AN: Finally! Another chapter typed! Over four pages long, too! I promise everything will get a bit more "on plot" soon. This is just a lead in and a chapter I'm using to introduce you a bit more to Ari and her mannerisms. Plus, it's another of my "class chapters." Now, I'll answer a few reviews before I move on to the chapter!

Matilda: I'm glad you like BCH! And, thank you for letting me know all of the errors in a few chapters. I don't have the time to preread so when I post I always hope someone will point them out to me so I can fix them. I really appreciate it!

Little Vili: I know, I know.. It seems like it's falling away from the plot, but I haven't killed this "plot bunny" yet, so you just wait. I promise things will get back on track

Chinesechic: I just finished a term as a cadet teacher, which is a course where Seniors student teach a class and thought it'd be a good twist to the camp. So, in BCH, upperclassmen and those who excel at various things were chosen as camp counselors to both give the teachers a break and to give the students experience in front of a group

And now, on to the chapter! As always, read, review, and enjoy!

Ulrich surveyed his class of 30 with a critical eye.

"Welcome to P.E., camp style," Jim bellowed, startling both the students and their new student teacher. "Ulrich here will be in charge of this class, but I'll be watching so don't try anything funny."

"Ok, thanks, Jim. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Ulrich Stern."

From the back of the group, some of the youngest girls tried to sneak a glance at the handsome soccer whiz they had heard so much about. But alas, they were too short. Some of the girls were brave enough to move forward and earned a coveted glance.

"We're hiking today so everybody pair off and we'll get started," Ulrich instructed. Immediately, junior journalists Milly and Tamiya stood side-by-side. Various alliances formed in the large group, leaving only four students undecided. Typically, Ulrich would pair up with Odd, and Jeremy with Yumi. This time, Ulrich wasn't an available partner. Odd seemed to be more drawn toward Jeremy, leaving Yumi by herself. Looking around, Yumi spotted the only other unpaired student. The other girl searched the group and saw Yumi. Their eyes made contact, and Yumi smiled at her. The two paired up, and the hike began. They filed into the woods in a long line that was two people wide. Ulrich led the way while Jim brought up the rear.

"My name's Ari," the girl said.

"I'm -"

"Yumi Ishiyama, I know. And your brother is Jin, right?"

"Yes, how do you -"

"Know your name? I was given a list of counselors and their pictures and had learned who they are in case I had any problems. Plus, you're in my Creative Writing class, and you look a lot like Jin."

"How do you know Jin?"

"He was in my class back in the United States. We started talking and became friends. He talked about you a lot, and he said you hadn't been writing him lately. He's worried about you, you know."

Yumi hung her head, guilty that she had forgotten to write. In an attempt to redirect Ari, she changed the subject.

"What class did you have this morning?" Yumi asked.

"French." Ari rolled her eyes. "I feel like I'm lightyears behind all of you. I mean, it's this country's native language so I can see why, but I still can't help but feel lost sometimes."

"I could help you study," Yumi suggested, "I have Journaling at 2:10 if you have free time them."

"Really? That'd be great! I'll pay you back somehow," Ari said enthusiastically.

"You don't have to," Yumi said. "It'd be good practice for me."

After that, the girls stayed silent, for the path had narrowed, and low branches threatened to smack anyone who was caught unaware. Before long, the path widened and the group entered a small clearing.

"Ok, we're going to have a scavenger hunt so one person from each group needs to come get a list," Ulrich said once the students had quieted down. "There are ten things on each list, and the groups that return with all the stuff get full marks. Go!"

Yumi and Ari went to the right and glanced down at the list before starting their search.

Scavenger Hunt

5 pieces of grass
Something white
Something blue
Berries
3 different kinds of leaves
A live bug
A spider's web
A nut
The name carved on Lookout Tree
The rarest item that you can find - can not be living

"Which one should we look for first?" Ari asked, her eyes skimming the list again.

"I don't know... Maybe at the top?"

