I smile as my dad holds my mom in his arms, swaying to the soft melody of a song playing on the stereo of his emerald green '68 Mustang parked in the large backyard of our house.

The sun is out, luminating the scene in front of me perfectly. My mom's smile crystal clearly displayed on her face. My dad looks down at her in adoration, probably wondering how in the world he got so lucky.

I pick up my burger, curtesy of my dad's grill, and take a bite, savoring the juicy patty and the perfectly melted cheese.

"Come here, Estella." My dad waves me over, still with a smile on his face that never seems to leave.

I walk over, standing from the patio chair I was sitting down on. My dad takes my hand, twirling me to the rhythm of the song. I let out a loud laugh as I spin around, my feet making contact with the green grass.

"I'll be back," my mom says. "I'm gonna check on the cookies really quick."

"Okay," my dad replies with a nod.

I halt my movements, trotting back over to the patio table to finish up the last few bites of my cheeseburger. As I bring my cup of fruit punch up to my lips, movement in my peripheral vision catches my eye.

"What's up, Dad," my brother, Nate, says as he comes from the back door. He holds a leash in his hand, his Golden Retriever on the other end of it.

Soon after he steps out, a beautiful woman follows suit. She has long blonde hair that reaches down to her waist. She wears a pretty yellow sundress and a pair of brown sandals.

"Hey Nate, Sarah!" My dad exclaims with a bright smile. "Thought you two wouldn't be able to make it."

I stand up, walking over to where the couple stands. Nate wraps an arm around me before removing his dog from the restraint of the leash. I smile to Sarah, walking over to give her a quick hug.

"How have you been?" She asks me as the two of us walk back to the patio, their dog following closely behind us.

"I've been good," I reply. "Senior year has been a blast so far."

"That's great to hear." She smiles.

The back door slides open again, revealing my mom with a platter of freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies on top of it. She makes her way over to me and Sarah, offering the both of us a cookie. I grab one, thanking her quickly before taking a bite.

Nate and my dad walk over to us, taking their seats around the table. They're still conversing about something. Nate's new job as a real estate agent, the couple's new house they recently bought, located in Bakersfield.

"When can we visit?" I ask my brother.

He turns to me. "Soon, Stel. I just want to make sure everything's in order and all that before I show it to you guys."

I nod in understanding. Something warm touches my leg. I look down to find the large golden retriever lying right by my feet. Reaching down, I stroke his fur softly with my fingers.

"- some exciting news," Sarah says, grasping Nate's hand in hers and looking at him with a loving expression.

I look up, curious as to what the exciting news is. My gaze falls to her left hand. Only then do I notice the diamond ring wrapped around her finger. My eyebrows raise in shock, but a smile takes over my face at the unspoken announcement.

"We're getting married!" My brother says with a bright smile.

I faintly hear my moms Congratulations! and my dad patting Nate on the back, telling him something along the lines of I'm proud of you, son.

Everything fades away slowly until my vision becomes black and I'm left alone in the darkness, searching for the loving family that was in front of me just a seconds ago.

My eyes open, the blaring sound of my alarm ringing in my ears. I sit up on my bed, reaching for my cell phone that sits on my night stand and pressing the 'Snooze' button repeatedly before setting it back down.

It's Monday.

I groan loudly, reaching for my phone once again to check the time.

5:30 AM.

I stand up from my bed reluctantly, dragging my feet across the hardwood floor of my bedroom. Opening the door, I make my way to the bathroom across the hall.

"Don't you need to be at school by 6:30?"

I turn my head in the direction of my mother's disapproving tone. She stands at the top of the staircase, her arms crossed against her torso. She raises her eyebrows expectantly, staring at me intently.

"Mom— I didn't know you would be back from your trip today," I say quietly, fiddling with my hands nervously. "What are you doing here?"

She furrows her eyebrows. "This is my house."

Her words come out slowly as if I'm a toddler who's incapable of understanding simple English.

I frown. "No, I know. I just thought—"

"I don't care." She shakes her head. "You need to get ready. Brooke's taking you to the school."

