sleep away at Camp Wiŋtke

Chapter 22

The bus made several more stops after picking up Belinda but the two didn't pay any attention to anyone else getting one.

They were so into their reunion with each other that nothing else around them mattered.

As the bus started away from yet another pickup, a boy who had just gotten on, stopped beside the seat where Julie and Belinda were talking. Julie pulled his eyes away from Belinda for a moment to see why the boy was just standing there, staring at them.

"Terri?" he asked in surprise. Shock spreading across his face.

"What?!? No," Belinda exclaimed as he spun around to see. "No way. It really is you, but you said you weren't coming back."

Belinda leapt up and wrapped his arms around their missing third.

"Easy," Terry laughed. "I don't want to spend all week in the infirmary with a broken something because we fell on the bus. I have my reasons for being here and I missed you two. Oh, you're not going to believe this, but over Spring Break, Terry and me, we went out a couple times."

Terry turned and sat down on the edge of the seat across the aisle.

"Wait, what," Belinda questioned.

"Yeah, he figured out that I was gay and that I liked him and I ended up telling him about my dad making me come to the camp last year. He asked me if I liked dressing up as a girl, and would I do it for him if it meant I would get to go on a date with him. I agreed with out hesitating. He had his sister loan me some of her clothes and she did my hair and makeup before we went out."

"And you didn't have an issue with him only wanting to be seen with you if you looked like a girl," Julie inquired.

"Well, as long as was getting to be with him, no I didn't. It only lasted a couple weeks though, one of his buddies told him that something was off about the girl he was dating and asked him if I was really a boy. He broke up with me after that. So that's why I'm back. It may be over with Terry but it was so much easier going out with a boy when everyone around us saw me as a girl, so I want to be able to be more convincing next time. That is, if I ever find myself in that situation again. I hope I do."

"Wow," the other two commented in unison.

"Oh and don't call me Terry, reminds me too much of the painful experience of losing Terry as a friend."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Belinda sincerely apologized.

"So what should we call you then," Julie inquired.

"Poppy, call me Poppy, but enough about me," he suggested, wanting to get the attention off of himself. "What's happened to you two since last camp?"

Julie began with his story about his mom and dad and how his Dad was supporting him and the three of them prattled on until the bus reached its destination.

Once the bus stopped in front of the dining hall at Camp Wíŋtke, they all deboarded as quickly as they could. Glancing across the camp, they saw the gaggle of new campers all watching them arrive.

Julie waved and called out, "Hey Counsellor Amy!"

Amy waved back from across the way, where she was sitting on top of a picnic table, giving the newbies a class on how to sit ladylike in a skirt.

Julie smiled, rembering that same class from last year.

Another counselor introduced herself as Alyssa and began calling names, giving the returning campers their cabin assignments.

Julie, Belinda and Poppy were once again together in the same cabin. This time in Leotie (Blossoming Flower of the Prairie) Cabin. Their beds were three in a row and their closets already had their chosen name on them.

Julie went to his closet and quickly inventoried his wardrobe. He found everything he had asked for and quickly changed into a pleated skirt, there would be no skorts this time, a padded bra and a pastel multi-colored crop top tee shirt that exposed just a hint of belly skin. He looked over the dresses he had selected for dinner each evening, especially admiring the long black asymmetrical formal he had chosen for the final night.

"Ready to go get some lunch?" Belinda asked once he was done changing into a pink fitted t-shirt, training bra, sandals, and a micro miniskirt with black lycra yoga pants underneath.

"Yup," Julie replied with a grin before turning to look at their friend. "Poppy?"

"Yeah, I guess so," Poppy replied as he pulled on a rainbow striped, knee length, flared skirt and slipped his feet into a pair of matching trainers.

The three headed out the door and down the path, arm in arm, off to spend another week living a bit of their own happiness.