either way, I was still bitter that she left me in line without my device.
After aimlessly circling the lot for a few minutes, I knew for certain that Mckenna wasn’t at one of the check-in tables. I also knew that I was going to get a sunburn if I kept walking around in the summer heat. With rather fair skin, I couldn’t go more than twenty or thirty minutes without sunscreen, and I had already used most of that time standing in line.
There were some trees at the edge of the parking lot, and I took shelter in the shade while continuing to scan the crowd for red polos. Of course, there was always the chance that my sister hadn’t even changed into hers yet. I briefly thought about how it would have made more sense for her to just put it on before we left, but the camp probably had the counselors turn in the polos at the end of the last week so they could be used again by the next round of counselors.
Mckenna had definitely worn her various Camp Firefly t-shirts after going to camp every year. Now that I was holding a stack of identical tees, I put it together that each camper was probably able to take home one as a souvenir, while the others would be washed and reused over the coming months. After all, it would be wasteful to send each girl home with multiple shirts.
After a couple minutes of standing around, I was approached by a counselor who was very much not my sister. She was taller and closer to my age, and wasted no time in getting right to business. “What are you doing over here?” she asked, “New camper, right?”
“Umm, not exactly,” I flushed. Did she really think I was a camper? I knew I was on the smaller side, and was holding the camper tees I was given, but still. “I’m a counselor. Pixie said there was some paperwork issue or something?”
“Uh huh. Pixie signed you in, then?” she asked, “What’s your name?”
“Madeline,” I said. Maybe getting one girl used to my full name would offset the nickname that had been thrown around so much recently.
She glanced up in thought for a moment, then said, “I’m pretty sure Melody is the only M counselor, as far as I can recall. Do you mean junior counselor? That’s a whole different thing.”
“No!” I snapped. That’s what Pixie had mentioned as well, except she had described it as something that was out of reach for me as a ‘new camper.’ Taking a breath, as it was fair to get frustrated with the girl before me who was coming in blind to all of this, I said, “I’m a counselor. Like, an actual counselor. I signed up with Mckenna. Have you seen her?”
“Oh, you’re Kenna’s sister?” she asked, “Hmm, I can see the resemblance. Did she not tell you what to do after signing in?”
I scoffed and rolled my eyes. “She just showed me the line and walked away.”
That’s what actually happened. From this girl’s perspective, however, I sounded like a sister oversimplifying things for whatever reason. It’s not uncommon for sisters to bicker and get annoyed with each other. “Well,” she said, “You’re supposed to change now.” She gestured towards the side door of the school, “There are bathrooms just inside. Then look for the bus for rising 7th and rising 8th girls.”
How was that helpful? If every counselor I had interacted with thus far assumed I was a camper thanks to the paperwork issue, putting on the camper tee would only add to the confusion. “But, I’m not-”
“Madeline.” She walked up to me and placed a hand on my upper back, walking me towards the nearby building as she said, “You’re not the first girl who isn’t particularly excited about being shipped off to camp for two weeks. But I promise, Camp Firefly is lots of fun if you let yourself enjoy it.”
“I signed up for two months,” I muttered, “Like Mckenna. She and I are both counselors.”
“Then, how about this?” she replied, without missing a beat, “If you change into one of the shirts Pixie gave you, like you were supposed to do after checking in, I’ll find Kenna for you. Fair?”
Not particularly. The light blue tee was less flattering than the casual summer outfit I was wearing, plus I’d have to change all over again once I was given one of the red polos the other counselors were wearing. “Can’t we just find Mckenna first?” I asked. That made so much more sense.
“No,” she said, “Come on, Madeline. Get changed. You don’t want to be the reason everyone is held up, do you?”
I hesitated. She probably meant that a bus full of campers wouldn’t appreciate stragglers like myself who delayed the trip to the camp itself, yet I was more worried about how the counselors would perceive me if I was difficult on the first day. They were the ones I’d be working with all summer, and this was already an embarrassing first impression. If I continued to whine and argue about something as simple as this, even if I was in the right, it could lead to an awkward dynamic with this girl moving forward.
Resisting the urge to sigh, I said, “Okay. Just- Give me a minute.”
The silver lining was the fact that it was a little bit cooler inside. The AC wasn’t blasting or anything, as the building likely didn’t get much summer use, but it was certainly better than the parking lot in the sun. True to what I had recently been told, the bathrooms weren’t too far from the door. There were a couple counselors around to make sure that no one strayed farther down the halls than they needed to, and to direct campers to the appropriate rooms. Apparently the older groups, including the one that I was perceived as, were to change in the boys’ bathroom. It made sense, and wasn’t that big of a deal. The opposite gender wasn’t around at the moment, and otherwise there would only be half the space for people to change.
