Austin's POV
The way I see it, school isn't anything but a big joke. I mean, you have teachers always nagging you to do your homework and study because one day you're going to 'need it'. But I honestly really doubt that we actually need to put the alphabet in math in everyday life. No way. Of course we'll need to use mental math like addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication and that's all as far as math goes.
I'm not too particular about turning in my homework. I didn't turn barely anything in and when I did the teachers would practically fall over. They knew that I wasn't going to turn rarely anything in so once they get to my desk I'd shake my head, leaning back in my chair, back arched, and folding my arms- they knew very well what that was about. So, they would nod their heads quietly, not even bothering to say anything because they had nothing to say. I didn't do my homework and they had gotten used to it. After a small pause they would go to the person that was sitting behind me, whoever they were.
It wasn't just math I knew I wouldn't need. It was every subject. In my opinion, you would only need science if you want to be a scientist, and you only would need English if you would want to be a writer or even an English teacher. Reason being, you don't need to know every single part of speech. Nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and verbs? Sure. Reading books? Fine. The thing I hate the most about English is when it gets really complicated. What I mean is that when you need to figure out which sentence type the sentence is. You're not going to do that when you are writing your four-hundred page novel!
Then there was social studies, that you would only need if you want to be a historian. Enough said about that boring subject.
Anyway, looking back, I wished that I would have just done my homework or I wouldn't be in this situation. I would be able to enjoy my summer, excluded from everyone else in my room just playing video games, sleeping, listening to music, and writing poetry. Yeah, that's right. I like poetry. I don't know, there's something about it. It's as if it understands me; speaks to me. The only time I enjoyed English was when we were analyzing poetry. I didn't know why I loved it so much but I just did.
And I told no one.
Not even my two best friends, Trish and Dez, who happened to be in my exact same situation, which I was kinda grateful for. At least I wouldn't be completely miserable. "C'mon guys," Dez probed us. "This will be fun. It's like an adventure!"
What could I say? The guy had a positive attitude. I just didn't know how he could, because this was going to be torture, I just knew it.
Trish snorted and it looked like something close to a bitter laugh. "Adventure? Really Dez?"
Dez just shrugged. "I'm just trying to think positively. Why don't you two try?"
"Okay, okay," I piped in. "I'm positive this is going to be hell."
Trish laughed while Dez glared at me. "That's not what I meant."
"I know," I mused.
"Maybe it'll be fun," he continued in a positive manner.
Two extra months of studying, teachers, and homework didn't sound like my definition of fun. And it wasn't just that. This year was going to be way more of a hassle than the other years at summer school: we were going camping. For two months. Not only they were going to jam things in our brains that has no business being there, they were going to teach us survival skills, as if we were some kind of boys and girl scouts.
The only person I knew that used to be in boy scouts was Dez, who was starting to ramble on about how to build a fire. He also went to Hillsberry Farms as a Junior Ranger and apparently had a cousin who worked there with the Junior Rangers. Dez even brought a book with him, which I thought would come in handy because I already knew I wasn't going to be able to survive out there.
I had only been camping on other time in my life. I was seven, and it wasn't a good experience. Mom and Dad didn't let me go hunting with them because I was too young. I wasn't prepared at all for that trip. I thought it was going to be warm outside but it was freezing. As Dad was trying to show me how to build a fire I was only focused on trying to stay warm. When morning came I slipped out of the tent I shared with my parents and I decided that I was big enough to explore by myself. About a half a mile up the mountain I found berries.
"Yum, breakfast!" I said excitedly, reaching for the red berries and munching them off the bush. Later I found out that was poison ivy.
"Did you eat all those berries?" Dad asked, eyes widening.
I nodded, smiling that I found some real food.
"Austin, that's poison ivy!"
I shook my head, but about a half an hour later we when we were back at camp I threw up the berries everywhere. We went home early, and I've never been camping since.
