Cindy at Music Camp By Teek © 2019 Chapter 08 Ariel Says Hi

“What do we have here?” a bunch of teenagers said as they came down the path toward Cindy on her way to Mr. Elks’ house. “One of the Littles is out after 7:30, and headed in the opposite direction from the dorms.”

“Look Ariel,” one exclaimed. “Isn't this little kid the one everyone is saying could be the best performer at camp this summer?”

“So, this is the little twit that thinks she is better than me? She doesn’t even look old enough to be out of diapers. Probably still wears them.”

All the other teenagers laughed.

“I don't wear diapers,” Cindy stomped her foot. “I’m a big girl. I don’t wet my pants anymore.”

“Oh, the little baby is being potty trained. Now she thinks she’s a big girl.”

“Get this straight you little baby,” Ariel said. “It is bad enough that I have to deal with that stupid Jessica and fame seeking Marcus. There is no way a little baby is going to be competition for me. I have worked too hard to be the best. No Little, especially not one of the baby diaper wearing Littles, is going to take the title away from me. Not . . . going . . . to . . . happen.”

“You tell her Ariel,” one of the teenagers said.

“You got that Cindy,” Ariel said waving her finger at Cindy.

“I . . . I,” Cindy started to cry.

“Awwwww, the baby is crying. Do you need you diaper changed little baby Cindy,” one of the teenagers asked?

“I’m no one sp . . . special. I ne . . . never said I was the b . . . best.”

“That’s right, you little baby. You are not the best. I am,” Ariel retorted. “And you are not worthy to compete in the Best Performer Contest this year. Don’t even try, or I will make sure you regret that decision.”

“What’s going on here Ariel,” Marcus said as he approached the group.

“Stay out of this Marcus,” Ariel responded. “This is between baby Cindy here, and me.”

“Cindy,” Marcus inquired as he looked down for the first time at the kid being harassed? Cindy was hugging her dolly tight. Tears were streaking down her face, as she was shaking. With the doll, Frozen backpack, and light-up sneakers, Cindy looked even younger now than she did earlier today.

“Come on Ariel, you’re what, eighteen? This Little looks like she is six. Are you seriously going to tell me that picking on a six year old makes you feel better? The poor little kid is in tears. For God’s sake, she still carries around a dolly. What threat is this kid to you?”

“She is just as much a threat to me, as she is to you Marcus. Rumor is going around camp that this kid could be the best performer here,” Ariel said in disgust. “Do you really want to be upstaged by a little diaper wearing baby who still carries around a dolly?”

Marcus looked at Cindy and smiled. Turning back to Ariel, “To be honest, I would much rather lose the top position to her, than I would to you Ariel. Have you even heard this Little play?”

Ariel shook her head.

“Well, I have, and let me tell you, she is good. I mean, really good. Maybe even better than me, but if she is, I certainly am not going to threaten her out of the top performer competition. She has as much right to compete as a loser like you does.”

“Oh, give it a break Marcus. Your only interest in music is to be popular. Some of us actually care about the music we play. We work hard to be the best at the instrument we play. You, well you just get up on stage and make a bunch of noise. No one can even hear one note that you play. As long as you have a bunch of girls screaming your name, you are happy.”

“Believe what you want Ariel. Nothing I say will ever convince you that my music is just as important as yours.” Marcus went up to Cindy and knelt down in front of her, “Cindy are you okay? Did Ariel do anything to you?”

“I am NOT a baby!” Cindy said through her tears. “I’m not!”

“No, you certainly are not. A little kid, yes, but definitely not a baby,” Marcus reassured her.

“Listen Ariel,” Marcus took a position between Cindy and Ariel. In a much more forceful voice, “Leave Cindy here alone. No teasing, threatening, or harassing her. Do you understand? Oh, and that goes for the rest of your posse too.”

“Ooooooo, is big Marcus going to protect all the little babies,” Ariel asked?

Turning back to Cindy, Marcus said, “It is past 7:30, let’s get you to your room before you get into trouble for being late.”

“Now wait a minute Marcus,” Ariel objected. “I am not done with the little twit yet.”

“Yes, you are, Ariel. For now, and forever. If I hear that you, or your crony’s, have done anything to this little kid, I will personally see that you regret it.”

“Come on girls,” Ariel said as she turned and started walking away. “This garbage isn’t worth our time or effort. Let Marcus deal with the crying baby. I bet she needs a diaper change by now.”

“I don’t wear diapers. I’m a big girl,” Cindy stomped her foot as tears poured down her face.

The teenage girls walked away, with many of them holding their heads high and flinging their hair back, as they turned away from Cindy and Marcus.

