"You are going to love this camp Chris," my mom said, handing me my bag, "and I will be working with the security team there so when I get the time I will come and visit you." I pushed a piece of my raven blue out of my face. "Got it," I said, grabbing my bag.
My name is Chris Guenva-Malagkzai. I'm thirteen and Pakistani and Mexican. My parents are both in the military. Well, my mom was until she got a job on the security team at Jurassic World. I was going with her and staying at Camp Cretaceous with six other kids while my dad was stationed in Afghanistan. You could only guess why.
I was wearing blue jean shorts with black Converse, a white tank top and a red and black jacket that was a little big for me and black headphones around my neck with a nose piercing. I had raven blue hair with black stripes woven into two French braids. I am a bit of a dinosaur nerd. Well, it's one percent dinosaurs and ninety-nine percent unwanted Star Wars information. I have a shark bite scar on my thigh from an incident in Hawaii over a year ago.
I gave my mom a hug, smelling the scent of milky tea and flowers one last time before I got on the ferry.
♡
I got of the boat and stepped onto the deck. I looked around and saw four other kids with the counselor. That must be Camp Cretaceous, I thought. I walked over to the group and saw another losing kid his lunch. I walked over to the rest of the group and put my black headphones around my neck. There's always time for Lincoln Park and Iggy Azalea later, I thought.
"Welcome to Isla Nublar campers," the counselor said, "you are the selected few, the first out of the entire world, to ever experience the awesomeness that is Camp Cretaceous. Now I know that the ferry ride was rough on someone you, hello Ben." The kid named Ben managed to give a thumbs up before hurling again over the side of the dock. "But you made it," he said enthusiastically, "I am Dave, head counselor, that right, you heard me correctly, head honcho, big shot."
While Dave was thinking of other words to use, we heard an engine sound behind us. We turned around and a Jeep with the Camp Cretaceous insignia on its doors pulled up near us and a women stepped out, she had the same outfit as Dave minus the yellow headband. "Oh so sorry I'm late, welcome campers," she said, "I'm Roxie, head counselor of Camp Cretaceous." The others looked at Dave confused while I had a smirk on my face and raised an eyebrow.
"Well," he said, "It's more like a co head counselor." He laughed nervously.
"Is it?" Roxie questioned pointedly. I giggled.
"Now," Dave said, "Some of you won competitions to get here, others got VIP invites, but for the next two weeks you all will be getting the five star treatment." A girl with pink hair panned her phone around to get a good shot of us.
"Here we've lined up some bonus behind the scenes action of Jurassic World," Roxie explained, "as well as rock climbing, kayaking, ziplining, obstacle courses and of course... " Roxie was cut off when me and another kid said in sync, "Dinosaurs?!" We side eyed each other and smiled nervously. "Yes," Roxie glanced at her clipboard, "Darius and Chris, plenty of dinosaurs, so ready for an adventure."
"Absolutely," pink head said, "but I'm gonna need that speech just a little shorter and lean into the majesty of this place." I looked at her and rolled my eyes.
Both Dave and Roxie had confused looks on their faces. "Alright, we're going now," Dave said, "Let's get the seven if you to camp."
"Um sorry but there are six of us," Ben said.
Dave looked at us muttering nicknames, "Dino Nerd, snippy, track star, Texan, barfy, internet girl, he's right, where's number seven." So mine was snippy? Kinda figured. Roxie looked at the clipboard again before groaning.
The helicopter blew dust in our faces as it landed. I used the hood of my jacket to cover my face. The pilot stepped out and opened the passenger door, a kid stepped put and he looked older than me... and richer. I rolled my eyes. I've heard about rich people before from my parents, some are ok but most are corrupt, power hungry people. Mostly the reason why my parents were all over the world, trying to stop these people.
"Don't worry people," he said, "Kenji is here so let the party commence." He tossed his bag at Roxie. "Put this in my room will you," he said. He walked up to me and, Darius, I think his name is. "So, what's your deal." Roxie threw the bag at his back causing him to fall flat on his face. I laughed.
"Alright let's go," Roxie said, dusting off her hands.
