Outside the car, flowers were in full bloom and trees were covered in bright green leaves. Kids on bikes could be seen riding down to the local pool; all excited school was out for another summer.

     And Amelia and Ben were no exception. They sat in the car, windows open, the radio on in the background, talking. Amelia was playing with the radio while Ben made another turn.

     “I can’t believe she would do that to me,” Amelia complained. She pressed a button. 80’s rock music blasted through the car. “She’s supposed to be one of my best friends!”

     “Why don’t you just talk to her about it?” Ben asked.

     Amelia pressed another button. Country music. “Because she’ll just laugh in my face!” she said.

     “You know, he really isn’t right for you. You won’t even remember his name when the weekend’s over,” Ben said, trying to comfort her.

     “Oh, yeah right!” Amelia whined. She pressed a button. Rap. “Ben, you have no idea how much I liked this guy!”

     Ben sighed. “What do you want me to say?” he asked.

     “I don’t know, you know this guy –“

     “No I don’t!”

     “ – and you know what he’s like –“

     “Ha!”

     “ – and you knew he liked her!”

     “What?” Ben said. “No I didn’t!”

     “Oh really?” Amelia said.

     “Yes!”

     Amelia sighed. “As if it wasn’t obvious. I should’ve realized it too.”

     “Just get over him already!” Ben yelled at her. “I never understood why you liked him in the first place!”

     “I – I don’t know, he was just…” Amelia couldn’t finish her sentence. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know why she liked him. But maybe Ben was right. Maybe she was overreacting. But she liked him. She couldn’t explain it. She just – did.

     “I’m sorry, Em,” Ben apologized.

     “It’s fine,” Amelia said.

     “No, it’s not,” Ben said. “I shouldn’t have yelled.”

     “Ben, its fine. Don’t worry about it.”

     Ben sighed. Amelia could be so stubborn. But she was usually right. For example, when they were in eighth grade, Amelia got into an argument with Heather Porchin about when they were doing scheduling for high school. Amelia insisted it was in a week, and Heather insisted it was in a month. They caused a huge scene in the hallway, and a teacher had to tell them it was in a week. Heather and Amelia didn’t talk until sophomore year.

     “So,” Amelia said, “are you excited?”

     “Absolutely,” Ben said.

     “Why?” Amelia asked.

     “Oh I’ll do just about anything to get away from my family.”

     “Oh come on, we’re not talking about your family.”

     “My dad just left for another few weeks, and my mom dropped out of AA again.”

     “Oh so what?”

     “So what? Em, my family’s destroyed! I’m the only decent one, and I take care of all of them!”

     “Ben, your family’s not that bad,” Amelia tried to say.

     “Oh yeah? Have you met them?”

     “Yes, Ben, I have and –“

     “And you know that they’re terrible. My mom’s a drunk, my dad’s never home, and my brother’s a druggie. Like I said, I’m the only decent one.”

     “Ben,” Amelia sighed.

     “So are you excited to go?” Ben asked.

     “Yeah,” Amelia said. “It’ll be the last chance I get to see my friends before they all leave me for the summer.”

     “I’m not leaving,” Ben said. “I asked mom when she was drunk and she told me, ‘As long as you don’t get drunk.’ Kind of ironic.”

     Amelia laughed. “Well, I’m still just as excited for the trip as I was before.”

     Ben made another turn, and they pulled into the parking lot of the high school, where a group of juniors and a school bus were waiting. A few of the students looked over and saw them. One of the girls ran over.

     “Amy! Amy! Amy!” she yelled as Amelia stepped out of the car.

     “Yeah?” Amelia said. "Oh, hi Destiny."

     “Oh, hi, Ben,” the girl said, and she looked back at Amelia. “We’re going to be tent-mates!”

     “What?” Amelia asked.

     “Cabin-mates! You and I are going to be in the same tent!”

     “Oh, uh, great,” Amelia said.

     “I know!” Destiny said excitedly. “We can stay up late, tell ghost stories, paint our nails, and it’ll be just like a sleepover!”

     “Yeah,” Amelia muttered, looking at Ben for help.

     “So are there groups? I heard there were going to be groups, like, two tents per group or something,” Ben asked.

     “Oh, yeah. There are… hmm, let me think… oh, six groups,” Destiny said. “Two people per cabin and two cabins per group. Amy, we’re in Girl’s Cabin D, Group 4.”

     “Alright,” Amelia said. She looked at Ben. “Let’s go see where you are,” she suggested. Ben was pulling duffel bags out of the trunk and setting them on the ground.

     “K,” he said, lifting the final duffel bag out of the car and handing it to Amelia.

     “Thanks,” she muttered, throwing it over her shoulder.

     They walked over to a table where one of the teachers, Miss Newman, was checking off names as students checked in.

