girls just wanna have fun

“But hey, no one’s going to judge,” Ailey said seriously. “There is no judging on my watch, just fun.” She took her fun very seriously and she wondered how much of an oxymoron that was. “It’s so nice to see people like you that are so upbeat here.”

“Good!  That’s definitely a good motto.  Especially around kids, who can be kind of mean to each other.  Although, for as energetic as our kids are, I haven’t seen anyone bully anyone else.  So that’s definitely good.”  Devie nodded, bouncing a little bit.  “Well, you kind of have to be, right?  Can you imagine being grumpy all the time, and trying to work with kids?  Golly that wouldn’t end very well.”

“It is, but aren’t life jackets usually saved for the deeper water?” Tyler teased. “But yeah, I am a pretty awesome one too. The Tylinator fears nothing and no one!” He put his hands on his hips to strike a pose for a moment before dropping it with a laugh. “Anywho… What about you? Big, fancy persona on your end?”

“Well - I guess that depends on how good of a swimmer you are, you know?  You can drown in like, this much water you know.”  Holding her hand up, to show Tyler how much this much was, she sighed.  “The Tylinator?  That’s incredible”, Devs laughed at the pose, nodding.  “Very superhero like!  Do you have a sidekick?  But yeah, I’m the Glitter Fairy!  No one can be sad or glitterless while I’m around.  OH!  I thought about carrying glitter around and showering people with it, but then I thought that might not be very safe.  Or environmentally friendly.  They need to make biodegradable glitter.”

Devie made a face, “Well - okay, I was the only one looking for you”, she admitted.  They had been assigned to the same cabin, and hey, she hadn’t seen him since he left for bus duty, and she wanted to make sure that he hadn’t, you know, crashed or anything.  God forbid.  With a giggle, she furrowed her eyebrows together, “Is that even a teensy bit comfortable?”

Devie gasped, horrified, and looked around. “I would never say that you look ...” she lowered her voice and leaned forward, “stupid!  What a horrible thing to say to somebody!  I think you look really great.  Everyone does!  It’s so cool to see the kids get so excited about everything.”

Jazlynn wasn’t a sunshiney person, but it was hard to not feel at least a few rays of sunshine when she was around the other girl. Still, Jaz scrunched her nose at the Disney suggestions because nope. “You can have Ariel all to yourself, sweetheart. I’m not quite the Disney Princess type. But red would look good on you.” Jaz swam closer to the dock, smile spreading across her face again. “I promise, I promise. No hypothermia for this kid.” Jaz giggled treading water for a moment before pulling herself up onto the dock. “Oh, totally. We could turn it into a thing for them. Make sea shell necklaces or crowns or whatever. They’d go nuts for it.” She smiled, grabbing her towel and drying off. “We need to do it. If we don’t I’ll be seriously ticked because this is gold.”

“Really?  I think you’d make a good Megara.  Or Mulan, maybe!  Okay, they aren’t Princesses, I guess.  I think that the better wording for it would be Disney Heroines.”  Still, she loved Ariel so she wasn’t going to complain.  “Thanks!”  Devie giggled, scooting over so that Jaz would have room to pull herself up.  “That’s actually a really cool idea, though.  I think half of the kids at camp would love to become mermaids!  Or mermen, I don’t want to discriminate.  I wonder how many of them have seen Disney movies.  They’re still a thing, right?  Even though they were a thing when we were growing up, kids still like Disney, right?  I’m going to have to take a poll or something.  It would be a disaster if kids didn’t know about Disney.”  Laughing again, she pulled her feet from the water and crossed them yoga style.  “I miss sharing a cabin with you, by the way!  I mean, don’t get me wrong, my new cabinmates are great, and the kids are wonderful too, but you were a good cabinmate.”

“If you’ve got drowning concerns, just make sure you let them actually get in the water. No Spongebob repeats around here, got it?” He laughed. “In all seriousness, I think a whistle would be fine for it if you need to get there attention but not completely necessary.”

Devie chuckled, shaking her head.  “Yeah, yeah, I will, don’t worry.  I wouldn’t want anyone to miss out because I’m a little nervous.  Maybe I should just make them all wear life jackets.  It’s difficult to drown with a life jacket, right?  That’s a good point.  I can just use my voice, I think that’s good enough.”  She deserved a really big chocolate bar if she got through the next two weeks without a kid drowning, though.  “Hey, have you come up with your Superhero persona yet?”

