Page 81 of Lady and the Camp
My vision narrowed. The secret was out.
All of this was my fault. I’d assumed staying at camp was some valiant move to keep my word by not running off. But I couldn’t control any of these teen girls if I tried. They had phones and were trained and primed by the outside world to snap and post pics of anything and everything with infinite platforms available to instantly share.
“I…” I couldn’t deny it. The girl was looking right at my face. She showed me her phone. My face was there too, on her small screen, with my YouTube account clearly marked below it. “Yes. Yes, that’s me.”
“Cool.” She shrugged and slid the phone into her shorts pocket. She turned to her friend and their discussion switched to recapping their boring ride to camp.
Okay, so maybe I was overreacting. I’d become so full of myself I’d assumed these teenagers cared enough to share about me online.
“So, why are you here if you’re a YouTube star?” another girl asked. She had her phone out too, looking from her screen to me. “You’re like, famous.”
Dangit.
Teen counselor Bianca appeared and slung an arm around me. “I can answer that. But let me get everybody together first.”
Panic shot through me, but Bianca merely offered a wink.
Bianca stepped in front of me and motioned for the campers to gather. “Heads up girls!” She clapped three times. “Before we move into camp, I want to introduce our newest counselor. This is Hudson. She’s a staffer here for the summer and she’s also an influencer online. She went off-grid for the true organic experience. She’s not using social media or any of her online accounts. To help her out, we don’t share that she’s here. Like, no social posts or pictures online. It’s been a really cool experience for all of us so far.”
Words failed. I shot Bianca a grateful look. She knew. She knew so much and I had no idea. I hadn’t asked this of her or even hinted at it.
The girl in front of us looked in awe at Bianca. Forget me. To this girl, Bianca was a year older, trendy without trying hard, and a leader. A natural beauty. And she loved this camp.
I owed Bianca for life.
“So, we all need to agree,” Bianca went on. “We’re keeping Hudson out of our socials. Raise your hand and solemnly swear.”
For life.
Maggie’s absence was noticeable in every aspect when camp was in session. She’d be back tomorrow, and I’d tell her just how much she added to this camp. Lucas told me he’d alerted Maggie about the current security situation but urged her not to rush back.
I spotted Lucas around here and there but only in short glimpses. I knew he took the security risk seriously, so I aimed to stay out of his way.
Every moment since arrival was filled by talking to and managing the teen campers. They weren’t satisfied with simple answers like the younger girls. Despite the solemn oath to not share about me online, it didn’t dissuade them from constantly asking me about my life.
“How can I be a YouTube star?”
“How did you get so many followers on Instagram?”
“Can you tell me how to be famous?”
“What do you do to get free stuff?”
“What’s going on with the rich guy ex-boyfriend?”
The last question stole my breath. I could talk about videos and social media marketing all day, but the personal stuff… How did I respond?
Thankfully, Bianca was within earshot. “Off limits.”
“I…” I nodded. That was a good response. “Yes, that’s an off-limits topic.”
The questioning camper moved on.
But later at our first Campfire, the tone turned serious. These girls wanted to godeep. They moved on quickly from Jasmine’s attempt at a scary ghost story to demand a round of truth or dare.
Bianca took the lead, laying out ground rules that no one should feel pressured to share what they weren’t comfortable with and no dares could involve the lake (for safety) or public humiliation. Silly dares, yes. Dangerous or tragically embarrassing, no. This was clearly not her first round of camp truth or dare.
Truths shared involved confessions of crushes (back home, where no one would know their names—a safe truth), to admissions of struggles with schoolwork or even depression. I sat in awe of the support the girls provided for each other. While some of the campers returned year after year and were close with girls here, many had only known each other for a few hours.