Ari nodded consent, and the two girls stepped onto one of the paths that lead away from the clearing. Ari held on to the list and read off the items while Yumi collected them, and before long, they had found four things. So far, they had collected the grass, berries, leaves, and nut, and they started searching for something white.

"Does he mean a flower or what?" Ari asked, crouched down as she walked so she could see the undergrowth better. "Wait! I found something!" Ari held up a palm-sized white rock that she had literally stumbled across.

"What's next?" Yumi asked.

"Something blue." This took the girls longer before Yumi came back to the trail holding some blueberries.

"Great thinking!" Ari exclaimed, seeing the berries in Yumi's hand. The black-haired girl tried to hand the fruit to Ari, but the brunette backed away. "Sorry, I'm allergic to blueberries.. Even the juice makes me break out," Ari said. "You'll have to hold them. I don't want to chance getting the juice on my hands." Yumi nodded, holding the berries loosely in her fist.

"Next is... a live bug."

"Maybe we should get that one last so we don't lose it," Yumi suggested.

"Agreed. Ok... then we need a spider's web. There should be one between some branches." Of all the items so far, this one took the girls the longest. Because Ari couldn't see the tree branches well enough to find a web, she started looking in bushes while Yumi searched the trees. Finally, Ari spotted the artistic article. Setting down the list, she pulled the web off of the bush's branches as delicately as possible. A little bit of it ripped, but most of it remained intact, and the brunette laid it carefully on the bottom of the list so it wouldn't get lost.

"Yumi, I found the web. Now we have to find Lookout Tree."

Yumi jogged over to Ari and they both started in different directions, looking for a tree worthy of the name "Lookout." After nearly fifteen minutes of searching, Ari met back up with Yumi.

"I give up!" Ari plopped down with her back against a wide tree.

"Don't quit, we'll find it," Yumi said encouragingly, walking over to the other girl. "It has to be here somewhere."

"We've looked all over this part of the forest," Ari said. "So far we haven't found anything written on any of the tall trees." The two girls remained silent for a few moments, then Ari's brow wrinkled in concentration. "Maybe we're going about this the wrong way... Maybe what we're looking for isn't tall... start looking for a tree that's pointing or has a branch that's pointing!" Both girls spread out and started their search anew.

"Over here!" Ari rushed over to where Yumi stood by a fallen tree that leaned against a broad tree in one of the still-living tree's high forks. Obviously, it had gained its name because it pointed to the treetops, and should anyone climb it, it would serve as a good survey point. On the bottom of the tree was carved one word - Rebirth. As the word stated, the base of Lookout Tree was covered in small shoots of its successors.

Ari pulled a pencil from behind her ear and scribbled the word on the list paper, then stuck the pencil back behind her ear.

"We should probably start heading back," Yumi said, turning to the path. "We'll find the other stuff on the way to the clearing." Ari nodded, then followed the raven-haired girl, both watching for something rare.

"Finding anything?" Yumi asked.

"Nope."

As Yumi looked up to see how close they were to the clearing, her foot kicked something small, and it clattered away from her. Startled, she looked down and saw a tiny skull. Bending down, she picked it up and held the creamy white bone in the palm of her hand. It was so small that she assumed it had come from a mouse.

"I think we've found our rare item," Yumi called out to her partner. Careful not to break the delicate skull, Yumi searched for the last item on the list - a live bug.

"Hurry up," Ari called frantically, "I have the bug and it's trying to get away!" The two girls raced back to the clearing and stood, panting, in front of the assistant P.E. instructor. Already, nine groups had returned and either sat or stood along the edge of the meeting area.

"Found it all?" Ulrich asked the girls. Ari nodded and read off the items as Yumi pulled them out of her pocked and handed them to Ulrich.

"Grass.... something white.." This time she dug into her own pocket, pulled out the white stone, and handed it to him before reading on. "Something blue.. berries... leaves... a live bug.. Oops, it's trying to get away... here you go." Ari handed Ulrich the spider she had caught and the boy shook it off frantically.

"What's wrong? Did it bite you?" Ari asked.

