Note: I am now in the process of editing this serial. The first two episodes (and the rest after they've been edited) will be posted in the serial works section.

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At lunch the next day the mess hall was a buzz with conversation. Campers exchanged excited whispers as they tried to predict who had won the prized blue bunny.

"Who cares?" Trinia said dryly flipping back a long strand of her well cared for brown hair. "It's just a dumb stuffed animal that babies play with."

Unfortunately Lathal and Tanya had gotten stuck with the prissy, stuck up, Miss Popularity, fashion queen who Lathal had described as a "Cassandra wanna be." Lathal had been involved with Girl Scouts for 10 years. Scouts had girls from all walks of life with varying personalities, including girls such as Trinia. Even though personalities often clashed and girls didn't get along, Scouts promised to try to live by the Girl Scout laws, especially "be a sister to every Girl Scout."

Lathal had learned in Girl Scouts that there were often people you didn't like but you had to live with them. This year had been her first year as a leader and she had to work with "challenge" children. And that's definitely what Trinia was a challenge.

Father Pete smiled at campers and counselors alike as he walked past the rows of tables to the stage. He sat the blue bunny on the podium and then turned on the microphone. Seeing he had everyone's attention, the priest said, "Now for the announcement I know you all have been waiting for. The judges and I inspected all the cabins while you were in religion classes this morning. Everyone did such a good job that we had a tough time deciding which cabin should win the prized blue bunny. This only the first day so if your cabin didn't win the blue bunny today there's still plenty of time. If your cabin -- and all the cabins -- keep up the good work, eventually you'll all win the blue bunny. So after careful consideration, today the prized blue bunny goes to ... Boys Cabin 5B."

"Yes," the boys cheered all at once, boasting their accomplishment by shaking their fists excitedly and playfully jabbing each other in the ribs. Malan and Billy exchanged congratulatory high and low 5s.

Brisa looked with disgust at the two men and the members of their brother cabin. "How did they do that?"

"Malan and Billy are both in ROTC," Lathal told them. "So I'm sure they had their campers scrubbing the toilets and the floors with their toothbrushes."

Amy wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Gross!"

"What's ROTC?" Trinia asked.

"The military," Robin replied with a nod of reckoning. "The military checks to see if you made your bed's made correctly by bouncing a quarter off it."

"That's absolutely ridiculous. I've never heard of anything more stupid," Trinia declared with her friends nodding in agreement.

"That's the military for you," Robin told her.

"Well, I for one am not going to tolerate our brother cabin winning the camp's award for cleanliest cabin," Brisa said.

"Yeah," Amy said trying to rally her fellow campers to their case. "What do you say girls?"

"Please," Trinia said waving her hand dismissively. "I'm not breaking my nails. Besides the world isn't going to end if we don't win the camp's top cleanliness award."

Her fellow campers looked disapprovingly at her as they followed Lathal and Tanya outside the mess hall. Brisa, Amy and Robin went over to the boys in Cabin 5A who surrounded Billy and Malan, who held onto the blue bunny.

Brisa pulled Jamal aside. "Tell me what did you guys do to win the blue bunny?"

Jamal's fellow campers Jonathan, Brian and Tim came over to defend their friend. Tim rudely shoved Brisa, "Hey, back off."

Amy stepped forward. "You can't treat my friend like that."

Tim stared at Amy coldly. "Just try and stop me."

She could take him! Amy put up her dukes. "Wanna put your money where your mouth is?"

Seeing the imminent fight, Lathal rushed over to separate the children. She demanded, "What seems to be the problem here?"

"You should have let them beat the crap out of each other," Trinia said, her hands resting on her hips. "But I'd expect as much from you, Ms. Lathal, you're such a goodie goodie you probably were never in the Teenie Weenie Polked Dotted Bikini Club."

"First, crap is a very unlady like word that is unacceptable for any of you to say," she told Trinia. "Secondly, I was in the Teenie Weenie Polked Dotted Bikini Club."

"I find that hard to believe," Trinia said with confidence.

"You find what hard to believe?" Tanya asked as she walked over to her friend.

"That Lathal was ever in the Teenie Weenie Polked Dotted Bikini Club," Trinia said, shooting the young journalist ugly looks.

"Not only was Lathal in the Teenie Weenie Polked Dotted Bikini Club," Tanya said in her friend's defense. "But she was the president."

Approaching the two friends from behind, Malan asked with concern, "Trouble?"

"No..." Lathal began.

Brisa interrupted her counselor. "...We just wanted to find out what you guys did to win the blue bunny."

Brian, who wore thick rimmed black glasses, leaned close to Brisa's face. "That information's classified. We could tell you but then we'd have to shoot you."

Lathal teased him, "You're trainin' them awfully young, aren't you, Malan?"

Shrugging, he had a teasing twinkle in his brown eyes. "I think the Best Sink Cleaner is jealous that her cabin didn't win the prized blue bunny."

"Hardly," she laughed. "I'm just curious what you all did to win."

Now this was the Lathal he knew -- and loved. Her journalistic curiosity had caused her to go into investigation mode.

Tim jabbed him, "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"There shouldn't be secrets among friends," she said softly.

How could he resist a persuasive argument like that? "Ah, you know, we didn't do anything special really," he grinned mischievously. "We just left a few mints for the judges."

Ah, ha! She smiled wryly. The old sweet treat trick worked all the time.

"Hey, that's cheating," Brisa insisted.

"It doesn't matter," Trinia said pointedly. "They can win all they want for all I care."

"You don't speak for all of us, Trinia," Brisa coolly informed her, turning to her friends. "We intend to win that blue bunny more than the boys of Cabin 5B."

"Yeah," Amy and Robin echoed together.

"Whatever," Trinia said dismissively, more interested in checking Malan out. "Hey, you're kind of cute."

The girls giggled. That was one thing for sure about Trinia -- she was boy crazy.

He shyly adverted his eyes. With the blue bunny in his hands, he walked away without saying a word.