Camp is very entertaining, and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining

*Sniff* *Hic*

“Uwaaaaaah…!”

Ten-year-old Regina looked at her distraught new friend curled up in a ball on the floor. Her stained mattress pajama bottoms stood out in the dim light of the cabin’s lone flickering lightbulb.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” the dark-haired girl sobbed over and over again as tears rolled down her cheeks. Regina felt a wave of nausea in her gut; after all, they’d been sleeping in the same bed, and Dakota had just-!

Her parents were comforting the poor girl. Regina didn’t know what to do. Dakota had been the first friend she’d made at camp. For Regina, who hadn’t wanted to come in the first place, that was really special.

“Sweetheart, there will be plenty of kids your own age. It’ll be so fun!” Her mother had told her. Even back then, Regina wasn’t a fool, even if she wasn’t as smart as the other kids at her new school. This was another one of her mom’s attempts to help her make friends. Due to her mother finding a new job in the city, she’d been **** to leave behind all of her old friends in the middle of the school year and transfer to a whole new fourth grade.

Now she was the weird, lonely girl who ate all alone at lunch. She didn’t make a single friend the whole school year, and it was summer now. Next year was fifth grade, and she’d already given up. Until her mom came into her room, dragged her away from her GameBoy, and told her that she was going to a family camp with them for two weeks.

Two whole weeks without TV! She’d miss all her Saturday morning cartoons for two whole weeks, and she didn’t have anybody to record them for her! To a kid who still had a VCR, that was like the end of Regina’s entire world.

She’d cried and complained the whole way up to camp, threatening her parents that if they made her go through with this then she’d run off and become a hobo or a **** addict. She didn’t know what those things actually were but she knew her mom complained about them at night when they thought Regina had gone to bed.

Regina’s mother wasn’t wrong. There were other kids her age at Camp Saccharine. Now, Regina had no idea what “Saccharine” meant (or even how to pronounce it) but if she heard the definition today, “Excessively sweet or sentimental” she’d probably burst out laughing.

Nothing about her first day at camp was sweet. Or sentimental.

Except for one thing.

While the parents all got drunk on the patio lounge talking about golf and stocks or whatever, the children were rounded up into little groups based on their age range. And at ten years of age, Regina was placed among the Turtles, where all the kids who weren’t quite teenagers yet ended up. There were Tadpoles, which were 5 and under, Minnows, who were 6 to 9, Turtles, who were 10 to 12, and then Trout, which were the younger teens, and Sharks, the older teens.

So Regina was on the younger end of the Turtles, who were a bunch of other kids who probably didn’t want to be there almost as much as she did.

Back then, Regina thought that her mom hated her, and that’s why she was torturing her by sending her to some buggy, mosquito-infested camp instead of staying at her air-conditioned house where she could watch her shows and play video games and sing along with music videos. It was only many years later, when Gina learned what rock bottom really was, that she had finally understood her mother had been trying to help her. Regina’s mother had been hoping she’d make a bunch of new friends, so she wouldn’t feel so alone when they got back home.

But Ten-year-old Regina didn’t know how to do that. So while all the other kids were playing around on the playstructure as part of their “camp activities” she sat on a tree stump stool and just sang quietly to herself.

“Leaning… leaning… safe and secure from all alarms… leaning, I’m leaning, I’m leaning on the everlasting arms…” Regina always loved that song. It made her feel so warm and loved. She remembered it from when she was a little girl (well, a littler girl) and her mother would rock her to sleep and sing that song to her.

Regina wished she didn’t hate her mother for forcing her to go to camp. She wished they weren’t fighting, because she really wanted someone to talk to her right now.

Why did she even need friends? She had her mom and dad, and that was enough for the rest of her life.

“Hey, you.”

Regina jumped in surprise, losing her voice in the middle of the chorus. She looked up and saw a girl with bright blue eyes and a poofy dress looking down at her.

Immediately she felt her face heat up. She wasn’t good at talking to kids she didn’t know, and this girl was definitely one of those.

