As you can see this is a part 3. Normally that means that there is a part 1 and a part 2 as well. That’s not always true but in this case it happens to be. I think I said something similar before part 2. Still true, as is that you will be much more confused if you read part 3 without having read parts 1 and 2. I had not intended to write a part 3 but here we go (there is a part 4 as well). Oh, before I start. You can blame this on Emma Anne Tate and a comment of hers. I really hadn’t any intention to milk Chrysanthemum more. After all he has no breasts. But Chrysanthemum has got friends.

Just an Ordinary Boy part 3. Now is the Summer of Our Discontent.

The next day the other campers arrived at Camp Las Vagas (roughly Camp Lazy Girls). Most came by the old school buses the camp used from the nearby urban centers. Some came by car. One car arriving in the early morning was filled with four solid members of the species Homo Sapiens. The car was driven by a huge muscular man with a crewcut. What appeared to be the mother of the family was also of a respectable size and well-trained. Very strict female clothing. Another male never exited the car. Having unloaded one big girl looking uncomfortable in a skirt and one not so big bag the car set in motion to fulfill the next off-loading mission at the other side of the lake.

The girl in question was directed to Sunflower cabin. Given the stature of the girl Sunflower was appropriate. The girl was not happy with the yellow outfits that she was provided with. Too bad for her that admin absolutely refused to give her black clothes instead. For one thing black was exclusively for staff. For another Taylor, that was her name, was in the oldest age bracket and that was Sunflower cabin. Sunflowers wore yellow outfits. And that was it. Taylor was not a happy camper. Wait! Now we have another Taylor. So that makes her Taylor-w. W for woman. Taylor-w was after all a high school senior to be.

Taylor-w had arrived so early that she was lucky enough to participate in the morning session. Somehow Taylor-w did not agree with lucky enough part.

Taylor survived the gymnastics session. She was with the older girls but she, together with a small handful of other girls, were absolute beginners. In between exercises Taylor-w observed the more advanced girls. She was intrigued by the girl named Chrysanthemum, or Chris for short. Not that Chris was a great gymnast but she wasn’t bad. So why didn’t she do the uneven bars? When Taylor-w had her first go at the uneven bars she thought she had the answer. The bar snapped. The company that supplied the gymnastic equipment was there already a few hours later with profuse excuses. There must have been a fabrication error. The bars should be able to handle much stronger forces than that. Somehow that didn’t cheer Taylor-w up.

After the various campers had settled into their cabins they gravitated towards the dining hall. Taylor-b was there to help direct the campers to the right tables. Remember, Taylor-b (for boy) was a counselor at the camp. He addressed a girl that was obviously lost.

“Hello, what are you?”
“Oh, hello, I’m Rose.”
“But you wear a lavender t-shirt. Roses wear fuchsia.”
“Oh sorry. I’m Rose but I’m a daisy.”
Strangely enough this made perfect sense to Taylor-b. Perhaps because his boyfriend was a rose even if he was a Daisy. And properly wearing a fuchsia Camp Las Vagas t-shirt. Not that Chris by any stretch of imagination could be called lazy. Rose was directed to the Daisy table.

Some of the girls at the Rose table had been daisies the summer before and cheerfully greeted Chris and Taylor (the original one in this story and thus non-hyphenated. Remember that hyphenated is not hyphenated and non-hyphenated is). Others were surprised to see Chris there once they realized that the girl in long golden locks answering to the name Chrysanthemum really was an unashamed boy. And that Taylor was his girlfriend, apart from also being his BFF. Good thing nobody told them at the time that Chris was also the assistant Oriental Dancing instructor. Or about his boyfriend. Thus no brain damage was caused.

Over at Sunflower table Taylor-w kept grumbling. That’s not the way to make friends at camp. In her defense she had just learnt what her parents had signed her up for. Taylor had no experience and absolutely no interest in gymnastics and cheerleading. To make things worse all the other girls in Sunflower cabin were experienced in at least one of the disciplines. And enthusiastic about the camp. Taylor-w could survive all that but belly-dancing? No self-respecting tomboy would be caught dead in an outfit like that. Good thing Taylor-w was still alive. Not that that fact cheered her up very much.

Strangely enough the cheerleading session did. To Taylor-w’s surprise she was approached by Chris.