The Jeep had an open back and we all climbed into the back. Dave drummed his fingers on the side before getting in and driving off abruptly, we all scrambled to put our seat belts on. "I hope you got my m-moms n-note," Ben said, looking like he was going to hurl again, "I don't do well on windy roads." "Listen, if you are going to hurl, aim for the bushes... or Kenji," I said. "Hey," I heard Kenji say. Ben gave me a weak thumbs up before clutching the side of the Jeep.
Internet girl whipped out her phone and started vlogging everyone saying an intro. "Ok guys," she said, "I need you to say all your names and something interesting about yourself." She went around the group. Turns out Track star's name is Yasmina.
Internet girl was interviewing Darius when Texan cut him off with a fan girl squeal. "I'm sorry but I just cannot believe you're Brooklynn, " she grabbed Brooklynn's hand and starting shaking it, "I'm Sammy Gutierrez, total Brooklander, kaapow! Oh also my family supplies the park with meat so that's how I got here," she said. So Texan was Sammy and Internet girl was Brooklynn.
"Um what's a Brooklander," Darius asked. "Oh that's just what online followers call themselves," Brooklynn answered. "All twenty-seven million of us," Sammy exclaimed. "Yep," Yasmina said, sarcastically, "That's why she's the only one who gets to keep her phone. She's famous."
"Hold on," Kenji said," "Rich" he pointed to himself, "and famous," he gestured to Brooklynn. "Oh meant to be," he finished, taking Brooklynn's phone and taking a selfish making sure she was in the frame. Based on the look on Brooklynn's face, she was not happy with him touching her phone.
All of a sudden, the Jeep skidded to a halt and we all slammed into each other. I crashed into Darius and my head landed on his chest. I looked at him and quickly backed away, blushing. "Sorry," I said. "It's fine," he responded. I could have sworn he was blushing too.
"Um Dave, what's going on?" Ben asked. "It's fine," Dave said as he got out of the Jeep with Roxie, "But you all should definitely stay in your seats." Dave and Roxie turned on their stun rods and walked over towards the bushes. We all leaned over the side and watched very closely.
The bushes behind me started to rustle. Darius must have heard it to because we both slowly turned around. "Guys," We said. No one was paying attention. "GUYS," Darius said again. A green shape jump out of the bushes at Darius and we all screamed, Kenji being the loudest. I fell back and looked at Darius.
A Compsagthnathus was standing on his chest and we all stared at it in awe. The compy made a clicking noise before jumping out of the Jeep only be be captured by Roxie with a blanket. She put her in a cat carrier in the Jeep and climbed back into the driver's seat.
"Crisis averted," she said, "these little guys are always getting out of their enclosure." She chuckled.
"Wow," Darius said, "A real life Compsagthnathus." "Someone's been doing their homework," I said. Darius sheepishly smiled at me.
"Oh come on," Kenji said, "all it took was a blanket and a cat carrier to catch that thing, boring." "Mm scared you pretty good," Darius said with a smirk. There were some giggles and they turned around. Yasmina, Sammy, Brooklynn and I were all laughing. Brooklynn had her phone out and most likely caught it on camera. Kenji did not look happy with having his ego bruised.
A few minutes passed by and the Jeep approached a wooden gate. I looked at it in awe. At the top it read red and yellow Jurassic World. On the wooden gate it read Camp Cretaceous. The gate slowly opened and we slowly drove through it. "Welcome to Camp Cretaceous," Dave said. We all cheered and the Jeep picked up speed again, the gate closing behind us.
When the Jeep pulled up to camp, we all just stared in awe. It was a massive tree house that had an elevator go up towards it."Hey Brooklanders, check this place out," Brooklyn said to her phone, "isn't this the coolest place you've ever seen." Kenji walked into the shot. "If you think this place is cool, you should see my dad's penthouse in the main park," he said. Brooklyn gave the camera a bored look. Clearly she was not entertained. She walked off to interview everyone. I'm guessing she needed the content.
"Yasmina! Hey girl. So as an elite athlete, how pumped are you for camp," Brooklyn asked. Yasmina covered her face with her hand to try and hide away from the camera. "Not really a big fan of the camera ... or people," she said and quickly walked away.
