kngjuli

the first few days after finishing college had felt exactly like that. she’d slept until noon almost every day, watched three episodes of the show she’d been meaning to start since christmas, met up with friends and enjoyed not feeling guilty every time she sat down.

but eventually, reality had caught up.

because while finishing for the summer felt great, being unemployed unfortunately did not.

at first, y/n hadn’t worried too much. she’d find something. everyone got summer jobs.

except apparently everyone else had exactly the same idea. every café in town had already hired. retail stores experience she didn’t have. restaurants needed people who could commit beyond september.

and every online listing seemed to have over a hundred applicants before she’d even finished uploading her résumé.

by the end of may, job hunting had quietly become part of her daily routine.

sometimes she’d spend an hour carefully rewriting a cover letter only to never hear back. other times she’d apply somewhere and receive an automatic rejection before she’d even had time to forget she’d sent the application in the first place.

the worst part wasn’t the rejection, it was how normal everyone seemed to think it was.

“anything yet?”

“no.”

“you’ll find something.”

“i know.”

at one point, y/n was fairly sure half the student population was fighting over the same six vacancies.

and june only made things worse. now everyone was home. everyone was looking, and every day seemed to blur into the next.

most evenings ended the same way. curled up on her bed, scrolling through job sites while half-watching whatever show she was currently obsessed with.

and every now and then, she’d find herself wondering if this was really all summer was going to be. because as much as she loved being home, there was a restlessness creeping in. the strange feeling that while everyone else seemed to have plans, internships or exciting summers ahead of them, she was just…waiting.

and maybe that was why, on an otherwise ordinary tuesday night, after closing out of yet another application she’d spent forty minutes filling in, she found herself lying on her bed scrolling through tiktok.

not because she wanted to procrastinate but because she was tired.

tired of answering the question “why do you want to work here?”, tired of pretending she was passionate about customer service and very tired of feeling like summer hadn’t even started yet.

she was halfway through a video of someone debunking a pop culture moment when a new video appeared on her screen.

spend your summer somewhere you’ll actually remember. 🌲☀️

y/n’s thumb hovered over the screen.

normally, she skipped advertisements without a second thought but this one didn’t look like an advertisement.

it opened with shaky footage of a lake at sunset, golden light reflecting off the water as someone standing on the dock slowly panned the camera across the canoes lined up beside the shore.

somewhere in the background, laughter echoed, followed by a voice yelling—

“don’t jump—”

someone hit the water with a loud splash.

the video cut immediately to kids running across a field covered in bright paint, a campfire surrounded by dozens of people wrapped in blankets. everything edited to one of those songs that seemed to appear on every tiktok lately.

then there were quick cuts edited perfectly to the beat of the music; friendship bracelets covering someone’s arms, campers screaming during tug-of-war, what looked like a talent show performance and two girls collapsing into laughter so hard one nearly dropped her s’more.

then came a clip of four counsellors covered head to toe in blue paint, posing proudly in front of a cabin while children ran around behind them.

one girl stood with her arm thrown around the shoulders of the girl beside her, dark curls blowing everywhere in the wind. even covered in paint and wearing an oversized camp t-shirt, she stood out immediately. beside her stood a girl with long dark hair and a bright smile, her baseball cap backwards and streaks of blue paint somehow ending up on her cheek.

the clip lasted less than a second before moving on. another shot showed crowded picnic tables filled with friendship bracelets and tangled embroidery thread.

a girl with layered dark hair sat amongst them. she looked up at whoever was filming and laughed, brushing her hair away from her face.

then another clip, a girl with neat braids and delicate gold earrings smiled softly as she leaned into frame, holding up a polaroid picture she’d just taken.

as the music softened, the video slowed to a sunset over the lake, cabins lit by string lights and then, right at the end, a clip of the same four girls sitting together on the dock.

the girl with the dark curls was saying something animatedly, talking with her hands while the others listened, the girl beside her had her head thrown back laughing the girl with the layered hair leaned comfortably against the fourth girl, who smiled softly at whatever story was being told.

the screen faded to white.

camp evergreen 🌲

applications for summer 2026 now open.

counselor positions available.

and somehow, lying amongst rejected job applications, y/n found herself scrolling back up to watch the video again.

after replaying the promotional video twice, mostly because she was procrastinating and partly because the place genuinely looked nice, y/n clicked onto the account itself.

it wasn’t huge, few thousand followers, maybe. the sort of account followed by parents, former campers and the occasional nostalgic twenty-something who missed being thirteen.

the videos were surprisingly ordinary; weekly recaps, cabin tours, poorly edited compilations of color wars and a surprisingly serious video explaining what to pack for camp.

someone had clearly put effort into the account, but not in a way that felt forced. everything was filmed on phones, a little shaky but real.

as she scrolled, one video caught her eye.

meet your senior counsellors 🌲☀️

posted only a week ago.

the thumbnail showed the same four girls from the advertisement sitting on the dock by the lake, knees pulled up against oversized green hoodies, the sun beginning to set behind them.

curious, y/n clicked.

the first girl smiled.

dark hair fell in soft waves around her face, a few strands catching the breeze coming off the lake. even beneath an oversized camp hoodie, she looked effortlessly put together. she had warm brown eyes, soft features and a bright smile that immediately made her seem approachable, the kind of person people instinctively trusted.

sophia third summer

“hi, i’m sophia.” she smiled warmly “this is my third year at camp evergreen and my favorite thing about camp is definitely how quickly everyone becomes a family.”

clips from previous summers played over her voice. campfires, movie nights colour wars.