“Everything’s okay Cindy. Let’s get you to Mr. Elks’ house.” Marcus hugged Cindy and then took her bag from her. “His wife will know how to help you.”

Taking Cindy’s hand, he continued her on the path to Mr. Elks house. He did notice however, a small wet spot on the walkway where Cindy had been standing.

Opening the door, Barbra immediately noticed Cindy’s tear stained face. She knelt down in front of Cindy, “Oh my. What’s wrong Cindy?”

Marcus responded, “Ariel and her gang threatened her. I am not sure what all they said, or did, but from what I did hear, they were threatening her into not competing in the Best Performer Competition. She has tried to get that spot for eight years now, but never gets higher than fourth place. I guess this year, she is trying to win the position by getting her competition to not compete. There was a lot of teasing and name calling. Cindy got so scared, she had a little accident.”

“I don’t pee my pants anymore,” Cindy got out through the tears. “I’m not a baby. I’m not.”

“No, you are not a baby Cindy,” Barbra reassured her. “Everything’s okay now. The mean girls are all gone.”

Marcus put down the Frozen backpack and smiled at Barbra.

“Thank you, Marcus,” Barbra replied. “If you see my husband, can you please tell him what happened and that I want him to call me?”

“No problem. I’ll go find him. He is usually at the Jam session with the teenagers this time of night. I was headed there when I saw Ariel harassing a Little.”

“You are a good boy Marcus, Thanks”

Marcus leaned down to Cindy’s height and said, “I gat your back little one. You’re safe now, and I will make sure you stay safe all week.”

Marcus stood up and left. Barbra grabbed the backpack and directed Cindy down to the guest room’s bathroom. With Barbra‘s help, Cindy got cleaned up and changed into her nighty. With the skill of an experienced mother, finding out what happened and calming Cindy down was accomplished in the same process. Afterwards, Barbra stayed close as Cindy played with the doll house.

Mr. Elks called about fifteen minutes after Marcus had left. He wanted to know how Cindy was, and if Barbra had managed to get Cindy’s interpretation of the event. He then wished them both a good night, telling his wife he may be back late tonight due to his need to deal with things.

Cindy was put to bed at 8pm. She was asleep shortly after she cuddled down with her stuffed panda and Molly.

The next morning, Cindy woke to some violin music playing down the hall. Remembering last night’s events, she got up and checked to make sure she didn’t wet the bed. With the bed and her panties dry, she got dressed. She picked a yellow waistless dress, with patches of pink roses, and white three-fourth length sleeves with black stripes. She put on some yellow socks and her Frozen sneakers. For the hair, she put in a hair clip with a yellow bow. Looking in the mirror, Cindy smiled and a little girl was smiling back at her.

Dumping the contents of her backpack onto her bed, Cindy put her tablet and flute case into the backpack. Grabbing Molly off the bed, she skipped down the hall, finding Mr. and Mrs. Elks sitting in the living room talking.

“Those all sounded pretty good Hunter, you are going to have a tough task this year.”

“I know. It seems like it gets harder every year. We have so many good performers. It is hard to narrow down the concert to a reasonable length. I am tempted to do two concerts this year, but then some parents would be tempted to leave after the first one.”

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Elks,” Cindy said as she entered the room.

“Cindy,” Barbra cheerfully replied. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”

“Yeah, it’s a real comfy bed.”

“Cindy,” Mr. Elks smiled. “Good morning. Before we head off to breakfast, we need to talk.”

Cindy sat down on a chair, looking at Mr. and Mrs. Elks cuddled up next to each other on the couch.

“I talked with Ariel last night,” Mr. Elks calmly stated. “I am sorry you had to face anything like that. We work hard here at camp to discourage any bullying behaviors. By threatening you to stay out of the Best Performer Competition, she has lost her ability to be in it. Her parents were called, and if there is another incident with her, or any of the other girls that were there last night, all of them will be thrown out of camp and not allowed to return ever again. They have all been told to stay away from you, and all have promised not to do anything like that again to you or any other kid.”

Cindy continued to hug the Molly doll tight.

“If any of them come near you,” Mr. Elks continued. “I want you to tell one of the teachers or camp staff. I have sent an e-mail out to all the teachers and staff, so they know any incidents with those girls are to be immediately reported to me. We want you to feel safe Cindy. I have told all the staff that you are not to go from place to place without somebody with you. If there isn’t an older kid who can go with you to your next location, then one of the camp staff or teachers will take you.”

“Okay Mr. Elks,” Cindy took a deep breath and hugged Molly even tighter.

Barbra went over and hugged Cindy, “I am always here if you need me. Hunter has told me what a wonderful flute player you are Cindy. I would love to hear you play at some point.”

“Okay,” responded Cindy.

