"Are you sure you're going to be fine at Camp Apollon? It's going to be three nights far from home." Mom was being skeptical again, like I can't handle being on a trip without her.

Dad was behind her and it was obvious that he thought mom was being paranoid too. "Dad, please tell mom that I'm already eighteen and that I'm goint to be fine?" I said, adding puppy eyes for effect.

Dad sighed, but there was a little hint of laughter. "Mom, she's already sixteen and she's going to be fine." I had to chuckle. He repeated my exact words. Dad always helps me with mom, and somehow, he always manages to convince her. Not that I'm complaining.

But it still amazes me how after so many years of being together, they still love each other. They never seem get tired of each other. Love was the thing that's keeping them together, and I was a proof for that. Every moment, I wish to someday feel the same kind of love as well.

Mom looked between the two of us. Then, she looked at me longer. It lasted about twenty seconds. She looked at me and talked to me like I was migrating to Canada. I was just going on a State Camp two hours away from our town. She worries too much, and she's overprotective. Even just having her sign the waver, I had to ask her fifteen times.

But I wasn't the worst. When my younger brother, Cameron, asked mom to sign his waver to a field trip at the museum two blocks away from our house, he had to ask mom about twenty times and she still didn't sign the waver.

Poor Cam. Got stuck at school while all his classmates got to see artifacts and cool paintings. Dad once took me to that museum, and it was one of the most magical places I've ever been in. How they all managed to preserve such historical things, they still amaze me. I plan on going back soon, but I still have to figure out how to leave home without my parents knowing and blabbering how dangerous it is to go out alone. I tried asking them once, but none of them wanted to go. They both thought of it as a boring place, which was insulting in my stand. Dad only had to take me there that one time because he works at a Gaming Company and his boss wanted to make some kind of historical game. Which was also the reason why he took me with him, to know what excites the kids. I guess history wasn't what most kids wanted because the game only had a hundred downloads.

Mom sighed. "Okay, fine. I'm not going to check on you every hour any more. Every five hours, maybe?"

"Mom!" I groaned. I wasn't a baby anymore. But groaning and whining like a baby proved otherwise.

"Okay, okay. I won't check on you at all," she said with a grunt. But I was so happy. I was sure that I was going to be fine anyway. She didn't need to worry about a thing. "But you promise me to call if anything goes wrong, okay?" Her face was full of worry, and for a moment I felt guilty.

But Mom had to stop treating me like a five year old. I was already eighteen for crying out loud.

"Okay," I promised and hugged her. Dad and I walked out of the door with my small sized luggage and Jansport backpack in his hands. I couldn't even come to school without one of them driving me.

Outside the house, Cam was repairing his old bike. The bike used to be gold in color, but with its age, it faded. It always gets broken as well, no surprise, but the sentimental value can never be replaced so Cam never asked for a new one. I sometines borrow it, but we were only allowed to bike in the neighborhood so it wasn't that much fun.

I only shouted him a 'take care', which I got a nod as a response, and finally walked into the car with my dad to make our way to school, where the school van and the other campers from our school were waiting.

It was 5:30 in the afternoon and our call time was six, so that when we arrive at camp at eight, we could eat our dinner meal right away. I was excited, I have to admit. The night before, I already pictured out what would happen, even though I know none of them will actually happen. But still, it's nice to anticipate what's about to happen.

I know. I used happen a lot.

On our way, we passed by our town's only park. The Riverview Park. It's not a surprise how they picked the name, really. The park had a viewing deck on the far end and you can stand there and watch the river. To the other citizens, there was nothing special to it. Just a park and a river. But to me? It was special.

When I was little, as little as Cameron, probably, dad always takes me to the viewing deck. We would watch the river flow, and the fishes going with it, and he would tell me stories about anything he could think of. Most of them were Greek Mythologies because his father, my Grandpa, used to be a History teacher and he told Dad all the Greek Myths he knew.

