The bus ride was more fun than my school bus ride, in that people actually talked. The only thing that puzzled me was that boys and girls were not allowed to sit next to each other.

"Why," I asked. We could sit next to each other on the normal bus.

Mr. Cardinal tilted his head to the side. "Just asked this year's sophomores."

I decided not to. The other rule that was slightly annoying, but I could understand was that we weren't allowed to use our phones on the bus. So, rather than listening to music and looking out the window, we were forced to talk to each other.

Surprisingly, it was fun. We talked about school, sports, even books, and though I hate to admit it, we even gossiped. Just a little. After a while, someone got the genius idea to play Charades. Just for that, the teachers let us use our phones and we were off.

The game was simple. Place the phone on your head, and everyone had to help you guess what the word on the phone was. We played for so long I lost count of the time. And before I knew it, we were there.

When we got there, we left our bags on the bus. Mr. Marvin assured us that Mr. Cardinal would safely drive them to the campsite. Then, he asked us to pull out our journals.

"This is your first Global Field Trip," Mr. Gandalf started. "You will remember it for the rest of your life."

I didn't doubt that.

"So, I want you to write a letter to yourself. Your 12th grade self. What do you want to tell him/her? What do you want to ask? Pick a quiet spot, at least five feet away from any other person and begin writing. You will have thirty minutes."

I pulled out my journal and walked over to a large boulder under a shady tree. Sitting on the boulder, I began writing.

Dear Future Anasika,

So, I guess you're 17 or 18 now. Jeez. How's Global? I'm excited to hike. Are you still interested in becoming an astrophysicist? I hope so. I know 14 seems really little right now, but I feel older now that I am on my first overnight field trip. As for my goals... hmm... I want to get above 2000 on the SAT. I want to apply to an Ivy League school. I want to get into an out-of-state college. I want to have fun in Global. I hope you have done all this by now. If not, it's okay. Am I still taking piano class? Do I play any sports? How is Arvin? He's a freshman now, I think. Or an 8th grader. I don't know. Are you friends with Lina, Clary, and Jessica? I hope so. They're by best friends for this trip. I have so much to ask you! It's crazy that you're graduating soon. I mean, I just came into high school! Are you going to prom with anyone? Just wondering. Is Arvin taller than you now? Do you remember the Percy Jackson series? Do you still like Minecraft? There is so much I could ask you, but my pencil is running out. I love you so much! Rock on!

Love,

Anasika Grandle

Grade 9

Sighing, I put my pencil down and closed my eyes. What would I be like in 12th grade? Would I be different? Every year, I felt like I was growing up more and more, faster and faster. It scared me, but also made me excited. My thoughts were interrupted when Mr. Marvin whistled and pointed to the woods, signaling us to get going. Grabbing our backpacks, we began hiking.

The woods were beautiful. Tall, colorful trees loomed over us in the crisp, cool air. Chatter echoed softly down the hard-packed dirt trail. Birds chirped as my hiking boots crunched against the brown leaves. I was barely able to look up, keeping my eyes on the trail to avoid tripping over some rocks or a tree root. After crossing a bridge that took us over the glittery blue water shining in the afternoon sun, the group came to a halt.

"This is a local canal," Mr. Marvin began. "Does anyone know where it floods into?"

A boy named Jason raised his hand and answered.

"Exactly. All the water you use is filtered and sent into this canal, which floods into the river Jason just mentioned. The locks slow down the water, keeping it at a good pace of 6-10 mph. It's an amazing system."

We continued walking down the trail. Clary was a fast walker, but she slowed down to walk with me. Mr. Marvin pulled up the rear, so we continued the hike talking to him.

"What are we going to do after this?" I asked him.

Mr. Marvin looked down at me. "We're going into town and doing a scavenger hunt," he pulled out a paper. "Not too hard, but I'd search for the historical wall first." He winked at me.

A girl named Melissa was also walking with us. She laughed, "Are we going to the campsite afterwards?"

Mr. Marvin nodded. We continued walking for a few minutes when I stopped, reaching out of my backpack to pull a Poptart. Opening the crumpling wrapper, I took a bite out of the fatty food.

Mr. Marvin laughed. "I don't think you've stopped eating since we began hiking," he observed. I frowned, but he was right. Immediately when we started hiking, I had eaten an orange and a few crackers. Then, I ate a cookie. Now, I was eating a Poptart.