I twist the doorknob of the bathroom, closing the door softly behind me. As I look at myself in the mirror, the dream I had during my slumber surfaces my mind.

What a beautiful little dream it was.

I smile, thinking about my family reunion. How different things would be if my dad hadn't left after divorcing my mom. How different my life would be if my brother didn't cut me off, leaving me no way to contact him.

I like to tell myself he and my dad are doing well. My brother's married. The friendly golden retriever, the sweet fiancé are all aspects of his life I've dreamt up to make myself feel better.

My dad— he's doing great. He has a huge house in Virginia and is the best FBI agent this country has ever seen. He tries to get in contact with me but he has trouble finding a way to.

Yeah, right.

I absentmindedly wash my face, brush my teeth, and floss while my mind runs with thoughts about the whereabouts of my older brother and the current state my dad's in, solving cases with his team on the FBI.

"Hey, you excited?" Brooke asks as I walk down the stairs, duffel bag in my hand.

"Very," I reply with a smile. "I hope it's fun. Asher and Aaron sure made it seem like it's going to be blast, so."

Brooke laughs, handing me a zip-lock filled with my favorite snacks. My eyes widen at the delicious junk food visible through the clear bag.

"Thank you," I say, beaming. "Wait— Brooke, did my mom..."

"She said she had to go take care of something for work," she replies, shrugging her shoulders. "She's coming back in a couple of hours. At least that's what she told me."

I nod, unsurprised by my mom's sudden need to go to work. I've gotten used to it over the years: the constant revolving door of business trips, the random calls to go into work early in the morning and late at night.

"Don't forget about the bet," Brooke says to me, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. "I need to know if I win."

I laugh, nodding my head. Brooke and Jackson share their competitive nature in common. I've witnessed first-hand, just how far they're willing to go to prove the other wrong.

Once, while we were playing Mario Kart on Brooke's Nintendo Switch, Jackson kept winning every race. By the end of the two hours we played, Brooke was practically dripping sweat from focusing so hard on the screen of the TV.

"If they had cell service at the campsite, I would text you right away if anything happened," I assure her, looking over. "But I won't have service."

She slows down as we enter the parking lot of the school. The front is illuminated by lights surrounding the building. Clusters of students are already in front of the school. From what I can tell, everyone has a duffel bag similar to mine. Good.

"Look, that's Aaron, that's Asher, and there's Devin," I tell Brooke, pointing to each of them from the car.

"Wait, which one's Aaron?" She asks.

"The blonde one."

"Oh." She nods, raising her eyebrows.

"What?"

"He's cute." She observes. "Like really cute. The other one is too. Asher, right?"

I laugh, grabbing my duffel bag from the backseat of her car. "I'll be sure to let Jackson know he better watch out."

She glares at me playfully. "Oh please. I'm like what— seven years older than them?"

I shrug. "Age is just a number."

Brooke furrows her eyebrows. "Okay. That's enough. Go, go, leave. Have fun, but just— stop being weird."

Still laughing, I open the passenger door and swing the strap of my duffel bag over my right shoulder.

"Well, I'll see you Wednesday!" I exclaim, taking a deep breath.

"See you Wednesday." She smiles.

With that, I shut the door, turning on my heels to face the school.

Here goes nothing.

The air is still cold and crisp, considering it's only six in the morning. Most seniors look exhausted as I'm sure do, too. Having to wake up extra early is already something I'm not used to, but having to wake up extra early on a Monday morning is definitely something I don't want to get used to anytime soon.

"Estella!"

Asher's voice booms from about forty feet away from where I'm standing. He, along with Devin and Aaron, sits on the concrete steps, waiting for directions on what's going to happen next from our teachers.

I grab my duffel bag from beside me and walk over to join them. As I pass other students, I notice a lot of them aren't in their regular attire. Most wear sweatshirts and sweats for the long and early bus ride. I decided to wear comfort clothes, a pair of black leggings and a plain white hoodie for the drive. I have my hair up in a ponytail and my clear-frame glasses perched on the bridge of my nose.

"Good morning," I say to the three of them as I sit beside Asher on the concrete step.

