Mr. Fuzzy

this ish a long one! settle down with something to eat!

***

The Next Day

 

I usually had to wake up at six o’clock for polar bear “morning” swim, but since it was every other day, I was allowed to sleep in for an hour. I woke up snuggled in my Indian blanket and holding Mr. Fuzzy, my zebra pillow. If this was a few days ago, I would have woken up Addie, then Grace, then Courtney, and we would have decided how we would spend the day together, but Addie seemed to always be in a huffy mood, Grace was too lighthearted to care about her friends, and I was mad at Courtney for being a grouch. I decided to get ready alone and meet up with them at breakfast.

I took a quick, hot shower and trudged to the lodge in my pajamas, where I found Addie and Grace at a table together, just as I suspected I would. I sat next to Addie and across from Grace, and we plastered on fake smiles, talking about subjects that would not lead to outrage or arguments. To summarize it, we talked about the weather. Courtney sat with us later, and we got on the subject of what we were going to do with the rest of the day.

Grace ate her Cinnamon Toast Crunch quietly, and when a lull came in the conversation, she asked, “So, we don’t have charges today. What are we going to do?”

We were silent for a while, wondering what we were going to do. Tensions were high between all of us, but we didn’t want to be alone. Addie started with the basics, “well, Ella and I have lanyard-making, and I also have beach time,”-beach time was a club for laying out on the beach, making sand castles, wading in the shallow end, tanning, reading a book, or even taking a quick nap in the sun. Addie told us it was her stress-reliever.-“we have arts and crafts and nature class, and for the rest of the time it’s free time.”

“What do you usually do in free time?” I asked, feeling ignorant.

Grace shrugged and put her wavy hair in a low ponytail, “CITs can go swimming, as long as they have a group of three to ten. We can help with kitchen duty, we can get a snack from the cafeteria, usually the arts and crafts shack is open, or we could talk in the pumpkin”-I gave her a confused look-“it’s an old cabin, big enough for about ten girls. Usually, CITs get creative, and plead counselors to let them go kayaking, hiking on old trails, taking out some of the camp bikes, etc.”

“We can just hang out in our cabins, too,” Courtney shrugged, and I had a feeling that she was feeling a little depressed. I felt a pang of sympathy, and my stuck-up attitude faded.

“Let’s stick together,” I asked meekly. The girls gave me confused looks and I decided to address the elephant in the room, “We haven’t been close, lately. We haven’t been playing cards for two nights in a row, and I liked our time together. Let’s stick together the best we can, because we’re really good friends when we’re not having feuds,” -Grace and Addie smiled,-“Ok?”

“Of course,” Grace smiled happily.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Addie nodded vigorously.

“Mm,” Courtney was still in a grouchy mood, but I could see a small smile on her face.

So, we stuck together, not including when we had separate activities. We used our free time to swim, tie-dye shirts, do a small bike ride, and joined cabin 1 for s’mores. We joined the hiking club for a night hike (well, Addie joined, Grace, Courtney, and I were already members), and played cards until eleven. It was a satisfying day, and I felt that I had my friends back again.

 

***

The Next Day

Courtney and I were walking to cabin site 1 together. She was in a much better mood, and we were excited for the day. Courtney was still bummed about being with Bubbly, but that was normal. She was talking about being more active with the kids and maybe even being their friends. We got to the campsite to see 1b running around, probably playing tag.

“Oh my gosh!” Courtney mumbled, “Where is Bubbly? Where is Bloop?” she asked me, as if I might know.

“I don’t really know…1a is at breakfast, it looks like, so how about I help you bring 1b?” I offered.

“That would help,” she nodded, “thanks.”

We brought the girls to breakfast and sat them at their table. I told Nara that we had no clue where Bubbly or Bloop was, and she said she would get right on it, as she usually had to. I sat next to Striker and we entertained the girls happily. We went through swimming and crafts, and then went to lunch, where Nara appeared and told me she couldn’t find Bubbly, though Bloop had just overslept. She told me that I should sit with 1b and make sure the girls didn’t go berserk and start throwing things. I slipped next to Courtney, who looked nervous.

“So, did Bubbly say anything before she bolted?” I asked.

“Last night she said that she really wanted to see her BFF again, but I wasn’t paying too much attention,” Courtney turned to me, “Do you think she really left?”

I shrugged.

“I don’t know whether to cheer or punch someone…”

I laughed, “I’m sure she’ll turn up sometime.”

