Sarah sat quietly in the yellow school bus as it drove along the highway. The smell of the green seats made her feel nauseous, as did the peppermint odour emanating from the gum chewing girl sitting next to her. She tried not to think of her stomach still trying to digest her breakfast. Sarah had hardly slept the night before so she closed her eyes hoping to doze off. She leaned her head against the reverberating window and after a few minutes, felt herself drifting off to sleep. Suddenly the bus jolted and her head banged against the glass. Sarah rubbed the new bruise forming on her head and decided against sleeping altogether. The bus was uncomfortable, smelly, and full of noisy campers of all ages. The drive up north would take nearly two hours and it had only just begun. Ahead of her was one month of mosquitoes, bad food, and a cold lake. It was going to be a long summer.
Sarah didn’t want to go to overnight camp. In fact, no one had asked her opinion. Her father informed Sarah of the plans over the phone only a few weeks before her arrival in Montreal. Sarah lived with her mother in British Columbia and had come to spend summer vacation with her father.
Some summer vacation. She hadn’t seen her dad in six months and he was shipping her off to camp like an unwanted parcel. Didn’t he want to spend a couple of weeks with her? He was the boss of the company, he should have been able to take some time off. Sarah remembered her father’s words before leaving. “I already used up my vacation time. I have to set an example for my employes. I can’t just take off more time.” He didn’t care how disappointed or how unwanted she felt. He did not deserve the Father of the Year award.
To make matters worse, her mother would be in Europe with her new boyfriend who Sarah had nicknamed Chipmunk. He was like a puppy dog always eager to please her mother, always so considerate and thoughtful. Sometimes Sarah was surprised that he didn’t roll over and play dead. Sarah couldn’t stand him, and just thinking about his overly helpful ways and positive attitude made her cringe.
Sarah’s mom had promised to write her daughter every few days and bring her lots of souvenirs but Sarah couldn’t care less about t-shirts and tacky mementos that were made in China. She wanted to go with her. Alone. Sarah couldn’t remember the last time it was just the two of them. Stuart the Chipmunk was always in the picture. Somehow, quietly, Stuart entered the picture and never left.
Stuart tried to convince Sarah how much fun summer camp would be. He regaled her with stories from his youth which made her mother laugh, and Sarah brood. As for their European adventure, they would have to tackle crowded trains, long line ups and French food. Sarah had answered that she would rather have those problems than sharing a bunk with seven other strangers and cafeteria-style meals. But no one had listened and her parents had made the decision for her. They had gone behind her back and organized a month at Seven Birches Camp without even consulting Sarah.
Sarah could have stayed in Vancouver with her best friend Cassandra but her mother said it would be too much of an imposition on Cassandra’s parents. Sarah loved Cassandra’s parents. They always asked their daughter what she thought and sought her opinion about everything. Cassandra was allowed to make choices. Now Sarah was stuck in a smelly school bus with forty rowdy kids singing stupid songs. Sarah couldn’t wait until she turned eighteen. Only four and a half years to go.
Sarah slyly peeked at the girl sitting next to her who had dark hair and was chewing bubble gum. The girl continually made annoying cracking sounds with the gum and blew bubbles intermittently.
Sarah stared out the window and decided to count red cars. When she got to twenty- three she felt a hard jab in her shoulder. She looked up into the face of a smiling blonde counselor with a big white sticker on her yellow shirt that said “Hi! I’m Wendy!”
“Hi!” she announced cheerfully, “I’m Wendy!” Sarah couldn’t be bothered with a response. Wendy continued. “You must be new because I don’t recognize your face. What’s your name?”
Sarah smiled sweetly and lied. “Cassandra Macdonald.”
Wendy looked down her list. She scanned her paper once, and then twice. Her face looked a little worried. “I’ll just go double check another list. See you later Cassandra.” Sarah watched Wendy walk up to the front of the bus and whisper something in another counselor’s ear. He took out his list and they both started to flip through papers nervously. Twice, they furtively looked back at Sarah, both smiled and gave a little wave. Sarah chuckled to herself and went back to counting red cars.
“Hey Cassandra,” the gum-chewing girl next to Sarah started nudging her, “Are you on the wrong bus to the wrong camp?”