"I didn't know you wear glasses," Asher replies, bringing his index finger up and pointing to my face. I swat his hand away instinctively, smiling.

"Well, it's cause I wear contacts most of the time," I say. "Sometimes I can go without them but it's dark out right now, makes it harder to see."

He nods in understanding. Devin sprawls out across the steps and groans, causing Asher to give her a strange look.

"I'm so tired," she complains. "Asher, I'm going to sleep the entire bus ride so if you're not gonna let me then—"

"I'll let you sleep. Promise."

His voice is full of sincerity, something I'm not used to hearing whenever he talks. Especially when he talks to Devin. I wish he let that side of him show more often; the kind, caring, human Asher is someone I'd like to get to know better.

"Do you have a bus partner?" Aaron asks me. Even without the sun shining brightly in the sky, the blue in his eyes stands out, almost like they're glowing.

"No." I shake my head. "I completely forgot that—"

"Sit with me then."

"Or you can sit with me," Asher chimes in. "Dev can sit alone like the mean ass—"

"Shut up, Asher," she groans.

I'm caught off-guard by Aaron's assertiveness, and it definitely shows on my face. I'm grateful for the sun barely starting to rise. It makes the light blush coating my cheeks less obvious.

"Okay— yeah. Thank you."

About fifteen minutes later, our teachers appear and begin ordering the students to load up the buses.

Devin, Asher, and Aaron and I stand up from the steps and grab our duffel bags. We're walking to the buses when the weight of my bag is lifted off of my shoulder. Literally.

Aaron swings it over his shoulder instead without sparing me so much as a glance.

"You don't have to carry it."

"I know." He shrugs. "But I want to."

I try once more to grab my duffel from him, but he twists his torso away so that it's out of my reach, sending teasing smile in my direction. I sigh in defeat as we continue making our way to the bus.

"Hey, do you have partner?"

I turn to my right, where Vanessa appears next to me with her large baby pink duffel bag hanging on her shoulder.

"I'm her partner." Aaron interjects.

Vanessa looks up to him, her stare lingering until she turns back to face me instead.

"Is Madison not sitting with you?" I ask her in confusion. The two girls are practically joined at the hip from what I've noticed.

"Well, I kind of wanted to sit next to you, but—"

Aaron sighs audibly, causing me to give him a warning glare. He then gives me the same side-eye he sent Vanessa, his blue eyes narrowing at my brown ones.

"I can sit next to you if you really want me to," I offer with a bit of hesitation I hope Vanessa didn't notice.

"Vanessa, I thought we were going to be partners!" Madison exclaims with a frown as she catches up to the three of us.

An awkward silence lingers between the four of us as Madison, Aaron, and I wait for Vanessa's response.

"Oh, right." She laughs. "We're already partners. I forgot."

Wait, huh? Didn't she—

I look to Aaron once Vanessa and Madison pass us by to board the bus. I give him a sympathetic smile, silently apologizing for my lack of bus partner loyalty.

"You're a traitor, Ramirez," he says as he places both of our duffel bags in the storage compartment inside of the bus.

"I'm sorry," I say quickly. "I only said yes because I felt bad that she didn't have someone to sit with."

"Mm."

We board the bus, walking down until we're as close to the back seats as we can get. I walk in front of Aaron, checking behind me to ask where he wants to sit.

"Can I have the window seat?" I ask as we stand in the aisle by our seats.

"Mm, I don't know." He shrugs. "Do you think traitors should be able to sit by the window?"

My shoulders drop in shame. "No, they shouldn't."

He chuckles, shaking his head as gently pushes me forward to the window seat. I sit down in content, shifting until I'm in a position I deem comfortable.

He plops down in the seat beside mine, sitting back comfortably, placing his head on the headrest.

I pull the elastic band out of my hair, running my fingers through it. I'm about to re-tie it when Aaron snatches it from hand and places it on his left wrist, out of my reach.

"Why'd you do that?" I ask, releasing my hair from my hand, letting it fall back onto my shoulders.

"How come you always wear your hair up?" He counters inquisitively. "I've only seen it down once— Homecoming."

