Chapter Two: Monday

Tamar meets the Youth Group

This is part of a middle-grade fiction series about a group church-camp teenagers who experience a mystical phenomenon. It’s a silly and light-hearted series, but your middle-grader might also find themselves better inspired to practice the fruits of the spirit. If you’d like to read all the chapters, visit here.

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Mom woke everyone up at five-thirty in the morning. She quietly told them, “I want you all to get in the showers before there’s any long lines.” 

They share the cabin with two other families with younger children. 

A pink glow radiated from the shadows through the windows over her bunk. Tamar couldn’t remember it ever being this light in the early morning. She decided it must have something to do with the tapioca bubbles. 

Tamar’s brothers grumbled. “It’s too early to shower.”

“Better do it now,” Mom said. “And find some clean clothes.”

Grandpa said, “Listen to your mother, or I’ll have to use my water gun.” 

Tamar unrolled a clean dress out of her suitcase, and hurried to the family restroom before her brothers could hog all the stalls. She couldn’t help but enjoy their disgruntled, disheveled appearances. If Mom kept them that way they were too engaged to devise up ideas to pester her. 

According to the schedule, there was a youth class before breakfast at six o’clock. She hadn't thought to scout out where it would be last night, so she hurriedly showered and dressed, and left the cabin just as her mother was directing her brothers into the shower.  

It was summer, but as soon as Tamar stepped outside she regretted not bringing a jacket. The morning air was clogged with a cold mist, and her damp skin and wet hair were no help at thwarting shivers. 

Unlike last night, the camp seemed empty of people, and there was nobody to see, much less anyone to follow. She wandered in the direction she hoped the morning Bible study would be. 

“Hey, Tamar! Where ya goin’”

Tamar shoved her shoulders up. “I dunno. Devotions?” 

Ariel was kind enough to not laugh as she said, “You’re going in the wrong direction. C’mon. I’ll show you the way.” 

“Thanks.”

Tamar pivoted, and fell into step beside her new friend. 

“How’d you sleep last night?” 

“It was hot, but I fell asleep almost as soon as I got in bed.” 

Ariel laughed, “Crazy how it’s so cold this morning, yeah?” 

“No kidding. How’d you sleep?”

Ariel kicked at the dirt. “Ugh, we girls stayed up way too late talking. But I didn’t sleep too bad for the couple of hours I did close my eyes.”

And this was why Tamar didn’t want to be here. Seriously, why would her mother make her miss half of the camp experience over some silly fears? It wasn’t like teenage girls would eat Tamar’s heart or anything. 

They passed the cabins to an open court. A group of youth their age and an older man sat on logs around a dead campfire on the other side. Tamar and Ariel quickened their pace and crossed the court to the others. 

“Hello, Ariel. Who's your friend?” The old man asked. 

“Hi guys!” Ariel waved at everyone. “This is Mr Geil’s granddaughter, Tamar.”

“Glad to have you join us, Tamar. I’m Grant Cowell.” 

Tamar nodded. She hid her hands behind her back, and stared at her feet. She felt so small and out of place. Tamar followed Ariel to an empty log stump. She tried to raise her eyes and force herself to make eye contact with anyone so as not to appear to be awkward.

There were so many boys. And not like brother-boys, but real boys that looked nice enough to date. 

“Why don’t we start out by introducing ourselves? Share your name and something about yourself.” Mr. Cowell said. “I’ll start. My name is Grant Cowell, and I’ve been a youth pastor at this camp for nearly fifteen years. I’ve been trying to keep bees, but these days it seems the bees would rather keep me away from their honey.” 

Tamar laughed with the rest of the group of kids, and doing so she forgot her moment of awkwardness and looked up … right into the face of a boy. He returned her smile.

Tamar retreated, but she was no longer cold. 

“Ok, let’s go on from the left.” Mr. Cowell pointed to the girl next to him. 

A girl about Tamar’s age grinned down on the group with the confidence of someone in her thirties. She was almost as tall as the boys, and her blonde hair was streaked with blue, purple, and light pink. Like a mermaid. “I’m Rayne. I like organizing parties and then kicking everyone out so I can clean up the mess without anything getting broken.”

Tamar almost laughed… but no else laughed, so she didn’t know if Rayne was serious or not. 

Next was another girl Tamar’s age. She wore a thick brown sweater that said I love Jesus. “Hi, I’m Faye. Unlike my cousin, I don’t like parties. Or cleaning. I hate water, too. Besides that I like everything there is to like. I especially love pie. Oh, and I love hot peppers dipped in peanut butter.”

“Ew,” Several people said. 

