Nina POV

I was sitting in science class, not really paying attention because Fabian was sitting next to me, smiling at me with his adorable, distracting, toothy smile, holding my hand.

Mr. Sweet only caught my attention again when he announced he had a great surprise for us. I turned my attention back to the bow-tie clad teacher, knowing Sweetie the surprise was probably a test or some other stupid thing like that. Nonetheless, I listened avidly.

"What?" Everyone demanded.

"As an end-of-term trip, the school is taking your camping!" He exclaimed. "It is a great chance to bond, and learn more about environments; it is a great science learning experience!" he said excitedly.

A few people groaned, and Amber sat up. "Wait, camping? As in, nature? As in, sleeping in a tent?"

Mr. Sweet smiled. "Yes, Miss Millington. A camping trip. We need permission slips from your parents, and we leave in three weeks for a week-long trip to a nice location by a lake." He began handing out yellow permission slips, and brochures for the camp site. At least Gran was still in town for a few more days so I could get her signature before we left.

The bell rang, and I slung my bag over my shoulder, falling into step next to Fabian and Amber. "The trip sounds pretty fun," Fabian said.

"Fun?" Amber exclaimed. "Um, no. I was going to say torture. A whole week with no electricity, no phone service, and bugs? Gross!"

I smiled and shook my head. "Oh, come on, Amber. It will be fun. It's just like the beach," I said, looking at the brochure which pictured a sparkling blue lake with a small, sandy beach, and trees in the background. "And look, there are at least bathrooms!"

Amber sighed. "I guess… but there better be service." She glanced at me. "And, don't think you are getting out of outfit shopping with me just because this is outdoors. Trust me; there will be a major shopping trip."

I rolled my eyes, groaning. "Fine."

Amber stopped, looking at me with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What?" I asked. Was there something on my face?

"I meant now!" Amber whined, stomping her foot.

"Amber, right now?" I asked, looking at Fabian. We had been planning to have a picnic.

Amber nodded, she looked at Fabian. "Sorry, but this is an emergency. You can have your romantic Fabina date after this, it'll only be…" She looked at her designer watch.

"Three hours," I muttered. "Maybe we can do the picnic at dinner?"

Fabian smiled, knowing there was no way I could possibly worm my way out of a shopping spree with Amber. "It's a date."

I smiled, rolling my eyes. I stood on my tiptoes and pecked Fabian on the cheek, then allowed Amber to drag me away for the hour-long impromptu shopping trip.

I walked into my room, weighed down with new purchases. I threw my many bags on the ground, along with some of Amber's, because she had bought a lot more than me. And that was saying something, because everything I even touched Amber insisted I buy.

I glanced at the clock, reading 5:57. I only had about thirty minutes until I was supposed to meet Fabian in the park for our picnic. I whirled around, rushing around in a hurry to find the perfect outfit and what to do. I had just laid my hand on a pair of dark jeans when Amber intervened. "You obviously know nothing about picnic dates!" She said. She went over to her side of the room and tossed me a pair of white jeans, along with a red shirt. It was a bit too dressy for my liking, but I was able to convince Amber I didn't need jewelry or make-up.

When the clock read 6:20, I finally broke away from Amber's grasp and rushed down the stairs and across the immaculate green lawn to the park. I finally arrived at our picnic spot right at 6:30, panting slightly. I grinned shyly at Fabian and sat on the blanket, loving the way his blue eyes sparkled in the light from the sunset.

I boarded the large red bus, my little backpack slung over one shoulder. I glanced around the bus, finally spotting my Anubis house-mates near the back of the bus, waving me over. There was an open spot between Fabian and Amber, and I grinned as I took it. The five-hour drive to the campsite was sure to be interesting.
I began to talk to my friends, but after about five minutes Mr. Sweet boarded the bus, trying to silence everyone. When the vehicle was relatively quiet, he spoke up. "Okay, we are about to depart for the campsite. Everyone will stay in a tent with your roommates, and you and your housemate's tents will be relative to each other. When we arrive, you all must be very good, pertaining to all the rules set in place, and you must tell an adult before you wander off somewhere," he ordered. "You… never know what may be in these woods and caves," Sweetie shuddered. Was I the only one who thought this was a bit suspicious?

Aside from my unease, I was completely psyched about this trip. I smiled at Fabian, and we talked awhile, but eventually I began to be taken over by fatigue, because I hadn't slept much the previous night due to my anticipation. I smiled at Fabian. "I'm tired. I think I'm going to try and get some sleep," I informed him.

Fabian smiled. "Okay, sweet dreams."