Till this day I have never eaten a signal berry. I was still afraid that it was poisonous and I would have to do the whole thing over. That's another reason I didn't want to go. The name of the camping place we are going to is called Hillsberry Farms, which makes me cringe because it has the word "berry" in it.
There wasn't a whole lot of girls from Marino High that were here. See, most kids that failed their classes last year (like me) are forced by their parents to go to summer school. And since apparently girls are "smarter" than boys, there isn't a lot of girls on the bus.
The ones that are seem pretty sheltered. Others were pretty cool, like Jamie Thomason. I sat next to her in English and she was always asking for pencils, which I would willingly give it to her even though she asked for them a lot. Despite the pencil issure, she was a really good friend. We sat next to her at lunch. Our table consisted of me, Dez, Trish, Jamie, and Dallas- who unfortunately wasn't here with us. But his girlfriend was.
Jamie was often made fun of because she was gothic and happened to be bisexual. She had a crush Mabel Anderson, who was sitting right ahead of us with headphones plugged in her ear. I don't blame Jamie, Mabel's hot. I would date her. I couldn't do that to a friend, though. The thing that still made me scratch my head was as to why Mabel was here. She was one of those really smart people that you saw going to going to the library during lunch. Everyday Jamie would watch her contently, as if she thought Mabel would change her mind and sit next to us. Come to think of it, the only places I saw Mabel was in science and the library; she didn't look like she hung around anyone, even though a lot of boys flirted with her. Dallas said she was pansexual.
"So she's attracted to pans?" Dez joked.
Dallas laughed. "No. It means she's attracted to everyone. No matter their looks. Even if they are transgender."
At that point I wondered if Dallas was just saying that to get Jamie's hopes up because she was always saying it was hopeless. But there was evidence. At lunch (on the days when she actually ate lunch) I saw her drawing a heart on her paper and coloring in pink, yellow, and blue top to bottom in that order. Dallas told me that those were the pansexual colors. (He knew a lot about this stuff.) Jamie did that too, except her colors were pink, lavender, and blue.
My colors? Mine were the boring ones. Heterosexual was black and white. I never really knew about the colors until Jamie told me about them, along with Dallas which was her best friend, who knew everything there was to know because she taught him about it before we met them in sophomore year, where Jamie came out.
Everyone is cool with it. We love our friends unconditionally.
The moment we pulled up at Hillsberry Farms I wanted to leave. There was a reek in the air that I couldn't describe. "Do you guys smell that?" I asked Trish, Dez, and Jamie (she was sitting across from us).
Jamie looked up from coloring her hand her colors and enhaled, then licked her teeth, looking amused. "It's called nature."
"Ew," another voice chimed in. It was none other than Cassidy Sanders, Dallas's girlfriend. "Nature. It's full of bugs, unwashed animals and poison ivy!" Now, I have nothing against Cassidy, it's Cassidy that doesn't like me, or any of us. There was no way she was going to survive this trip. I wouldn't be surprised if she was gonna have to go home early. She was taking this worse than I was, and that was really saying something. I would have gone for Cassidy a long time ago if it wasn't for Dallas. But I'm over that now.
How come every girl that seems appealing to me seem to be taken or someone has a crush on?
Campsite 143.
Dez and I looked around for the camp we were suppose to go where we would get our assigned cabin. We lost track of Trish and Jamie. Being the girls, they were told to go to the girls side of the camp. Man, this place didn't make things very clear. You would think there would at least be a sign or an advisor telling you that you were at the right place.
We went straight for about fifteen minutes. I squinted my eyes, realizing I finally reached my campsite.
But I was wrong. I'm always wrong these days.
It wasn't it at all.
There were little kids here gathering together firewood. It was getting dark, I realized, looking up at the sky. One of the kids was making his way to me. "Hey, there!" he said, smiling.
"Hi," I said, waving.
He frowned. "You look a little tall to be a Junior Ranger."
"Hey!" Dez said more energetically. "I used to be a Junior Ranger!"