I set down all my shirts but one on the counter inside and stepped into one of the stalls to change. When putting on my black athletic shorts this morning, I had anticipated changing into a red polo at some point, which would have been a hot combo. The light blue Camp Firefly shirt didn’t complement my bottoms nearly as well.
Checking out myself in the mirror for a moment, not particularly enthusiastic about how similar I looked to the other girls I had seen out there in the matching tee, I headed back out to the tall girl who was going to track down Mckenna for me.
When she saw me in what she believed to be the appropriate attire, the girl fulfilled her end of the deal. She pulled the walkie-talkie that was clipped to the waistband of her shorts and called to either my sister or to any other counselor who had Mckenna in their sights. “Hey, Kenna? Can you swing by the seven-eight bus for a minute?”
Huh. I couldn’t remember the last time I even saw a walkie-talkie, but it made sense. The counselors could just as easily use it here as they could at the campgrounds, and didn’t need to rely on reception when we were farther from the city. And, sure enough, the simple form of communication worked in terms of getting Mckenna’s attention. “On the way!” Static or no static, I was familiar with that voice.
“Follow me, Madeline,” the girl said. She placed the simple device back on her hip and began walking towards the parked mini-buses on the other side of the lot. As we got closer, I could tell from a distance which bus was for the rising 7th and 8th grade girls; the matching t-shirts were more informative than the sign taped to one of the windows. It was also the only bus that primarily had campers lined up, where the others had a lot more parents who were helping with luggage, saying goodbye, and so on.
Before we made it all the way to the bus where half the girls were wearing the same t-shirt as me, Mckenna spotted us on her way from the other side of the lot. She had on the counselor polo; I wasn’t sure how I missed her when scanning the area recently. “Hey, Gwen!” she smiled, “Miss me?” Then she noticed me, “Oh, hey, Maddie! Please don’t tell me you already got in trouble with our head counselor.”
“No, nothing like that,” she said, “Madeline just seems a little confused as to her camper status. She’s not a junior counselor, is she?”
“Of course not,” Mckenna replied, “This is her first year. Pretty sure there’s a rule about that. Right?”
The taller girl, whose name I now knew was Gwen, shook her head, “It’s an unofficial rule, but yeah. Returning campers only.”
“But, I’m not a camper!” I exclaimed.
“I got this, Gwen,” Mckenna said, “You probably have a million other things to worry about today!”
“Two million,” Gwen chuckled, “Thanks, Kenna. Catch up later?”
“You know it!”
Why did it feel like I was being pawned off on my little sister? I also hadn’t thought about how we would look side by side when putting on the camper shirt. Anyone who didn’t know us would absolutely assume that she was older, even without taking our size difference into consideration.
As Gwen walked away, I turned towards Mckenna with an annoyed look. “Pixie told me to find you. There was some mix-up with the paperwork she had, and half the counselors think I’m a fucking camper because of these shirts.” I gestured to what I was wearing, as well as the clean ones tucked under my arm.
“Language, Maddie,” Mckenna said. She glanced around for a moment to make sure no one was close enough to overhear what I just said. I knew for a fact that she was fine with swearing, and it looked like she was just doing her job as a counselor. The reminder to work on my own filter was appreciated at some level; it just came across in a slightly patronizing way when paired with the unwanted nickname.
“Right,” I muttered. No sense in dwelling on a valid point when I had more important things to focus on. “Can we please sort out this nonsense with whomever?” Maybe Gwen should have stayed. She was the head counselor, as I just found out, and would probably have the easiest time fixing the problem. Girls like Alex and Pixie had seemed more interested in moving things along, rather than listening to me.
“Umm, funny story,” Mckenna giggled, “All the counselor slots were full, so I registered you as a camper.”
. . . What?
She wasn’t serious, was she? I couldn’t tell if it was a joke, or if she was amused by the truth of what she was saying. Either way, my response was the same. “That’s not funny, Mckenna,” I rolled my eyes.
“It’ll be great, Maddie!” she smiled, “Being a camper is more fun, anyway. No work, no responsibilities. Besides, you said you wanted to see Will, didn’t you?”