"Wow," Sammy said, "This place is almost as big as my family's ranch back home." I smiled. Must be nice staying in one place, I thought. I had to move all over the place with my parents until my mom dropped out of the military and we settled in New Jersey three months ago. My dad had been in Afghanistan for six months already. I could already feel the tears brimming my eyes. I really miss him. I quickly wiped them away before anyone could see. I must have been too late because Darius was looking at me. Dang it, I thought. I flashed him a friendly smile before walking away.
"Listen up," Dave said, "an announcement from your co head counselor." "Hey, still not a thing," Roxie whispered, "Ok everyone, there are some ground rules to cover. Curfew is at eight 'o clock and lights out and nine 'o clock sharp," We all groaned expect for Ben who celebrated silently. "This is for your one safety, we're in a dinosaur filled jungle, you must always keep your distance to keep yourself from herring hurt, if not worse," Roxie finished.
"Define worse," Ben asked. "This is worse," I said, pointing to my shark scar. Ben's face paled a little bit while Sammy thought it was the coolest thing ever.
"Bunks are up that a-way," Dave said. "First one there gets top bunk," Yasmina said, running towards the elevator. We all followed her and squeezed into the elevator. The elevator doors opened into the commons area and we all ran towards the bunks, trying to get the best one. I ran and jumped onto the top bunk, beating Darius. "Better luck next time," I said, with a smirk. Darius rolled his eyes before sitting on the bottom bunk.
I rested my hands under my head before laying back onto the bed. Maybe mom was right, I thought, Maybe I will love it here.
Inturupting my chain of thoughts, Roxie walked in. "Hey kids, time to go. We got a big surprise for you," She said. I jolted my head up and a heard a thud beneath me. "Hit ya head dino nerd," I said. Darius got out of his bunk rubbing his forehead. "Yep," he said. I chuckled. "Come on," I said before running towards the elevator.
♡
We were all standing at the top of a watch tower, looking at the herd of dinosaurs below us. Darius was pointing out all the dinosaurs he saw. "There's Brachiosaurus, Parasaurolophus, Stegosaurus, and Ankylosaurus," he said. "Wow, you really know your stuff dino nerd," Brooklynn said. "Check out the ... Brontosaurus," Kenji said, trying to sound smart. "They don't have that here. Common mistake," Darius and I say at the same time. "Creepy," Brooklynn said. I laughed. "At least we are not the twins from the Shining," I said. Sammy shuddered. "I couldn't sleep for weeks," she mutters.
Darius gasped."Is that a herd of Sinoceratops? When did you get those," he asked. "They are cookin' up all kinds of things in that lab," Dave answered. "Where they herdin' them to?" Sammy asked. "They're herding them to their nighttime enclosures," Roxie responded.
"Enough banter. It's zip line party time," Dave said, strapping Ben into the zip line. "Me? M-maybe Yasmina could go first. Or Darius. Oh... uh... anyone! I really don't-" Ben cut himself off by screaming as Dave pushed him down the line. Then Sammy, Yasmina, and Brooklynn got on and went down too. I strapped myself in and went down the line. It was breathtaking. "Woah," I breathed. A Brachiosaurus lifted its head up and I just stared I awe.
I reached the end of the line and got off. Darius following closely behind me. "How cool was that?" I asked. His smile was the answer I needed. We went back to the camp where we ate dinner and headed off to bed.
Just as everyone was asleep, I snuck out of bed to grab some dessert. I have that second stomach. I went to the snack bar and grabbed and some Oreos. I finished and put my headphones on and started singing In the end by Lincoln Park.
"I tried so hard and got so far, in the end it doesn't even matter
I had to fall to lose it all but in the end, it doesn't even matter
One thing, I don't know
It doesn't even matter how hard you try
Keep that in mind, I designated this rhyme
To remind myself how I tried so hard
Keep that in mind, I designated this rhyme
To remind myself how I tried so hard
In spite of the way you were mockin' me
Actin' like I was part of your property"
I saw movement from the corner of my eye and I shot my head up. Darius was standing right there. I got flustered with embarrassment and put my headphones around my neck. "H-how long were you standing there?" I stuttered, still embarrassed from getting caught. "Long enough to know you have an amazing voice," he said. I bent my head down, blushing, and smiled.