“Hunter,” Barbra said looking at her husband. “Do we have time for Cindy to play me a song?”

Mr. Elks looked at his watch and with a smile nodded yes.

“Cindy dear, would you please play me a pretty song before you head off to Breakfast?”

Cindy got out her flute and after a minute of warming up, she started in on a lovely little song. When it was over, both grown-ups clapped.

“She certainly is a powerful player Hunter,” Barbra said. Looking back at Cindy, “Tonight Cindy, I want to hear about how great your day was.”

“Okay Mrs. Elks,” Cindy hugged Barbra. “I will try.”

“That is all any of us can ask of you Cindy,” Mr. Elks said as he stood up and held out his hand. “Now, let’s go spread music around the world.”

After a quick good-bye, Mr. Elks and Cindy headed off to the cafeteria for breakfast. On the way, Cindy asked about changing her table assignment to be with Samantha. After a little discussion, and thought on the matter, Mr. Elks said he had a solution. When they reached the cafeteria, they went over to Samantha’s table.

“Mrs. Greenburge,” Mr. Elks said. “This is Cindy. The little girl I talked about in my e-mail. I want her to stay here with Samantha. I know your table is full, but what I have to say during announcements today will address that problem. Just let her stand behind Samantha until after announcements.”

“No problem Mr. Elks.”

With that, Cindy ran over to Samantha and Mr. Elks headed to the front of the cafeteria.

“What’s going on,” Samantha asked?

“I met Ariel last night after leaving your room. She stopped me on the way to Mr. Elks’ house.”

“What did she want?”

“She called me a cry baby and said I was still in diapers. She said a Little was not better than her, and was not going to be the Best Performer at camp this summer.”

“Oh Cindy.”

“Marcus came to the rescue. He told Ariel to leave me and all the Littles alone this summer.”

“I knew he was a good kid,” Samantha smiled. “But now she is going to be after you even more.”

“No,” Cindy started but then Mr. Elks was getting everyone’s attention for morning announcements.

“Good Morning Everyone,” Mr. Elks started, waiting for the ones that replied back. “Today is the last day to get me any proposals for the final concert. I have already received a few, and they all sound very good. For those who are still preparing a submission, remember, your performance must be appropriate for six year olds to watch. Videos are preferred, but an audio only recording will be accepted. I have thumb drives up here at my table if you want one, or you can e-mail it to the camp e-mail address Final Concert, with no space between the words.”

There were a few murmurs around the cafeteria before Mr. Elks continued, “We had an incident on campus last night that I need to talk about. A group of older teenagers confronted a Little, and tried to get them to drop out of the race for top performer. Let me get this out there right now, bullying behavior will not be allowed. That individual almost got kicked out last night. Because the consequences for bully behavior was not outlined in the camp rules, the Camp Leaders decided to lay down some consequences and give one more chance. Here is everyone’s notification that as of last night there is now a new camp rule. Anyone, and I mean anyone, bullying another student for any reason, will be kicked out, and never allowed to come back to this music camp. This new rule has been e-mailed to all the parents. We will not tolerate bullies, intimidation, or threatening other campers. We want everyone to enjoy their time here at camp, and that can only happen if everyone is nice to each other.”

Mr. Elks paused a moment to let that sink in, “We have kids from six to eighteen here at camp. The talent here is a representation of the best from many states. The camp leaders do not want a few bad seeds to ruin what we have set up here. We accept people with talents in music. Those individuals are from different ethnic backgrounds, religious groups, and economic levels. Some have disabilities and other have issues making them be different than the typical individual. Everyone is welcome here. We are here for the music. It does not matter what gender a person is, or even if they are transgender. We do not discriminate here at this music camp. If you have a problem with that, I will let you call home and have your parents come pick you up. Same goes for anyone who is not willing to accept someone else being better than them.”

Again Mr. Elks paused a moment, “Now, on a more positive note. I have decided to shake things up a little. I want everyone to stand up and go stand next to your best friend.”

After a bunch of commotion with everyone going to different places in the cafeteria, Mr. Elks quieted down the room. Okay, now everyone line up in the middle of the cafeteria with your best friend next to you. Two people next to each other, not three or four.”

This took a little bit, but eventually everyone complied to an extent that Mr. Elks was satisfied. Then he started at the point closest to him, and started directing people in groups of two off to different tables. Groups of friends that were all together, found that they were sent off to different tables, except for the person right next to them. In this effort, Mr. Elks and the other staff helping him, were trying to get each table to have kids of different ages and genders. Cindy and Samantha ended up at the same table because they were next to each other. Cindy thought it was strange that once the process was done, George, Jessica, and Marcus were also at the table. Marcus told her that after the events last night, Mr. Elks probably arranged it to be that way.

