We laid there in the grass, the top of our heads touching. Neither of us spoke. We just watched the clouds in the sky role by. Finally, he broke the silence. "I'm gonna miss you when you go to summer camp." I gulped. "I'll miss you too." I said. I sat up and looked down at him. "But I'll be sure to brag about you. Nobody else has a friend like you. Let alone a best friend." He smiled and sat up. "Thanks." He got up and walked over to the picnic table. He grabbed his water and chugged it down. Jesse came over and pulled me up. I laughed and walked with him over to the pond. "Isn't the pond beautiful this time of year?" I nodded. It was truly breathtaking. The water was a dark blue that made you think of a lagoon. The trees surrounding the pond were tall oaks grazing the sky. The sky was nearly cloudless. We sat there in silence for a few moments when Jesse slipped his hand into mine. I was surprised and yanked it out quickly. He seemed surprised that I would do that. He blushed and stared at the water. "Force of habit. Sorry." I apologized. He scuffed his forest green keds on the ground. We began to speak at the same time. We both stopped and looked at each other. Then Jesse and I burst out laughing. "You first." I said, smiling. Jesse suddenly looked at the ground again. "Look, Izzy, we've known each other a long time..." "11 years." I interrupted. He looked at me with raised eyebrows. "Sorry. Go on." "And, well..." he scuffed his shoe again. "I'm starting to have feelings for you." I was taken back. Speechless as I was, I guess my eyes said more than my mouth. "Aannddd you don't feel the same way." He turned facing me and looked me in the eye. "But I don't care." He closed his eyes and moved his face closer and closer to mine. I instinctively pushed him away. "I-I have to go..." I said backing away. He reached his hand out to me but I shoved it away. I turned and ran. I ran through the muddy grass. I ran through the rocky woods. I ran until I got to my home, 12 miles away from the park.
I slammed the door shut and ran down the hall to my room. Living in a small suburban home, we had only 2 floors-the basement and the floor I'm on. I threw open my door and leaped onto my bed. My cat, Mink, was frightened and hopped off of my bed. I just laid there, stunned, until I sensed presence behind me. "Who is it?" I yelled, too tired to care. "Me." said my older sister, Cassidy. She and I, even though looking similar with our dirty blonde hair and freckly faces, were very different. She got all the guys, I got none (besides Jesse, but he doesn't count). She's wildly popular, I'm only popular among my group of friends. She lives for looking good, I live for going camping. "What do you want?" I moaned. She and I usually don't talk unless it's "woman to woman" talks. And I do not want to go through that again. "I wanted to talk to you about camp." She sat at the foot of my bed delicately. I listened intently. "When I was your age, I went to this camp. It wasn't very fun unless you had good roommates, like I did. On the hike you need boots, as long as they're cute, to climb in all of the nooks and crannies. And when you go swimming, wear a bikini. The boys will be all over you. And wear a lot of bug spray. They make you itch." She stood up and patted my leg. "Good talk." And she left the room. As usual, her information was useless.
I waved out the window to my mom in her parked car. Boy, what I would do for air conditioning! The bus is heated like a microwave and it smells like Cassidy's breath after she it's her salad with extra onions. Plus, there's only one other kid on the bus. And he looks too preppy for me. I sat in silence staring out the window, checking my phone every two minutes. Suddenly the preppy boy plopped down next to me. "Hey, I'm Joe." He said, smiling at me. I returned his smile back but kept thinking, Get away. I don't wanna speak to you. You smell like tuna. "I'm Isabel, but you can call me Izzy." I replied. I coughed twice due to the fish fumes. "So, you're going to Camp Darwin too?" Duh. If I wasn't then why would I be sitting in an overheated sea food restaurant? But I just smiled and nodded. "Cool, so am I." I mentally pushed him off of a cliff for being so stupid. "So where are you from?" I asked. His face lit up like a lamp. This could not be good. He replied, "Springdale, Utah. The hottest, most mountainous place in Utah!" I rolled my eyes. "Please, tell me more." His face lit up more. "Okay!" he said excitingly. "It's this awesome small town inside of Zion Canyon and it's beautiful and everybody is so nice and..." he stopped for a breath. "Ooh! I think I have a photo album in my bag! Be right back!" He got up from the seat and skipped to his down the row. I put my hands on my face and sighed. This trip will be longer than expected.
