Getting Kicked Out of Space Camp

Last night, the movie "A Smile as Big as the Moon" aired on the Hallmark channel.

While the rest of my hometown, Hunstville, AL, was reveling and Facebook posting about the movie, I couldn't help but to remember what can only be described as the worst week of my life.

The year was 1999. I was a nerdy, fat fifth-grader who was headed to her first sleepaway camp a mere 30 minutes from my home.

But, by the end of the drive from my school to Space Camp, I was terrified.

Amber Tucker, I say her name with the firm belief that she's already in jail by now, threatened to beat me up if I came on to her boyfriend. Keep in mind, I was in fifth grade. I wouldn't have known how to "come on" to a boy if I wanted to. And, I most certainly would not have wanted to "come on" to that class clown she called a boyfriend.

So, in this weird paranoia, she had deemed me as a threat to her relationship.

She was 5-foot-6 in the fifth grade with these killer biceps, firey red hair and blue eyes. She towered above me as she told me to stay away from her man. She threatened to get me in my sleep.

All of that happened before we even got off the bus.

Our class was divided into two groups for the week, and naturally, I get put with both Amber and her boy.

She glared at me the first day, and I was convinced that I was going to get beat up. So, I did what most kids did. I cried.

I cried and cried and cried until two days later in a sleep deprived state I convinced my mom to come get me. I hadn't slept because there were these bunk beds and Amber got the one right under me. I literally slept with one eye open.

So, I officially got kicked out of Space Camp.

Sidenote: When you go to Space Camp they tell you if you get kicked out, you're not allowed back in.

When I got kicked out, I was more than relieved because I knew that I could, under no circumstances, get back in.

Game over, right?

But no, Gable's don't quit.

My parents somehow got the Space Camp officials to let me back in. Two more days of crying and not sleeping and we finally got to go home.

The thing is, I didn't tell my parents why I was crying until I was 18.

I vowed to keep that a secret until my death, but I'm pretty sure I could take Amber Tucker these days.

However, if you are reading this, Amber Tucker from Huntsville, please don't come find me. Please.