Church Camp For Dummies

forbidden fruit

It took 2 days for word to spread that I was an unbelieving, hell-bound, whore. I felt like a rare animal in the zoo, gazes followed me wherever I went. There was at least 6 feet of space between me and all the holy children, as if my agnostic opinions were infectious. It was fine for me though, as long as nobody decides to get violent, I can deal with sitting by myself. The only person I'm weary of is 'Mr. Williams' who is apparently the person who runs this place. Bad luck for me. He watches me wherever I go with a glare as if I'm a disease. Whatever, what can I do?
"Okay kids! Today we shall be picking the roles for our first reenactment play, Adam and Eve, and then we will be learning the lines for tonight!" The counselor walked away to get the paper sheet with the role names. Whispers between friends broke out. Unfortunately, the camp is large and the only people in it are Adam, Eve, the Serpent, and I guess God? So anybody who isn't the main cast gets to play the honorable role as plant #5 or if they're lucky, the tree with the forbidden fruit. I tried to fade into the back. Become one with wooden seats.
We sat in this cheap little outside auditorium, the stadium a mismatch of both wooden and metal benches as if their budget ran out by the first couple. The stage that's so desired to be on, is a dinky large wooden platform that creaked whenever someone moved. I'll admit, the view behind the stage was nice, as it was built on a cliff. Though not a very good design choice for a camp full of children. However, to save our precious tweens, there was a thin fence that creaked more than the stage itself. The counselor clapped to get everyone's attention.
"If you hear me, clap twice!" Everyone continued speaking, drowning out her voice. Embarrassing. I clapped twice as loudly as possible, bringing some kids attention. Noticing the counselor they quieted down.
"So after some good thinking we have decided the cast!" The crowd blew up in chattering of anticipation.
"The lucky man getting to play our lord will be Fred!" There was scattered applause as some kid in the back stood up.
Adam turned out to be some lanky kid in the back, and the serpent was another kid who flaunted it like he was the chosen one. Quite the opposite actually. All the girls sat on the edge of their seat. This was the one girl in the whole play, their one chance to be in the spotlight. I hoped one of them could get a chance, the hunger in their eyes was almost scary.
I turned towards the trees, a squirrel ran up the trunk. Yeah, this place ain't so bad. I turned back to the stage, a smile on my face.
The audience was staring at me. The counselor had her finger pointed towards me.
"...wha-" I stuttered.
"Your playing Eve." She repeated looking back down at the pages. "The rest of the cast will be put up in front of the dining hall! Your counselor shall be passing out the script to everyone who made it in. Break a leg y'all!" She hurried of stage followed by various creaks. The stadium was silent for a few seconds. I turned slightly, countless gazes pierced me and angry whispering filtering through the soft wind.
Oh no.