“We were the best at nature walks!” Sal sat up and brought his knees to his chest while happy memories entered his memory. “We most definitely are! We’re going to be the best cabin, I think.” Sal mind flooded with ideas for the cabin: dance parties, a secret cabin handshake; the possibilities were endless. “Oh I’m jealous! I’m stuck on Night’s Watch so, I’ll mainly be resting during the day when I’m not eating, but I think I’ll be able to handle it.” He smiled and then he remembered what this week’s task was. “Oh shit!” He brought his hand to his mouth and quickly checked all around him to make sure no campers were nearby to hear a “bad word” from their counselor. “I totally haven’t even begun to think about the task! I need to come up with a persona and everything!”

“We were!”  Devie nodded excitedly.  “And we definitely are going to be the best cabin, I can already sense it.”  Not that it was a contest, or anything, but she could tell that they had a good cabin.  “Oh hey, that’s not too bad!  I mean, at least you get to relax for the most part during the day.  And it’s only for two weeks.”  Cringing, she looked around, but thankfully no kids were in sight, they must have all been off doing their morning activities.  It was a good thing she didn’t cuss freely, because everyone else she kept talking to seemed to not be able to put a cap on it.  “Oh hey, I haven’t either, we should brainstorm!  I don’t actually know much about superheros or anything, so I’m not really sure what kind of a superhero I should be.  Like, a good one, obviously, but beyond that I’m kind of stumped.”

“I’m on sports, so I get to kick around a few balls this week. Still looking for a whistle. Supposedly there’s one in with the equipment, but I can’t actually find it. It’s a shame really.”

“Yeah?  You should definitely try to find one, I think that’d make it all super official.  I’m a Lifeguard this week, maybe I should try to find a whistle, too.  Actually - on second thought, that’s probably not a good idea.  I wouldn’t want to scare anyone when they’re in the water or anything.  My worst fear is that someone is going to drown.”

“Naw, I’m sure that your Zumba skills are going to be much better than mine.”  She laughed, and okay, she loved to dance, she danced all the time, but she definitely wasn’t the best at it.  She could totally admit it, that was okay.  “It’s lovely to meet you, Ailey!”

“Yeah, the Deerling brothers have left their mark,” he commented, grinning. “I’ve got two older brothers… If you look at one of the beds in the Greg Cabin we all scratched our name into it. Daniel, Oliver, and Connor.” They’d all made a pact to sign their names on the last day of their last summer as campers. Connor couldn’t imagine why a parent wouldn’t want their kids to experience summer camp. His parents couldn’t wait until summer so that he and his brothers could leave. “Why didn’t they want you to leave? Oh no, theres no way I could get used to it. If I could live here I would, as crazy as that sounds.”

“Really?!  Wow, that’s so cool!  I’ll have to look for it next time I’m in the Greg Cabin.”  She paused, “Wait, this is your last summer here?  Well, you definitely have to make the most of it!  I almost wish one of my older brothers had come here, then maybe my parents wouldn’t have been so hesitant to let me come, too.  But I think they feel better now that I’m actually here.”  She shrugged a little, “Well - I’ve just never been away from home before, so I think they were a little bit hesitant because it’s so far away from home, you know?”  At least, that was the only reason that she could think of.  Devie giggled, “It’s okay, I’d probably live here too if I had that option.  It’s seriously so gorgeous.  It’ll be nice to have the lake when it starts to get hotter, too.”

Breathing a small sigh of relief, the hesitant smile now grew into a more genuine one, letting go of the crumpled candy wrapper to fall on the table. “N-no, it’s okay, I insist,” Olivia laughed softly, pulling the small bag underneath her chair that held an impressive amount of candy of all assortments. “I– I guess I went a little overboard, I just had to prepare myself for coming out here alone, you never know what to expect. Probably bug spray or lipbalm would have been more useful but um, bug spray-schmug spray, chocolate always fixes all problems, right? Here, take your pick,” She held out the bag towards the girl with a warm smile, before faltering slightly, “Wait– Devie?” One of the other counselors had told Olivia about Devie’s high energy, and she finally understood what he meant, but the recognition in her eyes quickly faded, returning back to the smile, “Oh, I’ve just heard your name before, I’m Olivia.. a-and yes, I’m new here, first few days on the job. I’m with the eight year olds so I totally know what you mean. I thought I was good with kids but– wow, so many of them with such high energy, I’m just telling myself the chocolate won’t go to my thighs since it’s needed to keep up.”