"No.. it's just I've always had this fear of spiders.." Ulrich replied sheepishly, then tried to change the subject. "Did you find everything else?"

"Yeah, hold on, ok... the spider's web is on the bottom of the paper... a nut.. Rebirth is what's carved on Lookout Tree.. and Yumi has our rare item."

Yumi held the skull out to Ulrich, and he took it from her carefully, examining it. On the stump behind him sat the rare items of the groups before them. The other rare items ranged from strangely colored rocks to bird's nests to feathers.

"Good, you guys can go rest now while we wait for the others." Jim motioned to the edge of the clearing, and the girls obediently sat with the rest of their class. Slowly, more groups returned until only one was still missing.

After fifteen more minutes had passed, Ulrich started walking down one of the paths. "I'll find the girls, Jim you take everyone else back to camp."

"Hold on just a second there, Ulrich. I'm the adult in charge so I'll go looking while you take the class back. Besides, you have other classes to attend. Which girls are missing?"

"Amanda and Abby, sir. They went that way with us, but then they went a different way." Milly pointed down the path to Ulrich's left.

"C'mon, Jim. Let me look for them. I'm sure they haven't gone too far." Ulrich faced the giant gym teacher and awaited his decision.

"Sorry, Ulrich, but I can't chance another student getting lost. You take the students back while I search, and that's an order." Jim stood resolutely and Ulrich bowed his head in defeat as he walked back to the main group.

"Let's go," Ulrich said, leading the way down the path toward camp. The group filed in behind him and held whispered conversations. As they entered the main campgrounds, Sissi's father, Principal Delmas, rang the bell, which sat in the middle of the camp's front lawn.

"You're dismissed," Ulrich said, indicating with his hand that the class should disperse.

"See you at 2:10," Ari called to Yumi before heading toward the cabin she was supervising. Yumi nodded at the foreign girl and headed to her cabin, too.

Each cabin was given a rustic, log cabin style look, which was popular in the United States. Inside, eight bunk beds were arranged. Two bunk beds were placed against each of the longest walls with one bunk bed against each of the shorter walls. Two bunk beds had also been placed in the middle of the room, making the maximum occupancy of each room 16. Yumi had claimed the bottom bunk of the bed closest to the door. As a student teacher, she was also responsible for supervising her cabin of girls.

Reaching under her bed, she pulled out a small traveling bag and grabbed her hairbrush. Once she deemed herself presentable, she left for lunch.

"Hey Yumi." Theo smiled at the raven-haired girl as he sat down beside her at the lunch table and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Hello, Theo." Yumi tried to shrug his arm off, but Theo tightened it around her.

"I've missed you," Theo said. Ulrich scowled at the pair, but neither seemed to notice. Yumi seemed to be very interesting in her plate, while Theo seemed to be very interested in her.

"Please take your arm off me," Yumi said quietly so only he could hear, tensing for the blow she was sure would follow.

"Too good for me now?" Theo's soft voice was laced with venom, and he kept his arm around her, then leaned in closer to her ear and whispered, "I have a surprise for you. Meet me at midnight by the edge of the forest." As he pulled his head back, he gave her a quick peck on the cheek, the proceeded to eat his lunch. As he was eating, he snuck a glance at Ulrich, who seemed to be very intent on cutting his pizza into tiny morsels.

He isn't supposed to touch her... he isn't supposed to kiss her, Ulrich seethed, she told him to take his arm off her, but he didn't! I'll take it off her yet, you just wait, Theo. Ulrich's thoughts continued in this vein for the rest of lunch. He had barely eaten anything, and as the kids scraped their plates, he saw Theo's arm snake around Yumi's waist, which sent a fresh wave of hatred and jealousy coursing through his body.

AN: There you go! I have another chapter a little bit typed, but all handwritten. Whenever I find time, I'll work on getting it done. Meanwhile, please keep your fingers crossed for me. I just submitted an application for a full tuition scholarship to a teaching college, which is what has been taking up my time this past bit and kept me from writing. Review before you leave, thanks!