“Tent Two, time to wake up,” Koala’s voice was soft outside the tent. 

Flapjack rolled over and sat up, the hair on their arms standing up. It was cold. They muttered, “I’m up. ‘Morning, Koala.”

Artemis’ bed creaked, and she sat up and stretched. “‘Morning!” Cricket and Avocado remained asleep. 

“Should I wake them up?”

Flapjack rubbed their arms. “Nah, we got it.” Normally, they’d whack Avocado with a pillow, but they were too sleepy, so they instead shook her bed and muttered, “Wake up, Avo.” 

Avocado groaned as if rising from the dead. Flapjack un-burritoed her from her blanket and stole it. She whined, “What the freak, I’m cold.”

Flapjack held the blanket out of her reach. “You can have it back when you’re dressed.” 

Cricket, thankfully, got up on her own, putting on a light yellow sweater and a long black skirt. Flapjack had already warmed up a bit, so they only wore a flannel in their classic red and black color palette, a t-shirt, and sweatpant shorts. Artemis wore a blue NASA hoodie and jeans. 

The four of them headed out to the bridge. For once, Tent One wasn’t there first-the only people who awaited them were the counselors. Zero looked more dead inside than usual, wearing even more plaid than Flapjack with purple plaid pajama pants and a matching blanket. Sharky seemed fully awake already, flapping the bleach-stained sleeves of their navy blue hoodie. Socks looked like she was going to fall asleep on her feet, and Rex was watching her carefully to make sure she didn’t fall.. Koala looked quite comfy in a pink knit sweater and long pink skirt

Tent One joined them on the bridge, Dot exclaiming, “Sorry it took us a while! I forgot warm clothes, so I had to borrow Lily’s blanket.” She had a fuzzy rainbow blanket wrapped around her. Lilypad didn’t seem to mind her lack of blanket-she had on an adorable sweater with dinosaurs on it, and paint-splattered jeans. She also had several stuffed animals in her arms. Muffin had a little white bunny sticking out of the pocket of her gray knit sweater. Sprite, in comparison to her cuddly-looking tentmates, wore a worn-out sports hoodie and sweatpants.

Rex yawned. “Alright, now that we’re all here we can go. Be quiet walking through camp, we don’t want to wake everyone else up.” The CITs got into one of the camp vans. Flapjack sat in the back four seats, between Artemis and Avocado. Avocado claimed the window seat and fell asleep promptly, and Artemis started talking to Socks, who sat next to her. In front of them, Muffin and Cricket sat together, Muffin sitting curled up against the window and Cricket writing in her journal. Flapjack put their head back against their headrest. Rex got into the driver’s seat and turned the van on, which thankfully made it a bit less cold.

At the top of the mountain, the van pulled into a parking space, and Flapjack nudged Avocado awake. It felt awesome to be all the way up here, with lights of nearby towns visible below. Flapjack walked up to the railing separating the parking lot from the tree-covered slope below. Avocado came up next to them and leaned against them. “Come back, you’re warm,” she whined. 

Flapjack laughed, “I’m not going anywhere!” Avocado flopped against them. “I guess this is an invitation to steal your blanket!” They grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around both of them. Avocado grumbled wordlessly but snuggled even closer.

Artemis came over and joined the two of them. The sky was beginning to turn a bit purple, the first rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon. “I wish I had my guitar with me…this seems like a perfect place to play it,” Avocado mumbled sleepily. Flapjack nodded wordlessly. 

Cricket sat against the railing, writing in her journal. Muffin sat on the ground next to her, the wind blowing her hair around her. They both looked ethereal.

Socks walked up to them, fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater. “Can I sit with you?”

Artemis nodded and scooted over. Socks sat next to her. “Whoa. It’s my first time being out here…It’s beautiful.” 

They all sat in silence for a while. Lilypad, Dot, and Sprite sat a bit further away, cuddled up sharing Lilypad’s blanket. Zero was asleep in the van, Sharky was exploring on the slope beyond the railing, and Rex and Koala sat together, talking quietly. 

Once the sun was fully up, Rex stood up. “Hey, can we get a group picture up here real quick?” Koala went to wake up Zero, and once they returned and Sharky had come back up, the group moved closer together to all be able to fit in the picture. Rex set up her phone against a rock and set a timer, and then came over to join the picture, sitting on the ground. Flapjack stood between Artemis and Avocado. 

After taking the picture, Rex announced, “We’ve got about another half hour up here before we’re supposed to go back to camp; I’ve brought breakfast stuff if anyone’s hungry.”

