How would you like to go larping? What's that? Did you say that you have no idea what that is? I didn't know either...until tonight's episode of Huge. More on that in a minute.
The girls' OVERLY chipper counselor Poppy wakes them up in the morning with a little song...one that I'm sure would be more appreciated by pre-schoolers. For those of you who don't know me personally, I am usually in a positive mood and look on the bright side of things. However, even I would want to wring Poppy's neck if she woke me up that way. All of the sleepy campers meet outside to recite the daily affirmation with Dr. Rand. At this point, Ian is informed that since he is Alistair's friend he needs to tell him how bad his body odor is and that he needs to take a shower. Becca is really into larping and tries to get everyone to go. She talks Will into inviting Ian and Alistair. Will takes a walk with Ian and they wind up talking about a girl that broke his heart. They also discuss Alistair's problem, and Will says if it were her she would want to know. Do you know anyone with a body odor problem? As everyone at the lunch table makes fun of Alistair without him knowing, I think of a family I personally used to know very well, and they all had this problem. People would talk behind their backs, drop hints to them, or even comes right out and tell them they smelled. For all of the time that I knew them, they never did anything about it. I'm not sure if they just didn't care or if they kept doing it to spite the people who said something. What would you do if this were a friend of yours?
Becca, Will, Ian, and Alistair all meet in the woods for larping. LARP stands for Live Action Role Playing, and it's a cross between improvisational theater and game play. Becca comes up with a storyline that she wants to act out, but while the 4 of them are there, 3 kids from the tennis camp show up. Will knows one of them, Brad, from school. She tells Becca later during yoga that he's made her life hell since 8th grade. (Funny, that sounds like someone I knew in 8th grade...who did that to me! I bet you can relate as well!) They all make fun of everyone's weight and wind up chasing them back to Camp Victory. Will feels awful because they ran away, and hatches a plan to get back at them by having everyone at camp come larping with them next time. Becca is glad Will is helping recruit people, but is also starting to feel uneasy that Will is changing the storyline to suit her.
Ian goes to trainer/counselor George to ask advice about confronting Alistair. George says he will deal with it, but then Ian thinks it might be better coming from him. They are both unsure of exactly what to do. In the meantime, Amber and Chloe discuss Trent. Trent always keeps staring at Amber, but Chloe has a huge crush on him. Have you ever been there? You like a guy who doesn't even know you exist, but he's all gaga over another girl. It probably messed with your self-esteem, but this happens all the time. It's nothing personal, even though it feels like it at the time.
Shay talks to Dr. Rand about the upcoming campfire. Shay wants her to tell special capmfire stories like Lorraine, the former camp director, used to do. Dr. Rand is intimidated by everyone telling her how much they loved Lorraine and how much they miss her. You can tell she feels that she doesn't measure up. So Dr. Rand is thin now...but she is still having those self-esteem issues. Back at her cabin, she talks to her dad about it and prints out a story she found on a website. The next day, she sees Becca's larping posters and tells her that the area they are using is off limits to campers. Will says they should still go secretly so they can carry out her plan. Becca isn't too sure about this. Dr. Rand calls the director of the tennis camp and leaves him a message. Later they argue about which camp owns the wooded property. They obviously have both already known each other for a long time...I'm sure we'll find out more about this soon!
In the camp circle, Alistair speaks about losing weight. (No one has talked to him about the body odor yet.) He can't imagine what it would be like to be thin, and he questions if it will really change anything. It's true...we all still have problems to deal with whether we are slender or heavier, but we need to look within ourselves to handle this. Losing weight is for health reasons, and will not magically solve everything in your life overnight.
Will leads everyone out for the larping session, but Becca hides from her and doesn't want to participate now. Amber and Chloe make fun of it, and Becca finally gets mad. She gets her costume on and goes out to the woods. Then Chloe decides she wants to check it out. Finally Amber can't resist her curiosity, and she heads out. On the way she runs into the tennis kids, and they mistake her for another tennis camper. Amber is flattered that they don't look at her as one of the "fat" camp kids, and she plays along to fit in. When they come upon the Camp Victory group, they begin making fun of everyone again, and Amber doesn't know what to do. Becca stand up to them, and the whole group keeps chanting until they walk away. When one of the boys outs her, Amber is also ridiculed by the tennis kids. Dr. Rand finds them and sends them all back to their cabins until the campfire, and Becca is in big trouble. Becca and Will fight about the whole scenario.
Before the campfire, George finally talks to Alistair about the smell situation. Alistair admits that he is embarrassed, because all of the guys shower together. How sweet is George...he takes Alistair over to the showers so he can get clean by himself and stands guard. Dr. Rand tells him to get to the campfire, but he doesn't tell her why he's by the showers because he promised Alistair he wouldn't tell anyone. At the campfire, Amber and Chloe talk. Amber says she's flattered by Trent, but doesn't like him in that way and Chloe should go for it. Chloe goes over to talk to Trent and things seem to be going well. Will is still upset and goes to talk to Becca. Becca says she's always been afraid to speak up because she thought it wouldn't come out right or nobody would listen. She admires Will for being so bold. Do you ever feel afraid to speak up? I used to feel that way all the time, and occasionally still do...but I've really been finding my voice, through my writing and in public. If you feel this way, take a step of faith and stand up for yourself. You will be SO glad you did!
It's finally time for the campfire story. Dr. Rand starts out being very uncomfortable, but then makes a decision. She doesn't tell the story. She passes out the papers to everyone, tells them to rip them up, and pass them around to each other. Then everyone is to raise their white paper as a surrender, to stop attacking other people and themselves. Each camper throws the paper into the fire and says "I surrender" except for Will...she stuffs hers into her pocket.
It is time for all of us to surrender to that pressure that we put on ourselves and each other to be perfect. We are all human, so perfection is not going to happen. We will all be the best we can be, but we will sometimes make mistakes. That's what being human is. Let's all embrace each other, assets and flaws, and support each other!
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