“Well, this really isn’t fair to anyone!”

“What are we going to do? We’re only CITs!”

“I know, but we must be able to do something…” One of the girls put her hand in her Lucky Charms, and Courtney quickly intervened.

“Do you remember the story of Patrick?” Courtney asked me, while she wiped off the little girl’s hand.

“Uh, no,”

“Well, a CIT named Patrick once told Aster that a counselor named Boo, she’s retired now, didn’t know her schedule at all, and was endangering the children.”

“Was she?”

Courtney shrugged, “Aster asked Boo, she said that it was only one time, and all was forgiven.”

“So they will side with the counselor before the CIT?”

“Yep,”

“We could get Nara to tell, she knows exactly what’s going on.”

“Bubbly’s dad is co-owner of the camp. Do you really think Aster will be quick to fire Bubbly? Nara would get off with a warning and be really mad at us for encouraging her to go tell.”

“I suppose,” I sighed, “what do we do?”

“Nothing,” Courtney shrugged, “absolutely nothing.”

 

***

 

The day went by quickly, and soon it was six. Saturdays were days where the girls made their own food, though bunnies usually had insta-something.

I was helping Mackenzie open a Beef Stroganoff packet, to put in the stew, when Striker came by me. “I’m going to a meeting, tell Nara, will you?” Meeting meant breaks, but we weren’t supposed to tell the girls that.

“Yeah, I’ll make sure,” I nodded, and went back to Mackenzie.

By the time I was helped Belinda stir the weird, stew-like mixture, Nara had come back from the office, where she had tried calling Bubbly’s cell-phone. Bubbly had apparently turned it off, which was a first for her.

“I’m going to a meeting,” Nara told me, and started to go, but I called her back.

“Wait! Striker is already at a meeting!”

“Oh, then I suppose I should stay,” she nodded, “but this is an actual meeting! Not a,”-she looked around and leaned in close-“you-know-what.”

“I don’t really know, then…”

“I’ll just have to stay,” Nara shrugged like it was no big deal, but her footsteps were louder than usual as she put down her pack.

When we had everything on plates and had said our prayer, Nara got a call on her walkie.

“Aster to Nara, Aster to Nara!” It called.

Nara sighed, put down her fork and answered, “Nara to Aster,”

“Switch to channel two,”

“On channel two,”

“Where are you?” Aster asked it gently, like she was actually concerned.

“I’m the only counselor on site. Striker went to a…”-she lowered her voice to a whisper-“break, Bloop is filling in for a lifeguard, and Bubbly is nowhere to be found!”

I heard Aster sigh in distress, “I found Bubbly a few minutes ago. She said she was coming. She might have gotten lost, again.”

“It’s very likely,” Nara agreed. Suddenly, a short, blonde figure came into sight, “Wait, I see her…ok, and I’m on my way!” Nara grabbed her small pack, told me to keep a close eye on the kids, and I saw her talk to Bubbly for a minute before racing off to the lodge.

Courtney came back from crafts with the 1b bunnies. They were ten minutes late, but I was just glad they were there.

“Courtney, where were you?” I asked, as the girls sat around the picnic tables with 1b.

“Bubbly told me to wait at the registration building after crafts, but nothing happened.”

“Weird,” I commented, “but this was instant beef stroganoff, so we had to use the whole packet. There’s enough for your cabin.”

Courtney smiled, her eyes saying a silent thank you. “Alright girls, go to your cabins and get your mess kits! We’re having dinner!”

I was about to eat a well deserved meal, when I heard Bubbly finally come.

“Hey, kids, what about a group picture?” she said, waving her ever present cell-phone.

“Me! Oh, me!” they started to scream.

I ran up to Bubbly, “actually, Bubbly, I just got them settled down, and we were going to eat. Maybe after dinner we could take a picture…”

“No,” Bubbly said, rolling my eyes, like it would never be considered an option ever, “ok, all around, preferable the cuter girls in front!”

All of the girls clamored around for a good spot, then waited as Bubbly moved them around, then waited as she spend a few minutes fixing herself up with makeup. She came from her cabin in a short mini-skirt, a pink tank top, hoop earrings, strappy sandals, and her face so slathered in makeup I barely recognized her.

“Ok, girls. Belinda, you belong in the back until you lose that baby fat. Allison, come in the front, those eyes are calling for attention.” Allison perked up while Belinda’s eyes sparkled with tears.