“Hello, what’s your name?”
“Taylor. Why are you smiling.”
“In-joke, just an in-joke. I gather you’re not too happy to be here. Nothing you can do about that. What you can do something about is what you do about it. Trust me, been there done that. Are you a team player?”
“Yes”
“Cheerleading is a team sport, whatever you may think about it. If YOU don’t make an effort all the other girls in the team will suffer. Like it or not I believe your sense of duty is too strong to do that.”
Reluctant nod.
“Another thing you will be less miserable if you make an effort. Fake it till you make it and all that.”
Taylor-w didn’t exactly like it but it wasn’t as bad as she had feared. And then came the moment she had dreaded all day. Belly dancing. I will not relate how Taylor-w felt when she looked at herself in her oriental dancing outfit. Despite everything Taylor-w turned up at the belly dancing. She had not expected to see Chrysanthemum, the main teacher kept calling her that, as an assistant. As things turned out Chrysanthemum spent quite a lot of time with Taylor-w. Reluctantly Taylor-w came to find the dancing rather fun. Horribly difficult but fun. Completely different from anything she’d done before and Chrysanthemum’s instruction and encouragement helped immensely. Taylor-w almost forgot to grumble at dinner.

The next day at the lake waterfront a quite busy Chrysanthemum was using a brief break in his busy camp schedule to relax in his fuchsia bikini at the lake beach.

