Hi! My experience with the kids has been great so far, thanks for asking. I've learned so much. I think I might want to be a pediatrician after I... graduate? Not sure how long that will be.

Anyway, I highly recommend volunteering next year to anyone who likes summer camp, working with kids, and unexplained and never again mentioned phenomena.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late!" I called. I had been invited to @Sweetie2's siblings' birthday.

As soon as I got the invite, I had decided to come late and leave early. No offense to y'all, but a bunch of you DID kidnap and murder me, and I still haven't quite forgiven you yet. Also, I knew it would be awkward. I had only decided to come because of how much it meant to Sweetie. She's been a huge help lately, and a good friend.

"Happy birthday, guys." I awkwardly handed the twins their presents. For Hailey, I got a gift card to a spa, and for Wailey I got a pack of football cards. I don't know much about them, but I hope they'll like it. Or at least, not throw the presents in my face and call me obsene things until I am forced to run away screaming. That'd be a win in my book.

They took the presents and set them down on a table. "Oh, hi, Sweetie," I swiftly made my way towards her. "Thanks for inviting me, this is fun."

"No problem, Annie." She smiles, as always, then hurries off to take care of something. I sit down as far from Vincent as I can be. Conveniently next to a bowl of cheese puffs.

As I snack on the crispy cheesy goodness, I could hear Wailey telling a story. Something about death? I didn't want to get up and ask. Nobody acknowledged my presence so far after I said hi to Sweetie, which was fine by me.

Then Hailey started staring at me. She got out a piece of paper and started writing something down. I took it as my cue to do a good old Irish goodbye. As I made my way silently to the door, Sweetie stopped me. "Where are you going? The party is the other way."

I'm stuck. I'm posting from my old perch in the corner, stuffing my face with cheese puffs. Sweetie keeps glancing at me to make sure I haven't escaped. The warden is strict. Send help.

I was trying to relax. It's difficult taking care of children, even with Sweetie's help. I didn't realize how many questions they asked!! I try to answer the ones I can, but a lot I just don't know the answer to, or don't know if I should answer.

Like, yesterday Jack asked where I came from. "I'm not sure," I answered. "Where are you from, Jack?" I tried to deflect.

"Why don't you know where you're from? Did you just appear one day?" He was leaning over my turkey sandwich, well into my personal space bubble. I tried taking a big bite of food to buy some time. He waited. I chewed slower. "Well?"

"Something like that. How about we go get a vote on what to do this afternoon?" Success. Jack was distracted. "Ohh!! Yeah!!!! Can I do the votes? I'll be fair!!" He made a strained face, like he was trying extra hard to seem honest.

"Sure. The options are crafts, skating, and watermelon seed spitting competition. You can ask Sweetie if you forget." He ran off to conduct the vote, and I finished my sandwich. All was right.

But it's like that all the time. All waking hours, the kids keep asking me questions about myself, our world leaders, Earth security, human biology, and other things I don't know much about. I haven't played the Child Groove CD for them but I'm THIS close. My fingers are together, by the way. Maybe they'll like it and @Sweetie2 and I can take a break? We'll still have to be physically there, but through meditation you can go ~anywhere~. Or just look at our phones. That's relaxing too.

"Sweetie, I'm... I'm so sorry that all happened." I don't know what to say. That's... quite a life. Not in a good way. "I'm so sorry for your loss. At least you still have your siblings? And at least your stepfather is gone. I'm so sorry you had to go through all that, but you made it here to Psyhigh. And you realized your powers. I'm just... so sorry."

I laid my hand on top of hers. I have no idea what to say. Nothing I could say or do would be enough comfort. I have no idea what it must be like to go through all that and still be so... sweet. "You're very brave, Sweetie." Very, very brave.

"I'm furious, @Vincent2. Why in the WORLD would I lock you ANYWHERE? We haven't even met before and not only do you ACCUSE ME of holding you HOSTAGE, you TIE ME UP and attempt to MURDER me! You even took away my psychic powers for a while. Do you KNOW how that FEELS?? NOT GREAT. I cannot BELIEVE you!"

I was standing in front of him, soaking wet from the tank he dropped me into. "You're lucky I'm not dead right now. I don't even know how I survived. One second I'm passing out, the next I'm out of the tank, powers back no thanks to you I assume."

I walked up to him and got really close, holding one finger out at him. "If you EVER pull ANYTHING like this again, so help me I will make you miserable. I have infinite time to figure out how, and trust me, I can get creative if I have to. How would you like mosquito bites covering every inch of your body? Constant migraines? Circus music playing in your head at all times, day and night? Now you stay the heck away from me, you understand?" He nods, and I storm off.

As I storm off, I see a clock. I was very, very behind. I don't know how long I was there. I went back to the summer program area. "Where were you?" seethed Sweetie, smiley as ever.

"Vincent and your siblings tried to kill me." She didn't seem to care. I'm still absolutely furious about this. How dare he? How dare you, Vincent?

I'd love it if you taught the kids to ice skate Sweetie! It sounds like so much fun, and a good way to cool down not to mention. I'm not sure where we could find a place big enough, but I'm sure it won't be hard. At first, I thought, where would we get the skates from? But then I remembered the black market community the kids are fostering.

I had to confiscate some little bags of powdered sugar from Reyla. She put up a good fight about it. Said she had a delivery to run and Jack wouldn't be happy. Later that day I found her and Emma having a very intense staring contest over some guitar strings and seedless watermelons. David was refereeing. It only stopped because I asked where they got those goods and they grumbled something inaudible. When I glanced back down, everything was gone. I'm sure we could find some suitable blades.

