Janegirl Camp
Chapter 1
Copyright 2021 by Heather Rose Brown

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Gravel crunched under our heavy duty tires when Dad drove the truck into a parking area hedged in by scrubby pines and spruce trees. The butterflies in my stomach went from fluttering to dive-bombing each other when he pulled the key out of the ignition, and asked, "You all ready, Zee?"

"Daaaad," I said as I crossed my arms. "I only use that name when I'm ... dressed."

My dad raised an eyebrow. "So, you're not dressed now?"

I looked down at my t-shirt, shorts, and sneakers. Normal boy stuff. Okay, the shirt was pink. So were my sneakers. But ... boys are allowed to allowed to wear pink. Right? And my shorts were blue denim. Blue was a boy color. That made up for the pink. Didn't it?

I shrugged and said, "I dunno."

My dad draped a muscular arm across my shoulders and asked, "What is it you don't know?"

I shrugged again and said, "Everything."

One of Dad's cheeks dimpled as he asked, "Care to be more specific?"

"I dunno 'bout lotsa stuff, but mostly, I ain't sure 'bout goin' to this camp."

"Why's that?"

I looked down at the glittery laces on my sneakers and said, "While I knew how much ya love Aunt Steph, even though she used to be your brother, I was still really nervous 'bout lettin' ya know I was ... different."

My dad gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze as he said, "Nothing wrong with being different."

"I know, but ... bein' different at home is lots different from bein' different where others can see me bein' different."

"Hey," Dad said as he reached under my chin and turned my head toward him. "Do you think I'd take you anywhere I thought it wasn't safe for you to be yourself?"

"Well ... no ... but I ain't sure somethin' called Janegirl Camp is the place for me."

My dad was quiet for a few seconds, then he asked, "Would you like to leave?"

I blinked, then asked, "You'd be okay with that?"

"Of course. I brought you here so you can explore what it means to be you, not to force you into anything you feel uncomfortable doing."

"I dunno if I could find what it means to be me surrounded by a bunch of boys in dresses curling each others hair, and stuff like that."

Dad nodded, then said, "You may see *some* of that here, but not all janegirls are like that."

I frowned and asked, "Do ya think I'm a janegirl?"

My dad kissed my forehead, then said, "Only you can answer that."

"But ... how do I know?"

"Well, there's a camp orientation meeting in about ..." Dad checked his watch. "I'd say, a little over ten minutes. Want to head in, and see if they might have some answers?"

The butterflies in my stomach were still buzzing around, but I was feeling a smidge more curious than scared. "Yeah," I said, hoping I looked braver than I felt, "I guess I can at least give it a try."

Dad tousled my hair as he said, "That's the Zee I know and love."

On a wild impulse, I leaned up as far as my seatbelt would let me, and kissed his cheek.

My dad stared in shock for a moment, then gave me a huge bear hug. His voice seemed to break a little when he asked, "You ready to head in?"

I sniffled while hugging back, then put on a smile when I let go and said, "So long as I know ya got my back, I'm ready for anything."