“Um…”

“That was a really pretty song you were singing,” the girl told her. “You’re really good!”

Regina blushed. No one but her parents had ever complimented her singing before. (Then again, no one but her parents had ever HEARD her sing before…)

“R-really?”

“Yeah, you could be on, like, the radio or something. Anyway, what are you doing here all by yourself? Why aren’t you playing with the other kids?”

Regina glanced at the other kids who were all running around on the playstructure. It looked like fun, but they were playing a made-up game and she didn’t know the rules. And she was definitely too shy to ask.

“I… I don’t wanna,” she lied. Badly.

“Yeah, me neither.” Then without even asking the dark-haired girl flopped down next to Regina on the log. It was big enough for both girls to sit. And now that they were both sitting, Regina could see that the other girl was her height; maybe they were even the same age! Unlike all the other Turtles who were bigger than her.

“They’re all stupidheads, anyway,” the girl continued. She clearly liked listening to the sound of her own voice, but Regina was okay with that, since the girl apparently liked the sound of her voice, too. “I’m too old for playgrounds. They don’t even have a swing set here! Can you believe that?”

This weird girl was clearly younger than the rest of them, but she was talking like she was older. Regina thought she was the coolest! And she also thought it was cool that she had such short hair. Regina’s mother never let her cut her hair short, telling her it was just too pretty to cut.

“It’s all Nick’s fault! The stupidhead!” The girl pouted.

“Nick?” Regina asked, curious to know more about this really interesting girl. She felt a stirring feeling in her chest, like she didn’t want this super-cool person to think she was boring and leave, like she clearly thought about all the other kids.

She wasn’t talking to the other kids, after all, she was talking to Regina! And that made Regina feel special and cool herself.

“Nick is my bestest friend in the world!” The little girl swung her head around, and her disinterested face was suddenly alive. She had the brightest blue eyes Regina had ever seen. “We’ve been together forever, he lives right next door to me, and we’re definitely going to get married someday. I mean, his family even invited me along with them, so it’s basically gonna happen.”

Regina felt a stab of envy in her chest. So this girl got to go to camp with her friend? Lucky. Regina wished SHE could have brought a friend up with her, then she would have someone to talk to and she wouldn’t feel so alone right now.

…Oh, right. She didn’t have any friends to invite…

“It’s stupid! Nick’s new mom said she wanted to go on a nature hike with him, so he just went! Even though it’s our first day here! I hate her. She talks all funny and she isn’t nice to me at all! Well, I mean, except for that one time, and the other time, I guess, and also… whatever, she sucks! Now I gotta be here all alone with a buncha dummies!”

Regina shrank down slightly, hoping she wasn’t talking about her when she called everybody dummies.

“Nick invited me to come with him, but I said it was stupid and didn’t want to go. I mean, who wants to go hiking?” The girl continued to complain. “I told him he was being dumb and he should just come do camp activities with me. And I said if he was gonna go with his new mom, then I’d make a whole bunch of friends and I wouldn’t let him play with me anymore!”

Regina was starting to think that this girl wasn’t so cool after all; she was kinda really mean, actually.

“But he didn’t have to go and leave me…” The dark-haired girl hugged her knees to her chest, and Regina realized that there were tears in her eyes.

She’s… she’s crying? Oh gosh… what do I do? Regina had been trying not to cry all day, so she knew how the other girl must be feeling. They were both lonely here.

“Um, it’s okay…” she hugged the other girl awkwardly, trying to do what her mother did whenever she felt sad. But she just received a strange look.

“Why are you hugging me?” The girl seemed lost. Like no one had ever done that before. “Only Nick and his parents get to hug me!”

She didn’t pull away from Regina, though. If anything she seemed to snuggle closer. Regina was too flustered and too young to understand that, though, and she felt a little uncomfortable.

“I, um…”

“Do you want to be my friend or something?” The girl asked.

Regina didn’t realize it until she was asked, but now that the idea entered her mind she knew that she wanted it more than anything. But she was dreadfully shy, and didn’t know how to say yes.