Ariel was next in line. “I’m Ariel, and I like parties, but not cleaning up after them. I love road trips and eating caramel corn.”

Tamar said, “I’m Tamar. My name means “date” as in the fruit not… anything else.” Tamar shuffled in her seat as several kids smirked at her, including the boy she’d made eye contact with. She said, “It’s the only food I don’t like. My family doesn’t really do parties… but we spend a lot of our time in the van traveling for my dad’s work. I guess that’s kinda like partying? But I always have a book, so I guess I’m that girl that reads at parties?” 

“You can read in the car?” Ariel asked. 

“Yeah.”

“Man, you go girl,” Faye said. 

“I’d totally spill my guts,” Ariel added, impressed. 

The girl on the other side of Tamar was older, probably closer to the boy’s age. “My name is Gretchen and I like fashion and art. I’m the only one not related to anyone here.”

“Besides me,” Tamar piped up.

“Oh yeah,” Gretchen chuckled. She didn’t look at Tamar, though, but at the boys. 

Ariel whispered to Tamar, “We have a saying here at camp. ‘Everyone’s related to somebody, or aiming to be’.” 

Tamar giggled.

There were two boys left. The first one wore glasses. “My name is Cameron. I like nature, computers, and books. I’m your text-book nerd, except I don’t get offended by it.” 

“That’s the youth pastor’s nephew,” Ariel said to Tamar. 

And the last one to introduce himself was the boy Tamar was trying not to look at again. He seemed to be a little older than her, closer to Gretchen’s age. He sat easily, his green eyes moving evenly around the circle. “Hey, everyone. I’m Declan, Faye’s brother. I just started school for journalism, but I also like getting my hands in real dirt.”

Tamar laughed loudly, as did every other girl, except Faye.

As soon as the laughter ended, before anyone started a rabbit trail, Mr. Cowell said, “Does anyone know the theme of this week?”

Most everyone shook their heads. So Mr. Cowell looked at Ariel. Of course she’d know as her dad was the pastor. 

She said “Together we are Bigger.” 

“That’s right. In the mornings we won’t be focusing on that as much as simply praying for God to grant us strength in our day activities, but I want you all to keep that in mind. Because it’s a lesson that laps into every part of our life.”

Tamar tried to listen, but it was hard. Not that Mr. Cowell’s words weren’t interesting, but… she wondered what the others around her were like, and if any of them would be friends with her… and if any of the boys thought she was pretty… and… She snapped her eyes back toward the youth leader, trying to remind herself to stay focused on God. 

But… yeah… that was hard. 

“Why don’t we open today out with a prayer?” Mr. Cowell said. 

And so as Tamar bowed her head, she prayed that God would capture her thoughts and keep them this morning for Himself and away from all distractions. And for it to be easy to make friends with the others. 

As soon as devotions were finished, Ariel and Tamar walked together to the cafeteria. “Want to sit with us girls?” Arial pointed to a table where Rayne, Faye, and Gretchen already sat.

“I… dunno.” Tamar replied, looking for her mother. “Mom might want me to help with my brothers.” She didn’t want to add, And she most likely won’t like it either. But it was probably clear.

“Can you ask her? I’ll come with you.” Ariel rocked on her tip toes. 

Tamar couldn’t say no, and her friend’s enthusiasm strengthened her. “All right.” 

As soon as Tamar saw her mother, she knew what the answer would be. Still, she asked. “Mom, Ariel asked if I could sit with her for breakfast. Can I?” 

Mrs. Geil turned away from one of the little boys. Her eyes squinted at Tamar. Tamar could never understand what her mother was thinking or feeling, but she often tried to guess. Right now her mother was probably annoyed that Tamar would even dare ask.

“I guess that’s fine. Just come see if I need help once you’re done eating,” her mother said.

Tamar blinked, but she wasn’t going to ask “really?” and chance her mother saying no. 

“Yay!” Ariel said at her side. 

Tamar grinned and hurried away with Ariel to the breakfast line. So far only the youth were there… adults were still meandering about, or helping serve food in the kitchen. 

“I can’t believe she said it was okay,” Tamar said. 

“You act like your mother is the wicked witch of the West,” Ariel said. 

Tamar didn’t deny it. 

Ariel opened her mouth, something serious growing over her face. But then she shut her lips, as if deciding whatever she had to say wasn’t worth it. 

Tamar might have pestered Ariel for an answer if Rayne hadn’t turned around and said, “Okay. So tell me about yourself, Tamar.”

“I… uh… what?” 

“What do you like doing? Besides reading, of course.” 

“Um… I don’t know.”

Rayne tried a new approach. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” 

Tamar had thought about this a lot, of course, but she still didn’t really know. There were so many options. “Guess, I don’t know that either.”

