Virgin Camp

Natalie's POV

I glared at the cheery sign that read “Welcome Campers!” and continued to drag my bags through the gravel, Trish and Sawyer following behind me.

“Nat, just let me take one of your bags,” Sawyer pleaded.

“No,” I snapped. “And stop offering.”

“Yeah,” Trish said softly behind me. “She wants to do it herself? Let her.”

I glared at everything I saw ahead of me. I was slightly surprised no one thought I was a serial virgin killer or something. I wanted the whole camp to blow up. Then I wouldn’t have to stay here all summer—my last summer before college. I already hated everything and everyone at this camp. Didn’t matter how nice the people were or how good the food was. I hated it all.

“Welcome, welcome!” some petite little lady greeted us as we entered the wooden gates. I was sure she was some kind of spawn of Satan. It was in her eyes. “We’re so glad to have you here.”

“Oh, I’m sure you are—”

“Thank you,” Sawyer said to the lady, cutting me off loudly. He pushed me past the confused lady and into the camp itself.

“This is awful. Just look at this. Look at it!” I motioned to our surroundings.

There were several log cabins in sight, scattered among tall trees and green grass. Concrete paths wove around the cabins and trees, all connecting to each other in some way. It smelled like nature and cleanliness and water. It looked innocent. Cheery. Bright. Fake. The log cabins were so perfect, they almost looked like plastic. The trees were so straight, so well-trimmed, they seemed to be from another planet. The grass was too green. I felt like we had entered a movie where everything was genetically modified to be perfect.

People were congregated in front of what looked to be the biggest cabin. Suitcases and duffle bags were scattered across the concrete, lying next to their owners. Everyone looked to be my age or younger, except the people wearing white polo shirts. They looked like the spawn of Satan, just like the lady that greeted us.

“Looks fine to me,” Sawyer said.

“This is beautiful, Nat! How can you not realize how lucky you are? I would give anything to have sex in one of those cozy little cabins…”

I threw her a disgusted look but didn’t give her the pleasure of responding like the prude she thought I was.

“I guess we better head out,” Sawyer said, looking at the people gathered in front of the big cabin. The few people around us were saying goodbye to their loved ones and heading in the direction of the big cabin. Alone. I suddenly didn’t want Trish and Sawyer to leave my side.

“The next time I see you, you won’t be a virgin. Oh my God!” Trish hugged me tightly. I wanted to latch onto her so she wouldn’t be able to leave. Or she would have no choice but to take me with her back home. “You’ll thank me for this one day. Just wait.”

“I highly doubt that,” I said, grudgingly letting go of her.

“Be good,” Sawyer warned.

“But not too good,” Trish added with a grin.

They were slowly shrinking away from me as they spoke, like they were embarrassed to be in a place with so many virgins. Sawyer gave me a half-assed wave as he headed toward his car. “Good luck!” he called. Trish waved dramatically, calling out different forms of “goodbye” as she followed Sawyer.

And then they were gone. And I was alone. Wait, no. I wasn’t completely alone. I still had my virginity.

• • •

“Single file line, please! Disorderliness leads to chaos. One at a time!”

We were being herded into the big cabin one by one. I had learned from a little eavesdropping that it was where the cafeteria and kitchen were, and it was often the place where camp meetings were held. Apparently, this would be the first of many.

The inside of the cabin was spacious but cozy. There was an unlit fireplace at the opposite end of it, with a picture of a lake above it. Round tables were scattered about the room, different patterned tablecloths decorating each of them. I could tell they were trying very hard to make the place look cheerful in a quaint kind of way. But I could see the perfectness that lay beneath it all. The floors were polished to perfection, not a scratch in sight. There wasn’t a speck of dust in the entire building. There weren’t even any knots in the wood of the walls. Again, everything just looked fake.

I took a seat at the first empty table I came across, daring anyone to sit next to me. I looked at all the people around me, trying to figure out where to sit, who to sit next to. Some of the kids looked excited to be here. Some looked skeptical. Some just looked plain scared.

As the tables filled up, my glares kept everyone from sitting near me. But then a girl with long blonde hair plopped herself down onto a chair at my table, letting out a loud huff. She sighed.

Aw, did your boyfriend send you here so you could learn how to fuck him properly?

I glared at her, just like I had glared at everything else at Virgin Camp.

I still couldn’t believe I was here. I knew it wasn’t the nineteenth century anymore, but if I didn’t want to lose my virginity, that was my choice. Nobody had the right to pressure me into having sex just so I could “live for once.” Nobody had the right to blackmail me into coming here. I hardly even liked my sister, Kaylie, most of the time. Yet I had agreed to go to Virgin Camp so I could protect her. It was a dumb move on my part. If the roles were reversed, there was no doubt in my mind that she wouldn’t have done the same for me. Then again, if the roles were reversed, that meant that Kaylie would have to be a virgin. And once you lose it, you never get it back.

The girl at my table spread her small frame across the chair she was in, like she owned it and every other object in the room. Cocky bitch. She looked at me and raised her eyebrows expectantly. I didn’t have time to say anything because an annoying voice filled the room at that moment.