Sweetie joined our group today. I tried to give the kids a Talk beforehand. "Alright pals," I said as we were waiting out in the congregation area, "how do we act to our new friend, Sweetie?" Some of the children, whom I shall not name, bared their teeth at me and hissed. Some others laughed, and a few tried to shush the troublemakers. "That is NOT polite y'all. We treat everyone with respect. Now, how are we going to act today?"

"We will be nice to Sweetie," they grumbled. I grimaced. It'd have to do, because just then, she walked in the door. I will admit, I did stare. I know it's rude, but most people in the walls are very short, and Sweetie is... not. That's wonderful, of course. Evolution is amazing. But if I came off as starey, I'm really sorry. Like, really sorry.

Anyway, when she got there she said something to the kids about being their new counselor. They just stared. I cleared my throat but nobody seemed to notice. Then I went up to @Sweetie2. Check her journal for that. But the gist is she had no idea what to do. "It's easy! We just have to do fun crafts and games and stuff with the kids and make sure they don't go home with repressed trauma. Or trauma of any kind. Especially head trauma, they can sue us into the void by the swings and back for head trauma." I was even more anxious now.

"Okay. That sounds right." Sweetie replied, smiling... well... sweetly. Then we rounded up the kids to go play volleyball. It was fun. Sweetie's team won. I still don't really understand the rules, but we had a great time.

After lunch we did cloudwatching. I saw a hot pink one, but as soon as I pointed it out it disappeared. I can tell Sweetie thinks I'm lying about it. I could've just imagined it I guess. It did look suspiciously like a spider nest.

Well, that's pretty much it for today. Read ya later.

Hey @Sweetie2! I'm so excited to be working with you! The kids sure are a handful, I could use the extra help. I've been saving the Child Groove CD I found for a special occasion, and I think your arrival is just that.

This morning I told the kids you'd be coming, and half of them started opening their mouths to show glowing teeth. I think that's new. I asked them what it was about and they all started laughing. Sometimes being an Adult is no fun. You're always left out of the joke.

Tell me if you have any specific crafts or games in mind. We've been playing four square every day, and I think they're starting to catch on that I don't know any other camp games. See you soon!

Sorry I didn't update my journal!! I've been so busy looking after the kids. Yeah, I got in. I'm so excited to be working with them. Yesterday we made light bulbs with layered bioluminescent sand. The bulbs themselves are a different shade of green for each kid. They look very cool, but the kids couldn't sit still in their hazmat suits. I guess the surprise field trip to Chernobyl I had planned is a bust. Unless they have their guardians sign waivers.

The only thing extremely noteworthy about the competition is that Alice almost got me out. It was like she was targeting me, which I bet she was. No hard feelings Alice, hope you recover soon! Those cuts looked bad.

Also, I realized I'm pretty handy with a sword. I found one in the middle of the competition. They're letting me keep it as a souvenir. Something about it not belonging to the school and they don't know how I got it.

I'm looking forward to working with all the other Minders, especially @Elizabeth Magnolia . I can't wait for an awesome, kind of educational, somewhat hazardous summer!! <3

I've started the invocation/battle royale process! I'll post a little about it here as it progresses, but I'm going to have to be somewhat vague in case any other candidates read my posts. I shudder to think actual sentients see what I write here.

So, the day started out boringly. I had some oatmeal, made sure my boss knew that I was taking an educational leave for an undetermined amount of time, and packed a small backpack. I packed some extra clothes, some survival tools, and some things I think the children would like. I bade goodbye to Cornelia, and I headed off for the main campus.

When I arrived, there were many teenagers in a circle in a very large courtyard. I went up to one with an orange pair of sneakers and asked if this was for the Children's Circle Summer Session Childminder Invocation.
"Yes, watch the sneakers, they're new."
"Alright. Can I stand here?"
"As long as you don't do anything to my new sneakers." They glared at me suspiciously.

I don't know why someone would wear new sneakers to a battle royale, but it's really none of my business anyway. Just then, a tall, lithe figure glided to the middle of the circle. "Listen up students," he boomed. The crowd fell silent, which wasn't much of a change, since everybody seemed to be either terrified or scarily calm. "If you're not here for the Children's Circle Summer Session Childminder selection, leave now in an orderly fashion, following directive 9 safety measures until the selection is complete." A few people left hurriedly. "Good."

"Now, first things first, let's go around in a circle and say our names, grade, and one interesting fact about ourselves." More people left. "You go first," he pointed to someone across the circle who I couldn't quite make out. "SPEAK UP!" He boomed. I could hear a faint yell across the yard as they said, "I'M CHARLIE, I'M A SOPHOMORE, AND I WENT TO THE FIRST OLYMPICS!" The man nodded. "Good, let's go clockwise. NEXT."

It went on like that for a while. When we got to me, I yelled, "I'M ANNIE, I DON'T REMEMBER MY GRADE AT THE MOMENT, AND I LIKE LONG FURBY A CONCERNING AMOUNT!" He nodded, as he did with everyone. It was orange sneakers' turn. "I'M ALICE, I'M A SENIOR, AND I COLLECT SPOONS!" He nodded, and the introductions moved on. I held out a hand. She shook it and we smiled at each other.

After introductions were done, it was time for invocation. Sadly, we first were sworn to never repeat what we saw there, may our corporeal bodies turn to dust but the consciousness of the universe still not pry it out of our souls. So I can't say. But after it was done, I am allowed to say there were only 33 of us left, including myself. Now, since it's technically a Friday, we're having a Get To Know You sleepover before the big fight. I was promised marshmallows.

I'll keep this journal updated. They say before the sleepover we have to show proof that we know CPR and First Aid, have Anaphylaxis Training, Recovered Memory Training, training in the Five Kinds of Combat (Lvl 6) and Defensive Driving, a Psychic Criminal Background Check, and a WWPCC. We're also taking some tests which will be fun. Alice and I seem to get along great. I can't wait to start!