Maybe Someday.

The jagged grey rock is the only thing that has managed to keep my attention. I keep my head low and admire the sound it makes every time it makes contact with my dirty blue converse. Somehow I’ve managed to make it all the way from the archery range to the athletic fields with the same rock while still keeping up with my group who’ve been singing campfire songs the entire ten minute transition period.

This isn’t exactly how I’d imagined camp being. I thought I would get here and make friends the first day, but it’s still awkward. All the girls in my bunk are really nice and everything, but conversations aren’t exactly easy to start. It’s overwhelming and I feel lost and alone in a sea of people.

Regan, my counselor, leads the group into the middle of the field for our activity period while Adam, my brother cabin's counselor, trails behind me.

“You alright, Allie?” He asks, placing a comforting hand on my back.

I look up just long enough to smile and nod slightly. “Yeah,”

He doesn’t question it any further and goes to meet Regan in front of the group. She pulls her hair back into a ponytail and grabs the soccer ball off the ground.

A brown haired boy comes and stands next to me and when I look up, he makes eye contact and smiles at me. He’s the same boy, who on the four and a half hour bus ride, managed to make more trouble than I’ve ever made in my entire seven years of life. I smile politely back at him and turn my attention to Regan, who’s explaining the rules of soccer.

After a sufficiently short description of the game with only the very basic instructions, we’re split into two teams and for an hour and a half we run around in the hot sun playing a surprisingly competitive game. My forehead drips sweat by the time Adam calls game over and I’m thankful for the trip to the water jugs.

“Good game, Allie!” The same boy from before says in between sips of water. He’s red in the face from a mix between the level of activity from the game and being in the sun for too long. Still, he smiles and it makes me feel better that someone knows my name.

Before we’re allowed to leave, Adam chugs five little cups of water, crushes the wax cup in his hand and tosses it into the garbage bag that’s tied to the yellow water jug. As we make our way to lunch, we can smell the fragrance wafting from the kitchen. I can already tell we’re having tacos.

“Smells good, huh?” This brown haired boy is persistent.

I nod, but don’t make eye contact.

“You’re pretty quiet, aren’t you?” He laughs. I bet there’s a smug smile plastered on his face.

“What makes you say that?” I ask, finding the courage to look him in the eye. I’m ready to turn on diva mode, but his face isn’t full of smugness, but rather friendliness and curiosity.

He shakes his head and kicks at the gravel.

“I thought I would say hi, maybe make a new friend, that’s all.”

I assume my face is full of confusion because all he does is laugh. I notice we’ve stopped walking and the group is up ahead. Adam’s gotten distracted by something more interesting than corralling a group of small children and is completely unaware we're not with the rest of the group.

“I’m Dan, you’re Allie. Let’s just be friends, okay?”

"Okay."