It was true.
Karen was small for her age.
She was shorter and thinner than her friends back home, but it hadn't seemed to make any difference to them.
They liked her just the way she was.
Now, she felt like a little kid next to these girls.
"All right, let's go girls." called Mrs. Higgins.
As they all walked up the path toward the lodge, Mrs. Higgins put her hand on Karen's shoulder.
"Would you like to sit next to me at dinner tonight?" she asked.
"Yes, thank you," Karen said, relieved that she wouldn't have to sit in the middle of the other girls.
During dinner, Karen's cabin mates kept up a constant chatter about their boyfriends, the latest movie they had seen, or their latest trip to the mall and the clothes they had picked out for the upcoming school year.
Karen kept her head lowered and stared at her plate.
She answered Mrs. Higgins with a "yes" or "no" when asked a question.
She tried to swallow her food, but it felt like it stuck in her throat.
That night in the cabin, after the lights were out, Karen felt hot tears run out of the corners of her eyes and drip into her ears.
She tried not to cry because it made her nose all stuffy and she couldn't breathe.
She didn't want to get out of bed and get a tissue to blow her nose.
The other girls would hear her and know she was crying.
Karen rolled over onto her stomach.
She missed her family and wished she were home in her own bed.
"There is nothing neat about this," thought Karen.
She tried to stop crying and breathed through her mouth until she fell asleep.