T emi inhaled the fresh mountain air as she stepped off the bus. She grinned at the acres of smooth grass stretching out before her. Wow… If nothing else Camp Shoshana sure is a beautiful place she thought.

“Excuse me!” A girl pushed her way through her knapsack getting caught somewhere between Temi and the bus door. Yikes! Temi quickly moved aside suddenly aware she’d been blocking traffic. And Temi thought she sure was brave for coming to a new camp without knowing anyone at all.

It was the latest trend in her class: Go to a new camp make new friends. The idea was to go all alone so the chances for new friends were greater. That was very nice and dandy for most of her classmates Temi thought as she headed in the direction of her designated bunkhouse. But for her well she didn’t have it all that easy making new friends. Being more of an introvert she was way more selective about choosing her friends. She didn’t just prance over to some crowd of chitchatters and say “Hey I’m Temi! Isn’t the head counselor’s hair atrocious?” and win herself a new circle of friends. No friendship was something she took seriously something she valued rather than treated like a sale item and this would be a tough ordeal. But still maybe there were some kindred spirits lurking within the campgrounds.

“I hope they won’t make us have an O.D. this year ” Temi heard an old-timer in front of her say to her group of friends.

“Nah ” a curly haired girl replied. “Last year the tenth graders didn’t have an O.D.”

“Well you never know what will be this year ” a different girl interjected seriously. “You know” — her voice dropped solemnly — “with a new camp director and all.”

Temi scrunched up her brow. This was the fifth time she’d heard somebody mention the new camp director and each time it was mentioned everybody sounded so somber. Who ever heard of campers adoring a camp director so? What was with all this gloom about her being replaced?

Temi stopped as she arrived at her bunkhouse.

“Hi are you also in Bunk 9?” a girl from the group asked Temi.

Temi spun around. “Oh hi. Um yeah — well at least that’s what the paper says.” She looked at the six girls facing her. “How many girls are we in a room?” she asked.

“Eight ” the curly haired girl replied her eyes running a quick X-ray through Temi.

Ah-ha so they paired together two newbies with an old clique of friends. How clever.

Well either they accepted her or she was doomed.

Unless… that other newbie was one of those kindred spirits she was hoping to discover.

Temi blinked. This was no time to let her mind wander! Whatever the case first impressions were not something to be taken lightly. (Excerpted from Teen Pages Issue 671)