“Hello Chris. The belly dancing was amazing. I never thought I’d like anything so girly but it’s really a challenge. How long have you been doing it? You’re so expressive. And your belly muscles! Trust me I know about muscles and that must have taken hours and hours of training and lots and lots of hard work.”
“Believe it or not but I started here at Camp Las Vagas last summer but I’ve been working really hard. I take lessons from Madame Hamda twice a week back home and another two in a neighboring town. So yes my belly gets some workout.”,
“Who’s that hunk over there? He’s the first boy I’ve seen at Camp Las Vagas.”
“That’s Taylor. Yes, another Taylor. He’s part of the staff. He’s the waterfront counselor. He’s new this year and only the third male in camp history as a counselor. He’s going to university in the fall on a football scholarship. He’s a nose guard. He’s also my boyfriend.”
“Your boyfriend? Aren’t you a bit young for him? And, excuse me, but you don’t really have that much on top, do you”?
Taylor-w looked very intensely at Chris’s very flat bikini top.
“Hey, stop looking at my chest, my face is up here! Our relationship is not sexual so my lack of breast doesn’t matter. And we are both aware that long distance relationships don’t work.”
“So he’s a football player? And he’s named Taylor. That must be fate. That means we have so much in common. I was a wide receiver on the varsity team in my old school. Maybe I should go over there and have a chat with him.”
The looks that Taylor-w (I was wrong. The w obviously stands for wide receiver) gave Taylor-b (remember, b for boy) was predatory.
“If you’re a football player, why are you here? Isn’t it a bit eh too girly for you?”
“You can say that again.”
“If you’re ..”
“I didn’t mean that literally. I hate being here. I’d rather be on the other side of the lake with my brother at the football camp but even if my parents had allowed me they’re strictly a boys only camp. Bummer.”
“Why wouldn’t your parents let you?”
“The think I should be more feminine. That’s why they dumped me here for eight weeks. Our parents are really square. I mean REALLY square. They hate that I play football but I have prevailed so far. Our parents are very socially conservative. With the zeal of converts. They grew up in some whacky hippie commune. They even got married there, or possibly not. Given how the woman officiating was spaced out most of the time it probably wasn’t legal so they later had a big church ceremony. The last non-conformist thing they’ve ever done in their life was naming me and my twin brother Taylor.”
“So what’s your brother’s name, Taylor?”
“I told you, Taylor.”
“So both of you twins are named Taylor?”
“Yup that’s us, the infamous Taylor twins. Taylor Taylor and Taaaylor Taylor. My name should really be pronounced with a long aaa but I never bother about that. It’s spelt the same way anyway.”
“Taylor Taylor? So your family name is Taylor and your brother is also named Taylor?”
“Yeah, weird. Coach in our old school hated that. Just imagine having two Taylor Taylors on the team. Sometimes I think it would’ve been better if my parents hadn’t changed back to their old family name instead of the weird flowery hippy name great-grandfather took.”
“Couldn’t they just have taken your mother’s maiden name?“
“They are cousins and had the same family name. And their given names! My mother’s was bad enough. She was named Serene. Quite funny given how high strung she is. But father was the really unlucky one. Just imagine naming your kid It! Father really hated to be called an it.”
“Cousin It!”
“Yes, exactly that as well! Father always has a crew cut because of that. As soon the hair grows out even a millimeter he has it cut.”
“No, I mean really Cousin It. MY cousin It. We haven’t had any news of him since they left the commune. I’m a Daisy.”
“I thought you were in Rose cabin?”
“Yes, I’m a rose but I’m named Daisy.”
“I thought your name was Chrysanthemum?”
“YES, I’m Chrysanthemum. Chrysanthemum Daisy. If your father is Cousin It then we are second cousins!”
“So you’re really a Taylor?”
At that point a new voice gets involved in the conversation.
“Did someone mention my name?”
“Oh, hi Taylor. Let me introduce Taylor. Taylor, this is my cousin Taylor Taylor . Taylor, please meet Taylor Fuller. She’s my girlfriend.”
The new party in the conversation was Taylor. The original and unhyphenated Taylor. Remember her?
“Your girlfriend? But isn’t Taylor your boyfriend. I mean isn’t THAT Taylor over there your boyfriend? “
“Yes, so what?”
“Isn’t that a bit strange?”
“Remember that Chris is a Daisy.” Taylor said.
“So your really are one of those really weird Daisys my parents have been telling us about but only when they are a bit tipsy?”
“Well, my parents also left the commune and even if they’d liked to keep contact grandma Daisy ostracized them. Too square! Perhaps they are but I think they have pretty rounded corners. Too rounded for my taste to be honest. Otherwise I wouldn’t be here.”
“Why else would Chris be the only boy, eh I forgot about Taylor this year. Why else would he be the only boy camper at a girls only camp?” Taylor interjected.
“Stop confusing me! So Chrysanthemum is a BOY?! That explains the tiny boobs. Are you transgender?”
A question that Chris was getting a bit tired of.
“NO! I’m just an ordinary boy. And I don’t have ANY breasts.”
Unhyphenated Taylor again: “Just an ordinary boy who is a belly dance instructor, who is a cheerleader, who dances ballet, who does exhibitions at girl gymnastics meets, who has both a cute girlfriend and a hunky boyfriend , who has the basement full of hunky boys in tights …”
“Stop Taylor! Now you’re twisting things out of all recognition. And I’m not a belly dance instructor. I’m an ASSISTANT to the oriental dance teacher.”
Taylor-w: “But the rest is true?”
“Technically yes, but my girlfriend makes it sound weird. And it really isn’t.”
“Oh no, absolutely not. Not for a Daisy!” said Taylor-w.
“Hey, we are the square Daisys. Well, squarish.”
“I rest my case.”
At that point Taylor-w shook her head.
“I don’t think my poor head can take any more of this. We must talk more about this but not now. They’d take me away in a straitjacket then.”
Unhyphenated Taylor: “Why? You think this is weird? I see that you don’t know Chris yet.”
Taylor-w shook her head once again and proceeded to do something more normal, like chatting up the hunky waterfront counselor at the camp. So what if he already had a boyfriend? And if Taylor-w was to be honest (not a given in her case) a damned cute boyfriend. But on second thought, he didn’t have a girlfriend and wouldn’t Taylor(-b) be more partial to a well-grown girl than most teenage boys? Even if Chris was smaller than Taylor(-w) he wasn’t petit(e).

That night a counselor caught Chris and Taylor cuddling in Dandelion cabin.

“Stop that immediately! You know it’s not allowed.”
Chris: “Sorry I hadn’t noticed that. Please don’t report us.”
Taylor-b: ”You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s Taylor that’s breaking rules, as usual. You both know it’s not allowed for a campers to be in another cabin than her own. So out you go Taylor. Cuddling? For some reason there’s nothing in the camp rules about cuddling, kissing, PDA or even .. ahem. If you want to cuddle go ahead but first– out you go!”
And out they went. And as kissing was allowed they did indulge in that too. They refrained from “ahem”. Still Taylor was heard to indulge in her signature O O Os.

