June 10th

     I was riding home on the bus, reading a book involving some sort of murder mystery/thriller- as I always do- and about thirty kids around me chatted (screamed over each other so they could be heard) about what they were doing this summer.

     "Ellie!" A boy in the grade above me called in my direction. I groaned, I only had five pages left in the chapter. "It's Erica, not Ellie." I closed my book reluctantly and set it on my lap. Thank goodness the confrontation scene between the sister and main character had yet to begin. I, and I'm sure many others would agree, hate having to leave off on a cliffhanger.

     "Oh yeah." The boy's name was Ben and he still hadn't gotten my name right in his head after three years of us knowing of each other. "What are you doing this summer?" He chuckled and glanced back at his friends.

     I couldn't ignore him since I had already corrected him on my name so I answered. "Nothing much." I said simply and gave him a half-hearted smile before returning to my latest read.

     "I'm going to camp! It's very expensive so I probably won't see anyone from our school there." I suddenly remembered why I hated this guy so much.

     "Great." I said and turned the page as the bus lurched to a stop and a trio of squealing girls exited the bus. As they were tripping over each other and gossiping quite loudly, I noticed that we were no where near my house. Oh darn it, I'd read past my stop AGAIN.

     "Um, excuse me." I peeked over the top of the duct-taped bus seat and tried to catch the attention of the bus driver. I didn't know her name so I usually just called her 'miss' in these situations. "Miss, I believe that we drove past my stop.

      The bus driver with graying hair and green eyes glanced up and the creases in her forehead scrunched together. She scowled slightly and then hollered, "Hold on kids!" She jerked the steering wheel to the right and took the sharpest turn on a bus that I've ever seen. This came with many annoyed remarks and the consequential stumbling as the kids who were standing in the aisle tumbled into the seats beside them. I gave an apologetic smile at the reflection of the bus driver as she sped back to my street and saw that she had a small smirk on her face. Ben had fallen on his face and a handful of what must have been chocolate covered raisins smeared on his forehead. The bus driver spoke over the ruckus, "Next time stay in your seat, Ben!" I suppose that she didn't like him that much either.

     I waved to the bus driver and walked home the half mile to the end of the neighborhood. When I got home my mom came rushing out of the shower in a towel and went to give me a hug. "Mom, you'll get me all wet!" I said as I backed away.

     "You're my little sophomore, now!" She was alwyas one for overexadgerating things. 

     "It's not that big a deal." I said and dropped my ten ton book bag on the ground.

     "It is! You're not little anymore! Soon you'll have a job, be driving around town, and off to college!" Despite my protests, my mom hugged me and then scurried to the kitchen. "What would you like for dinner tonight?"

     "Um, I don't know..."

"You can have anything you want! You graduated today!"

     "From freshman year. I'm going to the same school." I said.

     "What, oh, yes you graduated from freshman to sophomore. But that's still a big deal!" I thought for a minute and then it came to me.

     "An order of fried dumplings, an order of steamed dumplings, egg drop soup, beef sticks, three egg rolls, a side of rice, and can we get pie after?" My mom looked at me for a moment, her face slightly disgusted, but nodded slowly. "Cherry or rhubarb is good." I added.

     "Okay, Erica. Only because you're a sophomore now. But just know that your fast metabolism can only take you so far." I beamed. "Be careful not to throw up." She added as she took the takeout menu from the drawer next to the oven.

     "Thanks!" I skipped to my room and read for a few hours, finishing my book, and getting about a third of the way through the next one.

     That night, we feasted on Chang's Restaurant's best and binge-watched Gilmore Girls in the living room. The summer seemed to be looking good. Just as the pie was being brought through the threshold I spotted a stack of orange-tinted papers on my mom's desk. It was odd that she had so many papers from work since she worked online. "What's that?" I asked and took the pie from her hands. I opened up the lid, just barely stopping myself from smashing my face into it and eating it right then and there.

     "Oh, I've been meaning to tell you about that." She handed me a plate and spoon. I started to feel uneasy. News that my mom kept from me until the last minute was usually bad. The last time that happened was when my parents had gotten divorced. It wasn't until the week before my dad moved out that I found out about it.

     My face felt hot and a list of horrible scenarios rushed through my head. Someone was sick. Someone was dying. Someone was dead. Someone had been dead for a heck of a long time and and it was a suspected murder and they just found a lead who has fled the country to Canada with a false identity and a wig. I deduced that I needed to expand my horizons and read a new genre of books. I dropped back into reality and realized that half of the pie was gone and I was chewing and swallowing furiously. "Sorry. Go on."

