Welcome to Escape, Colorado
The bus bounced and rattled as we headed down a worn dirt road. According to the greasy looking redhead in the seat in front of me, we were on the final stretch of road before we made it to Camp Fat Fuckers. I was grateful that we were getting close to our destination, because I was willing to bet all the cash in my wallet that the bus would fall apart if we drove over another bump.
The redheaded whipped her head from left to right, trying to get a good view out of each window. Unlike everyone else on the bus—me and the two girls who were sobbing in the back row—she seemed excited to be there. Her excitement was only making me more annoyed, if that was even possible. I did my best not to look out of the window. I had even stacked my duffle bags up on the seat next to me so that it was partially obscured. I didn’t want to see the rolling mountains or the picturesque scenery the brochure had bragged about. I didn’t even want to be on the bus in the first place, but here I was. I made a mental list of all of the things I could have been doing at this very moment.
1. Watching a movie with Sammy, my dog.
2. Ordering Chinese food from the little place around the corner from my house—they recognized my home phone number and knew my usual order.
3. Hanging out at India’s house, even though she hated me now after what happened before I left for the summer. I knew she wasn’t ready to forgive me, but honestly I would rather sit at her house while she yelled at me than be here. Anything would be better than being here.
The worst part was that it wasn’t even my idea to come; it was my parent’s. Because of them, I had been sent away to a camp for fat girls. It still baffles me how they thought I’d be happy about spending my summer at a fat camp in Escape, Colorado. A month ago I had never even heard of the town. It sounded fictional in my opinion, but just knowing my parents thought I needed to go was enough to make my eyes prickle with tears. I bit my bottom lip to keep it from quivering as I tilted my head down. I didn’t want to be like the two Debbie Downers in the back of the bus. I didn’t want to be here, but that didn’t mean I was going to be a baby about it. I was going to suck it up and get through these two months. I needed to prove that I wasn’t the fat slob my parents so obviously thought I was.
The bus bounced again, shaking and rattling. My head bobbed and from the corner of my eye I could see a flash of blue. Without thinking, I turned towards the window and leaned around my tower of duffle bags to see outside. To the left of the road we were on was a steep slope that descended into a placid blue lake. I clenched my jaw to keep it from dropping as my eyes widened. The lake was surrounding by trees and in the distance were mountains peaking in the sky. I could feel my anger beginning to dissipate so I averted my gaze quickly. I wasn’t ready to stop being mad at my parents for springing this on me and ruining my summer plans—no matter how miniscule they were.
I kept picturing my parents when they told me they were shipping me off. They had been sitting in the living room when I got home from school on the last day. I had known something was wrong instantly. The tension in the air was so thick I felt like I could barely walk through it as I made my way over to them. As if it wasn’t strange enough that my workaholic parents were both home in the middle of the day, Mom was also refusing to look at me. She was tenser than I had ever seen her before. Her hands were folded together on her lap and her back was as stiff as a board as she sat on the love seat with my dad; her eyes averted as Dad asked me to take a seat across from them. A feeling of pure, unadulterated terror had washed over me as I took a seat, my butt sinking just a little too far into our plush sofa. All of the bad stuff I had done in my lifetime flashed through my mind. Did they know about the time I had smoked cigarettes with India in her tree house? Did they know about the time I had let Bobby Garrison from down the street feel me up in his car? Did they hear me in the bathroom two nights ago?
I had bit into my bottom lip as my dad began talking. It had all been a blur. I wasn’t even listening anymore once they handed me the brochure for the Escape Reality Wellness Camp. All I saw were the words “Exercise” and “Camp” and I knew what it was. They were sending me away to get back the athletic daughter they once had. The fatter version of myself was an embarrassment.
I read the brochure cover to cover until every word was practically engrained in my mind. Dad was still blabbing on and on about stuff I didn’t care about as I looked at every picture and read the five star reviews on the back page. I didn’t care how “relaxing and wonderful” the camp was or how much weight one reviewer lost without even trying. Nothing could make me want to go, but apparently I didn’t have a choice.
“It’s for the best,” Mom had muttered at the end of Dad’s speech on why this was a good thing. She hadn’t even looked at me the entire time. Now, thanks to them, I was stuck here and they were probably enjoying life without their horrendously overweight daughter who eats all of the leftovers in the middle of the night and looks like a stuffed sausage in family photos. I felt like I was going to be sick at the thought of them living it up and enjoying my absence.