Dragging my luggage behind me, I stepped off of the smoking bus into slightly cooler air. I was met by the yells of children and splash of the lake. Thanks to Joe, I know everything about Springdale from Angel's Peak to Zura's Thrift Shop. I was greeted by a woman who seemed at least 55. She gushed on and on about how much fun I would have. I tuned her out once she said, "Oh, your Cassidy's sister." Finally she took me to my cabin. Turns out my bus was the last to come. I had to take the bottom bunk of the last bunk bed. As I was setting up my bed, a girl walked in. She was pretty looking and I stood up to introduce myself. But she went first. "I'm Corissa, you are...?" The girl said. I replied, "Isabel, but call me Izzy." I stuck my hand out to shake her hand and she shook it right back. I could tell I would like this girl. She climbed up to her top bunk in the middle of all of them lined up against the wall. Decorated with pale purples and darker purple circles all around it. She grabbed something and came back down. She opened it and a white gel-like substance came out. She rubbed it on her arms and legs and handed it to me. I took it carefully and realized it was sunscreen. As I rubbed it on my arms, she took two rackets out of a box by the door. "I'm gonna go play tennis. Wanna come?" I nodded in reply and she tossed me the racket. _________________ At the tennis court, we were met by a girl and a guy. The girl was a bit pudgy with her red hair in a ponytail. The guy was tall with bleached blonde hair and he was wearing a muscle shirt. Corissa spoke-"Guys, this is Izzy. Izzy, this is Taylor, and this is Byron." We said our hellos and got into position. Taylor served first. She hit the ball hard and it came soaring to me. I backed up and hit it over the net. Byron returned and hit it back to me. I groaned and dove for the short ball. Finally, as I was getting up, Taylor practically spiked it and it flew right into my eye. I fell to the ground in pain. Byron and Corissa came running over. Taylor was a little bit behind them. "OmigodareyouokayIshouldn'thaveinvitedyoutoplay..." Corissa spoke at 100 miles per hour. I nodded to her and told her I was fine. When Byron touched my eye, though, I cringed in pain. "We're getting you to the nurse." Byron said. Everybody agreed and they helped me up. And so we set off to the nurse. __________________ I lay in bed with an icepack over my eye. "Again, I am soooooooo sorry." Said Corissa for the fourth time. "Again, it is okay," I replied. "Now go have fun. I have my iPod to keep me company." "Well... If you say so. But if you need anything..." "I won't. Now get out of here." She smiled and exited. I was playing Cut the Rope on my iPod when I realized something. Taylor hadn't even apologized.
I must've fallen asleep because the next thing I knew I heard yelling across the room. "Réveillez-vous, Rise and Shine! Pas plus de rêves!" I rose up and rubbed my eyes. I could see the blurry outline of a girl. "Passons! Passons!" I could see her more clearly now. She was tall and blonde. "What time is it?" I said groggily. I swung my legs over the bed and stood up. "It's dinnertime!" The girl said, grabbing my arm. "Come on!" She pulled me out of the cabin and practically dragged me down the hill. Once we got down the hill, she stopped running. I gasped for air. This is one crazy girl! "Who... Are... You?" I said breathlessly. The girl slapped her forehead. "Sorry. I'm Eva. Coressa told me to come get you." I nodded. "Well, this time, let me walk." She laughed but when she saw my face she could tell I was serious. We walked on for a couple minutes when I asked, "What language were you speaking back at the cabin?" "French." She replied like it was no big deal. "Don't you speak three languages?" My mouth dropped open. "I barely speak one! What other languages do you know?" She thought for a moment. "English and Italian." "What? You don't speak Spanish?" I said jokingly. A look of sadness flit across her face. "No, my parents wouldn't let me. They wanted me to learn all of the European languages first." I thought for a moment. "Isn't Spain... in Europe?" "That's what I said!" Replied Eva incredulously. "Honestly. They're the dumbest inheritance-made millionaires ever." "You're a million?" I asked, shocked. "Then why would you go to this camp?" She shrugged. "My parents go on this big trip to somewhere every year. My older sister went to this camp so I decided to too. I needed a long enough camp experience for their two week trip to Switzerland." I whistled. "Whoa." We kept on walking until we reached the cafeteria. We stepped inside to a loud room full of preteens and teens. This camp is only for ages 11 through 15, and lunchtime was the only time we intermixed. Eva tugged at my arm again. "Come on to the teens table." She said. We walked over and there was Joe, Taylor, Byron, Coressa, and some other kids there. "Hey, Izzy!" Said Coressa cheerfully. "You don't know everybody yet so... You already know me and Eva, and I'm sure you remember Byron and Taylor, so here's Joe" she gestured to Joe. "And here's Griffin." She waved her hands at a short haired tan boy who, in my sisters sense, is somebody I should wear a bikini for. "So," Griffin said as we sat down. "I heard you got nailed by a tennis ball." Byron hit him. Coressa and Eva groaned. Taylor tried to hide her smile. Eva stood up. "I'm gonna go get a pizza. Do you want one?" She looked at me. I nodded and she went off. There was a few moments of awkward silence which Joe broke. "Me and Izzy rode the same bus here." Coressa gasped. "I feel so sorry for you!" She exclaimed. Everybody laughed while Joe punched her arm playfully. I could tell I've made some good friends. Well, of course, not Taylor.