“Fine, I’ll let you be my friend! But… I don’t even know your name,” the dark-haired girl pointed out, causing Regina to realize that she didn’t know her new maybe-friend’s name, either.

“Re-Regina,” she said, stuttering a little. She gulped.

“Regina?” The other girl made a face. “That’s a weird name. I’ll just call you Gina.”

“Okay…”

“And I’m Dakota. Dakota Ev- Johnson. Dakota Johnson,” Dakota introduced herself.

Now Regina felt silly for not telling the girl her last name too.

“My last name is DeAmico,” she added, sounding dreadfully silly to just say that to her.

Dakota scrunched up her face. “What’s the D stand for?”

“Huh?”

“D. Amico, what’s the D stand for?” Dakota prodded.

“I, um… it-it doesn’t stand for anything? I don’t think? It’s just my name…” Regina had never actually thought that hard about it before. It was just her name.

“Okay then,” Dakota nodded. “So then we’re friends now, right, Gina? I’m calling you Gina so that means we’re friends.”

“Okay,” Regina nodded. She didn’t mind that name. It actually sounded nice.

“And since we’re friends, you gotta promise that you’ll play with me,” Dakota insisted. “You can’t play with Nick! Because he’s a dummy and wanted to go on a hike with his new mom instead of coming to camp!”

“Okay…” Regina wasn’t so sure about that, but she didn’t want to say no to her new friend. “I’m confused though, you said he has a ‘new mom’?”

Dakota rolled her eyes. “Yeah, a stepmother,” she grumbled. “She’s from, like, England or something, and she’s really pretty. Stupid Nick. I’m way prettier than her, though.”

Regina didn’t know what to say to that, so she just nodded. Dakota seemed to be really focused on Nick, even though she said she didn’t want to ever speak to him again.

“This stupid camp was HER dumb idea in the first place!” Dakota pouted. “And Nick isn’t even here to hang out with me! That’s so rude, don’t you think?”

“I-I guess so, yeah,” Regina agreed. “I mean… but you didn’t have to come, right? His family invited you. My mom made me go.”

Dakota looked at Regina like she was from Mars.

“Of course I had to come,” Dakota said, as if it wasn’t even a question. “Nick was going. What, am I supposed to be on my own? That’s dumb.”

Regina flinched. The last thing she wanted was for her new friend to be upset with her. “That, I didn’t mean-”

“But it’s okay! Because now we’re friends!” Dakota said, grabbing Regina’s hand and squeezing it. “We’re gonna have so much fun together, and Nick’s gonna be super jealous about it!”

Regina didn’t get it. It was obvious that Dakota liked this Nick boy a lot. She reminded her of all the girls at her new school talking about their crushes in front of her, not even realizing she was there listening to them the whole time.

So if she liked him, why was she talking about how she never wanted to see him in one breath, while saying she wanted to be together forever in the next? It was really confusing.

Wait, but… that’s just like me and my parents, huh? Regina thought about all the mean, horrible things she’d said to her folks, to her mother in particular, and suddenly felt really bad. She didn’t really want to run away and become a **** addict, she just didn’t want to go to camp.

But… maybe it wasn’t so bad after all, now that she made a friend.

“I’m sure Nick is really glad you’re here, Dakota,” Regina said, trying to smooth things over. “If he invited you, then doesn’t that mean that he really does want to spend time with you?”

Dakota pouted. “Well, of course he does!” She snapped. Then she smiled a little. “You get it, huh? Nick really likes me. Of course he does. He’s my best friend.”

Those stars in her eyes were back again.

“Oh, but you can be my second best friend, Gina,” she decided a second later. “And we can hang out and do sleepovers and stuff! Ehehehe… I’ve never had a girl friend before!”

“Really?” Regina was surprised to hear that. Even though she was all alone at her new school now, even she had friends once. But since cell phones weren’t a thing yet, she couldn’t stay in contact with them.

“Yeah, Nick’s been my only friend,” Dakota said, as if that was a completely normal thing to admit. “But it’s okay, because he’s all I need. Oh, but now I have you! So he’s gonna have to try extra hard to be my friend again!”