Another excited yelp from the chick in front of me brought me out of my mental reverie. It was hard to ignore my idyllic surroundings when she wouldn’t stop squealing, but I was thankful for the distraction from my thoughts. If I thought about my parents anymore I would probably end up crying after all. I was supposed to make friends while I was here, but I had already decided I didn’t like this girl and if everyone was like her then the idea of making friends at all would be nearly impossible. How could someone be so happy to be sent away to a hellhole like Camp Fat Fuckers for the summer? When we passed by a little rickety wooden sign that boasted, “Welcome to Escape, Colorado”—where the population is a whopping 703 people—she practically lost her mind screaming that we only had twenty minutes left. And from the sound of it this wasn’t even her first time going. She kept mumbling the directions under her breath just before each turn.
“And a right at the end of this road,” she’d murmur just loud enough for me to hear, as if she thought I would be impressed by her memory. Instead, all I wanted to do was choke her with her own greasy tresses.
I resisted the urge to lean forward and hold her still as the bus made a turn and pulled into a gravel driveway. The bus sputtered and squealed as it jerked to a stop. Grease-head stood up so fast I could see sparks flying from her body as she grabbed her bags, slid out of her seat, and hurried down the aisle to get off the bus. I followed at a much slower speed, taking my sweet time as I hefted my two duffle bags onto my shoulders and trudged after her.
“Enjoy your vacation, sweetie,” the old bus driver said to me in a chipper voice as I passed by. I forced a smile at her as I nodded in response. Enjoy my vacation my ass, I thought as I stepped off the bus, my feet hitting Colorado ground for the first time in my life. Yesterday my parents had driven me to a bus station on the outskirts of Arizona, nearly a day’s drive from our home in Tucson, where the camp’s bus stopped to pick me up. There were certain stops that the bus could go to, but we had to pay extra for the bus service to come pick us up from whichever one was closest to us.
The two criers from the back of the bus followed me outside; their faces still tear stained and red-nosed. They annoyed me more than Grease-head did. I wanted to yell at them to pull it together, but I held my tongue.
“Hi ladies,” a slim yet muscular woman said as we all stood in a semicircle holding our bags. Just looking at her made me want to groan. Dressed in spandex shorts that showed off her toned legs and a loose fitting t-shirt with the words, “Get Fit or Die Trying,” emblazoned across the front, she looked like the type of girl who woke up at six every morning to go on runs. These days, that was the type of girl I hated.
Her chestnut brown hair was pulled up into a high ponytail and there was a genuine smile on her face. “I’m Kelsey. As some of you may already know,” she paused, giving Grease-head a wink before adding, “I’m the camp director here. I’m going to show you all to your cabins and let you set your stuff down and then we’ll take a tour of the camp. How’s that sound?”
Almost as fun as sticking a fork in my eye, I thought, hefting my bag up higher on my shoulder. The straps were digging into me uncomfortably, making me wince.
“Need help with that?” Kelsey asked, stepping toward me with her hand outstretched to take one of my bags. There was a glint in her brown eyes that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
I nodded slowly as I handed her a bag. Was this a trap? Was she going to take the bag and throw it like a javelin at my stomach and then laugh until I cried? I wasn’t sure, but I was willing to take the risk. Anything was better than being forced to carry both bags for who knows how long.
Kelsey took the bag easily, her smile never faltering. Not even when I didn’t say thank you. She just slipped the bag over her arm and proceeded to lead us to our cabins. If I didn’t know how heavy that bag was I would’ve thought it was empty considering how light she made it seem.
As I trudged along behind my fellow campers and Kelsey, I eavesdropped on the conversation she was having with Grease-head. Apparently her real name was Peyton. I learned this just a few moments before I learned that she was my roommate for the duration of the summer. Peyton was talking to Kelsey as if they were old friends and had asked who she was rooming with. Lucky for me—not—Kelsey had pulled a folded piece of paper from her pocket and, after looking at it, said, “Looks like you’re staying with Abby Montgomery.”
I actually groaned. Thankfully, neither Kelsey nor Peyton heard me, and if they had they did a good job of pretending they hadn’t. Only a few paces behind the two weepy girls from the bus, I finally let out a tear of my own. My anger at being forced here had finally become too much to bear and was bubbling over. I let another tear fall from my lashes before I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands. For the first time since I found out I was being sent to summer camp, I actually tried to look on the bright side. At this point, I was willing to do anything to keep myself from dissolving into a blubbering mess. I didn’t need anyone here thinking I was weak when that wasn’t the case at all.
I sucked in a deep breath, filling my lungs with the crisp mountain air. The sun was shining down through the trees that surrounded us, warming my skin everywhere it touched. I thought about the lake I had seen during the bus ride. I had always loved swimming. Maybe being near the lake and getting to swim wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe Peyton will end up becoming my best friend and we will laugh at the fact that I hated her instantly and nicknamed her Grease-head. Maybe I’ll like it here so much that I’ll cry on the last day of camp and make plans to return next summer. The thought brought a smile to my face. In fact, I actually laughed out loud.
Yeah, like that will ever happen.