“every year people come in nervous and then somehow, eight weeks later, nobody wants to leave.” she laughed softly “so i think that’s probably my favorite part.”

the video transitioned to the girl sitting beside her and y/n found herself pausing for a second.

dark curls cascaded almost to her waist, framing striking features and sharp cheekbones. silver hoops peeked through the mass of curls, glimmering whenever she moved. there was something undeniably glamorous about her, even sitting cross-legged in an oversized hoodie. her eyes were expressive and almost cat-like, framed by long lashes and she smiled with her whole face.

daniela second summer

“hi guys, i’m dani” she smiled brightly “this is my second summer here.”

the clips changed to talent show rehearsals, volleyball games, kids dancing and for some reason, a clip of daniela wrapped in feather boas and oversized sunglasses while carrying a box of costumes.

“my favorite thing is definitely talent show week.” her eyes lit up immediately “i love it so much.”

“everyone gets really excited and everybody’s always helping each other and—” she stopped herself, laughing “but yeah.”

“talent show week.” “best week.”

y/n smiled to herself as the next introduction began.

warm brown skin glowed softly in the golden evening light. thick dark hair framed her face, and layered necklaces rested above the collar of her hoodie. rings decorated nearly every finger, catching the sunlight whenever she moved her hands.

there was something artistic about her appearance, from the jewelry to the easy confidence with which she carried herself.

lara second summer

“hi, i’m lara.” she smiled into the camera “my favorite thing is probably campfires.”

“and friendship bracelets.” she laughed softly “which sounds random, but everyone leaves with, like, fifty.”

“and somehow you end up keeping them forever.” the camera caught her smiling toward whoever was filming before the video cut again.

finally, the last girl looked up.

neat braids framed her face beautifully, delicate gold jewelry catching the light with every movement. her golden-brown complexion seemed to glow in the sunset, highlighting soft features and high cheekbones.

there was something elegant about her that y/n couldn’t quite explain, she genuinely thought she might be one of the prettiest girls she’d ever seen.

manon third summer

“hi, i’m manon.” she smiled softly “this is my third summer.”

clips played over her voice of arts and crafts, sunsets by the lake and polaroids hanging from strings.

“my favorite thing?” she thought for a moment “honestly…”

a small smile appeared “everything.” she laughed quietly “but i think just making sure everybody has the best summer possible.”

the video ended with all four sitting shoulder to shoulder on the dock. and before the video faded to black, all four instinctively moved closer together, as if they had done it a hundred times before.

see you this summer! 🌲☀️

whilst laying amongst abandoned job applications and the laundry she’d been promising herself she’d put away for three days, y/n realised she’d watched the entire thing with a smile on her face.

and before she could talk herself out of it, she clicked the link in the account’s bio.

the website itself was surprisingly simple. nothing fancy. just photographs of cabins, smiling campers and information about the different programs. there was a page introducing the staff, another explaining traditions and, tucked away under a tab labeled employment, a section titled:

join our team.

y/n told herself she was just looking. she wasn’t seriously considering spending two months in the middle of nowhere.

still, she found herself reading.

room and board provided.

staff training included.

no previous camp experience necessary.

the more she read, the less ridiculous it seemed. in fact…it sounded kind of nice.

by the time she reached the application page, she was already halfway committed and before she could overthink, she applied.

truthfully, y/n expected absolutely nothing to come from it. she’d applied to so many places by then that pressing submit had become muscle memory.

she closed her laptop and forgot about it.

~~~~~

for the next week, life continued as normal. or at least as normal and as boring as summer unemployment allowed.

her days revolved around job sites, bad reality television and pretending not to panic every time her mother casually asked,

“anything yet?”

it was always nothing yet.

until four days later.

y/n had just come downstairs, still half asleep and wearing one of her old university hoodies, when her phone buzzed in her pocket.

she took it out, glanced down and froze.

camp evergreen

for a second she genuinely thought it was spam but she opened the email.

hello y/n!

thank you for your application to camp evergreen.

we’d love to invite you to a virtual interview with camp director missy and senior counsellor sophia.

please select your preferred time below.

y/n blinked and read it again and then once more, just to be certain.

“mom!”