    "Well," She walked over to the desk, picked up the stack of papers, and placed the first page in the hand not shoveling strawberry-rhubarb pie into my face. I slipped the spoon into the pie box and sat back to read the small print of the printed out page form what must have been a website.

     Hello, campers and families! We thank you for signing up for Camp Williams! We are sure that your child will have an enriching, fun, and unique experience at Camp Williams this summer of 2016 and make memories that they will cherish for the rest of their lives. Assuming that all forms have been taken care of (if you have not yet filled out and emailed the required paperwork for your child to go to Camp Williams, then please click HERE to finish) here is a brief summary of what your child has yet to experience at camp this year.

     My jaw dropped. "I'm going to camp?" I wasn't exactly sure on how I should feel about this and clutched the paper tightly. My mom smiled at me and nodded to read the rest of the page. As I learned more about Camp Williams, I realized that it was located on the Oakland Lake and was established in 1919. There were also a lot of activities there.

     "Mom, how can I go here?" I asked, still shocked. I had never been to camp in my life and I honestly had no idea how it would be or how much it would cost.

     "What do you mean? I thought that you always wanted to go to camp, or just do something besides sit around all summer doing nothing like you usually do."

     "I read." I said defensively. "But..." I trialed off as I took the next few sheets of paper and skimmed for the cost. "How much was it?"

     My mom smiled and took one of the papers from my hand and pointed to the middle of the page. "We won it in a raffle!" I read the exerpt from the packet, not believing what I had heard.

     Every year at Camp Williams, we hold a raffle for any eligible campers who cannot meet the financial requirements when signing up for a summer at Camp Williams. This wonderful opportunity founded by one of thr first families to go to Camp Williams, the Carter Family. There will be fifteen winners of the all-expense paid, eight week stay at camp. Camp Williams's staff and supporters all hope that this oppurtinity will provide more children with a great childhood experience.

     I suddenly understood why my mom had allowed me to get so much food. I looked up at her just as Rory Gilmore started to yell at Dean. I was momentarily distracted so I took the remote and paused the the television. "Wow!" I started to get really excited. I got up off the couch and ran up to my room to start packing.

     "Erica, where are yo going?" My mom got up and followed.

     "I'm packing, where is that sleeping bag again? I think I left it somewhere in the-"

     "Slow down! Don't you want to know more about it before you just march right in there tomorrow, not having signed up for anything?"

     I started to laugh and go downstairs to read the packet but then I stopped. "Tomorrow?"

     "Yes, you're going tomorrow. Someone actually dropped out of the raffle and we were picked next so I just learned about this yesterday."

     I started to panic again. "What?"

     "You'll be fine." My mom said.

     "I need time to prepare! I've never even been away from home for more than four or five days! Didn't the paper say it was-"

     "Two months, yes."

     "Oh my gosh! I'm not ready for this!" I ran to the pie and started to devour the second half of it.

    "You'll be fine." My mom sat back down with me and patted my shoulder.

     "It's all a bit sudden. I know you just found out, but you could have told me when you found out yesterday. You always do this!"

     "I'm sorry. I wasn't sure if I was going to agree or not. It was a big decision to send you away for most of the summer." I was silent as I chewed. I eyed the clock and saw that it was already 7:30. "But in the end, I thought that you would love it."

     I took in a big breath and let it out.

     "Let's read through all of this and then we can pack, alright?"

     "Okay."

     Until 11:00 that night, my mom and I read through the entire website and speed-packed a few duffel bags.

     "Now go to bed." My mom said finally. "You need to get a little rest before you go. "

     I did not argue with her and I flopped down on my bed. I needed to get up at 7:00 the next morning which wasn't too bad, but I worried that I would never go to sleep. I stared up at the ceiling and daydreamed about what camp would be like.

     Would there be pie?

     Would I have to chant Kumbaya while encircling a bonfire for hours on end?

    Would we tell ghost stories like they always do in the movies and have one kid be dragged off into the woods by a counselor dressed as Bigfoot?

     Would it be great?

     Would it be terrible?

     My mom had tried to cram as much information in my head as possible that night as we packed and it sounded pretty good from the description. However, I had no way of knowing what camp really would be like until I arrived the next morning; sunscreen slathered on my face and my pillow tucked under my arm.

     One thing I did know for sure was that the next night, I would be sleeping in a bunk in Cabin 15.