ON THE BUS RIDE HOME from camp, I read all the letters that Hana, Zoe, and Alice put in the memory box for me.
I can’t even believe that camp is over and everyone is going home. That all of the bunks will be empty when they were filled with so much love and so much happiness for so long.
I have to go the full eight weeks next summer. I need to take advantage of the magic and be there for as long as they’ll let me.
I don’t even feel like the same person I was before I left, but the weird part is that I didn’t sense myself changing. I didn’t know when it was happening. I just know that I feel different now.
Dear Arianna,
You’re the best person ever. I am so glad I met you this summer. Everyone at camp loved you, and you fit right in immediately. That never happens. Thanks for teaching me to sing with my hairbrush, to twirl my spaghetti, and to do the tree pose in yoga without falling over. I miss you soooooo much already.
I love you forever, Zoe
Arianna, love of my life:
Why are you so amazing? I don’t even know. From the second I saw you get off the bus in your heart sunglasses, I just knew you were going to be the coolest, chillest girl in the world. You came to camp and didn’t know anyone, and it wasn’t even a big deal. You have the best hair and the best socks, and we were so tired of being a trio, so thank you for making us a foursome.
XOXOXOXO AlKal (Alice J. Kalman, the fabuloso)
ARIANNA NODBERG! Did you know about this tradition before you came to camp? You can never throw out these letters. You are obligated to save them forever, and then on the last night of our last summer, we read them all to each other. So don’t throw this out! Okay? Thank you for coming to camp. We all love you and think you’re amazing. I will miss you soooooo much.
LOVE YOU FOREVER!!!!!!!
Hana Elizabeth Bergman
We’re only halfway through the bus ride home and I’m sobbing. I’ve only known these girls for four weeks, but it feels like we’re linked together forever. I don’t understand how that happens. I’ve gone to school with girls for years and years and I like them and everything, but it’s not like this.
Maybe it’s different when you live with people. When you see them in the morning and at night, in towels and in pajamas. When you eat all your meals together and stay up late talking and doing activities. Maybe that’s how you go from a friend-friend to a soul-mate-friend.
I want to tell Kaylan all of these things, and share every detail of camp with her, but I’m not sure I’ll be able to. I don’t want her to get jealous. I don’t want her to feel like she’s been replaced.
How can you tell your best friend you had the most amazing four weeks of your whole life without her?
I don’t think you can.