As curfew was sounded Chris went back into the cabin and proceeded to cuddle with Taylor. Taylor-b of course. No breaking of the rules. I think some kissing was involved as well. For some reason there was nothing in the camp rules about that either. The idea that a counselor would even consider cuddling a camper was apparently unthinkable. Wait. Come to think about it Chris was not just a camper. He was also an assistant instructor. Phew! No problem then. And since Taylor-b lived in Dandelion cabin everything was just fine. Just to be on the safe side and to preserve his virtue Taylor-b locked the door to his room when he went to bed. The main room, where Chris had the choice of 12 beds, each as uncomfortable as the next, wasn’t possible to lock.

The chatting up of the waterfront counselor had only been the start of the Taylor-w campaign to snare him. Taylor-w felt miserable. She was in a place where she didn’t want to be. She had to do things she didn’t want to do. And there was only ONE male in the whole Camp Las Vagas. Not counting Chris. Taylor-w liked Chris but couldn’t really think of him as a him. She felt a bit bad about trying to seduce Chris’ boyfriend but then he had a girlfriend as well and Taylor-w had no one. It wasn’t fair! So according to the Robin Hood principle she was prepared to take from those who have much (that is Chris) and to give to those who have nothing (in particular herself). If only Chris wouldn’t be so nice! Chris had made Taylor-w his special project in Oriental dancing class. Taylor-w enjoyed it but at the same time she felt bad. It had the strange effect that she worked even harder at her belly dancing and tried to be a more happy camper. Both things she understood pleased Chris.

Then as soon as the Oriental dancing class was over she’d head for an evening dip and chat with the waterfront counselor. At that time Chris was busy at the self-defense class. “Aunt Mary” felt she couldn’t make Chris’ parents pay for a class that Chris partially taught so she had allowed Chris to take the self-defense class as well. “Aunt Mary” really was only Taylor’s aunt and should more properly be address as the camp manager. Chris was a very busy boy. Hm “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy". Wasn’t Chris supposed to become a less dull boy at camp? Oh, I forgot the late evening cuddles. And remember Chris was an equal opportunity cuddler. Still “Aunt Mary” was right in her assessment. About both Chris and Taylor-b. Unfortunately about her niece Taylor as well but Chris and Taylor-b wouldn’t let her do anything not really considered in a bout of excessive enthusiasm. Taylor had a habit of getting excited. Remember all those O O Os?

One evening as Taylor left Dandelion cabin, or to be more precisely the steps leading up to Dandelion cabin, she was observed. Had the observer not been out on nefarious purposes things could have been sticky for Taylor and Chris. Or perhaps not. “Aunt Mary”, the camp manager, knew very well what went on at Dandelion cabin. She got daily reports from an assistant instructor.

Hm, I got sidetracked. Where was I. Yes, observer with the nefarious intentions. The intruder sneaked into Dandelion cabin. She silently tried to open the door to the resident counselor’s room. Locked! Why would he lock the door? That just wasn’t done at Camp Las Vagas. Foiled, foiled again. The shadow disappeared into the night and Chris, who had been awake all the time, could go back to sleep again.

During the two weeks of the first camp period Taylor-w felt she was making progress with Taylor. The boy Taylor of course. Not as much as she’d have liked but she still had time. She made sure that her brother was Chris’ partner for the dance. That way she could accompany Taylor-b. Sadly she had no idea about how the dance worked. 1) Counselors were chaperons only. 2) ALL participants were paired with someone from the other camp. Taylor-w was paired with a boy that Taylor had become good friends with. Zut, another Taylor, the other half of the Taylor Taylor twins. Hm, his position on the field was full-back so let’s tag him as Taylor-f. So that’s settled then. Let’s get back to the story. The dance was animated as usual. Taylor-f, who had been reluctant to accompany a boy, was charmed by Chris. Chris had brought an absolutely marvelous dress this time.

During the evening Chris was cornered by Phil who managed to guide him into an empty room. Phil insisted to continue the instruction he had started the year before. Progressing from kissing (that Chris had learnt very well) to the inter course. Chris was not interested in further instruction but Phil was quite insistent. Then Chris demonstrated what he had learned in another course. Chris had been a very attentive student in self-defense class. That was when Taylor, Taylor, Taylor and Taylor burst into the room. They had started to suspect that Phil was up to no good. The way that Taylor-b took Chris into his arms made Taylor-w understand that her campaign to seduce him was a non-starter.

