Hey guys, I'm back, and with a new story. Some of my friends and I have been rping together, and they managed to convince me to write this story. I hope you guys enjoy~3
"Are you sure you packed everything, Penelope? Money? Snacks? Underwear?" I lifted my head up from the car window and looked at my mother. My best friend, Kelsey Moore, had promised me a long and exciting day of summer camp fun, and I was trying to get a nap in so that I would be well rested and ready to play, but as the car ride went on it was clear I wouldn't be getting any sleep with my mother's constant questioning.
"Yes, ma'am," I responded, patting the two giant suitcases in the back seat. My mother was a sweet and simple lady, her wavy black hair usually in a messy low bun and her plain T-shirt and jean combo allowed her to blend in with every other mother in the world. However, at times like these I swore Mother was going out of her way to embarrass me in front of my friend. Kelsey, was sitting comfortably in the passenger seat. The blonde looked up from the roadmap she held in her hands to smirk back at me. Kelsey enjoyed watching me get flustered almost as much as my mother enjoyed making me this way. I was glad my skin was just dark enough so that my blush wasn't visible.
It was the beginning of summer, and school was finally out. Kelsey invited me to come to an out of state summer camp with her. Being the only friend I made this year, I didn't want to turn her down. Accepting the invitation was easy, but getting the permission to go was hard. You see, even though my mother was so simple and sweet, she was also very strict and more paranoid than I was. I wasn't allowed to stay out late, or go to slumber parties because Mother was afraid that I'd get drugged, kidnapped, and sold into child slavery. That being said, asking for permission to go to a summer camp that was out of state and filled with unfamiliar teens was like, asking a teacher to round up your grade. I'd have to pull a lot of strings and do a lot of butt kissing. Finally after a month of cleaning the entire house every day, keeping the peace with my stepbrothers, and doing an entire presentation about why I should go, I reached the cusp of her agreeing to let me go. What tipped her over the edge was my stepfather, Jacob Hosh. Initially I was surprised her wanted to let me go because he had taken up the role of overprotective father, but then I realized the step brothers would also be going on a big road trip with their friends at that time, leaving Jacob and Mother alone for at least a month. Thinking about what could occur in that month made me want to gag, so I tried to focus on the activities I'd participate in.
"Do you have your cellphone?" Mother asked.
"Yes, ma'am," I replied, doing my best not to show the look of displeasure on my face. My "cellphone", if one could even call it that, was a cheap go-phone that was wired so that I could only call home or 911. Mother claimed that I didn't need an iPhone or Android like all the other kids my age, which technically was true, but it didn't stop me from feeling a fresh wave of embarrassment every time I had to whip it out to call home.
"Ah, turn left up here," Kelsey directed. Mother did so. I grinned and tugged at the ends of my black gloves in excitement. We were getting closer and closer to the rendezvous point where I would meet another camper who would take us to the camp. This was my very first time going to any sort of summer camp, and being away from Mother for more than a week. An odd tingle made me glance up, and when I did my gold eyes met my mother's brown ones. She was watching me intently like an owl looking for any sort of danger. I felt my smile drop, and I stopped pulling at my gloves. Mother's attention turned back to the road.
"Mind the rules," I had said it in my mind, but with Mother's voice. I turned back to the window, watching as outside seemed to whip past our van. My rules were these.
1. No inappropriate clothing or hairstyles
2. Never talk back to those in authority and are above you
3. No extracurricular events mother hasn't approved of
4. No friends that mother hasn't approved of
5. Never ever take your gloves off in public
There were other minor rules like not having a boyfriend before the age of 16, and don't agree to things you can't finish, but those five were the major ones that I had to follow for a long time. I never really asked why the rules were instated for the fear that it would break rule number two, but I expected it was because of the series odd occurrences that had started when I was 8.
For instance, at one of my old houses, I could have sworn I saw one of their new neighbors' silhouette through their window at night. They had a long, spiked tail and gnarly claws. Mother said I was just imagining it, but soon after a freak fire had started and almost burned our house down. The firefighters who came said it had started from over by that neighbor's yard. After that we moved to Georgia. But, that was just the beginning. Every time we moved, I kept seeing more and more things that I don't think I should have. Finally, we moved to Texas last year. Mother met Jacob and his two kids, and the rest is history.
"Hey, Pen!" Kelsey snapped her fingers in front of my face. I blinked back into the present, and realized the car had stopped.
"We're here," Kelsey chirped, bright blue eyes sparking. We were parked at a gas station. It was one of those stations that felt like it was in the middle of nowhere, and you just knew the bathrooms within was home to its fair share of roaches. And, to top it off it was also connected to a fast food restaurant. With the exception of a rusty pale blue truck with some kind of field equipment in the back, the vicinity was empty. Mother was looking around, for the person who was supposed to be our ride.
"What did you say your friend looked like, Kelsey?" she asked, her eyes falling on a greasy man eating a burger who had just stepped out of the McDonalds. As he walked to his blue car, mustard dripped from the bottom of his burger, and landed on his green shirt. Upon noticing it he simply shrugged and continued eating. Mother grimaced. She was very into healthy eating and organic foods. Even candy had restrictions, which made Halloween a very sad time. Mother looked at me and I quickly made a look of disgust.
"Ugh, all that greasy fast food. Doesn't he know it clogs your arteries," I moaned. Mother smiled proudly. She turned to Kelsey.
"I'm a vegetarian," Kelsey said beaming, "I can't even begin to imagine those poor animals at the filthy factories just waiting to be slaughtered. Oh! I read this one article where..." And she was off. One of Kelsey's many talents was to put people to sleep with her long and drawn out stories. I spaced out again, waiting for the sound of her voice to stop.
