First Summer: Chapter 1

Did you know that the month of November is NaNoWriMo?  That stands for National Novel Writing Month.  The goal is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days.  I am going to participate this year, but my goal is 30,000 words.  I have had many good intentions to do it in years past, but have been to scared to actually do it.  I have always wanted to write a young adult fiction novel based on my experiences working at a summer camp.  So, here is the first chapter of the novel.  I currently have 1,804 words.  For more information go to: www.nanowrimo.org

Disclaimer: This has not gone through extensive editing.  Please don’t judge me too harshly.

First Summer

Chapter 1

It didn’t seem to her that she would ever find someone who liked her, quirks and all.  She bit down on her lips when nervous or excited or thoughtful.  She did it so much that her lower lip always seemed a little red, swollen, or cut.  She also didn’t believe in wearing makeup.  When every other girl she knew was focusing on their mascara or covering up a blemish, Anna worried obsessively over the part in her hair.  She liked it just to the left of center, on an angle.  She was known to completely rewash her hair if the part did not separate in just the right place.  But she wasn’t pretentious, just particular.

That is one reason why her friends were so surprised she got a job at a summer camp.  “Do you think you can ‘rough it’ for the whole summer?” or “This will be our last summer before we all go off to college, you’ll miss out on all of that!” They questioned and begged her not to go.  Anna simply responded to their emphatic pleas with, “I loved the camp when I was little and I always wanted to work there.”  Still, her friends just couldn’t understand.  Just like they didn’t understand why she carried a small sketchbook with her everywhere.  She mostly just doodled, but in the doodling she “found peace” she tried to explain, but they still didn’t understand.

Just before graduation Anna’s friends tried one last time to convince her.

“Come on Anna.  If you stay home this summer, I’m sure we can find you a boyfriend,” said Jane.

“Yeah, I’m sure Charlie can hook you up with a friend,” added Callie.

“No, you two have fun with your boyfriends this summer,” responded Anna.

“Really, Anna.  You haven’t even been on a date yet,” said Callie.

“I’m okay.  I just don’t want to date any losers,” explained Anna.  Silently she sighed inside.  Callie had tried to convince her to date practically every guy she knew.

As Anna said this, Callie began to furrow her brows and lean back in her chair.  “Are you saying that Jane and I are dating losers.”

“Oh, don’t drag me into this,” said Jane as she stood up and walked away from the lunch table.

“Jane, Callie, no.  You know that isn’t what I meant,” pleaded Anna.

“You know, Anna, I’m really getting sick of your ‘better than thou’ attitude.” Anna watched Callie follow Jane out of the cafeteria.

“Just great,” sighed Anna.

So, when Anna arrived at the first aide and CPR training meeting she wasn’t surprised to be the odd one out again.  She seemed to be the only one there who didn’t know anyone else.  Around the table in the conference room of the Red Cross Building in downtown Denver, a buzzing of chatter was taking place. There wasn’t anyone from her high school and most of the other camp counselors seemed a year or two older.  They were already in college, while Anna was just going to be a freshman at Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design.  She liked that it was a small school, compared to the University of Colorado, where all her friends were going.  She felt like she was always lost in the crowd at her high school and only had her picture in the yearbook once – in the listings of all the Seniors.  Even teachers didn’t notice her.  She usually sat towards the side in the middle of the row.  She was quiet, didn’t fail the class, turned in homework, rarely talked to others, and became invisible in the hum of activity around her; much like what was happening in the training room.

“Is Scott coming back?”

“I don’t know, but I hope so!”

“Scott is the best counselor we have.”

“And he has an awesome truck!”

“Which he loves.  Think he’ll let one of us drive it this year?”

“Probably not!” They all start to laugh and talk more about people Anna didn’t know.  When into the room came a cute guy.  By all the greetings and happy faces, Anna realized this must be the famous Scott that everyone was so anxious to be there.

Soon the meeting started and Anna was left to examine everyone in the room in a less obvious manner.  She was already certified as a lifeguard and knew all the information they were learning, but the training was mandatory.

Scott sat across the table from Anna and a few seats toward the front of the room.  From this view she could examine him without being caught.

Anna started to slowly draw the profile of Scott’s face.  She drew from his high forehead down his sharp nose to his full lips and rounded chin.  He had a cleft in his chin that she hadn’t noticed before.  It made his chin hard to draw and she ended up flipping the page in her sketchbook and changing it from a profile to a 3/4 view of his head.  He wasn’t strikingly handsome; actually, he was plain, but there was something strong about his features and he seemed older than his 19 years, not at all like the boys she went to high school with.

After carefully drawing his face and his crystal green eyes, which Anna wished she had her colored pens for, she noticed that he was wearing really expensive clothes.  Suddenly she felt uncomfortable in her own clothing.  She didn’t shop at any of the name brand clothing stores in the mall.  It wasn’t like her family was poor, but they didn’t own any four-wheelers, or live in a huge house.  They were just normal.  Suddenly she wondered what truck Scott drove and how it would compare to her 10 year old Ford Escort.  She felt plain with her dark brown, straight hair, in her generic clothes and older car.  Anna flipped the page in her notebook and looked down as her face flushed with embarrassment.

For the rest of the meeting, Anna kept to herself, looking down, embarrassed that she even thought about Scott at all.  Even worse was the fact that no one spoke to her, except the camp manager, Bill, but he had to be nice to her.

Monday was only two days away, the first day of working, which was mostly training, setting up the camp, and cleaning, but Anna was already nervous.  How would she survive this summer?  Would she make any friends among this group of people?