The night was long, the script was basic, and it read like a bible story re written by a bunch of camp counselors trying to make it "hip". It was funny at least. Lightened up the stress in the room. I shouldn't be intimidated by a bunch of high school girls but damn, they are scary as hell. Also the time they gave us to memorize this script was crazy slim. I guessed they relied on our already knowing the bible verse by verse. Rough luck. Night came too fast and my arm was too small to write all the lines of the play down. I got at least half in though. The play was set after dinner but all the main cast had to leave early to help set up the stage. Bummer.
"Is that her?" A girl whispered as I walked past. "The unbeliever?"
"Yeah I heard she got chosen as the role of Eve."
"Maybe they think emerging her in the world of the bible will make her aware of her sins!"
"I doubt it, just look at that outfit." They snickered off.
I looked down at my outfit, leggings, tank top, sneakers. I sighed.
Insanity.
I walked up to the stage, and the main cast turned to look at me. Mr. William's sat in the middle, leaning forward on his knees.
"Oh, thank you for joining us! We just finished our group prayer!" He paused and gave me a dark smile. "I'm guessing you don't want to join?" The group snickered. I grimaced at him.
"Anyway kids, I think it's about time we get ourselves ready for the performance!" The group stood up and one of the teens handed me a paper bag.
"Here's your costume."
"Costume?"
"Yes."
"Aren't Adam and Eve, like, naked throughout the whole first part?" I laughed. His eyes widened.
"Are you suggesting we do the play... naked?" He backed away from me.
"Wha- no it was a -!"
"It was a joke Freddy, do not fret. Go hurry and get ready. We need our Adam." Mr. William's stood over me and 'Freddy' took the que and scurried off.  I turned around. His size was intimidating, he was at least 6 feet maybe 6 2. Whatever he was, he was tall, his shadow covering my entire body.
"Thanks, I guess." I clasped my bag and backed away from him.
"No worries, it's important to get along. We're all Gods children." He smiled again. Something about his smile didn't feel right. It was too tight.
"Well, I'm sure you guys must feel like one big family, that's nice." I backed away a little more. He gripped my shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll make sure by the end of your stay, you'll be part of this family too."
I shrugged his hand off.
"No, thank you. I'm good." I hurried off, the bag crunching in my tight arms. I glanced behind me and shivered. His eyes were cold and his smile was gone.
When I made it to the bathroom my  heart calmed down. What was that?
I opened the bag and pulled out a tight beige body suit with fake plastic leaves glued onto it. I scowled.
I took off my clothes and pulled on the plastic leaf monstrosity. The size was meant for someone shorter and more child-shaped than me. It was tight and short, especially around the chest and thighs. If they didn't assume I was a harlot before, I was really forsaken now.
I left the cold cement bathroom and walked away from the hustle of the crowd. All the paths were made of flattened dirt and maple trees hung over the path. Lucky, the play was short because the sun was already getting close to setting. I wandered back over. More bewildered stares. I sat on one of the wooden seats and prayed my butt wouldn't be impaled by a splinter. A girl with brown hair who seemed slightly taller than me, shyly walked over.
"Um, ma'am?" She whispered. Oh god, I'm not old enough to be ma'am.
"Hm?"
"Uh I'm pretty sure there should be uh...pants that go with the suit." I paused.
"What?"
"Yeah, tights that have leaf's wrapped around them. I saw the girl who played Eve last year and she had them."
I opened the paper bag and took out my  clothes. There was nothing but some leafs that had fallen off the body suit.
"They're not here."  I knew something wasn't right with this damn outfit. Way too slutty for a church camp. I wonder if that Freddy freak took them out. I thought all that sweat was just cuz he was a teenager. She smiled.
"Maybe you just lost it?" I paused and looked up slowly.
"Yeah, sure." She scurried away to join her friends.
I just want this play to be over.

Almost done. I thought to myself. At first, my outfit made the whole crowd go silent but eventually they got used to it. My legs can only offend people for so long. It was almost worth it to see Mr. William's face. His eyes widened and his mouth was so agape that he had to cover his mouth.
"Adam? Adam where are you?" I yelled in a where for art thou tone.
"Eve..." The serpent was wearing a green jumpsuit with little scale face paint. Cute.
"What! Who are you!?" I backed away. He reached out the apple to me.
"Eve encountered the Serpent with first fear but then it slowly morphed into curiosity." The narrator began.
"What is that?" I asked monotonous.
"A fruit, it will give you sight!" He yelled, shoving the apple in my face. I took the apple in my hand.
"Sight?"
"Yes, you'll be able to see everything you've been blind to before!"
"But God said-"
"Silence," he grabbed my hand and pressed the apple to my lips, "Eat."
"And then naïve Eve committed the first ever sin. She betrayed her God and became faithless." I bit into the apple.
What? I racked my brain. I don't remember that in the script. They're laying it on pretty thick.
"And just like that, her consciousness awoken and Gods trust in her was broken."
"Oh my! I'm naked! How embarrassing!" I heard laughter in the crowd. What..?
"Eve?"
"Oh, Adam! Your completely exposed! Please eat this!" I passed him the apple.
"Eve then tricked Adam into sinning along with her, using her tempting words and an illusion of freedom. Godless, the woman was a temptress for those with weak faith, but God punishes those who fall for the Devils tricks."
I turned to the crowd. They were laughing. Oh. I see. So that's how it is.
"And her punishment will come soon."
The stage felt cold on my bare feet. Just keep going.
The play finally ended with me and Adam being kicked from the Garden of Eden. The people clapped as we bowed, but the clapping wasn't for me. I could tell. Nobody met my eyes. Once we began dispersing, I took the bag and left before anybody else. Eyes followed my back as I stormed off. I slammed the door in frustration. So this is how it's going to be? They know talk wont do anything so they'll just pressure me into admitting defeat. I slammed my hand down on the sink and looked up into the foggy glass.
Fine, if they want a fight, I'll give them a fight.