The Life of Corinne P. : Chapter 5

Corinne clutched her stuff. Taking a deep breath, as if she was going to play one long note on the clarinet, she looked out the door.
There was too much to see. There was a lake, cabins, a big green field of grass, a building with seats outside it that Corinne assumed was the dining hall, and much, much, more.
A counselor who was standing outside of the bus, just beyond Kenna and Corinne looked at Kenna. "Six?" she asked. "Cabin 7." 
"But I'm not six!" Kenna protested.
The counselor sighed. "Seven? With me." She eyed Corinne and Nory, who had just come out of the bus. "Wait for your turn," she said strictly, and Corinne was reminded of Lora. 
As the strict counselor walked away, another took her place. "How old are you?" she asked Nory.

"Eleven," Nory answered. The counselor pointed her towards a clutch of green cabins in the distance and said,"Cabin 11."
"That's her age!" Corinne exclaimed, but the counselors took no notice. Nory walked toward her cabin.
"What about me?!" Corinne screamed. No one looked at her. No one checked to make sure she was still there.
Corinne felt sad. Everyone was going off to their cabins without her. What could she do?
Just then, a counselor noticed Corinne. "Cabin 14," she said to Corinne. "If you're 10."
Corinne nodded. She was ready.

The Life of Corinne P. : Chapter 4

Corinne Packel had her bags packed. Standing beside her were Nory and Kenna. Behind them stood Jesse, smelling fresh from the shower he'd just taken. In supervising position, a.k.a. the front step, sat Lora, criticizing every move. "That's dangerous, Kenna," she'd said sharply the second Kenna put her foot on the knotted tree, ready to climb. Now she was watching Jesse closely in case he would kick up a cloud of dry summer dust. She claimed it would ruin his freshly washed hair when the dust, having been kicked up, barely reached up to his knees. 
Corinne hummed a few notes from Tepre Aupre, a song she'd recently learned to play on the clarinet, her chosen instrument. She suddenly remembered something. "Can you go get my clarinet?" she asked Lora, as horrified as if it had already been lost. As Lora rushed inside, the buses pulled up, with Camp Rhiswile printed on their sides. Corinne chose the closest one and stepped inside as the doors closed around Corinne and the others. "Goodbye, home," she whispered. "I'll remember to write you letters."

*  *  *

Only as Corinne stepped  into the waiting bus did she realize how hot it had been outside. They'd been playing and hadn't much considered the heat. The bus had fans blowing soft, sweet air into the atmosphere. Corinne sighed. Her eight years in Philadelphia had taught her to handle the "slightly warm" air. They hadn't owned a fan since Corinne was a baby.

"Should we sit together?" Nory asked Corinne, bringing her back to the present time. Corinne nodded, uncertain. Kenna had already found a seat next to a boy who was making toot noises with his lips that Corinne found rude. Nory, though, did not seem to agree. "That's how you play a trumpet," she informed the boy. Nory played the horn and had tried the trumpet. She should know, thought Corinne.
Nory motioned to a seat near the back of the bus. "Too bad we can't sit with Kenna," she said unhappily. "She tells the funniest stories."
"Now look who gets to enjoy them," Corinne said. She pointed to the boy Kenna had decided to sit with, who was laughing at something she'd said.
The ride was uneventful. When the bus stopped, everyone got up, trying to beat each other to the door. Kenna was one of the first to make it to the door. When she did, she turned back. "Come and see our new camp," she whispered to Corinne.