A few hours later, I blinked, coming back into reality and finally realizing where I was. I blinked a bit more, my eyes adjusting to the light. When I looked up, I realized my head was on Fabian's shoulder, his arm was around me, I sat up slightly, grinning as I realized Fabian was reading, by the looks of it, it was his favorite book: The Solar System is Your Friend. He'd bought a new copy after Amber burned his signed one.

Fabian looked up from his book, smiling as he realized I was awake. "Hey! Did you sleep well?"
I blushed slightly. "Yeah, sorry."

"It's no problem," Fabian smiled warmly at me, making me melt a bit inside.

I beamed back, taking his hand. "So, how far are we from the site?"

Fabian looked at his new calculator watch, the one I'd gotten him as a birthday present after Alfie smashed his old one with a shoe. "We should be there in about another hour."

I smiled, leaning forward to pull a book out of my bag. "Okay, perfect."

The bus turned onto a bumpy road, and I closed my book, looking past Fabian to see out the window. I was greeted by waving limbs of trees, and leaves fluttering in the breeze. The sky above was a beautiful blue, like something you would see in a pastel or a painting. The sun cast rays of light across a field of waving green grass, illuminating a clear teal lake, shining off the surface bright enough to blind me. Through the now-open window, I could smell the intoxicating fragrance of hundreds of flowers in a fresh bloom; I could hear the birds chirping their songs and the fish jumping in the crystal water.

The large bus rolled to a stop in front of a small log cabin, and a short, balding man waddled out, greeting Sweetie as he stepped off the bus, but not before warning us to stay put.

"Wow!" I breathed, still looking at the picturesque landscape we had just arrived at.
Fabian smiled at me. "It's really nice here, huh?"
Amber snorted. "It's okay, but it's nothing compared to my daddy's lake, I mean where is the giant lake house?"

I rolled my eyes. "Amber, we are camping! Remember?"

Amber sighed. "Whatever. Then where are the cute counselors?"

"Um, I think that is only in movies, Amber," I said, and then I glanced across the row a bit to where the favorite comedy duo was sitting. "And, I thought you were dating Alfie again?"

Amber again, flipping a lock of her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "So? I still would like to have a cute counselor!"

I snorted, finally able to get out of the awkward conversation when Mr. Sweet stepped back onto the bus. "Okay, we have finally arrived! Students, follow the owner of your house to the spaces you will pitch tent, they will know where to go."

Everyone from Anubis house stood to follow Trudy, because of course Victor wasn't about to go camping for a whole week with all of us. He despised us, and probably had some new, crazy scheme to get immortality by now.

Amber and I had finished pitching our tent… or, rather, I had finished pitching our tent. Amber sighed in relief. "Finally!" she said, stepping inside to drop her bags. I dragged mine through the door, setting it down on my side of the tent. We spent quite a bit of time laying out our sleeping bags, and Amber began to set up a little cot for her to sleep on. I rolled my eyes as she tried – and failed – desperately to put it up alone, but eventually she had call in Alfie for help.

I sighed, pushing my hair out of my face as I finished helping Amber untangle Alfie from the cot. She really shouldn't have called him in; she could've done better by herself. After Alfie had limped away, silently cursing under his breath, an unfamiliar face poked into our tent.
A boy a bit older than Amber and I grinned at us. He had a head of curly brown hair, and a goofy grin on his face, extenuating his blue eyes.
"Well, hulloo!" Amber said, obviously thrilled. "I'm Amber! And you are?"

The boy smiled. "I'm Harry, I'm a counselor here."

Amber caught my eye, smiling triumphantly and winking. "Oh, do you need something?"

"No," the boy answered. "I was actually coming around to all the tents to ask the same thing." He looked at me, smirking. "Hullo."

I smiled. "I'm Nina, and we're fine, thank you…"

"Actually!" Amber cut in. "I need some help setting up my cot!" She said, gesturing to her brand new, pure pink, messed up cot, thanks to Alfie.

Harry laughed. "No problem… but… what happened to it?"

Amber sighed. "Let's just say it didn't go as planned."
Harry grinned, stepping forward and plucking up the wrongly assembled cot. Amber stood back, watching him as he fixed it.
As they stood there, I rolled my eyes. "I'll see you later, Amber. I'm going to go see how Fabian is doing, nice to meet you, Harry." I crawled out of the tent and ventured off, away from the flirting Amber and Harry to find my boyfriend. Anyway, I'd heard there was going to be a campfire soon, and what's more romantic than a sunset, a fire and s'mores?

So, what did you think of the first chapter? I am going to start a mystery in the next chapter. I might have Harry be interested in Nina or Amber, but it will be Fabina and Amfie in the end, don't worry. The next chapter will probably put some focus on either Jara or Peddie. Which do you think? Review! ~S~