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His eyes narrowed. And just like before, mine narrowed right back. A silent battle. Very mature.

“Moving on,” he said.

One by one, campers went around the circle. Name. Age. Hometown. Fun fact.

Some girl could bend her thumb backwards until it touched her wrist. A boy had broken his nose four times. Someone owned fourteen chickens. A kid named Liam had been on local television because his grandmother got arrested for organizing hate crimes on gay people—couldn’t quite tell if he was proud or embarrassed. There were some cool responses and some lame ones. People getting arrested seemed cool enough to me, though.

Then the girl beside me went. Her name was Riley. Fifteen. Purple streaks in her hair. Silver ring through one eyebrow. Played bass? Damn. I could shred my Strat with her any day.

I looked away before she caught me staring. Only to realize it was my turn. Ew. I stayed where I was. The field went quiet. I could feel the counselors’ matching glares without looking.

“Ellory,” the douche said my name in that irritated way he always did. “It’s your turn.”

“I know.”

“Then go.”

“You’re very demanding.”

“I’ve been told.”

“Every day,” his co-counselor added from behind him.

Counselor Douche Canoe slowly turned his head. “You want to run this?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then hush.”

“Hush?”

I rolled my eyes. This could continue for hours if nobody intervened. Unfortunately, I knew that from experience. I stepped slightly forward. “My name is Ellory.”

He waited and I huffed.

“I’m fourteen. I’m from… here.” I waved an arm around. “Born and raised.”

Riley glanced at me, and I pretended not to notice.

“I like horror movies, punk music, drawing things that get concerned looks from teachers, and not doing group activities.”

Someone laughed, but the lead counselor folded his arms over his chest expectantly. “And?”

“That was plenty.”

“One interesting fact, El.”

“I just gave you several.”

“Interests are not facts.”

“That feels unnecessarily technical.”

His co-counselor scratched at his jaw, hiding a smile. I ignored him too.

“Ellory…”

“Ugh. Fine.” I glanced around the circle. Most people looked nervous. Some bored. A few were trying way too hard to seem cooler than they were. Standard teenage ecosystem. I shrugged. “I’m a lesbian.”