From Best Friends to Strangers

Part 2-Leaving For Camp

Chapter 2

It surprisingly doesn't take that long to pack, and the rest of the day I sit curled up in my chair on my phone, trying to block out everything from last night. My moms come in to check on me a few times, but I just pretend like I have a lot of homework. The day rushes by very fast, and soon it's night time again. 24 hours since my world fell apart. "Great job Nini, you're life's a mess now," I think to myself. I decide that I just need to go to bed and then in the morning, I'll wake up and go to theatre camp and everything will be fine.

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My room is still dark when I wake up. I glance over at my clock, but my eyes are still blurry with sleep. I rub my eyes, then check the clock once again. "It's already 6:15! The bus leaves at 6:45!" I stumble out of bed, quickly grab random clothes from my closet, throw on a sweatshirt, grab my suitcase, and race down the stairs. My moms are standing in the kitchen making coffee, and they raise their eyebrows at me.

Mama C says, "Nini, it isn't like you to be so late waking up. Is everything ok? Do you want to talk?"

"Yeah, yeah, no everything's fine, I'm good, let's get going" I say, rushing around the kitchen, frantically opening cabinets to make my toast and grabbing my water bottle.

"Woah! Nini! Slow down!" Mama D says to me as she grabs me by the shoulder to slow me down. "Deep breaths, hon. We're not going to be late. Make your toast and meet us in the car. We'll get there right on time."

I smile tightly at her as they leave the house, and then continue rushing around to get everything ready. Somehow, we end up in the car and in the school parking lot at 6:40. There are so many kids there, and somehow, I don't know any of them. I tentatively climb out of the car, say goodbye to my moms, and watch their car drive off. The last familiar faces in sight are gone, and I'm left standing alone in the middle of the parking lot, surrounded by the people I'm going to be spending the next 8 weeks left.

"ALL RIGHT CAMPERS! LINE UP! EVERYONE WHO GOT HERE IN THE LAST 10 MINUTES TO BUS D! EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY ON THEIR WAY. LET'S GO, LET'S GO!" one of the camp counselors screams at us through a bullhorn.

I find my way up the bus steps, and am frozen with fear as soon as I turn and look down the aisle. There is someone in every seat, so I can't sit down alone. I start to hear people get frustrated behind me, but I can't move, I can't sit down with someone I don't know.

"Hey, do you want to sit here?" I whip to my right, and a girl with long blonde hair and kind eyes beckons me to sit down next to her. I slid into the seat and whisper a thanks to her. She smiles, and turns back to her phone. Everyone else shuffles into the bus, and we wait forever for the camp counselors to get ready and for us to leave. The girl suddenly looks out her window.

"Hey, do you know that kid?" She asks me, pointing at someone running towards the bus. I strain my neck to see around her, and the bus jolts forward. My head slams against the front seat, and it takes me a second to collect myself and look back out the window. Everyone around me is cheering, because we're finally on our way to the camp, but my eyes are locked on the boy running towards us still. The bus rounds the corner out of the parking lot and I barely get a glimpse of those deep brown eyes and that curly brown hair I know so well before the bus takes off down the street.