Rayne snorted. “Girl, we’re fourteen already. You gotta know what you love by now.”

“Ignore her. She’s had her life planned out perfectly since the moment she was born,” Ariel said. 

Tamar tried not to giggle, but suppressing her humor would have meant hiding her face. 

“And that’s bad?” Rayne said. “Hey, it’s good to know what you love. Me? Well, I want to go to law school, and it’s a good thing I know that now because I’ve got to start preparing now.” 

“Oh, that’s neat,” Tamar sincerely said. 

“Yeah, super neat,” Ariel said. “Imagine having a whole room full of people just waiting to hear you speak your mind.” 

Faye snickered next to Rayne. “I can imagine that. And know what? Rayne will beat them down, like Noah’s flood pouring from her mouth.”

It took Tamar a moment. “Is that supposed to be a pun on Rayne’s name?”

“Ha ha.” Rayne rolled her eyes. She wrapped her arms around her cousin’s shoulder. “I’m dragging Faye to school with me, so we can save the world together.” 

Faye playfully pushed away, then said to Tamar. “Only reason I’ve agreed to do that is because I totally don’t want to go along with her first career choice… olympic swimming. Ugh. That would mean being in the water.”

Tamer smiled at that. Rayne did look more like a mermaid than a lawyer. Looks aside… Yeah, Rayne was lawyer material. 

Declan peaked over Faye’s shoulder, putting his chin down into the crack of her shoulder. “Don’t worry, little sis. Kids always change their minds a dozen times before they enter college. And then statistically they change their minds hundreds of more times during college.”

“Not me,” Gretchen piped up. “I’ve always wanted to be a model.”

“Or me,” Cameron said. 

“Um. I didn’t know you had a career in mind?” Declan said. 

“That’s because I’ve always been set against doing anything.”

Everyone laughed except for Rayne who harrumphed loudly. 

It looked like Tamar wouldn’t just be eating with the girls. Not that she minded the boys joining them. They got their food, then made their way to the table. 

As soon as they all sat down, the kids began discussing what Mr. Cowell shared this morning, laughing at old jokes and sharing new ones. They got stuck on the topic of the week though and how excited they were to explore it. 

Though Gretchen was the oldest girl in the group, she hardly spoke. But maybe that was because, despite age, Rayne owned the space around her wherever she went. One had to give it to the girl; she knew her stuff. 

Rayne was talking about how to change the world. “I think half of a sincere individual's frustration is the fact that they can’t do anything alone. I mean, I can’t change corruption if I’m the only good lawyer out there. That’s why I need Faye. And Declan for his honest reports. And Cameron for his whatever-I’m-not-doing-but-it’s-nerdy-and-smart-and-actually-big-as-in-computer-big-secret-project.”

“Not true,” Cameron insisted. 

Tamar’s curiosity piqued. 

“So, yeah, we need each other,” Rayne continued, ignoring Cameron. “But that doesn’t excuse us from doing nothing when there’s no one else around, yes?”

That gave pause to the conversation for a moment. 

Then Declan nodded. “I see what you mean. In a perfect world, we’d all work together and make things work. But then also in a perfect world, if we all worked together there’d be nothing to fix?”

“Because everything would be perfect?” Gretchen added. 

“So,” Declan said. “Sometimes we are forced to work alone, because no one else will accept their calling. And of course, our weaknesses might cause us to fail, but we still have to do it.”

“Like becoming martyrs,” Cameron muttered. 

“Exactly,” Rayne said. 

“I think I’d be too afraid to act all on my own,” Faye whispered. 

“Which means you’d be the bravest of us all,” Declan smiled toward his sister.

She half smiled back, but something was definitely bugging her. 

Tamar couldn’t help having the feeling that there was something much deeper under this conversation. She just wasn’t sure what. She was impressed. She didn’t expect these kids to take things so seriously. Most other youth activities she’d participated in never talked about the spiritual teachings after the youth pastor was gone. All the same, there was something more under the surface.

Ariel finally spoke—she seemed unusually quiet up to this moment, Tamar noted. “Well, at least we don’t have to save the world this week, am I right? Who’s excited for the field trip tomorrow?”

A show of hands went around, so Tamar put hers up even though she wasn’t sure what the field trip was. As soon as hands were back down, she asked. “What are we doing tomorrow?”

“Didn’t you raise your hand?” Declan raised an eyebrow, smirking. 

Tamar bit her lip, shrugging, hoping her cheeks didn’t show her embarrassment. They probably did. 

“We’re going caving,” Ariel said. “And it’s going to be a blast! 

…

The next installment is published on the first Monday of next month.

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