Clary grabbed a piece of the Poptart out of my hand. "Who cares? This stuff is good," she looked down at her stomach. "On a second thought, I'm probably going to get fat." Finishing the Poptart, she laughed.

I looked down at my skinny arms and sighed. This was one of the few times I ate a lot, and only because of the physical exertion. As a vegetarian, the variety of food was low enough for me. On top of that, I was the pickiest eater I knew. Those two weren't a good combination. No matter how much I tried, I hardly gained a pound... and I hated it. I looked at Clary's figure enviously. "You are not fat. Quite the contrary if I do say so myself."

Clary smiled at me and we continued hiking. But once again, the group came to an unexpected stop. I heard a bit of mumbling and Mr. Rickman began speaking. But with the loud wind and constant chatter, I couldn't hear what he was saying, all the way at the back. Only when Clary handed me a bright orange fruit, I began to understand. It was covered in bite marks to the core.

"Did... everyone eat that?" Clary nodded and passed it to me. I noticed she hadn't eat it. I wasn't ready to either. Global may have been a metaphorical family, but I wasn't eating out of the same fruit as everyone else. I passed it to Mr. Marvin.

"This is a Paw-Paw fruit," he explained. "Are you sure you don't want to try it?"

I crinkled my nose and shook my head. Laughing, Mr. Marvin took a bite. Right out of the center.

"Ewww," exclaimed Melissa as he threw the fruit behind him. I couldn't help but agree.

Soon, we reached the top of the mountain and broke apart, sitting at various corners and beginning to eat our lunch. Clary, Jessica, Melissa, and I sat at the edge of the mountain with our feet dangling off into the distance. The view down the mountain was beautiful. Trees covered the mountainsides which sloped down into a valley. A river ran through the valley with sparkling water flowing around the granulated rocks. Leaves covered the ground in front of me, as I was surrounded by trees. A mountain sloped into a hill which sloped into a plateau, covered in concrete and tiny houses I could make out from a distance. A bridge with a highway connected the mountains as tiny cars drove across the bridge, oblivious to us watching them. Birds chirped in the fresh air and a gust of wind whistled behind us. It was tranquility. It was peace.

With a knowing smile on my face, I pulled out a sandwich and began eating. Suddenly, the boy, Jason, who had spoke up before came and asked to sit with us. We nodded and scooted over, allowing him to sit. Then we began talking.

"So what did you guys write for your journal entries?" I asked. Everyone responded and we chatted for a while. Soon, we were hiking back down the mountain.

When we reached the bottom, Mr. Marvin handed out the scavenger hunt papers as promised. He said we could walk around town for an hour and find the items. Then, we could do whatever we wanted. He also recommended a nice ice cream place down the street.

We walked around, first buying the ice cream, then looking for the historical wall like Mr. Marvin suggested. We wrote all our answers our the Global Journals and were searching for a World War II poster when it happened. We locked ourselves inside the museum.

"Help! Help!" we screamed. It was just me and Clary because Jessica and Melissa had decided to split up and find the statue. They were walking by when they found us. With a an exasperated grin on her face, Melissa pushed the door in that we had been pushing out.

"Ohhhhh," Clary and I exclaimed, as we walked out of the museum. We traded notes with them as we walked towards the bus. When we got on the bus, it was less than five minutes before we reached the campsite. We met the owner and grabbed our bags, sitting down to hear the tent groups.

"Okay!" Mr. Rickman commanded. "Let's get started!"

He read off a list of names for tent A, then B, then C. Finally on D I heard my name.

"In Tent D we have: Anasika Grandle, Clary Johnson, Jessica Kim..."

I pulled my fist down and muttered "Yes!" He read off a list of five other names of girls we barely knew, since the tent was a group of eight, but that didn't matter to us. After he had called out all of our names, the eight of us ran over and put up the tents. We threw our bags in with me calling the back corner and ran into the small house at the front of the campsite to get ready for dinner. The students chosen for dinner crew were working on making some fajitas and they waved when I walked by.

Soon, I had changed into my sweatpants and sweatshirt and I walked back outside. We all lined up in front of a small picnic table where lemonade was sitting and Mr. Gandalf suggested that vegetarians and people with food allergies could go first. I grabbed a plate and piled it with a tortilla, rice, beans, and many vegetables. Then, with a water bottle full of lemonade in my hand, I walked back to the campsite.

The house was where the owner lived and she had been very kind to us since we came, so I asked her if we could sit at the small table near her front porch. She nodded.