~~~~~

the entire week leading up to the interview, she’d convinced herself they had made a mistake.

surely there were better candidates, people with camp experience or who knew how to tie knots or people who’d actually been camping before.

not her.

by the time friday afternoon arrived, she’d changed her outfit three times and googled “camp counselor interview questions” so many times she could practically answer them in her sleep.

at 2:58pm she clicked the meeting link.

the call connected.

the first person y/n saw was a woman who looked exactly how a camp director should.

missy, her dark hair was twisted into a bun balanced on top of her head and reading glasses hung from the collar of her camp sweatshirt. she sat in what looked like an office, papers scattered everywhere and a bulletin board behind her covered in photographs and handwritten schedules.

she wasn’t old, maybe late thirties. but there was something about her that made y/n sit up straighter immediately.

“hi, abbie!” missy smiled. “can you hear us okay?”

us?

y/n looked down and noticed the second screen.

sophia.

her hair was tied back and she wore a faded camp evergreen hoodie. she appeared to be in a cabin, at least that’s what y/n presumed from the wooden background.

sophia smiled brightly “hi!”

and immediately, y/n relaxed a little because she recognized her. the girl from the video.

and somehow, seeing a familiar face even if they’d technically never met made everything feel just a little less terrifying.

despite all the panic she’d put herself through, the interview itself wasn’t nearly as terrifying as y/n had expected.

well, missy was still slightly terrifying but not because she was mean. there was just something about the way she spoke that made y/n feel like she’d accidentally shown up to a meeting completely unprepared.

which, to be fair, wasn’t entirely untrue.

“so tell us about yourself, sweetheart,” missy said a bit too warmly.

y/n somehow managed to ramble for three whole minutes without actually saying anything meaningful.

sophia smiled sympathetically as missy nodded.

“and why camp?” she asked.

“honestly?” y/n admitted with a nervous laugh. “i think i just wanted to do something different.”

the rest of the interview went surprisingly smoothly. missy asked about university and if y/n had ever worked with children before.

Sophia wanted to know how she’d handle homesick campers and what her idea of a perfect summer looked like.

none of it felt like an interview, more like a conversation. and after fifteen minutes, y/n had almost stopped feeling nervous.

then, right in the middle of missy explaining staff training, her screen froze.

y/n blinked. missy’s face remained permanently stuck halfway through a sentence.

“…and that’s why we always make sure—”

missy’s image became stuck mid-sentence, one hand raised and her expression halfway between serious and concerned. sophia frowned slightly “missy?”

nothing, the loading symbol appeared “missy?”

and then, just like that, she disappeared entirely.

silence. y/n blinked and then sophia blinked.

and suddenly the interview had gone from two people asking questions to just…them.

neither spoke immediately and y/n became painfully aware of herself again. the fact she’d been twisting the string of her hoodie around her finger for the last ten minutes.

across the screen, sophia looked equally caught off guard. not uncomfortable exactly, just unsure of what to do now. after a few seconds she laughed softly, glancing towards the empty square where missy had been.

“sorry,” she smiled. “she’ll be back.”

y/n laughed nervously. “it’s okay.”

“no, this happens more often than you’d think.” sophia shook her head, still smiling to herself “i swear technology has a personal vendetta against her.”

that made y/n laugh and just like that, the tension eased slightly. sophia shifted in her seat, tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear. for a moment, it seemed like she was deciding whether or not to say something, then she smiled “so…”

her voice was warm, easy “are you nervous?”

y/n let out a breathy laugh “a little.” sophia nodded immediately, as though she’d expected that answer. “yeah.” she smiled reassuringly “don’t be.”

“everyone is.”

“seriously.” her eyes crinkled slightly “i don’t think i’ve ever met anybody who wasn’t.”

something about the way she said it made y/n believe her. there wasn’t any fake cheerfulness about sophia. no rehearsed “everything’s amazing” camp counselor voice. she just seemed genuinely kind.

outside sophia’s window, y/n could make out sunlight filtering through trees behind her. somewhere off-screen, a bird chirped loudly.

sophia glanced away for a second before looking back. “so…” she asked, resting her chin in her hand slightly. “how’s summer going so far?”

y/n snorted before she could stop herself. “boring. like actually painfully boring.” sophia stared and then immediately burst out laughing. “oh no.”

she covered her mouth for a second. sophia shook her head, still smiling “i’m getting déjà vu.”

“what do you mean?” y/n tilted her head a little. “the girl who interviewed before you.” sophia grinned. “her name’s megan.”

“and she said the exact same thing.”

y/n laughed. “seriously?”

“word for word.” sophia said, laughing again as she leaned back in her chair “i think everyone gets excited to finish school and then two weeks later you’re just…” she shrugged “…there.”

y/n laughed “exactly.” for a second neither spoke, not awkwardly, just comfortably. then sophia smiled again “honestly, though…”

“i think everybody ends up applying here for the same reason.” y/n looked up. “we’re all just kind of looking for something different.”

before y/n could answer, missy’s square suddenly reappeared.

“—and sunscreen is non-negotiable.”

she stopped and her eyes narrowed “why are you both smiling?”. sophia immediately looked innocent as y/n bit back a laugh.

and somehow, sitting in her messy bedroom surrounded by unfinished applications, y/n found herself relaxing. because for the first time in weeks, she wasn’t thinking about finding a job.

she was thinking about getting one.