I glare at him, reaching to take the elastic band from his wrist. "Can you just give it back, please, Aaron?"

His face softens at my flustered state. I clearly see the look of guilt in his blue eyes, the same guilt he wore on his face that first day at lunch when I pulled out my balanced meal. I didn't mean to make him feel bad; it wasn't my intention.

He removes the black band from his wrist and hands it to me, his eyes never leaving mine. I take it and quickly tie my hair up in a ponytail once again.

About an hour later, I begin to notice Aaron shifting repeatedly in his seat with an uncomfortable look on his face. He sighs, placing his hands on top of his lap.

"These seats are so fucking small," he complains with a groan. "There's no leg room."

I understand where he's coming from considering he's either six feet or close to it. With me being 5'4 and vertically challenged, I have no issues with the amount of leg space provided between the seats.

"I'm pretty comfortable," I reply, wanting to lighten the mood with a teasing smile as I turn to face Aaron.

His eyes narrow as he lifts his right leg and sets it across my lap. He shifts once more before smiling with satisfaction.

"Much better."

"Not happening," I reply, shoving his leg off of me only for him to put it back in the same position.

I push his leg off again.

He sets it on my lap again.

"Aaron!" I scold. "Your leg is heavy!"

"You won't even notice if after a little while. I promise."

I groan, finally leaving his leg on my lap. I lift it and change positions, sitting with my legs crossed in front of me instead.

Aaron right, though. After a while, I don't mind it at all. I rest my elbow on his leg and scroll through my phone, searching for a good song on my playlist.

Aaron falls asleep for most of the bus ride, which leaves me bored and with no one to talk to. I spend most of the drive staring out the window. I count cars, guessing the brands of them before I'm able to see the logos. I do anything that keeps my mind occupied.

Finally, the bus slows down, eventually coming to a complete stop. I smile as I see the camp counselor's waving at the buses full of students. My body practically jolts with excitement. I almost forgot how much I was looking forward to this trip.

"Aaron! Aaron, we're here." I shake his shoulder gently, trying to wake him up from his nap.

His eyes flutter open, but then he shuts them again, pressing his head back into the seat comfortably.

"Aaron."

"I'm awake," he mumbles, his eyes still closed.

"Then get up!" I push his leg off of my lap, urging him to stand from his seat so we can get off of the bus.

The chatter in the bus raises in volume, all of the seniors eager to get off the bus. I don't know about everyone else, but I desperately need to use the restroom after the extremely long five-hour drive we've just endured.

"Alright, I'm up," Aaron mumbles again, his eyes still softly closed. Annoyed, I stand up and scoot past him, my back pressed against the seats in front of ours.

Right after I've made it out to the center aisle, he stands up, following behind me.

So annoying.

When did he get so annoying?

I walk down the steps of the bus, thanking the driver before hopping to the ground. I take a deep breath, inhaling the clean air.

Mm, nature.

"Everyone grab your bags from the buses!" Ms. Richards announces, cupping her hands around her mouth, amplifying her already-loud voice. "We'll be assigning you to your cabins shortly!"

Aaron and I walk over to the storage compartment in the bus. He reaches down, grabbing both of our bags.

"Thank you."

"Mhm."

"How was the ride?" Asher asks, coming up to wrap an arm around my shoulders.

"It was fine." I shrug.

"Well, that's good. I'm happy for you because my experience wasn't so—"

"I bet you think you're hilarious."

We turn to find a very-obviously annoyed Devin stomping over to us with a glare directed right at Asher. I turn my head to face him, noticing the haze of confusion on his face.

"Huh?" He asks, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Moving my bag to the other bus," she clarifies, shaking her duffel. "So funny."

He chuckles, lifting his shoulders. "I totally forgot I did that. But you're right, it is funny," he says. Devin flips him off, causing Asher to elicit a groan as he turns back to face me and Aaron.

"This is gonna be a long ass trip."

-

author's note:

this was a long one!

thank y'all so much for 1k reads!! it means so much to me that you guys are taking the time to read my story ugh my heart 💕💞💖💓💗

- blizfvl <3