“Mckenna, enough,” I snapped. Part of me actually believed her. Alex told me to get in the rising 7th grade line, and Pixie had me on her list. I was literally wearing the wrong shirt. In retrospect, it made a lot more sense for my sister to have signed me up for the wrong role than for the camp’s system to have such a blatant problem regarding my name. “I’m a counselor.” After saying it multiple times to multiple girls, I was starting to feel like a broken record. If this was some kind of hazing for the new girl, I wasn’t a fan.
Mckenna placed her hand on my upper back, similar to the manner in which Gwen led me towards the school, and began walking me towards the bus. Was it some counselor gesture they had, where such a hand placement was simple and appropriate when it came to guiding girls where they needed to go? I didn’t have much time to think about it, as Mckenna corrected me, “You’re a camper, sis. Or a Firefly, if you prefer. This can be the camp experience you never had! You’re welcome.”
We were nearing the bus for the older campers, which didn’t have much of a line now. “I’m not a camper!” I insisted. It was such an absurd concept. “Seriously, Mckenna. What’s going on?” If this was some form of hazing, she and the rest of the counselors were rather synced up and all had a decent poker face. But that didn’t change the fact that I had just turned eighteen, and was doing this as a summer job; I was way too old to go to camp.
Rolling her eyes, somewhat copying my reaction from a minute ago, she said, “You’re basically the same size you were when you were thirteen, which is the age I put down on your registration form. Seriously, Maddie. I’m not messing with you; not about this, anyway. Come on, it’ll be great. You can get some much needed sunshine and exercise, and see that cute boy along the way.”
I didn’t know if I was more shocked or offended. Thirteen?! I did not look that young. Obviously I was a little short and petite, but I was still a high school girl. Not even my current get-up was enough to visibly shave that many years away. Right? Except for the fact that several counselors had mistaken me for the camper Mckenna had apparently registered me as.
Stopping in my tracks a few feet from the bus, and pivoting so Mckenna couldn’t keep nudging me forward, I crossed my arms in annoyance. I’m not sure I’d ever get used to looking up at my younger sister, especially when we were face to face. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”
“Nope,” she smiled, “You’re a camper, little sis.”
For fuck’s sake. Putting aside the embarrassment of being perceived as five years younger than I actually was by multiple girls, this was such a waste of my time. It wasn’t as if I was going to pretend to be a middle schooler just for the sake of getting some time with Will. I didn’t like him that much. If Mckenna hadn’t actually gotten me a job as a counselor, our parents were going to have to come back and pick me up, and I’d have to start looking for something else.
It wasn’t lost on me that my sister wouldn’t be getting in trouble for this any time soon, as she’d be long gone by the time they arrived.
I was about to demand for my phone back, so I could storm off to the shade and call them, when Alex walked over from whatever she had been doing by one of the other buses. “Pixie says we’re all set for the older campers,” she informed Mckenna, “Just waiting on two more girls to change. Ready to go, Maddie?! I’m on your bus. I want to hear all the dirt and all the tea you have on Kenna here!”
“Umm . . . ” I hesitated. What exactly was I supposed to say to that? My younger sister is taller than me, and thought it would be amusing to register me as a camper? As for dirt, I really didn’t have much on Mckenna. Otherwise, I probably would’ve blurted it out right then and there as petty revenge for dangling an easy job over my head and taking it away in the most last minute and humiliating fashion.
“Maddie’s ready,” Mckenna said, giving my shoulders a light push, “You can go with Alex, sis. I’ll see you there! Wait, which bus am I on?”
“You and Pixie are with rising 6th,” Alex said, “Oh, we might be rooming together this year! I caught a glimpse of Gwen’s binder.”
“Fun!” Mckenna replied, “You’re so much better than Stacey.”
Alex scoffed. “Is that supposed to be a compliment? Anyway, see you up there! Maddie, you’re with me.” Sure enough, she began walking me away from my sister and towards the bus with the same gently assertive maneuver the other girls had been using.
“No, wait!” I said. The other girl’s arrival had really messed up my thought process, causing me to awkwardly blurt out what I needed from Mckenna to get picked up. “My phone. Mckenna-”
“You can have it back later,” she said, over her shoulder, “Until then, Alex is in charge.”
“Mm hmm,” Alex hummed, still nudging me forward, “Kenna says you’re not into the whole camp thing. Just promise me you’ll give it a chance, okay?”
There was no doubt in my mind that Alex wasn’t in on this or anything; she actually thought I was Mckenna’s little sister. “That’s not- I mean, I’m not-” I stammered, completely at a loss for what to say or do.
Before I knew it, I was taking a step up to avoid tripping, as Alex ushered me onto the bus.