"So you're a vegetarian, too?" she asked. I was surprised- I didn't meet that many people who weren't Indian and were vegetarians. It wasn't a race thing, it was just the most common thing in our culture. Still, I nodded.

She must have noticed my expression, because she explained, "It was for a medical reason. I kind of miss meat, but I don't really have a choice, do I?"

I admired her strength. Having never tasted meat, it wasn't that hard for me to stay away from it. But I had heard of how savory and tasty it was, and I admired anyone who was able to break away from that. I heard footsteps behind me and saw Clary and Jessica walking towards me.

"Lucky," said Jessica. "You didn't have to stand in a long line."

I laughed. "Well, imagine never eating meat in your life."

Clary set her plate down. "Yeah, okay you win." We all dug into our burritos and filled our growling stomachs after the exhausting hike. I had just finished washing my hands inside the owner's bathroom, when I heard Mr. Marvin calling, "Time for the campfire!"

Since I was one of the last people there, I had to sit on the ground, but I didn't mind. I had sat on a log before, and it was not the most comfortable experience. Hugging my sweatshirt around, I scooted closer to the fire. After everyone had settled down, Mr. Marvin began playing his guitar and singing. His deep country voice hit the quiet air in the dark sky as night had begun to settle.

Take me home, country roads

Almost heaven, West Virginia,

Blue ridge mountain, Shenandoah river,

Life is old there, older than the trees,

Younger than the mountains, blowing like a breeze

He played the guitar softer and told us, "This is the chorus. Repeat after me."

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia, mountain mamma

Take me home, country roads

We chorused along with him, our loud voices harmonizing together. The song was a simple country tune, but just singing it made me feel all warm and cozy. I looked around at my classmates, their faces dimly lit in the light of the fire and continued singing. It was the first time I had sang in public in a long time. But, I didn't care.

Country roads, take me home

To the place I belong,

West Virginia, mountain mamma

Take me home, country roads

Take me home, country roads

I sang the whole song, or at least how much of it I knew, until the last note where Mr. Marvin strummed his guitar to match the tune. I couldn't help myself. I smiled.

"Okay!" Mr. Gandalf said, clapping his hands. "Who wants to hear a ghost story?"

There was a loud chorus of "me!"s ringing through the small campfire, but I heard Clary shrinking back slightly behind me. I turned around to her.

"Hey, you okay?" I asked.

She nodded. "I'm just not the biggest fan of ghost stories," she explained. I gave her a reassuring smile as Mr. Gandalf began.

"It was a dark and stormy night... just kidding. It was a cool winter day in Prestwall High School. All the students, even the SMCS and Drama kids, had left the school and the only people left were security. In the office, people were watching the security cameras when they saw a white orb in one of them.

"You know the hallway near the health office? The camera there displayed a white orb slowly moving near the office until it went inside. Soon, a black orb followed. Then, the video went back to normal.

"The people were puzzled, but they ignored it. The next day, the same thing happened. And the next day. And the day after that."

His face was half lit in the firelight and I closed my eyes, imagining the scene, surprised when I shivered, despite the warmth.

"The people didn't know what it was. It haunted the school, coming out after all the students had left, doing whatever it had to do. One day, Mr. Paul went to check on the hallway, but when he went there... He saw...

"Nothing. The hallway was completely empty. Annoyed at this, the vice principal suggested they change the camera in the hallway. After they changed it nothing happened.

"Some say it was a moth, but I doubt it. Whatever it was, it could still be there. So next time you ask your teacher for a pass to the health room, be careful. You never know what's lurking there."

He gave an evil laugh that looked even more intimidating in the firelight. But then he laughed and simply asked, "Did that scare you?"

There was a chorus of no's and Mr. Gandalf laughed. Placing, his guitar on a log, Mr. Marvin got up as Mr. Rickman said, "I know you all are worried about school and your social lives and sports and a million other things now, but we are on a field trip. This is Global Ecology, where we learn to identify with nature. For ten minutes, just look up at the stars and try to relax. Lie down on the grass and just think. Then, you can go into your tents and get ready for bed."

I walked over to a spot in the middle of the grass, near the volleyball set up and lay down. The grass was cool and soft against my back and I stared into the endless night. Stars twinkled against the black sky like diamonds on a dark dress and I just watched them. There were no clouds, no people, no worries. Just me and the stars. I closed my eyes and reflected on the trip so far. The hike, though exhausting, was the most fun I had had in the past few weeks and the campfire was better than I could have imagined. It was the perfect first Global trip so far, and I was so glad it wasn't my last.