Finding Our Way Back

Part 1

James sat on the bus, sketching out some characters from shows he'd been watching recently. There was about half an hour until the bus arrived at the campsite. James was going to be spending a week camping with the rest of his grade. They were going to be joined by two other high schools.

James wore a green t-shirt with baggy, blue jeans. He had short, curly, brown hair and dark green eyes.

James didn't have many friends and those who knew him would usually abandon him for a group of cooler people. He was more of a loner, and it didn't bother him much. He'd spend most of his free time drawing.

~

The bus finally came to a stop.

"We're here!" James' teacher, Ms. Johnson, announced.

Finally. James grabbed his backpack and shuffled off the bus after his classmates.

Although it was only 4:50, it was quite dark out. They had been driving for about three hours. James lived in Seattle, and they had driven to some campground in Vancouver. The cities were quite similar in ways. The campsite was really nice, too.

James walked over to the rest of the kids from other schools. They were gathered around a campfire.

A woman with dark skin and purple hair stepped into the middle of the circle that the highschoolers had made around the firepit. She introduced herself as Tovah. She explained to them what they'd be doing that week, the rules, and boundaries. James was bored out of his mind.

Once Tovah was finally done, she assigned everyone to their cabins. James has been slightly disappointed when he had first found out that they wouldn't be sleeping in tents but now he was glad that they were. It was freezing outside.

James was led over to cabin #4 by a short woman with blonde hair with a group of 15 other guys. He didn't bother talking to any of them. They walked into the cabin. There was the bedroom, a washroom, and a kitchen mixed with a living room. There was a fireplace with plenty of wood in the kitchen area. James strolled into the bedroom. There were ten bunkbeds. James climbed up to the top of the bed farthest from the door in the corner of the room. He put his bags on the bed and laid down.

"Come on boys! We've got to get dinner," said their guide.

James sighed, grabbed a zip up hoodie and climbed down from the bed. He followed the group back to the cafeteria. They were serving sandwiches with turkey, lettuce, tomato, and cheese. James was handed a small paper bag by a staff. He walked over to an empty table and sat down. James looked inside the bag. There was a sandwich, an apple, and a granola bar. He wasn't hungry, so he just stared at the sandwich.

"You going to eat that?" A voice from behind him asked.

James turned to see a girl. She was about his age, maybe a bit younger and from a different school. The girl had dark brown, long hair and she was quite pretty. She was wearing a black t-shirt with baggy jeans with a green flannel.

"Uh, no. Um, you can have it if you'd like." James said, sliding the bag over to her.

"Alright. Thanks man" The brunette said as she sat down beside him. "My name's Courtney,"

"I'm James," James replied.

"What school d'you go to?" Courtney asked.

"Riverwood, you?"

"Hamilton."

Before James could try and make more awkward conversation they were told to get back to their cabins.

"It was nice to meet you," Courtney said as she stood up from the table.

"Oh, um nice meeting you too." James said.