Dakota hugged her tightly. “Tell you what, Gina, tonight, let’s have a sleepover! We can spend all night together, just hanging out! Now that we’re friends. Nick and I do it all the time! But he’s not invited to this one. It’s just us! So can I?”

“Huh? Can you what?” Regina was still having trouble following Dakota’s line of thinking.

“Can I stay in your cabin tonight? Duh!” Dakota rolled her eyes and sighed. “For the sleepover!”

Regina wasn’t sure her mom would be okay with that. She’d wanted Regina to make friends, but a sleepover? She’d have to ask permission first, but she didn’t want to look like a wuss in front of her friend.

“Well, can’t we do it in your cabin?” Regina asked. “My mom is really strict…”

Dakota frowned. “No, that’s the whole point!” She groaned. “It’s just the two of us, if we stay in my cabin then Nick will be there!”

Regina’s eyes widened and she looked at Dakota in shock. She was staying in the same cabin as Nick? Whoa! That… that was so cool! Her mom wouldn’t even let her invite boys to her birthday parties!

“You guys are in the same cabin?” She asked, amazed.

Dakota shrugged. “I told you, didn’t I? His parents invited me.”

“Well, yeah, but… your mom’s okay with that?” Regina asked.

And she immediately wished she didn’t. Dakota’s face twisted into a look that made her shiver. Regina couldn’t tell if she was angry or sad, all she knew was that she wasn’t ever going to mention Dakota’s mother again.

“You can sleep over!” She said a little too loudly, like she was trying to drown out what she’d said before. “I’ll ask my mom! She wanted me to make friends here, she’ll definitely say yes!”

And that was how Regina had made her first friend at camp. She made her second friend a few hours later when a new boy with shaggy brown hair came to join the Turtles for their afternoon activities, and Dakota introduced her to him as Nick.

The way she emphasized repeatedly how Regina was her new friend and how great she was and how they were going to be the best of friends made Regina feel all fluttery in her chest.

“And I’m gonna sleep over at her cabin, and you can’t come!” Dakota finished, sticking out her tongue.

Nick didn’t look sad like Regina had expected. If anything, he looked happy. Like he thought Dakota having a new friend was a good thing.

And the way he smiled… Regina’s heart felt all fluttery in a different way.

That night, Regina’s mom tucked the both of them into bed (it was a tight fit) in spite of Regina’s protests. She was a fourth-grader, going on fifth grade, she was WAY too old for that! But Dakota didn’t make fun of her like she expected her to. Not even when her mother gave them both goodnight kisses on the forehead.

She didn’t say much of anything after that, she seemed kind of sulky. Regina figured she was just really tired.

A few hours later, she woke up feeling something wet and sticky on the leg of her pajamas, and Dakota was crying.

“Oh my gosh!” Regina threw the blanket off and looked down at the mattress. Dakota had soiled herself all over the bed! The dark-haired girl was bawling her eyes out with shame.

“I’m sorry!” She sobbed, stumbling out of the bed. “I-I didn’t mean to-! I just… I… it was an accident!”

The proud girl Regina had befriended was nowhere to be seen in the shivering little blob of humiliation curled up on the ground. Regina felt secondhand shame for her friend. They were ten years old.

If Regina wet the bed at ten years old, she would have died of shame.

“Don’t tell anybody!” Dakota looked up at her as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Especially not Nick! It-it was an accident! I just… I couldn’t control it, because I was so lonely without him here, it just happened, I don’t-! I-!”

Regina’s parents were trying to console her but she was just bawling harder and harder. Gina felt her heart breaking.

“It-it’s okay,” she stammered, going over and giving the sobbing girl a hug. “Accidents happen, it’s fine.”

Dakota clung to her like a baby and bawled into her chest, and as Regina hugged her tight she finally understood that Dakota wasn’t just cool and awesome and special. She was a girl just like her, nervous about making a new friend and anxious about being at camp for the first time.

That made Regina want to extend her hand to the poor girl, just like how Dakota had reached out to her that morning when she was singing all by herself.