CHAPTER 2 Five hours and fifty camp songs later we got off the bus The second my feet touched the gravel road I was buried in a sea of older girls They were singing a song that had words like pep best sisters summer and of course Camp Mon Mon Lake To make things worse they were jumping up and down and giving random hugs I am definitely not a random hugger When the singing ended one of the counselors
took me and a few of the other new girls to the Main House The owner of the camp who everyone called Aunt Alice was waiting to greet us Aunt Alice was between my mom and my grandma’s age and had this crazy curly gray hair which was peeking out from a fishing cap When we walked in she jumped out of her chair and gave us a big Camp Mon Mon Lake welcome MMM-LO MMM-LO A big MMMMM hello I didn’t understand half of what she said after that it sounded like some sort of weird bibbity-bobbity language I was never going to get used to all the singing and strange talking Next Aunt Alice went down the line of new campers and said something to each of us When she got to me she whispered I know you expected your friend to be here and this must all seem very strange to you dear But I promise in no time
you’ll be a part of all of it She gave me a big hug and then walked me over to meet my group leader who introduced herself as Rachel Richardson Rachel whom I immediately thought of as R2 with her double-R initials spoke really fast in a singsong voice Basically in one breath she said I went here you know for nine years I started way younger than you And now I’m back Do you like theater by the way I wanna be a set designer Oh and I’m a junior in college And I love Harry Potter Now you Tell me everything I need to know about you Madeline You can call me MJ I said And I’ve never described myself as quickly as you just did She laughed Maybe I could be the funny kid Hit the highlights then R2 said I’m a baseball fanatic Love dogs I have an
older brother and a younger sister I felt my throat close a little when I mentioned Eli and Isabelle Crud I definitely did not want to be the kid who cried Especially on the first day Totally babyish R2 must have sensed the sniffling because she started blah-blah-blahing about camp even faster as she led me to my bunk To keep the waterworks away I tried to focus on what she was saying What I heard was Bunk 12a Four other girls Two counselors By the time we had finished walking down the hill to my bunk I felt a little less like I had to cry Here it is your Blue Jay home for the summer R2 threw her arms open in a big gesture When R2 opened the door to the bunk holiday bells tinkled Oh those are there because your bunk has a sleepwalker R2 said As soon as that
