Unexpected "Youth"

After turning the corner, Jamie found the other councilors lined up next to the road at the entrance to camp. She joined them at the end standing next to Greg who eye her up in her new uniform. Jamie would have punched him in the arm if a bus hadn't arrived at that moment; it was a yellow school on which implied school children were arriving for the summer. But Jamie was surprised that she was wrong in thinking so as the passengers on board were much older. All of them were high school boys, seniors, a year younger than she and probably still immature and inexperienced. Jake welcomed them and told them to wait at the theatre for orientation and sent two councilors with them.

It was long after before the next bus arrived, this one being a navy blue with bars on the windows. Out came the campers, the same age as the previous, dressed from the neck down in organge jumpsuits and chained together. Head councilor Jake welcomed them too and told them the same as before and an armed corrections officer meshed them forward and escorted them to the theatre.

Jamie was getting really confused as she thought summer camps were for kids, not teens freshly entering adulthood. The next three buses rolled in on top of each other, all three shuttle buses bringing in kids who didn't seem to be prepared for this camp and seemed a little confused upon looking around. Anther greeting was given and they were off to the theatre with the councilor's in tow. Jamie stayed behind a bit to catch Jake for a word, "What the hell is going on? I thought this was a camp for kids?"

Jake laughed a bit and the two walked side by side to toward the stage, "Camp Last Hope has recently lost the privilege of having younger campers. An inspector gave us a failing grade in safety and so only adults are allowed to be here. So we rolled with that and now only bring in 18 year olds fresh out of high school. The first bus is just that while the second bus dropped off some troubled teens from the corrections facility. They've committed minor crimes that landed them in juvenile hall and are taken here to make up for their remaining time in the hope of reforming them. The last bus is just a bunch of kids we tricked into coming here. We told them it was band camp, or space camp, or art camp and they aren't able to go back. Some of them were tricked by their parents who wanted them to get out of the house and learn some more practical skills."

They arrived at the stage and the councilor's took their seats behind the podium with the exception of Jake who stood up and spoke to the audience. As he orientated them, Jamie took the time to look at the crowd and see if she could learn anything about these "kids" from their looks alone. She also made sure to count how many there were of each group in order to remember these punks before they were split up. The regular high schoolers numbered five in all, the cons were four, and the geeks were a sizable fifteen in all with six in band, seven science nerds, and two artsy boys.

Jamie caught the end of Jake's speach who now brought attention to the councilors and started introducing them by name. "...and finally we have our newest councilor, Jamie," he said as he motioned for her to rise. When she stood and stepped forward, an applause rang out through the crowd that hadn't followed any other councilor as well as a couple whistles from the fins who received a quick jab in the back from their officer. As she gazed at the campers, she noticed their peering stares most likely brought on by her revealing outfit and saw one big nerd drooling all over himself.

With that she sat back down and Jake told the campers to follow them to their cabins and change into their uniforms tomorrow. As they started to leave he reminded them to get a good night's sleep for tormmrow's activities. Jamie caught eye of the officer un linking the cons, removing their cuffs, and collecting their jumpsuits before leaving them to head to their cabins. Jamie saw that the senior councilors had the escorting under control and decided to head for her room to sleep and get ready for the next day.