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Why do you ask?”
“Because Wendy and Jeff look really worried. Now Michael is looking through his papers. Maybe you went to the wrong parking lot? There were buses for Seven Oaks on the other side.”
The male counsellor was also wearing a white sticker with “Hi. I’m Michael!” written in black marker. He walked down the aisle and smiled at Sarah. “People sure do smile a lot around here,” she thought. He asked the dark haired girl to stand up and go up front for a few minutes. She happily left knowing that kids weren’t allowed to stand up while the bus was in motion.
“Hi. I’m Michael.”
“Really? I would have never guessed.” Sarah answered as she pointed to his sticker. Michael laughed nervously.
“When did your parents register you?”
“A couple of weeks ago.”
“For which camp?”
“Uhm, Camp Seven Oaks.”
“This is the bus for Camp Seven Birches. I think the Seven Oaks bus pickup was on the other side of the parking lot.”
“Uh oh.”
“When we arrive at camp we’ll have to notify them and call your parents.”
““I hope so, because my dad is a lawyer and lawsuits are so financially draining.”
Michael stood up and said in a false cheery voice. “Don’t worry Cassandra, we’ll get this mess straightened out.”
Once Michael returned to the front of the bus, Sarah started to worry. She didn’t mean to lie, and falsify information. She hadn’t thought this through. All she wanted was a ride back to Montreal so she could catch a flight to Vancouver and not look back. However, there was the question of how to buy an airplane ticket with only $83.00.
The bus halted to a stop and Sarah lurched forward. Michael stood up in front of the bus and yelled. “We are on the edge of the world!” From her seat Sarah could see a road completely disappear. Actually, the road was very steep so it seemed like it was gone. The bus slowly moved forward and went down the hill. The kids screamed and the noise was beginning to give Sarah a headache.
Finally, the bus stopped and Wendy stood up to make an announcement. She held up her hand but the kids continued to talk, laugh and screech. Three counselors yelled at the same time. “When the hand goes up, the mouth goes shut.” Magically, the kids quieted down. Wendy began talking. “When you get off the bus look for counselors holding up signs instructing you which group you’re in. They will have a list and assign you a bunk. Your bags will be put on the side. Please find your bunk and counselor before getting your bags. If you don’t remember what group you’re in, find a counselor. We’re all wearing camp t-shirts to help you.” As she said this Wendy touched her chest and pointed to her sticker.
The counsellors quickly got off the bus. All the excited campers eagerly pushed each other until everyone was off. All but one. Slowly, Sarah stood up and made her way off the bus.
Once outside, Sarah looked around. She saw a counselor holding up a painted sign with Mapleridge Girls in large red letters. Sarah knew that she belonged in that group but stood quietly in place to think. She had given her friend’s name and could possibly give a fake number in Vancouver. What if they drove her to Camp Seven Oaks? Many of the camps were located in this region. What was the difference between one camp and the next? She was startled by a hand on her shoulder. It was Michael. He smiled. “Well then, let’s go to the office and get this problem sorted out.” Sarah walked with Michael through the crowd of noisy kids to a wooden house. Inside was an office where the camp director and the secretary worked. Michael quickly explained the problem to Mr. Cohen and waited for instructions.
Mr. Cohen said, “We should call the other camp so that they shouldn’t worry.”
Sarah knew that the game was up. If Mr. Cohen called Camp Seven Oaks and found out that Sarah wasn’t registered there, all panic would break loose. Sarah only wanted to go home. It was so simple. And then Sarah’s luck took a turn for the worse. The screen door slammed shut and she heard her name called. It was Karen Weinstein, the most annoying girl on the planet. “Hi Sarah!” she squealed, “I didn’t see you on the bus. I didn’t know you come to this camp.” Sarah looked up slowly as Karen wheezed and continued staring at her.
Michael looked at Sarah. “So is your name Sarah or Cassandra?” Sarah felt very uncomfortable and felt herself blush.
Karen interrupted, “Of course it’s Sarah. We went to school together until she moved to Vancouver,” she continued, “I’m supposed to give my allergy and asthma medication to the nurse.”
Michael looked down his list. “You wouldn’t be Sarah Lewis would you?”
Sarah tried to smile. It really was going to be a long summer.