            “Bubbly!” Courtney shouted, “that’s really not appropriate!”

            “Gosh, be quiet,” Bubbly scoffed, and ran in the middle of the shot smiling a pageant smile, and pulling down her v-neck shirt to show off her assets.

            “Push the camera button,” she called, spreading her long, tanned legs, and holding Allison while pretending to kiss her on the cheek, “and make sure you get my light!”

            Courtney pushed obediently, and Bubbly grabbed the phone. “You could have done better,” she shrugged. Courtney instructed the girls and led them to sit down to their now cold dinner. I saw Bubbly send the picture in an email:

 

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: See!

            IDK y u thk im nt a good counselor. Im awesome. C, the grls <3 me to death. The CITs are total bombs though. Courtney=no fasion sense.  Other one, total smart aleck. She though I couldn’t use my walkie! I mean, really? I still can’t find mine, btw, and Im confuzed abot all of the butons…Srry I wznt here 2day, I really needed to see my boyfriend Jason. We r getting married! OMGOMGOMGOMG! We r so in <3!!!  I might brek it off. Wat do u thnk?

<3 Bubbly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

            Since I was never a “textaholic” it took me a while to find out what she was writing. I don’t know why you think I’m not a good counselor. I’m awesome. See, the girls love me to death. The CITs are total bombs, Courtney has no fashion sense and the other one is a total smart aleck.-other one? Did she really not know my name?-She thought I couldn’t use my walkie-talkie. I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t find it, by the way, and I’m confused about all of the buttons. Sorry I wasn’t here today, but I really needed to see my boyfriend, Jason. We are getting married!-I had no idea what all of the OMGs were, or if that was just one word- we are so in love, though I might dump him. What do you think? Bubbly saw me eying her and she gave me a death stare. I turned away and helped Courtney with the girls. I wasn’t really a smart aleck, was I? I pushed the thought out of my head and kept on encouraging the girls to eat their cold, soggy dinner.

            We were going to take the girls to arts and crafts when Bubbly ditched us. As we were finishing clean-up and I was calling for Striker (Bubbly had left her walkie in the supplies cabinet, apparently) on the walkie, when Bubbly gasp, her mint gum falling out of her mouth.

            “That b***h!” She called, staring at her phone, appalled.

            “Bubbly!” Courtney shouted.

            “What’s a b***h?” I heard one of the girls ask Courtney.

            “Honey, she said witch. Bubbly is a little mad right now.”

            “Leah,” Belinda caught her attention.

            “Yes?” Leah responded meekly.

            “You’re a b***h for drawing on my princess coloring book. You had a toy story one, and you still drew on mine!”

            “You don’t even like Jasmine!!”

            “I was still going to draw her! Jessica wanted me to color it for her!”

            “Hey!” I called, grabbing their tiny little shoulders, after Striker told me that she was in a real meeting that was vital to her junior counselor training, “no one is a witch.” I said, still pretending that Bubbly had simply misspoken, “sharing is caring, and I’m sure there are other pictures of Jasmine. We’ll talk about this later, ok?”

            The girls nodded, still a little grumpy. “Courtney, I have to call Nara. Maybe her meeting is already over,” I told Courtney, who was trying to calm the restless girls as they waited for Bubbly, who was texting on her phone a mile a minute.

            “Sorry girlies, but I have to dash. My ex-boyfriend is apparently in love with my ex-best friend, so I have to win one of them back. No one bonds because they both dislike me!”

            “Bubbly, you need to stay on camp.”

            “Go back to whatever hick town you came from and stop being my mom. I’ll be back tomorrow. Don’t let Aster know or else I’ll have to call Daddy.” She showed us her phone, which had her dad’s phone number in it, obviously.

            “‘Kay, bye babies!” she smiled, waving at the confused bunnies, “Buby is going to be back tomorrow, be good!” Buby was what she called herself to the girls, as if they couldn’t pronounce Bubbly. She gave us the hairy eyeball, grabbed an American Eagle tote bag and sped-walked away.

            “Nara’s still in the meeting. We’re screwed,” I moaned a few minutes later.

            “Let’s go,” Courtney shrugged, and told the girls to get with pairs, “we have arts and crafts and you have sports, right?”

