"Mom, Dad... isn't it a bit... old fashioned to go to a sleepaway camp? I thought those all ended in the eighties..." Chaewon spoke quietly from the backseat of the car. It was the first day of June and instead of being in her pajamas watching TV or hanging out with her friends, Chaewon was on her way to summer camp. A sleepaway camp. For a whole month.

"Honey, your father and I think it's important for you to spend some time in the great outdoors." 

"Away from boys," her father added gruffly. To top everything off, the summer camp was all girls as well. 

That wouldn't be a problem anyways, Chaewon wanted to add, but held her tongue. Now was not the time for that conversation. 

The car finally stopped and Chaewon felt her heart sink a little. This was her fate: being trapped at a weird old camp with weird people she didn't know for an entire month, away from friends and TV and possibly her phone. 

"Well, it's time!" Her father spoke, and both of them darted out of the car to help get her things out of the trunk. She slowly slipped out as well, breathing in the fresh woodland air. 

"Goodbye honey," her mother spoke, kissing the top of her head and holding her tight. Her father joined the hug as well, and Chaewon felt her eyes get a little wet. Maybe, just maybe, she was afraid to be away from home for so long. She had never been away for more than a few days, and now she would be without her parents for a month. 

"Send us lots of letters, okay?" 

"Maybe there will be cell service?" Chaewon spoke hopefully. 

Her father looked around the camp and made a face. "I don't think so sweetie." 

Chaewon's face fell even more as her mother and father put her luggage into her hands, giving her their last hugs and kisses goodbye. And finally, with forlorn eyes, she watched them hop back into the SUV and drive back home. 

She blinked quickly, not wanting to be seen crying in front of the other campers, and lugged her bags down the pathway. A series of arrows pointed to a sign in table, and Chaewon went there as quickly as she could. 

"Hi there!" A very smiley college age girl said to her once she got to the little table, just a stand with a couple pens and some clipboards, and a very homemade looking sign hanging over it that said "CAMP PINK!!!" 

"H-Hi," Chaewon stuttered back, clutching her bags even tighter. 

"I'm Sana! I'm the counselor for the five to seven year olds! What's your name?" 

"Ch-Chaewon Park..." 

"Nice to meet you! Are you ready for the funnest summer of your life?" 

Chaewon just stared back at her with wide eyes. 

"Okay! Chaewon, how old are you?" 

"Thirteen..." 

“Alrighty! You’ll be in cabin E2, right down that way!” Sana pointed down a long winding path with her bright pink manicured finger. “You can go put your stuff down there and come back to the dining hall for staff introductions!”

“Thank you,” Chaewon said quietly, lifting up her bags with a little humph. 

“Thank you Chaewon! I can’t wait for a great summer together.” Chaewon gave her a hesitant smile and Sana returned it with a giant one, vigorously waving goodbye. 

Chaewon started slowly down that path, looking at her surroundings. Honestly, it was beautiful here: giant trees, filtering the summer sun through their leaves, the crunch of the gravel path beneath her, birds chirping and flowers and grasses blooming all around. Other than the distant sound of people talking, all she could hear was nature’s sounds: the animals, the wind through the grass and leaves and trees, and maybe even rushing water in the far distance. Even the cabins she passed by looked much more cute than shabby. It almost looked like a summer camp movie set. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad here. Maybe this summer would be like a movie. 

She finally reached her cabin, across from another labeled E1, at the very end of the path. They were the farthest away from the center of camp, and Chaewon wasn’t sure if that was a good or a bad thing. She pushed open the door closing the cabin to the outside world, and peered around inside. It was almost cute. There was a window, a shelf, and three sets of bunk beds. All of the beds had stuff on them except the bottom bed in the corner, so Chaewon threw her stuff on top of it. It was a little small for six girls but it was warm and cozy even. Maybe she could handle living there for a month. 

She remembered Sana saying to head back to the dining hall so she took one last look at her cabin and headed back out. She figured the dining hall was down this path just the other way, and walked quickly. She noticed other buildings behind the cabins on her way back, what must be the bathrooms. Now that was one thing she wasn’t looking forward to. As she got closer to the dining hall the voices got louder and louder until the feminine giggles and chatter were almost thundering, and she pushed her way inside.