The next period was mercifully eventless. Taylor-w had given up hope about Taylor-b but Chris DID have great taste so perhaps it was worth looking into Taylor. The same Robin Hood principle still applied. It was interesting. Taylor-w had never tried to enter a romantic relationship with a girl before. Still, Taylor-w couldn’t shake the feeling that she was doing something bad. She wasn’t, not really. Was she?

The next dance her brother Taylor had a serious talk with her. He even made her apologize to Taylor, Taylor-b and Chris for what she had been trying to do.

Taylor-b to Taylor-f: “Why did you that for? We had a good thing going. Of course we understood what your sister was up to from the early beginning. But it kept her distracted. Not wallowing in self-pity. She was no fun like that. But with the going on and her bad conscience she was more focused and committed to camp activities. She was a happy camper, sort of.”
Taylor to Taylor-w: “And I liked the attention you gave me. You’re nice. You will make some boy, or possibly a girl, very happy in the future. Probably a boy rather than a girl, I think.”
Chris: “So now our grand scheme to keep Taylor happy and busy has been shot down. I had been planning on how to string Taylor along once she’d moved her attention to me. That was bound to happen sooner or later. Oh well. We still like you Taylor, even if not in THAT way.”

Something clicked in Taylor (w). The situation was just too ridiculous. The rest of the summer she WAS a happy camper. Truly a happy camper. She was absolutely hopeless at gymnastics,. At least she didn’t break any more bars (come to think about it she was too young to go into bars and thus no bar fights). She came to be moderately proficient as a cheerleader. What did you say? All right Taylor-w became a not bad cheerleader. Her specialties being base and tossing. She was also an enthusiastic belly dancer. The fact that she was absolutely awful at it didn’t diminish her joy of dancing. And she did find companionship and perhaps even love. Not with the rose Daisy but with the daisy Rose. They were cute together.

Not only the smaller cheerleaders flew when tossed by Taylor-w. So did time. Things were more or less the same every day. Taylor-w and Taylor had the same schedule. Chris switched to first aid instead of self-defense. Time flew by, as mentioned earlier. The campers, or most of them, were happy campers. Early in the morning the day when all campers were to leave camp a minibus came from the camp on the other side of the lake. In it was Taylor-f. His sister squeezed in. To her surprise so did Taylor, Taylor-b and Chris. Well, to be honest so were those three. The minibus was to go the airport. But the Taylor twins had arrived by car.

“Why aren’t your parents picking you up?”
“They don’t live her any longer. They dumped us here and moved to the other side of the country.”
“Ah makes perfect sense. So now you are being flown to a third country?”
“As good as. We are going “home” to a place we’ve never been to. A small place I can’t ever remember the name of. All our friends are a thousand miles away. A new school. And our parents are going to be teachers there. They are good teachers but even I can’t pretend that they are likable. So yes, new kids in the school. Teacher’s children and most likely unpopular teachers’ kids. Yay!”

That they got on the same flight from the airport next to Camp Las Vagas wasn’t surprising. There weren’t that many flights from there. That they got on the same flight on the second leg was more surprising since there weren’t that many flights to that airport. Chris and Taylor understood what was happening. Probably Taylor-b did as well but he was more focused on going to Harvard the next week (he had not managed to get into Broader Reality University).

At West Ridge airport there were many people awaiting the arrivals. No one for Taylor-b. That was expected. He could manage himself. Coach Fuller nodded to an XL couple (and I don’t refer to fat) that were new colleagues to her before Taylor rushed into her arms. The male of the XL couple had a crew cut and the female a very strict and very female suit. The Taylor Twins and Chris came out together. Chris whispered to Taylor-w.

“What happens in Las Vagas stays in Las Vagas”.

They moved towards the XL couple and another that was only L-sized (NO, I’m still not talking about fat).

Chris: “Hi mom and dad. Meet my friends Taylor Taylor and Taylor Taylor. They are like relatives to me. Well, they are relatives. Meet their parents. Well, meet them again It’s been a long time since you last met.”

At that the adults looked at each other. And then (Fra)Grant Daisy burst out with something that would haunt his descendant for the next generation even if it was shouted with obvious joy (no Joy(ful) didn’t shout, I’m referring to Grant’s mood)

“Cousin It!”