Mark and Anna sat in the back seat of the Volvo for the 10 minute drive to where they were to catch the bus.
Mrs K was already teary about the idea of "Losing my daughter for the next 3 weeks". She thought Mark (in Anna's body) was quiet for the same reason. In reality Mark was regretting everything that had happened for the last 24 hours. Had he/she really condemned himself to being female for the next few weeks? What had he been thinking? And these shoes? Why did girls where high heels? Twice already she had turned her ankle.
Anna, in Jennifer's body in contrast was quite chatty. She had openly praised the dress Mark was wearing 'What a fantastic dress. Where did you get it from? It looks sensational on you'
This of course made Mrs K really happy as Anna had already told Mark that her Mum had bought the dress for her especially for this occasion.
When they finally arrived at the departure point Mrs K got all teary once more and insisted on hugging Mark to her ample bosum while Mr K unloaded their baggage. Anna was in conversation with someone official looking. Mark noticed her handing the form they had filled out last night (with fake signatures from "Jennifer's" parents). The official seemed to be shaking her head. Something was wrong but Mark couldn't get away from Mrs K to find out what the problem was.
Eventually with all the bags lined up beside one of the buses. Mr K returned. 'Come on dear, it's time we went. The girls are all set. They will be wanting Anna to help organise some of the younger girls, after all she is one of the leaders this year. Besides we need to get back and get Gregory (Anna's little brother) to his basketball game'
'Oh I know but it's so hard to say goodbye to my little girl'
Mr K winked at Mark 'Our daughter has grown into a beautiful young woman. We need to start releasing the shackles' with that he came across and gave Mark a brief cuddle and a kiss on her forehead. 'Stay safe my little princess'
'I will Dad' Mark replied. It seemed the right thing to say.
Mrs K gave Mark one last cuddle before Mr K dragged her away. They gave a wave to the apparent Jennifer who was still in conversation with two officials now. It didn't appear that the real Anna even noticed that her parents were leaving.
As the Volvo drove off Mark made her way over to Anna, trying to walk as Anna had instructed her. She was happy that she didn't stumble once. Her ability to walk in heels was improving rapidly.
The official who Mark had first noticed Anna talking to must have known the real Anna, that wasn't surprising. Mark knew this was a camp Anna attended every year.
'Hi Anna. Great to see you here. Your going to be my right hand girl this year' Fortunately the woman was wearing a name tag. Mark read "Heather Wilson. Co-ordinator"
"Hi Mrs Wilson"
'Now you're a leader call me Heather. Here I have a badge for you' from her handbag she withdrew a badge and handed it to Mark. Mark took it and read "Anna King Lead Assistant" She proceeded to put it on on her breast similar to where Heather was wearing her badge. 'I was just telling Jennifer here that as the leading girl you will be staying in the dormitory with the younger girls. Jennifer was wanting to be in the same dormitory as you but I'm afraid that's not possible. She will have to stay in the older girls dormitory'
'Umm I didn't know I was going to be leading girl. I would rather stay with Jennifer'
'Sorry Anna, Crystal was going to be leading girl but she pulled out only yesterday. You are the only girl I would trust with this position'
'Why can't Jennifer stay with me? She only came when I promised we would be together'
'Hmm. I'll see what I can do. Maybe I can shuffle some of the other girls around. But for the moment Jennifer will have to travel on the older girl's bus. Come let me introduce you to your charges'
Mark followed Mrs Wilson and Anna tagged along. Mark's charges proved to be Twenty 10 to 13 year old girls. She tried to glare at the real Anna for getting her into this predicament. However she had not practiced glaring with this face. Mark had no idea what sort of face she actually made. The apparent Jennifer just shrugged.
"Jennifer" was asked by Mrs Wilson to identify her luggage and transfer it to the other bus. That left Mark with the task of coralling his young charges. It was chaos as they kept running off to say goodbye to parents or needed to visit the toilet. Mark was too busy to worry about what the real Anna was up to. She had been given a list of 20 names and had to ensure each girls luggage went onto the correct bus. Then on a signal she had to ensure those 20 girls all got on the bus. Two of the girls were crying as Mark had to drag them away from their mothers. Evidently this was the first time they were separated.
I was with relief that she finally was able to tick off the last name and tell Mrs Wilson that all the girls were on the bus. She then had the task of keeping them there until the bus was ready to depart. She was relieved when Mrs Wilson was the last to board and they finally headed off. She had little time to ponder what the real Anna was up to. Her main thought was that she hadn't signed up to the task of minding pre-teens for the next 3 weeks. On the first opportunity she would swap bodies with Anna. Let Anna be the babysitter.
Anna meantime was enjoying herself introducing herself as Jennifer to friends she knew from previous camps. She had helped out with the younger girls last year and did wonder how Mark was coping. Memories of snotty nosed girls suffering separation anxiety had her chuckling to herself. As a "new girl" on camp there was no expectation on Jennifer. She knew Mrs Wilson would be seeking volunteers from the 16 and 17 year old's to help out part time with the younger girls. That was what she had done last year. She was wondering whether to volunteer when the call came, meanwhile she had a lot of her old friends to introduce "Jennifer" to. In particular there was Abby, an girl of Asian heritage who as Anna she had "experimented" with last year.
Anna checked her handbag. Sure enough the medallion was there, still in the plastic bag she had put it in last night. She was looking forward to this camp. With the aid of the medallion she was going to have a lot of fun.