Later that night, it was time for the campfire. The teens go around one campfire, the juniors another down the hill. "Welcome campers!" Said the lady who greeted me off of the bus. "I am Mrs. Green, head of camp. Now, before we start, let me take rolecall." She looked at her clipboard. "Bond, Sadie?" A goth girl raised her hand. "It's Raven." She said matter-of-factly. Mrs. Green nodded. "Carter, Byron?" Byron stood up and took a bow. Everybody clapped. Wow, can you say actor? Byron said loudly, "Thank you, hold your applause, hold your applause." Mrs. Green made a sit down gesture to him. He took one final bow and sat down. "Gellhausen, Morton P.?" We heard shouts from behind and loomed back. Down came Griffin, pulling some poor boy by the arm. Once they got here, he yanked the boy down onto a log. "Here's Morton." Griffin said breathlessly. Everybody giggled. Mrs. Green smiled. "Ah, I see you've come back for another year, Morton." He mumbled something about his mother making him, but barely anybody could hear him. Mrs. Green went on: "Howard, Isabel?" I raised my hand. "Call me Izzy." I said. She stared at my face for a moment and I thought I knew why. "Yes, I'm Cassidy's sister." She shook her head. "No, not that, uhh..." She pointed up to her right eye and a touched my eye. I cringed in pain from the soreness. "Oh, yeah. That's my black eye." She nodded and went on with the list. "Johnson, Coressa?" "Here!" She cheered from the back. "Joe Java I have already seen... Kinston, Anna?" "Here." Whispered a plain looking girl sitting by herself. "Melbourne. Taylor?" "Here." "Thorn, Eva?" "Here!" She yelled. "Well, aren't you just your charismatic self," she said. Everybody laughed. "Tolburg, Griffin?" Griffin waved his hand. "You saw me taking down Morton." Everybody laughed again as Mrs. Green sighed. She finished up the rest of the names and sighed again. "There isn't many older kids this year. It's ridiculous." "Maybe it's just they didn't want to go to camp..." Said Joe. "Or maybe they were abducted by Canadians!" A couple people laughed until they saw Sa- I mean Raven's face. She crossed her arms. "Is there something wrong with Canada? They gave you Justin Bieber, Drake, and the most delicious maple sauce ever!" I covered my mouth when she said sauce. Maple sauce. It sounds so funny! Usually my famy calls it syrup but hey, we aren't Canadian. Or Northern, for that matter. Joe held his hands up in defeat. "Okay, you got me." Mrs. Green smiled and said, "I'm gonna check on the juniors," She gave each of us a hard stare. "Be. Good." She walked away and it was quiet for a moment. Suddenly Griffin began to sing. "You know you love me, I know you care, just shout whenever and I'll be there..." A couple other people joined in, Raven laughed. "I say Canadian, you sing Canadian." Suddenly we were all sing. Once we got to the chorus, everybody got up and danced around. " And I'm like baby, baby, baby, ohhh! Like baby, baby, baby, noooo! Like baby, baby, baby, ohhh!" The juniors were staring at us like we were crazy, but nobody cared. Except Taylor, who didn't want to sing.