The room was fairly big, with large, circular tables set up all over. There seemed to be a kitchen in the back, hidden behind a wall except for doors and a small window. The walls were a faded yellow, and pictures of former campers adorned them. The tables were covered with ugly pink and yellow plastic tablecloths, and it kind of smelled like food. Everyone seemed to be sitting with their age group, and Chaewon searched with her eyes to find a group of girls similar to her. Suddenly, a girl with a bright smile and auburn bangs beckoned her over. Slowly, Chaewon walked over. 

"Hi! Are you in our group?" She asked in a high pitched voice. 

"We're the thirteen to fifteens," a very pretty blonde girl added. 

"We're waiting for one more," another girl with reddish hair added. 

"I think that's me," Chaewon quietly answered. 

"Sit down then sit down!" The first girl said, two girls scooching over to make room for her. 

Once she was sat down, all of them squished around that small circular table, they all sort of fell silent. Nobody seemed to know each other from before, or even what to say. 

"We should do self introductions," a girl with a dark bob firmly spoke. 

"Isn't that a little school-ish? It's summer, dude," a girl who was somehow tinier than Chaewon herself asked.

"Maybe... but how else will we all get to know each other?" A very beautiful soft spoken girl answered.

The girl with the bob made a weird noise. "Okay good! Let's say our name, how old we are, and... a hobby!" 

A couple of the girls rolled their eyes but nobody said anything. 

"I guess I'll start," a girl with a deep voice began. "I'm Heejin, I'm fourteen, and I like...soccer I guess?" Compared to her in her little green dress, Heejin,  dressed in leggings and a sporty crop top, seemed awfully cool. She nodded to the girl on her right and she smiled and began. 

"I'm Hyunjin, I'm fourteen too, and I like soccer too, actually. I like basketball and other sports too though." Her voice was pretty and breathy, and her and Heejin shared a knowing grin. 

"Alrighty! I'm Haseul! I'm fifteen, and um, hobbies! Um..." She looked briefly at the soft spoken girl who defended her earlier before looking away. "Well, I'm the student body president in my high school." Chaewon smiled; she seemed sweet, if not a bit awkward. 

"Yo I'm Yeojin! I'm thirteen and my hobbies are sleeping and eating," the next girl loudly spoke, the one who had questioned Haseul. Everyone chuckled. 

"Um, I'm Vivi," the girl who defended Haseul earlier said. Haseul looked absolutely starstruck but Vivi didn't seem to notice her staring. "I'm fifteen, and I like cooking," she said quietly. This Vivi girl was really beautiful, and Chaewon thought Haseul was about to start drooling. 

The next girl looked between Vivi and Haseul and made a face before starting. "I'm Jungeun, I'm fourteen, and," she chuckled a little, "I like playing soccer too." She was quiet, but she had a coolness about her that was almost intimidating to Chaewon. 

"Hi guys! I'm Jinsoul, I'm fifteen, and my hobby is cheerleading!" the next girl spoke happily. She really did seem like a cheerleader, at least to Chaewon. She was the blondest girl Chaewon had ever seen. Jungeun looked over at her, and Jinsoul gave her a giggly wink. Jungeun seemed surprised at that, but smiled a little to herself. 

"Hi I'm Yerim! I'm thirteen and I...I just like hanging out with my friends!" she said with a bright grin. Chaewon smiled just looking at her. 

"Hey, I'm Sooyoung. I'm fifteen and I like dancing... oh, and putting together looks." Even though they were out in the woods at camp, Sooyoung had on e-girl clothes and beautiful, heavy makeup. 

"Hi guys! I'm Jiwoo! I'm fourteen and I like singing and dancing too!" The girl with the bangs spoke brightly. 

"Wait a second... you look kind of familiar," Sooyoung spoke with furrowed brows, looking Jiwoo over. "Do you have a tiktok?" 

"Yeah! I go by Chuu on there." 

All of the other girls looked up at her with surprise. Chaewon didn't have tiktok, but even she knew that Chuu is one of the most famous tiktokers on the app, making cute soft girl look and comedy videos 

Yeojin squinted at her for a second. "You are Chuu from tiktok..." 

"But wait! You look familiar too," Jiwoo answered and then gasped. "You're Yves, right?" 

Sooyoung grinned back at her. "Yup, that's me." 

Now Chaewon was really surprised; Yves is another famous tiktoker. She usually makes e-girl content and tiktok dance covers. 

"Was this planned?" Jungeun asked. 