Flapjack pried Avocado off to grab a bagel and cram it in their mouth. As they were brushing the crumbs off their flannel, they saw Zero finish up some conversation with Rex, sigh, and walk over to Flapjack and Avocado. Avocado looked up, “What’s up?”

Zero cleared their throat. “Uhm, how are you two doing?” 

“Good. Sleepy and cold, though.” Avocado took a bite of her cereal and, after chewing for a minute, said, “You can sit if you want.” 

“Oh. Okay.” Zero sat on the ground, wrapping their blanket tighter around themself. “Uh, Flapjack, what about you?”

Flapjack looked up. “I’m freezing my butt off. I didn’t think it was gonna be this cold. How about you?”

“I’d rather be in my bed right now. I am so cold.” 

Avocado asked, “Can I hug you? Might help warm you up.”

Zero looked startled, but said, “Yeah, uh, go ahead.” Avocado wrapped her arms and blanket around their shoulders. They leaned into her slightly, closing their eyes.

Flapjack sat there awkwardly for a moment before mumbling, “Can I…also hug yoU?”

Zero nodded. Flapjack crawled over and sat on their other side, putting an arm around their shoulders. Even through their thick flannel blanket, Flapjack could feel how cold they were.

The three of them sat there for a few moments, which was surprisingly peaceful and comfortable. After pulling away, Zero fidgeted with their blanket. “Thanks, both of you.”

Avocado grinned. “Yeah, ‘course!” 

Flapjack nodded wordlessly, buttoning and un-buttoning the sleeves of their flannel. After another awkwardly silent moment, they asked, “Is there a reason you’re over here talking to us?”

“Rex told me I need to be more social with you all, and I figured you two would care the least about me talking to you. Like, Lily, Dot, and Sprite seem to always be having fun together, and Muffin and Cricket are so quiet. And honestly, Artemis intimidates me, because she’s really smart, and has her stuff together”

Avocado brightened. “Aww, thanks! That’s, like, really sweet.” Flapjack nodded in agreement. 

Back at camp, Rex told everyone they could sleep in for a couple hours. While everyone else went back to bed, Flapjack went and sat at the benches surrounding the fire circle. They got out their sketchbook and a pencil and started trying to draw a tree stump outside of their tent, mostly because they were bored out of their mind and didn’t have much else to do. 

After finishing their drawing of the stump, they turned around, facing the slope behind them. Pines was basically at the bottom of a mountain. Oddly, on the slope that was otherwise covered only by trees, stumps, and rocks, there were worn, moss-covered stone stairs, leading up to literally nothing. They debated climbing the stairs for the hell of it, considering all the counselors were asleep and therefore couldn’t tell them off for it, but also, if they, like, fell and broke their arm, they’d both get in trouble and look like an idiot.

The flaps to Tent Two opened, and Artemis stepped out onto the stairs of the tent. “Oh, hi! Have you been out here this whole time?”

Flapjack nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been drawing, and also, thinking about those stairs back there. They’re weird.” They gestured toward the stairs. 

“Yeah, they are. I wonder what they’re doing there.”

“I’ve also been wondering what would happen if someone, like, climbed the stairs. I’m not gonna ‘cause I bet I’d get in trouble, but it’s fun to think about.”

Running her fingers over the stairs, Artemis said, “Plus, because of all the moss, you’d probably slip, which would not go well. But it is interesting to think about.” 

“Fair enough.” 

After lunch, the CITs returned to Pines. In the unit house, Rex beckoned Socks to the center of the room. “We’re gonna have a lesson on first aid today. I’m gonna have Socks teach it, because she’s gonna go to med school next year and therefore knows what she’s talking about.”

Socks looked away from everyone, fidgeting. “So, yeah, first aid. First, let me show you all what we keep in the med bag.” She grabbed the med bag and unpacked it onto the floor, pointing out items as she went. It was all pretty basic stuff-band-aids, alcohol wipes, gloves.

“Most of this stuff is pretty self explanatory-I would assume you all know how to put on a band-aid. But here’s a couple important things you all should know. First, you have to wear gloves whenever doing first aid. Second,” she pulled out a small journal, “You have to record anything first aid related you do, for legal purposes. That’s also why campers aren’t allowed to do their own first aid-because if something happens, we need to know so we can record it. Next, you all will get CPR certified as part of your training, so we don’t have to worry about that right now.” She flipped through her paperwork, “Sprains and stuff-that’s another important thing. Because we’re on uneven terrain, people trip and fall, and leads to a lot of sprained ankles. We’ve got ice packs in the med bag, but also, that’s something for the health center.”

Flapjack was pretty sure that was the longest they’d seen Socks talk without fidgeting or looking scared. Letting out a big breath, Socks looked up. “Okay.”