            “Yep,” I shook my head, “we can drop off your girls at crafts and I can go to the sports field alone,”-I was secretly scared, since the sports field required crossing the road, and it would be my responsibility if, you know, someone died-“I’ll be fine. It’s fine.” I shook my head vigorously, but Courtney insisted that she could drop off the girls, pretend that Bubbly was coming, and come with me to the sports field, then go to arts and crafts again.

            “The girls have been alone at arts and crafts,” Courtney assured me, “and you need at least two counselors with each group when crossing the road. We’re only two CITs, but we’ll probably be fine.” I sensed Courtney’s nervousness in her tone.

            “Thanks so much, Courtney,” I said, giving her a quick hug.

            The plan was working out well. Courtney had brought the girls to arts and crafts and was talking to the counselor, saying that Bubbly said she would be back soon. She came with me to bring the girls to sports when disaster struck.

            “Thanks again, Rumble,” I said, since the girls were around.

            “Oh, it’s fine. When do you think Nara will be back?” she asked.

            “She said that after sports she would meet up with us at the cabins.”

            “And Striker?”

            “She didn’t give a time, but I’m assuming an hour.”

            “Ok. Oh, did you hear? Grace is-” Courtney began, but her sentence was interrupted by a tug on the sleeve from one of the girls.

            “What’s up, Leah?” I asked the small girl.

            “Belinda fell!” She looked heartbroken at the fate of her sister.

            “Oh my gosh!” I said, and followed Leah to the place she had fallen.

            Belinda was face down on the rough gravel, and it freaked me out. We were barely past the Lodge, where Striker was, and I hoped she would see and help me out. She didn’t.

            “Belinda?” I said cautiously. The girl was breathing, at least, “Can you hear me?”

            Belinda turned her face. It was nothing bad, thank God, just a scrap on the arm and a bruise was starting to form on her cheek. The scrap wasn’t deep, but very long, letting out ruby drops of blood. Belinda’s eyes filled with tears.

            “I hate camp! I hate it here!” she bawled, curling into the fetal position.

            “Shh!” I tried to calm her, but her screams only got louder.

            “It hurts!” she yelled at me, and before I could stop it, the majority of the girls were in tears. Courtney told me later that Mackenzie had dared her to a race and felt responsible, though Jennifer was the one who had told Mackenzie she was the slowest in the group and felt even more responsible. The other girls felt bad they hadn’t stopped it and were scared by Belinda’s screams.

            I looked at Courtney for guidance. “What do we do?” I asked, petting Belinda as she sobbed, and holding Jennifer, “It is ok. It’s not your fault. Things like this happen and Belinda will be fine,” I cooed to Jennifer.

            “I don’t know. Let’s just keep on going!” Courtney was scared the juniors would hear the girls and we would get in trouble.

            “No,” I shook my head, “I think we should call someone. Hand me the walkie.” We had stolen Bubbly’s walkie and were using it in case something like this happened.

            “What? We’ll get in trouble! They might kick us out!”

            I shuddered at the thought of staying with Grandma Loring for the rest of summer, but Belinda’s face was becoming red, and Mackenzie was almost choking from crying so hard, “Courtney, we have to tell someone,” I insisted.

            “No!”

            “Yes!”

            “No!”

            “Yes!”

            “No!”

            “Rumble,” I asked, holding Jennifer closer, “do you want to spend you summer getting pushed around by Bubbly? Don’t you want to enjoy your last summer as a camper?”

            “Yes…” Courtney said tentatively.

            “Then we need to call. Give me the walkie,” I told her, and slowly Courtney handed me the walkie talkie.

            “1b to Nara! 1b to Nara!” I called.

            “This is Nara,” the walkie responded after a few moments of silence. It felt good to hear Nara, even if she was disorientated by the walkie.

            “Switch to channel three!”

            “On channel three,”

            “Um…hello. This is Wiggy, and the group and I are in a bit of a jam.” I told her about Bubbly’s disappearance and the crying fest that was going on. Nara didn’t interrupt during the whole explanation, and told me that the meeting was just ending anyways and that she would call a counselor to come and help us until Nara came. I thanked her repeatedly and waited.

            “See!” I smiled, “we did the right thing!” Although I smiled on the outside, my insides were all knotted up, scared that I would be reprimanded.

 

***

The Next Day

            I sat in the registration building, which was usually a welcomed surprise, considering it was one of the few buildings with air-conditioning at camp. Today, though, was different. I was supposed to tell what had happened the day before, when there weren’t any counselors with us. We were in Aster’s office. It was small and quaint, with one window open, letting in a nice breeze.

