Camp Wakami part 2

Dawn descended upon the bunkhouse with the first rays of morning light.

Katie, as usual, was the first to arise as Taylor and Dani blissfully slept-in the first morning of summer camp.

Katie had lucked out with the bunkhouse lottery system and the three of them had become instant friends. They didn't have much in common but being thrown together for the next two weeks solidified their bond.

In the peaceful solitude Katie felt a longing for home, a pull to her old familiar ways of being; habits, routines, people and even things.

The cadence of Dani's gentle snoring pulled Katie out of her reverie and brought her back into the room.

Katie chided herself for being homesick so early and resolved to see this experience through to the end. If thousands of other campers enjoyed their time, so could she.

Her feet crunched the crushed rocks on the path as she headed out the bunkhouse for what appeared to be a solo breakfast.

The mess hall door creaked as she opened the screen and let herself inside. She scanned the long tables and noticed only a handful of campers were up this early.

She grabbed her favorite kind of cereal, all crispy with the right proportion of milk, not too much to make it soggy, and a plump orange. She carefully headed to her table of choice, next to the window, while keeping an eye on maintaining the contents of her tray upright.

She was almost at her table of choice when alarm hit her, was somebody else aiming for the same table as her? No!

She was not much of a morning person, nor talkative. Come to think of it, she was not much of an extrovert. She enjoyed being left alone with her thoughts and was perfectly happy eating breakfast alone.

She picked up the pace to beat the other camper to the table but instead of changing course the other camper continued moving closer. The two of them now had both their trays on the table and hands on the seat backs of each chair.

"Such a big table for one." He loudly stated. "Plenty of room for us to share. And besides, I love company and conversation." He said non-sarcastically.

Katie couldn't disagree more but didn't give voice to her true feelings. She sat down determined to eat in silence.

"I'm Ben." He said between gulps of cereal.

"Katie ." she muttered, hoping he'd take the hint. It didn't work. His eyes lit up as it was now his turn to talk.

"Not many campers are early risers?" He commented in his extroverted way.

"Yeah." She said, attempting to shut down the conversation.

"Where are you from? I'm from Sunderland. About 2 hours from here. Have you heard of it?" he inquired.

"Yes!" Katie said with enthusiasm, " I am also from Sunderland. I don't recognize you. Which school do you go to? I attend Marymount Academy on the west side of town."

"I attend Shaw Hill, not far from your school." Ben said in recognition of their shared similarities.

The din of clattering dishes made it easy for Katie to tune out Ben's monologue as she methodically ate at her usual slow pace. Ben continue to shovel in his food when he came up for a breath of air between divulging all sorts of details of himself.

Katie had a moment of panic when she had spaced out on the conversation and worst of all, couldn't remember his name.

"Hey Ben!" someone shouted from across the hall. "Did you leave any grub for the rest of us?" The red-headed boy with a face full of freckles teased.

Ben, that's his name. Katie thought to herself.

"That's my roommate." Ben stated in an apologetic tone. "That's my cue to leave. See ya later Katie."

"See you later Ben." Katie said, proud to remember his name.

And with that, he hopped up, grabbed his tray and headed off to join his roommate.

Katie was glad to be alone again, but if she were honest, she didn't mind his company. Maybe she would see him again the next morning, but then again, maybe not.

Katie slid back from her table, quietly gathered and disposed of the contents of her tray, and headed back to her bunk.