My favorite story of all was Eros and Psyche's story. Eros is the god of Love, Aphrodite's son according to some stories, while Psyche was this very beautiful princess and everyone loved her. People told her that she was far more beautiful than Aphrodite, the goddess of love herself. When Aphrodite heard about it, she went in rage. But, instead of punishing the townspeople who said those things, she punished Psyche instead. He sent his son Eros to do the work. I don't want to spoil anything to anyone so I'll stop here. All I can say left is that it is a beautiful story. A love story about the god of love himself.

The viewing deck was a place that gave me beautiful memories, except for one, which was the reason why I don't go there anymore. An experience I don't ever want to happen again.

But that's a story I'm still not yet ready to tell.

¤ ¤ ¤

At this State Camp, each school in the state have to send Five students to go through activities and such. I was one of those who was picked by my school because I excel in class. Not the best, but still, I excel.

"What's taking him so long?" Cheska grunted at the back end of the van. She was our Algebra geek. Ask her anything about Algebra and there's a 90% chance that she can answer your question correctly.

Jared, the best in class, still haven't arrived and it was already a quarter til seven. Nobody could contact him and his parents said that he already left their house an hour ago. "I came here at five so we can leave early. If he still won't show up in ten minutes, I'm going to kill him." Cheska complained in a voice the whole town could hear.

"What if he already got killed?" Prince, the Shakespeare of the class chimed in.

Natalie, Chemistry genius, gasped. "Prince! Don't say something like that. Knock on wood so it won't come true."

Prince smirked. "What if I don't want to?" Natalie was about to rage at him but the door suddenly opened.

"No need to fight, I'm here." Jared announced. He said it like he didn't cause any delay.

Cheska scoffed. "Oh. You bothered to show up."

Jared just ignored her and sat right next to me even though there was an empty seat next to Cheska. It wasn't a surprise, though. All five of us were great friends except for them two. They always loved to bicker and say mean things to each other. Maybe they had history, but who could really tell? "What took you so long?" I asked him, pulling out my headphones from my bag. It was a two hour trip so I just had to listen to music.

He just shrugged. "Long story." I didn't bother to press on. When it comes to Jared, finding out something that he doesn't want anyone to know about is very hard. "So, is your mother somewhere inside your bag hiding? Or perhaps she got hidden cameras taped on you every clothing?" I knew that he was changing the topic, but I didn't tell him.

Everyone knew how strict my mother was. Some of them even pity me, but I know for myself that she just cares too much. Way too much.

"I don't think so, but I do have to recheck once we get there. I don't want any cameras on my underwear, don't I?" I joked and Jared laughed very hard. I did too.

"Is everyone here?" Mr. Smith asked from the front of the van. He was the teacher-in-charge for this camp. Everyone answered a yes except for Prince who already fell asleep on his Pokemon pillos. "Okay. Let's go then. Camp Apollon, here we come."

And then we were on the road.

¤ ¤ ¤

Happy Birthday to me! 🎉😂❤

Hey guys! I'm your author, ZhineBright. 😊  Thank you so much for checking out my book. It really means so much to me.

I am not from Indiana and neither from America, so if you get confused with some of the places that I put here, I'd like to tell you that most of them are made up. Well, this is a work of fiction after all.

Here are the things that will happen on this book.

1. Update is every three days. I always write ahead (about 13 chapters already finished before uploading the first one) so there is no need to worry about getting delays on updates. Well, except for unwanted circumstances like me losing internet access or having problems with my account and etc. But let's not think about that. I will do my best to update on time. ❤

2. At the end of every chapter, I will give book suggestions. One book per chapter. These books can't be found on wattpad, so it's either you buy the book or get the ebook version to read it. If you have no interests in reading published books, then you can skip reading this one. 😊 I just want to help those who are having a hard time finding good books. Some of the books that I will recommend could be popular while some may be underrated. But I promise that I will not recommend a book if it hadn't touched my heart.

3. At the end of this book, once it is finished, I will put up a review section. It is where you say or write down what you think about the book. Don't be afraid to give criticisms because I am open for them. They help me be better. 😊

If you have any questions, you can either message me here on wattpad, or follow and tweet me on @moonlightmdnss ❤

Book suggestion of the chapter: All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. If you haven't read this yet, then you definitely should.

See you at the next chapter!

Z