Artemis raised her hand. “Yeah! Is there a specific way you’re supposed to communicate to leadership when something goes seriously wrong? I would assume you wouldn’t walkie ‘some kid just fell off a cliff.’”

Rex said, “It’s called a code ME, standing for medical emergency. So you would say something like, ‘Artemis to leadership, we’ve got a code ME in Pines.’ I don’t think we have a code for ‘kid fell off cliff.” 

Artemis gave a thumbs-up. “Thanks!” 

When nobody else asked anything, Rex put away the med bag and her paperwork, and said, “Alright, you all will be doing slingshots next.”

As they walked out to the bridge, Flapjack grumbled, “It better not be Candy facilitating again.” They would prefer to never have to deal with Candy ever again.

Thankfully, it was not Candy waiting for them-instead, it was a counselor Flapjack didn’t recognize, with olive skin and wavy black hair, wearing patched-together jeans and a flowy purple blouse. Avocado brightened up upon seeing her. “Viola!”

Viola waved. “Have you all done slingshots before?” Most of the CITs nodded. “Wonderful! And don’t worry if you have before, it’s quite easy and I can help. Would anyone like to go first?”

Artemis and Flapjack got up, and Viola handed them slingshots and safety goggles. “Alright! Do you know how you’re supposed to stand?” The two of them demonstrated, and she handed them each a paintball. “Okay, you can shoot whenever you’re ready.” 

Flapjack put the paintball in their slingshot, pulled it back and let go. The paintball hit one of the frying pans hanging off the target board, making a satisfying dinggg. Viola clapped her hands together. “Nice job!” A moment later, Artemis’s paintball splattered on a soda can, leaving a blue splotch right in the middle of it. 

Artemis and Flapjack shot four more paintballs each. Once they finished, Viola asked the other CITs, “Anyone else want to go?” 

Sprite got up, as well as Dot. Flapjack was sure Sprite was going to try and show off again. The first paintball Sprite put in her slingshot exploded onto her, and she stared at the now paint-covered slingshot in great offense. Viola, who was barely holding back laughter, handed Sprite a paper towel. Sprite, through gritted teeth, forced out a “Thank you” and wiped the paint while Dot shot her first paintball.

Once Dot and Sprite finished, Viola turned back to the CITs. “Who’s up next?” No one volunteered. “Uh, okay, does anyone want to go again? Do any counselors want to go?” 

Sharky immediately jumped up and down, waving a hand in the air. “ME!”

“Uh, okay!” Viola handed Sharky safety goggles and a slingshot. Sharky immediately shot their first paintball, which somehow landed on the ground. They snickered and shot another one, which hit the target. Their next paintball flew over the target. Sharky’s last two paintballs, in the same way Sprite’s had, exploded in the slingshot, splattering them with blue paint. Viola didn’t even give them new paintballs after the two exploded ones.

After Sharky finished and sat down, still snickering, Viola said, “Well. Do any CITs want to go again?” Still, nobody volunteered to go. “Alright, um, since you all still have a while longer here…hmm…what else have you all done today?”

Artemis said, “We went to go watch the sunrise this morning, so that’s why we’re all super sleepy.” 

Viola clapped her hands. “How fun! The sunrise must’ve been pretty. Was it cold?”

“Really freaking cold,” Flapjack added. “But yeah, it was awesome.” 

“Yes, I’ve been there to watch the sunset, but not the sunrise, and it was a bit chilly even then. It is truly beautiful, and makes you feel so small to see the town lights below.” Flapjack liked how Viola talked-she had a very soothing voice.

Dot asked, “What about you? What have you been doing today?” 

“Oh, I’ve been hanging out with my group-they were doing lawn initiatives this morning. After lunch, I helped Zero out with making decorations. Do you know what you’ll be doing tomorrow?”

Koala spoke up, “We’re going to start our shadowing sessions. Actually, I should ask you all what you want to do for that! Our options are hiking with Art Gallery or building Legos with Explorers.”

Flapjack volunteered to go on the hike, along with Artemis, Dot, and Sprite. Everyone else signed up to go build Legos.

After Koala had collected everyone’s choices for shadowing, she took everyone to the dining hall for dinner. Flapjack sat at some random table, zoning out-their lack of sleep was starting to catch up to them now. At least they weren’t too sleepy to shove their face with food as soon as it was available-dinner that night was hot dogs and baked beans. 

Once dinner was over and the CITs were back at Pines, Rex said between yawns, “You all can go to bed early if you want. I just want to get to bed, and so I’m not gonna stop you if you want to talk, just be quiet so I can sleep. G’night.”