"Cool!" the little boy explained.
I let Dez talk a while with his new best friend. Then I opened my mouth to explain why we were here but before I got the chance to a girl that looked about my age approached the both of us. As she walked, I looked at her and I couldn't help but smile. I wouldn't be surprised if she could make the whole world smile. She wore a similar uniform as the kids; her hair was a brunette color, as her eyes. Everything about her looked so perfect. From bottom to top. I felt something stir in my stomach that I never had before. I wanted to punch it but I knew I'd look dumb if I did that. The last thing I wanted to do was look dumb in front of a girl like this."Hey cous, who's your friend?" she asked. Her voice was light and delicate…
Wait. Cousin? That was Dez's cousin?! This girl that worked with the Junior Rangers?!
I cleared my throat. "Uh, I'm uh…" Just give you your name idiot! What's my name again? "I'm Moon Austin." Remember that "the last thing I wanna do is look dumb"? Well, congrats, you failed.
She smiled in amusement, and I completely melted. "Hey Moon Austin, nice to meet you." She shook my hand. "I'm Dawson Ally."
I blushed in embarrassment. "Erm, my name is Austin. Just Austin."
"I know," Ally smiled. "And I'm just Ally." She looked at me for a moment, continuing to smile.
I smiled back. "I had a feeling."
She let out a sigh of content as she looked at me, grinning ear to ear. Shaking herself, she laughed nervously. "N-Now what do you guys want?" she asked, then said in a rush. "Oh! I'm sorry! That was rude I didn't mean it that way-"
I laugh, then pretended I had gotten shot in the heart. "Ouch, that hurt."
She chuckled. "Now, what seems to be the problem?"
"We are looking for Campsite 143," Dez answered for me. "It must be new because I don't remember any Campsite 143."
"Ah, campsite I love you," she smiled. "That's new. It's the boys side of the summer camp."
"Camp I love you?" I asked. "What do you mean?"
"You've never heard of that? Well, there is one letter in I, four in love, and three in you. So it means I love you."
I couldn't help but grin.
"Sorry but I have to say you two are nowhere near campsite 143." She bit her lip. "But I can take you there."
I beamed. "Uh...yeah! S-Sure!"
"So what's your story Just Austin?" Ally asked as we walked opposite of the camp, a flashlight firmly grasped on her hand as we made our way through the darkness.
"My Mom is forcing me to go to summer school because my grades weren't the best. If I don't pass I'll have to repeat my junior year." I kicked a rock, not meeting her gaze. I already looked dumb in front of her, and now I sounded dumb for failing.
She looked at me sympathetically. "I'm sure you'll pass with flying colors."
"Thanks, Ally," I smiled, finally looking at her. Even though I doubted I would pass, it was nice that someone besides Mom and Dad had faith in me. The teachers seemed to give up on me. I don't care, I would tell myself. But I'll tell you, deep down, I really did.
"What about you Dez? Why are you here?" Ally asked.
"Same thing as Austin," he said.
"What about you?" I asked after a moment.
"Oh, I live here," she said.
I raised an eyebrow.
She scoffed awkwardly, digging her shoe into the sand and her right hand rubbed her left hard. "W-Well not here as in here. I live in a cabin with my Dad. He owns this land."
"That's a lot of land," I commented.
She shrugged. "Eh, you learn to get used to it."
"Oh! How's Uncle Lester?" Dez asked.
"He's fine, doing great"
"How do you do it?" I asked, ignoring their conversation.
"Do what?"
"Live here, in the middle of nowhere," I explained, stretching my arms and looking at my surroundings.
"Well it's about a half an hour drive to town. We go once a week to get things we need. There's no service up here. If you love nature and interacting with people, then it may be a life for you."
It wasn't a life for me.
Of course I didn't say anything, though. I wanted her to like me. Because I sure as hell liked her.
New story! Feel free to leave a review because I want attention 😂
Seriously doe, it'd be nice :)
Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!