            “You shouldn’t have told,” Courtney mumbled, sitting in the plastic chair next to me.

            “It was the right thing!” I hissed, playing with my bracelets nervously.         

            “I swear, if we get kicked out of camp, I will-” Courtney never got to finish the sentence, because the door to the office opened. In came Aster, in shorts and a green shirt, her hair in a ponytail and her large glasses on.

            “Girls,” she said, looking us in the eyes, “I have a sheet of questions that I need to ask both of you. Ok?”

            “Yes,” Courtney and I said, trying to make good impressions.

            “Is it all right if, um, someone else joins us?” Aster asked nervously.

            I wanted to know who was joining us, but it seemed rude to ask. “No, of course not,” I nodded.

            “Ok. Come on in Bob! You too, Essie!” Aster called to the door. An overweight man came in. He had shorts and a gray shirt on. His pot belly was pleasantly plump, not protruding like a pregnant woman.

            “My name is Bob Salisbury. This is my daughter Essie,” he greeted us, shaking our hands firmly and motioning to the other side of the door, where Bubbly came out.

            “Heyyy, guys,” she drawled dully.

            “So, can you tell us what happened?” The man asked, pulling up a chair. Bubbly pulled out her cell-phone and began texting.

            “Bob, we have special questions to ask!” Aster hissed, but she didn’t sound that mad.

            “Ok, I’m sorry,” he said, leaning back in the chair.

            “Question 1. What happened right before Esserath-” Aster started, but was cut off by Bubbly.

            “Essie! My name is Essie! Esserath is just my full name! No one calls me that!” Essie squealed like a two-year old.

            “I’m sorry, It’s basic protocol to use the full name in questions like these.” Aster said through gritted teeth.

            “Whatevers!” Essie rolled her eyes and went back to texting.

            “What happened right before Esserath, also known as Essie, left camp?” Aster asked us.

            I looked at Courtney and decided that I would start us off. “Well, she took a group picture of the girls,”

            “right after we made dinner,” Courtney added.

            “and texted someone with the picture,” I wasn’t going to say that I knew she had emailed it to Aster because it would seem like I was a stalker. “Then she continued texting and exclaimed that what she was reading was not satisfactory,”

            “What do you mean by that?” Aster asked.

            “She called the person a ‘b***h’” Courtney helped.

            “Oh, I see.”-she wrote something down on her sheet-“Continue,”

            “she told us she was going to go win back we ex-boyfriend,” Courtney took over the conversation, “and told us not to tell or else she would call her Dad.”

            “Which she seems to have done,” I added.

            “I understand. Why didn’t you contact Nara, Striker, or Bloop?” Aster asked us. Essie was still on her phone and Bob didn’t seem to have any questions, though he was listening intently.

            “Nara was at an important meeting. Striker was doing something vital to being a counselor, some kind of exam, I think, and Bloop was filling in for a lifeguard.” I responded.

            Aster marked some more things in her notes, “What did you do when you realized that there was no counselor?”

            The next thirty minutes were long. Aster asked us question after question, Essie’s phone beeping in the background, and Mr. Salisbury’s chair groaning beneath his weight. After all of the questions, Salisbury thanked us for our time and we were dismissed to go to lunch. After lunch was club time and I was scheduled to go to kayaking. Grace was in the same club, so I was happy I was going to spend time with her. I was going to help Nara and Striker distribute the girls to their correct clubs, but went I saw Nara, I saw that there was a new counselor with them.

            “Hi,” said the counselor, a short woman in cargo pants and a wide strapped tank top. She had long black hair, held back in a ponytail. “My name is Mole, and I’m going to be a new counselor!”

            I was confused. Why were we getting a new counselor now? What was going on?

            “Obviously, we need one to replace Bubbly, and there’s a new junior counselor to replace Bloop, since she’s more interested in being a lifeguard, and I’m going to be helping out Nara until this thing gets settled. I sent in a résumé at the beginning of the summer, and was going to be helping out next session,”-there was the June-July session and the July-August session-“but they requested me to help with 1b after…after what happened.” She gave me a smile, and I decided that I liked her.

            “Ok, that’s nice. Do you need me to take any girls to clubs?” I tried to make a good first impression.

            “Yes!” Mole gave me some of the girls and a small list of who went where. 

Author's Note

i hope you're enjoying this. I did like making it.