sleep away at Camp Wiŋtke

Chapter 14

The following morning Julie awoke before the counselor came in for wake up call.

He sat up in the bed and sadly realized, just as every morning, his prayers still hadn't been answered.

Turning to the side, Julie slid his legs out from the covers and let them hang over the side. He sat there for awhile and just thought about everything he had done so far this week and how he didn't want it to ever end.

After a few minutes, the cabin door opened and a counselor walked in. She flipped on all the lights and in a loud voice, called for everyone to rise and shine.

Julie shielded his eyes from the sudden bright light and sat there for another minute more, before slipping his feet into a pair of bright yellow shower shoes and gathering his things to go shower.

After breakfast this morning, the same thing happened as it had every day this week. Julie and Belinda went to a class and Terry went off on his own to find something else to do. The only difference today was that Terry couldn't wait to get to wherever he was going.

In class, Julie and Belinda found out they would be given lessons on hair care and styling. There were several counselors in the class and they would be assisting the campers with their hairstyles.

Some of the campers, it was revealed, would be getting a special surprise, something extra that their parents had paid more for.

Everyone would be learning how style their hair in unmistakably feminine styles, regardless of its current length, but some would be receiving the add-on package; a new feminine cut and/or highlights and a couple campers would even be getting their ears pierced.

Julie's heart skipped a beat. He had let his hair grow over the summer, even though his parents had kept telling him he needed to get it cut. Now it looked as though his decision had been the absolutely best decision he could have made.

He knew there was no way his parents would have paid for a feminine cut and style, but because his hair was almost collar length, he'd still be able to achieve a really cute look with nothing more than a brush, a curling iron, and a few styling products.

Moments later, a counselor called out three names. Just as Julie suspected, his name wasn't one of them . . . but to their surprise and delight, Belinda's was.

Julie squealed and clapped for Belinda as he was escorted to another room with a look of shock on his face.

While Belinda was gone, Julie learned how to properly wash, condition and care for his hair, so that it was always soft and bouncy. He also learned to braid his hair in several different styles, and how to use a curling iron, flat iron, and spiral iron to create many different looks.

Thanks to him defying his parents, he now had erased all traces of masculinity from his head, with beautiful bouncy curls.

When Belinda finally returned, Julie was amazed at what she saw. Belinda stood before Julie with the same shocked look on his face. He delighted over Julie's beautiful, feminine curls.

Julie greeted Belinda with even more enthusiasm, gushing about how amazing Belinda looked with his cute new short, wavy pixie cut.

"I didn't think your mom approved of your feminine side, Belinda." Julie commented.

"Me either. I'm in shock. I wonder what this means now?"

"Whatever it is, don't try to over analyse it right now, just enjoy it. Either way, she paid extra for you to get to have this." Julie reached over and ran his fingers through Belinda's hair, combing it away from his face on one side as he continued to tell Belinda how lucky he was to have a mom they would do this for him.

The rest of the day, Belinda was on cloud nine. Nothing could have brought him down from the euphoric happiness he was feeling. Julie, on the other hand, was happy for his friend, yet at the same time, felt a tinge of jealousy. He desperately wished he would have also been able to get a special style, along with Belinda.

When Terry saw Belinda's hair, he told Belinda that it made him look like a really pretty girl, and he was just glad that it wasn't him that had to go through that.

At dinner, Julie got a few compliments from some of the other campers, about his curls, but nothing like all the attention and positive comments Belinda received.

One table over from the group, sat the other two campers who's names had been called for the special package. Julie was just as jealous of them as he was of Belinda, if not more. Not only had they both gotten special cuts and styles along with Belinda, but one of them had also ended up with his brown hair dyed blonde, along with twelve inch extentions, and long dangly, multi strand, chandelier earrings dangling from his lobes. The other was now sporting tiny diamond studs that reflected bursts of sparkling light every time he turned his head.