Then I realized something. What was Darius doing up. I wasn't singing that loud. Then it clicked. Darius was attempting to sneak out. "Wait a minute, are you trying to sneak out" I asked. "Oh, I was just getting a glass of water," Darius said. I pointed to the water fountain in the opposite direction. "Oh I mean, I just wanted to get a snack," he tried again. I pointed at the snack bar.
Just as Darius was about to say something, we heard a clicking noise behind us. We turned around to find Kenji and Brooklynn, and she had her phone out. "What's with the arguing," Brooklynn asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.
"This one," I said, pointing to Darius, "was attempting to sneak out. And was very bad at it might I add." Darius shot me a glare. "You guys don't understand. I've been waiting my whole life to get here," Darius explained, "Those lights must be coming from the compy enclosure. I gotta check it out!"
"I don't know, we could get in a lot of trouble if we are caught," I said. "There would be great mood lighting. I guess that means we're going rogue! Kaapow!" Brooklynn said, making finger guns. Should I use my invisibility for good or for evil?
"So, you guys wanna come," Darius asked. "Fine, but only because I want to make sure you don't lose a limb," I said, poking my finger in Darius's chest. Kenji came over slung his arm over Darius's shoulder. "I will come too. Just to, ya know, supervise," he said. Darius rolled his eyes and wiggled himself out of Kenji's arm. "Alright then let's go," Darius said, excitement in his voice.
♡
We arrived at the compy enclosure and hid behind a Jeep in case there were any staff left. "I think this is it. The truck definitely headed in this direction, " Darius said. "Of course this is it. Why else would they have-" Kenji was cut off by Brooklynn slapping her hand onto his mouth. She made shushing motion with her finger. The Jeep turned on and drove off. We walked towards the stairs of the enclosure and made our way up.
"Hey Brooklynn, you can a good shot from over here," Kenji said, as Brooklynn made her way over to the railing. "Allow me," Kenji said, trying to take Brooklynn's phone. "No thanks, I got it," Brooklyn said, trying to take her phone back. The two played tug-of-war with the phone until Kenji accidentally dropped it into the enclosure. "Nice Kenji. That wat real smooth," Brooklynn said, crossing her arms and glaring at him. "Relax, I'll get it back," Kenji said, climbing over the railing. "Wait, what are you-" "I got it, kid," Kenji said, cutting Darius off.
He climbed unto the enclosure and picked up Brooklynn's phone. "Ha! See! Good as new," Kenji said. "That's great Kenji, now get back up here and gently hand it to me," Brooklynn said. "Sure, sure, just as soon as I get a sweet dino pick for your followers," Kenji said. "This isn't the compy pen," I heard Darius muttered. "Quiet Junior. The grown ups are talking. Oh your followers are going to love this. Here, compy, compy, compy," Kenji said. I rolled my eyes. "What?" I asked Darius. He ran over to the railing. "This isn't the compy pen," He shouted down to Kenji.
I spotted a blue and grey raptor stalking towards Kenji, who made the mistake of taking a picture. The raptor growled at him and charged. The only thing that kept Kenji safe was the metal bars between him and the raptor. He started banging on the door, crying out for someone to open the doors.
Brookynn pushed a button on the control panel but that just the bar cage to lift up, granting the raptor access to Kenji. I looked at Brooklynn and grabbed her by the shoulders. "Have the movies taught you nothing," I started shaking Brooklynn by her shoulders, "Never push the red button." I turned my attention back to what's going on in the pen.
"Oh crap," I said, as the blue raptor gets closer to Kenji. Darius busted open a pipe and steam came pouring out, covering the area. "What are you-" I cut myself off my trying to grab onto Darius's wrist but he escaped my grasp as he jumped down into the enclosure trying to help Kenji. "Dude, please tell me you have a plan," Kenji asked. "Come on! The steam should keep them busy," Darius responded. Just as he said that, the steam cleared, revealing four raptors instead of one. "Did you really have to say that," I shouted down. All I heard was an "Oh crud,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
First chapter done! Hope you enjoyed!
Fulcrum Out!