     “Well good morning!” she said when Amelia and Ben stepped up to the table.

     “Morning,” they muttered.

     “Let’s see…” she said. “Ben Hamilton… Okay… Amelia Hayes... Alright! Ben you are in Boy’s Cabin D, Group 4, Amelia you are in Girl’s Cabin D, Group 4. If you want, you put your luggage in the compartment under the bus, or you can take it on with you. We’ll be leaving in fifteen minutes.”

     “Thanks,” Ben said.

     Walking over to the bus, Amelia noticed people were giggling and talking in excited whispers.

     “You gonna put your stuff on the bus?” Ben asked. Amelia nodded, straining to hear what everyone was talking about. But she wasn’t able to hear anything before Ben led her onto the bus.

     They walked to the back, and saw no one had put anything on the bus yet. They threw their stuff in the two backseats and sat down in each of them. They sighed.

     “You hungry or thirsty?” Ben asked.

     Amelia nodded.

     “You want McDonalds, KFC, Subway, or Arbys?”

          “Hmm… Arbys,” Amelia said. Ben was pulling out his wallet to count his money.

          “Alright,” he said. “What do you want?”

          “Usual,” Amelia said.

          “K,” Ben said, shoving his wallet back into his pocket. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. You and Destiny can have some bonding time,” he said, smiling. Amelia rolled her eyes.

          “Yeah right,” she said.

          Ben chuckled and climbed off the bus. Amelia sat alone in silence. All she could hear was the mumbles and laughter of everyone outside.

          The bus was incredibly stuffy, and Amelia learned this was because all the windows were closed. Even in a tank top and shorts, she was burning. She opened her window, and when she was still uncomfortable, she opened Ben’s window.

          She was also in an awkward position. She had thrown her large duffel on the seat and laid down on it, but it was bumpy and uncomfortable. She shoved it onto the ground in between her seat and the one in front of it. There was much more room, but she would have to sit up. She sighed and opened her duffel bag. She pulled out her pillow and laid down on the seat, deciding to take a quick nap until Ben came back…

“Amy!” one voice said.

          “Em,” another whispered.

          “Come on, there’s an announcement before we go!” the first voice said.

          “Come on Em, wake up.”

          Amelia was half awake, but she recognized that the voices were Ben and Destiny. She scrunched her eyes and opened them slowly.

          “Hey,” Ben said. “I brought you Arby’s.”

          “Thanks,” Amelia mumbled, sitting up. She saw that everyone was sitting down on the bus, and Miss Newman was making an announcement.

          “Can I please have everyone’s attention?” she said. No one was listening, they were all joking and laughing and talking.

          “Hey!” the bus driver, Mr. Lector, yelled. The bus became dead silent.

          “Thank you,” Miss Newman said. “Now I know you are all excited for our camping trip, but I have a few things you need to know. We will be staying in cabins, as you know, and the cabins will have private bathrooms with running water and showers.”

          Everyone on the bus cheered and clapped.

          “Second, there will be no sneaking off in the woods in the middle of the night. There are carnivores in these woods, and there have been reports of attacks.”

          Everyone kept silent.

          “Third, there will be consequences for anyone caught wandering outside the campground after hours.”

          “Are we allowed to walk around the campground after hours with our friends as long as we stay near a cabin?” Destiny asked.

          “Yes, and fourth –“

          “And how late can we be out in the woods?” Destiny continued.

          “10 o’ clock. And fourth, have fun. This is supposed to be a fun trip for you to be with your friends. Just follow the rules.”

          She sat down next to Mr. Germain in the front seat and the bus started. Everyone began talking again and Ben handed Amelia the food from Arby’s.

          “Thanks,” she said.

          “So Amy,” Destiny said as Amelia opened the Arby’s bag. “I don’t really know that much about you. What do you like to do?”

          “I dunno,” Amelia said, shoving a handful of fries into her mouth.

          “Eat like a pig,” Ben teased. Amelia glared at him.

          “Where are you planning on going to college?” Destiny asked. Amelia looked at Ben for support as she took a bite out of a chicken sandwich.

          “We don’t know yet,” Ben said.

          “Oh,” Destiny said. “Are you two going to the same college?”

          “We’re planning on it. We’ll probably go to University of Massachusetts, Boston.”

          “Oh. But for them don’t you have to live off-campus?”

          “Yeah,” Ben said. “Em and I will be roommates.”

          “Oh. I’m planning on Harvard or Princeton,” Destiny said.

          “Really?” Ben asked. “What’s your GPA?”

          “Uh, 2.9,” Destiny admitted. “But I have a good list of extracurriculars.”

          Ben nodded and looked at Amelia, who was leaning up against the window in her seat. She mouthed the words, Thank you. Ben nodded.

          No problem, he said.