"Oh! There he is!" Kelsey alerted, her story finally coming to a halt. She pointed outside the window to a bright red sports car that had just pulled up.
"Alright, let's go," Kelsey smiled. She opened the door and looked back at me. For some reason when we locked eyes I felt a little bit unsettled.
"She did something, didn't she," I thought to myself. It wasn't uncommon for the girl to play pranks on me, and I didn't see why she wouldn't play one now. Before I could say anything both she and my mother were out of the car and walking to the new arrival.
"Let's hope it's not too bad," I sighed, unbuckling my seatbelt. I hopped out the car, and folded my seat down in a way that I would be able to reach Kelsey and my suitcases. Kelsey's was stacked underneath mine, so I pulled on the handle of her suitcase to see if I could pull them both out at once. You know, killing two birds with one stone.
"Gnnrgh," I grunted, half despising my friend for ditching me to do the dirty work. The suitcases were heavy with the clothes and supplies we packed. I had managed to pull the suitcases to the edge of the seat when I heard a voice speak.
Need help?" I yelped and jumped back, dropping both suitcases. The boy who had just appeared behind me, moved quickly and caught the bags.
"Whoa, these are heavy. A bit surprised you could lift them, "The boy joked. I laughed along nervously, and looked him up and down. I couldn't believe it. Rory Walsh, the hottest boy in my grade, was standing in front of me. Talking to me. I nervously started tugging on the ends of my gloves again.
"It's okay. Just be cool," I thought to myself. But cool, I was not.
"Uuuuh, yeah it was a stra-struggle," I stammered.
"Dammit." I mentally slapped myself in the face. "Rory isn't be our carpool by coincidence. Kelsey definitely planned this." But for some reason I couldn't stay mad. Rory is noticing me, and I was talking to him, something I wouldn't have been able to do myself if I tried. I gave a small smile. If Rory was beautiful at a distance, he was downright gorgeous up close. Rory had thick, choppy dark brown hair. He played a lot of sports for our school like football and track, which earned him a nice golden brown suntan over his well-toned body. A spray of freckles could be found on wherever skin was visible. To top it all off he had always wore dark eyeliner. I don't know why, but that made him ten times more attractive. Maybe it was because I listen to a lot of punk rock bands. Maybe it was because it highlighted his fixating brown eyes. Either way, the boy looked good. I did my best not to ogle as Rory easily lifted the two suitcases up and placed it on the ground before me.
"Thank you," I said quietly.
"Not a problem," he said, looking down at me, "Hey! You go to our school?" I could have sworn my eyes were glistening.
"Rory knew we went to school together?" All of those telepathic messages really did work. But now I had to pretend I don't stare at the back of his head for thirty minutes in study hall.
"Oh uh y-yeah. Jefferson's right? How'd you know?" I asked. Rory cracked a smile, and I tried to keep my heartbeat in check.
"Well you're wearing the school shirt." I felt my blood run cold, and my heart stopped. I slowly looked down to see that past my grey jacket, I was in fact wearing a dark blue t-shirt with our school's symbol on it. I smacked myself in the face with the palm of my hand.
"Oh my god," I groaned. I had managed to single handedly make a fool of myself to the cutest boy I knew. Rory chuckled which, although cute, amplified my embarrassment by fifty.
"Don't worry everybody forgets things," Rory said, patting me on the back.
"Haha. Yeah," I replied, trying not to feel insulted that Rory was treating me like a child despite up being the same age.
"I will take these," Rory said, grabbing the suitcase handles, "and you can say goodbye to your mom."
"Yeah, okay," I said, following him around the car to where Mother and Kelsey were.
I scurried to my mother. I must have stepped too close to her because she took a step back.
"Uh well, goodbye mother," I said with a smile. She returned it, but her eyes made the look on her face unsettling. Her eyes were filled with worry.
"Do you think I'm going to do something bad?" I wanted to ask, but I was afraid of her response.
"Goodbye, Penelope. Do behave and remember the rules," Mother said.
"I always do," I replied. Mother stepped forward, and for a brief moment I thought she was going to hug me. No such thing happened, and she walked past me to her silver van.
"Not even a goodbye hug, huh?" Kelsey said, walking up behind me.
"Um, yeah," I said, rubbing my arms. "She knows I'm not really a touchy feely person, so…" I trailed off at the end of the sentence. Kelsey looked at me as if she were trying to figure out something, and the key lies somewhere within my eyes. In the end she didn't find anything but awkwardness, and just shrugged.
"Well, you know what I've got to say to that?" She asked.
"What?"
"I call shotgun!" She shouted before bolting to the door of the passenger's side of Rory's car.
"Oh. My. God. Kels," I groaned. The sound of the car trunk slamming, signaled that Rory was ready to go as well. I shuffled to the door of the back seat to find that the door was not a door, and there wasn't a handle for me to get in.
"Oh, you have to get in through the front," Rory said. He walked over, opened the front door, and pulled a lever that folded his chair forward, leaving just enough room for me to squeeze in.
"Thank you," I murmured, crawling in and plopping down on the tan leather seats. His car smelled sweet, like strawberries, and when I looked to the air freshener that was hanging from the rearview mirror I saw that my nose was right. Rory pulled his chair back and got in. He put his keys in the ignition and started the engine. Rory turned back to Kelsey and me.
"You ready to go?" he asked excitedly.
"Yeah!" Kelsey and I cheered in unison.
"Then let's go!" Rory put the car into gear and began to drive towards the road. I looked out the window and watched as my mother drove in the opposite direction. As her silver van got smaller and smaller in the horizon, I did my best to ignore the shadowy figure that was running in my peripheral vision.