Camp Green

Chapter 1

I roll out of my bed at my fourth foster family of the year; I look over at my room and see that all of my very few belongings were packed up already and were arranged neatly in the corner. I look over at my alarm clock to see that it is only 6 am. That means I have one more hour  before my social worker will be here to pick me up.

This foster home was one of the better ones, but they are moving to another state for a new job. The mom, Jen, is a sweet lady who is super kind and friendly, and the dad, John, is a super nice guy who is a workaholic. They have fostered kids for years, but they are moving for John's job out of state, so I cannot come with them.

School ended two weeks ago, so I am on summer break. I just ended 10th grade, and I am now going to be a junior in high school. I am pretty good in school, but with bouncing around from home to home I never can really develop friends, so I have become increasingly a loner. It also doesn't help that I don't get to do all of the normal kid stuff like getting my license or having a car. I turned 16 just 3 weeks ago and while most of my classmates were getting a car all I got was a cake and a happy birthday text from my social worker.

I go over to the bathroom and get ready for the long day that is ahead of me. I put on a small amount of makeup and brush my long wavy blond hair. I have always Obed my hair it has a very good golden glim to it and it shines very nicely in the sun. I pack up the last of my things from the bathroom walk back over to my bedroom, and put them into my suitcase. All I have is one suitcase of stuff, I have never been able to buy or get much stuff so most of my stuff is hand me downs or donations. Not that I am ungrateful it just would be nice to actually go and pick out my clothes myself.

I go over to my bed and pack my necklace that are two rings intertwined together. I have had it for as long as I can remember. The necklace has two rings that are intertwined together. My top ring have a v to it that could be turned either way while by other ring is made up of lots of little circles that go all around the van. I grew up with my aunt Karen and my uncle Jerry. They were not the best parents, but they did keep a roof over my head. I have never really met my parents, Karen and Jerry never would talk about them, but I know that they died in a car accident. One thing that they told me was that my parents never wanted me to take off my necklace or the rings. But i tend to take them off anyways. Karen and Jerry eventually passed away in a car wreck and then i went into the foster care system.

There is a knock at my bedroom door, "Hey Emmy, are you ready? Your social worker is here." Jen says, "I will be down in a minute." I respond. I grab my suitcase and take one last long look at the room that I have lived in for the past two months; I will miss this place. Even though I haven't lived here that long they still tried to make me feel at home and they were very nice people.

I walk downstairs to see Jen and John talking with my social worker. I walk down and over to them, and John says, "Sorry to see you go, kid. I wish things would just work out better." Jen says, "If you need anything, you have our phone numbers. Do not be afraid to reach out." I nod my head at them and give them a quick side hug.

My social worker, Pearl, has always given me weird vibes, like she is hiding something or knows something I do not know. She has always seemed interested in my birth parents. She always has a blue streak in her long blue hair and is tall and thin.

"Should we head out? We have quite a drive to your new home." I nod my head, and we head out to Pearl's car. I put my suitcase in her trunk and got into the passenger seat. "I was really hoping that this home would have lasted longer." I nod my head in response to Pearl. We back out of the driveway and start to head out to the freeway.

Once we are on the freeway, I look over to Pearl and say, "So what home am I off to now?" she signs and says, "I wasn't able to find you a home in time, but what I was able to get you a spot at this super fun summer camp, It will be good for you to get out of the city and get more into the countryside."

A summer camp is not a place that I would have ever imagined that I would have to live. This is going to be an interesting experience. "I want you to make a good impression because the camp also is a boarding school during the school year and it would be a great step up for you. you would not have to bounce around from school to school." Pearl says. I know that she means I would cause her less work if she did not have to keep finding me new homes. She always hated having to move me from place to place. Knowing that this is a summer camp I don't want to lose my rings so I put them in my pocket for safe keeping.

We drive for what seems like housing into the New York countryside, I look out, and all of a sudden, there is a large iron fence that starts. Peal starts to slow down when we get to an Iron gate. She hits the buzz button that there is a voice on the other end that says, "How can I help you?" "I am here to drop off a camper." Pearl says. "Name? "Emberld Cromwell," she says my full name. I have always hated my first name with a passion, so I have always gone by my middle name.

The gate then opens and we start the drive to the camp. On the drive-in, I see that there are horses in pastures eating grass. There is also a lake off in the distance. It takes 10 minutes to finally reach the main camp. The main part of the camp has multiple cabins that you can tell are used for the campers. There is a main building that has a big banner that says "Welcome Campers!" and a sign that says registration with an arrow pointing one way.

Pearls put the car in park, and her phone rings I get out of the car to grab my bag. Pearl gets out of the car after a couple of minutes and says, "I am so sorry, but I have to go right now. I am having an emergency with another kid. Do you think that you will be able to get checked in and stuff? " I nod my head in response. She says, "Thank you. I will text you to check in on you later! Be good!" I nod my head back at her and watch as she pulls away. Honestly I am so glad that she left she has been so weird on the drive over.

There are lots of kids most of them guys around my age getting dropped off by their parents and they have lots of adults with them. The parents are all hugging their kids and saying things like "We will miss you!" And "We love you so much no matter what happens!" it kind of makes me sick to hear. Deep down, I know I want that kind of relationship with an adult. But at the same time some of them are seeming like they are sending away their kids for so much longer.