A starry summer||Chapter 4|| Dinnertime!

Instructions

The hall is big- probably the biggest part of camp. There are many, many, many, tables of four. I think me and Millie are the last people there as there are only two seats left. Next to two boys. Honestly, I don’t think this day could get any worse. I mean, I’m not sexist or anything- but I haven’t exactly had good experiences with boys my age. The boys in my form really like to bully me, and my form tutor doesn’t do anything about it. One of the boys has tanned skin and chocolate brown hair. His eyes are warm and blue, but the boy next to him is the opposite. The other boy has pale skin, black hair, and weirdly yellow eyes. Is that even possible?!? “Heh. Yeah… boys often tell me I should go to hell so… I get it.” Smiles Millie. I realise I’m staring at them, and the brown haired boy is staring right back. I glance away, having the paranoia that he thinks I’m into him. God, Millie’s a mind reader. I nod, looking down, and she drags us over to the table. We sit down, in silence for about five seconds before the brown haired boy smiles, and says; “Hi… I’m Jack… who are you?”. “I’m Millie- pronouns she/her.” says Millie. I open my mouth to speak, but no words fall out. “And that’s Ella, who also uses she/her pronouns!” Millie fills in for me, being my saviour once again. I look between the two boys, and I notice something. The one with the unnaturally yellow eyes has a pin on their shirt. I don’t know what it’s for, but it has black, grey, and green stripes. He obviously catches me looking at it, because he says; “it’s the agender flag. I’m called Ari, and I’m agender- I don’t have a gender, and I use xe/xem pronouns.” Well I didn’t even know that was possible. Good for xem. “Ooo ok… let’s talk singers,” says Millie. “Who’s your favourite artist? I like Taylor swift!”. “Umm… I quite like star-switch!” Says Jack excitedly. He says it loudly, and realising such, he blushes, snapping into shyness. “What’s that?” Says Ari. “Oh… um, it’s just a band that I like. They do slow rock music.”. “Well, um, I don’t really listen to music that much…” I mutter, not really used to company. Ari doesn’t say anything, xe just rolls xer eyes. A tall, skinny, pale woman with Green, piercing eyes, and thick blond hair tumbling down to her shoulders. “Boys and girls, settle down!” She yells from the top of the hall. I don’t recognise her, so she must be new. Ari stands up, and Millie stiffles a laugh. “George Baker! Sit down!” She screams. Ari rolls xer eyes, and finally sits which xe seems to do a lot. Wait…George… that’s why Ari looks so familiar! There was a boy here named George last here… sure xe has died xer hair, and wears a lot more black than last year, but I know who xe is now… but xer everything George was not! Xe loved tennis, learning about the moon, and secretly loved Sabrina Carpenter! Xe didn’t even recognise me! Maybe xe wanted a fresh start? Well, that woman just ruined that for xem. “Right.” Says the woman. “I am Josephine, but please address me as ‘Madam’.” I don’t like her already. “You all are here for Summer Space Camp. Not shenanigans. That means no sneaking out after curfew, no going into the cabins of others, and- I’ve been told this happened last year- no kissing whatsoever.” Josephine instructs sternly. A few kids giggle, I’m guessing from the last part. “You may now all get your dinner, starting with table three.” Josephine gestures to Maya and Poppy’s table. Then, another person stands up. She’s tall, with dark brown hair and tanned skin. She smiles sweetly, and I have to stop myself choking on my water. Lilly Collins is back.