They looked at each other and smiled. "Nope!" Jiwoo answered. "We've never even met before." 

"We've never even collabed before," Sooyoung added. 

"Weird," Heejin said. 

"Wait, who is next?" Haseul asked. They all turned to look at Chaewon, who of course was seated next to Jiwoo. She looked at the table nervously. 

"U-um, I'm Chaewon," she spoke, her voice even quieter than usual. "I'm thirteen. I like...um...playing nintendo?" 

Jiwoo gasped. "Do you play animal crossing? You look just like Isabelle! Except human!" 

Chaewon giggled a little bit; she wasn't sure what to say to that, but from Jiwoo it sounded like a compliment. "Thank you." She fell silent, and she turned to the girl sitting next to her. Immediately, she was a little bit overwhelmed.

"Um, and my name's Hyejoo," the last girl spoke with a downcast look in her eyes. Even though it was the middle of summer she wore all black; baggy jeans peeking out from under her vastly oversized my chemical romance t-shirt. "I'm thirteen too." 

The girl apparently named Hyejoo briefly looked up and her and Chaewon accidentally locked eyes. Oh, Chaewon thought, and she could barely hold back a little gasp. She's pretty.... so pretty. 

"Uh...uh...." Hyejoo stuttered, sparing another side eyed glance at Chaewon. Chaewon quickly looked down at the table, but she took a peek out of the corner of her eye, and she could see Hyejoo's cheeks were pink. "I-I like v-video games too." Hyejoo sat on her hands and stared pointedly at the ugly tablecloth. She seemed...odd, but there was something about her that made Chaewon like her immediately. 

"Finally, introductions done," Yeojin spoke. "Not that you all are boring, but this was lame." 

"Hello campers! Welcome to Camp Pink and to the greatest summer of your whole life! I'm Jihyo, your camp director! I'll be introducing you to your counselors and a few of the rules here around our camp!" 

Immediately, Chaewon zoned out, overwhelmed by being in a new place and meeting tons of new people. She was tired already, and she needed a few minutes to herself. 

But as Jihyo droned on, Chaewon felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Hyejoo looking at the ground but turned towards her. 

"U-um," she mumbled lowly. "I like your dress," she said, as if it was all one word, and immediately turned back to Jihyo. 

"Th-thank you," Chaewon answered quietly, adding whatever that was to all of the other things overwhelming her. By the time she tuned back in to Jihyo her speech was almost over, and she was gesturing to the other staff around her. 

"Every age group is going to have their own counselor to lead them on activities and make sure they're having fun fun fun! Your counselors are going to come over to your tables and introduce themselves now!" 

The girls stared at the front of the room, but it didn't look like any of the counselors were approaching their table. They all shared a look of confusion until Jihyo sheepishly stood in front of them. 

"Hey guys! My thirteen to fifteens! Woo!" She said excitedly, but Chaewon could tell she was a bit uncomfortable. 

"I thought you were the camp director..." Yerim said, very confused. 

"And I am!" She paused for a moment. "So ladies...well... we had a bit of a rough time staffing this year, so we couldn't get quite enough counselors this year, so...you guys are...on your own! Yay!" 

"Wait, what?" Jinsoul said. 

"Isn't that illegal?" Sooyoung added. 

"How could you just not get enough staff?" Yeojin asked. 

A counselor passed by their table and looked their confused expressions over. "The camp is broke," she said quietly. 

"Jeongyeon!" Jihyo whispered curtly, and Jeongyeon ran off with a chuckle. Jihyo took a deep breath and put on a very fake smile. "Well, anyways, we don't have a counselor for your group, but camp will still be fun fun fun for all of you! You guys can hang out freely most of the time, and all the counselors will lead activities for you when they have time! And if you have an issue you can always talk to any of us, but you should go to Tzuyu, our sixteen to eighteens counselor first!" 

"Honestly, I think this is gonna be cush ladies. No counselor... no rules," Yeojin said. 

Jihyo laughed nervously. "I don't know about no rules....but you'll still have the time of your life! I promise! Now...I have to go find Jeongyeon, excuse me." Jihyo waved goodbye, and the girls all confusedly waved after her. 

Once she was out of earshot Yeojin all gave them a conspiratory look, beckoning them to all lean in. When they were close enough to feel each other's breaths on their faces, she smiled. 

"No counselor, no rules."