Chapter 1
Chapter 1
Julia
“Are you coming to the campout tonight Jules?”
Little kids are running all over the park. Some parents are stuck in their phone while others are practically glued to their child. Me and Nia are on the swings so the higher I get the more kids seem to appear. These parents have no clue what it’ll be like when they grow up.
It's the last week of summer so a couple of popular girls are throwing a summer campout to celebrate fun times. I’ve had zero fun times with the popular girls this summer so the invite took me by surprise. I doubt it will be a big crowd. There's almost no one in 11th grade or our highschool in general.
“Yeah, but I don’t know if I'll stay the whole time.” Staying the whole time would mean putting up with drunk annoying kids. It wouldn't be much different from the kids at the park. Assuming they bring alcohol.
“Why not, it's going to be so fun!” Nia says looking at me grinning as if she is trying to stare into my soul. I think her version of fun is different from mine but we clash in a good way. Most people at school are shocked we even like each other. Our personalities, looks, interests, and education are all opposite. Not like we care because they're jealous they can't find a good friend. Or at least that’s what Nia says.
“ I guess,” I shrug. It’s highly unlikely but I don’t want to ruin Nia’s mood.
It’s already 4pm and we’re supposed to be at my house at six for dinner but I don’t want to sit on the swings for two hours.
“Plus,” Nia adds, “I’m pretty sure Chase is going, if that changes your mind.” Nia said in a sing-song tone. I can’t help but feel my cheeks burn up. Chase was-is my crush. It’s complicated because his friends are not the nicest people you could say. I have almost all my classes with him and all of them are AP. Although his friend’s choices are horrible I guess he’s smart. Now I really want to go but I doubt he even knows who I am.
“Fine, I’ll try to stay the whole time.” I say rolling my eyes. Nia is visibly happy so the job is well done. I'm probably going to leave once people start ‘hanging out’ in the tents.
“Can we start heading to your house? My arms hurt from these swings.”
“Oh yea of course!” I almost completely forgot about dinner and I still had to put on better clothes. Ripped jeans and a tank top wasn't going to do good.
We got to the house by 5 pm just in time. “Hello, who’s here?” my dad shouts from the kitchen.
“It’s Julia and Nia!” I yell back.
Nia is like a sister to me and a daughter to my dad. She’s at our house almost 24/7 because she’s an only child and loves company. I have an older sister but she’s in italy for summer visiting my mom.
She follows me down the narrow hall to my room. It takes my eyes a while to adjust to the darkness of my room. I grab my LED controller and turn it to white for now. Nia is one step ahead because she’s digging through my closet.
I pick up my phone to see if there’s any new notifications but the screen is empty like usual. Nia already emptied half of my clothes on the floor with a couple hangers on her forearm.
“Ok,” she says. “All the ones on the floor are a no but I have 3 outfits for you to choose from!”
She holds up outfit number one. It’s a red sparkly long sleeve dress. It would be an obvious yes but it ends where my butt would be practically hanging out. She holds up the second look. A strapless long blue dress with a long sleeve black turtleneck under it. Not bad but I wouldn’t want to get hot and have no layers. Lastly, option number three is a stretched purple shirt that hangs over a shoulder with a black skirt. She lays each one out on my bed,
“Sooo which one do you think,” “I-” she cuts me off before I can even start. “And don’t worry I have a matching one for whatever you choose.”
I wait a second making sure I'm not going to get interrupted again. I get up to get a better look at each one. I pointed to the middle one and I didn’t realize how soft this turtleneck is. “ I like the blue one,” I turn around to see her reaction and she’s holding up the matching outfit. A black strapless dress with a long sleeve blue turtleneck. I don’t know how she manages to find these in my closet. I grab my chosen outfit and go to the bathroom to change. Nia does the same but in the bathroom down the hall.
It's kinda a tight fit around where the most layering happens but I make it work. Once I open the door Nia isnt here yet so I check my phone again.
1 new message, it's from my nana. My phone unlocks and it reads, Hey honey, dinner is ready, hurry before it gets cold! Makes sense it's 6:04 now but I wait for Nia to return.
Once she comes back it's 6:08 but that's fine. We made our way to the table and the smell of raviolis hit me. My dad makes the best raviolis. I gobble my plate up salivating because it’s better than I remember.
“You girls look cute,” Nana says mid chew.
“Thanks!” Nia says smiling and her cheeks turn a light pink. It makes her dark skin practically glow. It's so beautiful.
She must’ve eaten her food too because her plate was empty. After she had realized I was done too she got up and nudged me to come with her. I followed, of course. At my house we didn’t need to get excused.
I closed my bedroom door. “Can you help me do hair and makeup?” I ask Nia. I don’t wear makeup often unless it’s really light and my hair is down every day.
“Only if you help me straighten my shirt, it’s all rolled up in the back.” She turns around so I go up and try to help. I reach up the back of her dress to pull the shirt down. I can see her posture slowly drop hopefully in comfort.
“Thanks I couldn’t get it!” She says as if I don’t already know that but whatever.
While Nia does her own makeup I scroll on instagram waiting for her to finish. She’s really good at it, just not the best on time. It’s 6:48 and our goal is to leave at 8.
By 7:24 she finally finished so I rushed by the mirror to basically say me next! Nia didn’t hesitate and started curling my hair. It was short and black so the curls kinda meshed with the shirt in my opinion.
At 7:36 she finished with me and we wasted no time leaving. I slipped on my old converse and grabbed my purse full of necessities of course. My purse was filled with a whistle, my phone, earplugs, pepper spray, and a lot more things I couldn't name off the top of my head. Dad and Nana called it my Mary Poppins bag.
As we started heading for the door I heard my dad yell, “Have fun girls don’t get lost!” I just pretended that I couldn't hear him and ran out. I didn't plan on getting lost but having a bunch of teenagers in the woods it's bound to happen.
(If you enjoy this and want more I can post the rest of the chapters just like,comment or leave a review!!!! If you dont like it or have any suggestions please give me them, I would love to get others peoples opinion good or bad!!!)
