I was about to put in my earbuds and try to zone out to Stained Glass Collision’s new album when an older-looking girl plopped herself down next to me Hi there I’m Bick You’re new right Are you in the Blue Jays I made a snap decision and said I’m MJ I wasn’t sure where the name came from No one has ever called me MJ But if I was going to keep up with someone named Bick to start somewhere And MJ sounded way cooler than Madeline Jenkins I had
How old are you Bick asked Twelve I answered You Turning fourteen next week she said I’m a Songbird this year I nodded trying to remember the different names for each age group You got on the bus in New York City right Are you from there or did you come in from Long Island or New Jersey Bick asked From the burbs I said You N-Y-C she said exaggerating her accent I’ve been going to Mon Mon for three years Mon Mon I asked Yeah our camp Camp Mon Mon Lake Bick laughed Don’t worry newbie we’ll show you the ropes You know about first night snake line and
the Condors senior theme right I shook my head All I know is there’s a lake I said But I can’t wait to see it all Fake enthusiasm Maybe that’s the way to deal with all of these super-über camper types You’ll love it She began listing activities The camp shows the singing color war the hiking trip so much fun stuff Plus you might get a camp sister Like someone older who’ll show me around and help me adjust No silly you’d be the older sister I swallowed hard How could I be a camp sister when I was so new Great I said faking it again Only 48 and a half days left