“May I have everyone’s attention, please!”

A lady with short brown hair cut in a tidy bob stood in front of the unlit fireplace. She was wearing one of those perfect white polo shirts, paired with pressed khaki pants. She clapped her hands loudly, eventually gaining the attention of everyone in the room.

“Hello and welcome to The Crowley & Mellin Camp for Virgins! More commonly known as…” She paused, looking at us like she expected us to finish her words for her. Everyone stayed silent, so she continued. “Virgin Camp! Before you get settled in, there are a few things that we must go over. First and foremost, we are all thrilled to have you here. And we guarantee that each and every one of you will leave here with the results that you want.”

There was applause from all the people wearing white polo shirts, and the campers hesitantly joined in. I refused to lift a finger. I noticed that all the people wearing polo shirts were at least ten years older than the rest of us. They were standing on the edges of the room, effectively creating a barrier between us and any possible way out. Camp counselors.

“All of you are here for a single reason. You all have the same goal: to lose your virginity. If you follow the careful steps we have laid out, you will achieve this goal with little or no complications. By the end of the summer you will go home a new person. You will no longer have the weight of your virginity pressing down on your shoulders. You’ll feel more liberated and self-assured than ever before.”

More applause, mostly from the Whities again. A few kids actually clapped, though. Idiots. I couldn’t believe people were really listening to this. It was ridiculous. They were leaning forward in their seats, hanging on her every word. She was their salvation from loserdom.

The girl sitting across from me with the long blonde hair rolled her eyes at me. I narrowed mine at her suspiciously, but she didn’t see it because she was already turned away from me, examining the other campers.

The lady continued spewing her bullshit.

“But,” she emphasized. The words she spoke were clear and concise. It was hard not to listen, despite the things she was saying. “This camp isn’t designed for the sole reason of losing your virginity. This camp gives you an opportunity to learn. We have designed a program to train and prepare you for a sex life, when you leave to go back home. There will be four basic steps to this program, and you must follow them all in order to successfully complete the journey toward liberation.”

I briefly wondered if she meant liberation from our virginity or liberation from this place.

“By the time you have completed all four steps, you will be able to fend for yourself in the sexual world. You will be able to control the influx of sexual situations that come into your life. You will no longer be deprived of sex.”

She paused there, holding out her hands to us, smiling like we were her little children, ready to be all grown up. I wished I had a tomato so I could’ve thrown it at her. Unfortunately, I didn’t tend to store tomatoes in my pockets.

I would have to start.

“You will begin with step one—your counselors will explain in more detail what you are to do once you’re assigned cabins. Please don’t worry about the other steps until you get to them. Just focus on your task at hand and everything will come to you in due time. If you have questions at any point in time, please direct them to your counselors. They will be readily available for anyone who needs them.”

I thought that would be the end of her little speech and we would be able to “get settled” but she kept on talking. I stopped listening and studied the people around me. There were more girls than guys. I wondered how they all ended up here. Had they been forced? Had they wanted to come? It was embarrassing. Just sitting here was embarrassing. We were all going to have sex before the summer was over. It was just… bizarre. How did this even work? Who would devirginize us? What were the other steps? Why couldn’t we just get it over with instead of dragging it out?

“You will all be assigned cabins after dinner. But before then, there are a few things that must be done!” the lady with the short brown hair said. What was her name? Pat? “First and foremost, you’ll be assigned Virgin Slayers. This is a random process and will be fairly quick. From there, you’ll be assigned groups. There will be four groups. The group you get assigned to will have similar circumstances as you.”

Similar circumstances? What the hell did that mean?

“After that, you will go off in your separate groups and be treated to a welcoming preparation in order to let you reach your full potential this summer. The time that takes varies per group. When you’re done, you will come back here for your first dinner at Virgin Camp!”

Yay.

A few of the people sitting at the tables stood up. I wondered what they were doing. Were they fed up with this bullshit already? Were they taking a stand and leaving? I debated standing up too, until Pat lady spoke up again.

“This year, the girls will have five Virgin Slayers and the boys will have four. That’s a total of nine Virgin Slayers, the most we’ve had to date!” Did she expect us to clap at that?

The kids that had stood up were now making their way toward Pat. They were the Virgin Slayers? They looked just like everyone else—but more confident. Not the good kind of confident. The arrogant kind. There were five guys and four girls, all in normal clothing. “Seven of our Virgin Slayers are returning from previous years, but two of them are completely new to our camp.” She beamed at them proudly. “So how will you know which Virgin Slayer you’ll be assigned to? Before this meeting, every single one of them were assigned a number one through nine.” She paused. “Look under your chairs! There are two numbers taped there—a pink number and a blue number. If you’re a girl, the pink number is the number that matches up to your Virgin Slayer! If you’re a boy, the blue number is your Virgin Slayer!”

I briefly glanced at the girl with the long blonde hair, who had sat at my table. She widened her eyes like she was annoyed, and reached under her chair. I did the same.