While Marcus started to tell the story of what happened last night, Cindy looked around at the tables around them, trying to see if Ariel or any of the other girls that confronted her last night were within sight. When Marcus finished, everyone at the table, the orchestra members, their best friends, and the others put there, agreed that they would help the two Littles, Cindy and Samantha, get from place to place for the rest of the week. They figured that if Ariel was open to doing something to Cindy, she would just as easily do something to Samantha. Jessica was in some of Cindy’s assigned activities, so she volunteered to help either before or after the activities. Between everyone at the table, they all figured out how to make sure both Cindy and Samantha were never alone going from place to place.

“Now you two,” George said. “Don’t ever go anywhere without one of us or a grown-up. Do you understand.”

“Yeah,” Samantha said with a sigh.

“Samantha, we mean it,” Marcus reinforced. “Ariel is someone to stay away from on a normal day. Now that Cindy has taken away her chance to compete in the best performer competition, she has become even more dangerous. She will have her friends all looking out for a chance to get Cindy alone. Having just you and Cindy together isn’t safe either. She views all Littles as a target to harass. When she realizes Cindy, you, and I are the top three performers this year, she will have it out for all of us.”

“I get it, but it just isn’t fair.”

“That may be, but we are just trying to keep you safe. Have fun, just do it safely with a big kid or grown-up around.”

“She’s mean Samantha,” Cindy explained. “I’m scared. I don’t want to be anywhere at camp without someone who can stand up to her.”

Samantha took Cindy’s hand and squeezed it tight.

“Jessica,” Marcus added. “You be careful too. You’re not even a teenager yet. Your smaller than her and there is no way to predict what she might do.”

“I understand. Oh boy do I understand. I have been dealing with Ariel for years. We both play piano, and she has hated me every since I did better than her my first year here.”

Marcus laughed, “You know, it was the same for me my first year here. She was actually part of the reason I switched instruments. I was little, and thought that if people who play piano are that mean, I don’t want to be around them anymore.”

The first activity of the day had everyone going to lessons with similar types of instruments. Cindy went off to the woodwind instruments with Eleanor, one of the teenagers at the table who plays an Oboe. Samantha was off to the string instruments with a boy who plays the cello. By slowly packing up their instruments at the end of a class, their escort was able to join them for the walk to their next activity. This process continued with the two of them never needing to wait long for a chaperon. Several times throughout the day, both of them noticed a girl teenager looking at them with an angry face. By one o’clock, they were both happy to have two hours where they didn’t have to worry about anything.

When they stopped for a break, Cindy had to go to the bathroom. She had found herself going to the bathroom more today than usual. She was scared that she would wet her panties again. She hadn’t wet her pants during the day for two years, and had stopped needing Pull-ups at night last summer. She didn’t know why she wet when dealing with Ariel, but she wanted to make sure it didn't happen again. Even though she now knew that kids her age still wore Pull-Ups to bed, she didn't want to go back to needing them. She also didn’t know anyone her age that ever wet during the day.

Practice went well, and by three o’clock the group was working well together and rarely making changes to the composition. A recording was made and e-mailed off to Mr. Elks. They knew they already had the final position in the concert, but they still needed to make the submission. Marcus rushed out of the practice to get together with his band, so they could make their submission.

“What do you mean we can’t go to the living room and watch Disney Junior?” Samantha questioned George. “Now that’s not fair.”

“There are no grown-ups in that room, and only Littles want to watch Disney Junior. You have to go where there is a grown-up,” George explained.

“What if we went to a TV where there is a grown-up to look after us,” Cindy questioned?

“That would be okay Cindy,” George replied. “But there isn’t a TV staffed by a grown-up at this time of day.”

“Maybe there is,” said Cindy. “Will you go with us to find out?”

“I guess, I was just going to go to the Jam session,” George looked at Cindy questioningly. “Where do you want to go?”

“Let’s go to Mr. Elks place and see if Mrs. Elks, I mean Barbra, is home and willing to let us watch TV.”

“That would certainly be a safe spot for the two of you. Okay, pack up and I will take you over.”

The three of them said bye to Jessica and headed for the house. Barbra was home and willing to watch the kids until dinner, when she would walk them to the cafeteria. The two girls settled into the Tuesday afternoon Disney Junior movie. Today it was Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Neither Cindy or Samantha had seen it before, but Barbra promised them that they would like it.

When the movie was over, the two girls went to play with the doll house and toys in the guest room. They were having so much fun, they hated to stop for dinner. Barbra said they could come back tomorrow afternoon to play. At dinner the table group discussed how the coverage of the Littles went today and tried to address difficulties. By the end of dinner, they had a plan for after dinner and how to cover tomorrow.