Chapter Five: My Magic Summer - Part 3
from the Perspective of Jasmine

Maureen opens the double doors leading to the dining hall, and I can see what looks like at least a hundred girls eating at the dining tables. I can't believe I'm going to join them as a girl, as Jasmine... as myself. It used to be alright in elementary school because we would just eat at our desks, and I always had Janet beside me.

Junior high is much different, however since our classes were split into 45 minute periods. That meant that three of these would be dedicated to lunch so that all of the students in the school get a chance to eat. Of course, with my luck... or at least the luck I had before my family knew I was a girl, I didn't get the same period for lunch as my sister.

I would have to eat in the corner, away from everyone else, because no one wanted to eat with the weird girly boy. That's in my past now, since my girly girl nature is not a problem for girls. I let out a mumble, "Someone pinch me to make sure I'm not dreaming." Janet gives me an actual pinch and then gives me a loving smile. "You really are here sweetie."

I am so excited that I actually let out a squeal of happiness. Janet is giving me a knowing smile but the other girls of the our cabin momentarily give me surprised looks. Makena breaks the awkward silence and gives me a playful nudge. "Looks like someone is excited." I blush so hard I'm sure I'm lit up like a stop light. The other girls giggle at my reaction, causing me to giggle along with them.

Maureen takes us to a table near a lifted portion of the floor that has a microphone stand set up. I suppose that it's supposed to be a stage, but it doesn't really look that different from the rest of the room. Janet, who is comfortably sat right next to me, nudges me with a big grin. This causes me to take my vision away from the platform to look toward other girls at the table.

Each table sat eight girls, so there were two other girls with us. I guess my old luck might still be sticking with me after all, because I recognized one of the two girls. Isabella Novella was the biggest gossip in our school. I must have zoned out because the next thing I knew everyone was looking at me. The girl across from Bella looked at me with concern. "Are you alright? I asked your name and you went deep red and kind of just disappeared on us for a bit." Embarrassed, I swallowed a gulp before replying. "I'm Jasmine." The girl brightened. "Hi Jasmine. I'm Ashley." My twin smiled at her before she made her introduction. "I'm Janet. I'm Jasmine's twin sister."

Oh no. I know what's coming next. Just as I thought, Bella looks over at us. "Wait, I know you." She wrinkled her nose. In spite of my fear, I had to admit it was pretty cute, actually. "You're that Hathorne girl." Ashley looked surprised. "You two are Hathornes?" Isabella looked back at us. "They are. Though I know Jasmine as a boy." Ashley actually did a spit take with her milk. I've only seen that in movies. I never thought I'd see it happen in real life. "You're a boy?" She squinted her eyes at me. "Wait, but you're a Hawthorne. You can't be a boy." Bella gave me a mischievous grin, and I sighed as I knew my story would shortly become known all over camp. "She's right, everyone knows there are no magical boys in your family. So, tell us, Hawthorne girl, why you're a boy at school but in a girl's camp. You must have quite the story." I stiffened, as even my cabin mates, with the exception of Makena, were staring at me in surprise as well.

I gulped to relieve my tension. I figure that since I'm already in uncomfortable territory, I might as well dive deeper. "So, you know that Hathorne magic users can only be girls right?" Everyone nodded. "So, everyone thought I was a boy until Janet and I became thirteen, even me. Well, sort of. I knew I was always a girl inside, but..." Realizing I was starting to ramble, I wrung out my hands as I usually do when I'm nervous, and gave an awkward smile before continuing. "When my mom, grandma, and aunts were training Janet, my brother, dad, and I were planning to go to a cabin in the woods to have our own fun so I wouldn't feel left out." I sighed, though this time it was a happy sigh. "It turns out, I didn't have to feel left out because I accidentally shot magic out of my finger into the sky."

My sister smiled at me and picked up the conversation. "Our mom was so upset because she thought dad lit off a firework. My grandma was trying to calm her down, but she was livid. She took off and all of us girls followed her into the woods. She was really moving, so we had a hard time keeping up. By the time we got to our destination, the guys were white as a ghost. My mom started yelling at our dad, but my twin began crying and told us that it was magic not a firework. I was shocked because I knew boys in our family couldn't do magic. It was our grandmother that figured out that she had been a girl all along. My heart went out to my sister because I couldn't imagine having to go through thirteen years of life as a girl pretending to be a boy."

I shrugged. "It did what I had to do. I never thought I would ever be able to be myself, so I had to pretend to be a boy as best as I could." My sister, Makena, and Bella all gave a collective snort before Bella looked over at me. "You weren't really good at it. Even then, you were girlier than a lot of girls in our school." My sister gave me a side hug. "Now she's girlier than all of them." I smile. "Yes, I am." We all giggle before Makena adds, "and she's so humble too".

After our giggling ended, I told them about our first training session. "The guys went in the other direction, and I was so glad to finally be part of the girls. Aunt Stephanie thinks that's why my magical light was so bright that night. I was just so happy."

I grinned bigger than I thought possible, before continuing. "We just trained to control our magic that night, simply doing light projections. My sister made a dragon in the sky while I was with the guys. That's what caused me to do my first magical act. I was so excited about it, pointed up towards the sky, and accidentally shot a spark of light from my finger. Once I was with the girls, I couldn't wait to do my own sky painting. The first thing I created was a heart symbol wrapped in flowers.

Makena shook her head. "Of course you did. You probably did a unicorn next." I turned beet red while my sister giggled. "She did!" This got Bella giggling as well. "No way, really?" My twin made a smile as big as the one I had on my face earlier. "She really did!" Ashley looked over at me in amazement. "I just can't imagine you as a boy. I was surprised when Bella shot me a kind smile. "That's because she never was. Not really."

The girls finally gave my red cheeks a break as they began to eat the lunch spread out on our table. It was amazing, really. It was a bánh mì thịt nướng, a barbecue pork sandwich from Vietnam. We have a Vietnamese restaurant near our house, and I've enjoyed that sandwich ever since I first ordered it years ago. It's since become my all-time favorite.

My sister let out a surprised gasp. I looked over toward her and saw a chip butty on her plate. It's a french fry sandwich with ketchup and vinegar. I think it's a gross combination, but it's my sister's favorite. Topanga then lets out a gasp. "Oh my gosh. It's my favorite sandwich." Tamera looks over at the fluffernutter on her sister's plate then back toward the Elvis sandwich sat upon her own. "Wow, I have my favorite sandwich too! How did they know?"

Maureen broke out into one of her patented smiles. "Welcome to Camp Enchantment, girls. You've just received your first taste of the magic of this camp." She bites into her simple peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich before she finished her thought. "Literally". That causes everyone at our table to break out in giggles, myself included. We've only been here a few hours and I love these girls already.