Devie nodded, “It’s okay, I definitely understand!  I brought three teddy bears, just because hey, you never know what it’s going to be like, and they remind me of home.  I’ve never been away from home for an extended amount of time before so you know, I didn’t want to chance it.”  She laughed, “Totally!  And I’d say there’s always enough bug-spray to go around.  If you ever need it, I think Lauryn always carries some with her, and she’s really good about sharing it.”  Her eyes lit up as the bag was held out to her, and okay maybe she didn’t eat sugar so often, but maybe this was the time to start.  “Well - okay, I definitely can’t refuse an offer as nice as that.”  Reaching into the bag, she pulled out a KitKat, and unwrapped it, snapping it in half so she could offer out the other half to Olivia.  Smacking her free hand over her heart, she let out a laugh, “Oh jeepers, I thought you were going to say someone told you I was horrible or something.”  She was smiling, but that was genuinely her worst fear.  “But it’s lovely to meet you, Olivia!  Welcome to camp!  Yeah, don’t worry, I think we’re going to get so much exercise that it won’t really matter.  Besides, chocolate has milk in it, so it has to be kind of good for you, right?”  Laughing, she took a bite into her piece of the KitKat.

“Right?” She’d felt utterly clueless working in theater the first week of camp, but the chips finally seemed to be falling in place - at least until she wound up elsewhere. “That should be fun, though - lifeguard, I mean. I doubt any of the kids are gonna die, and you can spend the week getting tan. Not a bad gig.” Nodding in thanks, she continued to pick up the pile, grateful for the help. Jessa winced as she saw Devie lose her armful, and she turned her head in concern. “You alright?” the blonde asked, chewing on her lip, “I can finish up here if you want,” and she tried not to laugh.

“Yeah, that’s a good way to look at it, spending as much time outdoors as I can.”  Devie chuckled, “I’m really hoping I get Arts and Crafts next, though.  That’s kind of the one that I’m the most excited about.  Oh but I also wish we didn’t have to switch because then you could stay on Sports forever.”  Shaking her head, the brunette started to pick up the dodgeballs one by one to place them back where they belonged.  “Yeah!  Yeah, I’m alright”, her cheeks turned slightly pink, as she hadn’t realized Jessa had seen, “Naw, I don’t mind helping, honestly.  Hey - speaking of, did your shower stay frog free?”

Connor laughed, “I know right. I don’t need any 9 year olds going around screaming the F-Word.” Surprisingly, he’d managed to avoid that situation nearly every year. Except for 2009… that was a doozy of a year. “Yeah, I started the first year I could. It’a kind of a family tradition, I guess. My dad worked here the first year it opened, then when we were all old enough, he sent me and my brothers here too,” he explained, “This is your first year here I take it?”

“No, definitely not.  Especially when they all parrot everything we say anyway - cuss words or not.”  Devie agreed, nodding her head lightly.  “Seriously?”  She squeaked, “That’s so cool!  So you’re kind of like a legacy here, then.  I was a little nervous when I first started, but I kept telling myself that if people kept coming back, it must be good.  How many brothers do you have?”  She laughed, “Yeah, that obvious, huh?  My parents didn’t want me to like - leave and come here, but I’m really glad that I did, now that I’m here.  Do you ever get over how beautiful it is or are you still stunned by it every time you step outside?”

Percy made sure to log that away for future reference. With how annoyingly excited Devie was, she’d make a great indentured servant or whatever he’d refer to her as in his mind. It was definitely worth it, or so he thought until she grabbed him and lead him away, listing all the places they’d need to look. “Whoa whoa whoa, why don’t we start in her cabin? That’s probably where it most likely is.”

Devie paused, pursing her lips thoughtfully.  That actually was probably a good idea, and she immediately smiled, nodding as she turned to march in the opposite direction.  “I’m pretty sure Nancy is in the Bobby cabin.  Although”, she paused, doubt about the plan starting to set in, “How are we supposed to know which one is her room?  Besides, we can’t just go snooping through people’s stuff when they’re not there!”