The Natural

Chapter 1

Exam was finally over. These couple of weeks seemed quite unbearable but I survived. But it didn't feel convincing enough with whatever my grades would turn out to be. Anyway, I had months to actually worry about that, because now I should just relax and have a fun time. And my room might need my whole attention. The way I lived was like a pig; messy and unorganized. Notebooks, piles of papers, pens, clothes, and used tissues were left on the floor and on my bed. I couldn't even tell which clothes were clean or not. I couldn't even find a pair of decent clean socks! I better sort my room quick before I had to leave for the Rider's Camp and after I was done pampering myself with goodness.

Rider's Camp was just something I joined for the sake of me not being bored for the whole entire holiday. It might be a good place to start off on something new and exciting. They have all kind of activities that would definitely kept me busy for the entire three months of holiday. Some activities are involved with the wonders of nature. I might learn new things, which was what I was hoping for. I did brought a friend to come along with me. Lany wasn't really into this activity but I begged her to come. Maybe she would like it in the end. Who would know, right?

I went to my locker and left my notebooks and chemistry textbook in it. I didn't bother to bring them home with me because that would only make my room even messier than it was already. I closed my locker and saw Lany was also putting her stuffs in her locker. Her locker was at the far end, near the toilet. I found that it was pretty nice to have a locker close to a toilet. I walked towards her.

"Have you packed for the Rider's Camp?" I asked, putting a smirk on my face.

Lany rolled her eyes and smiled. "Yes," she said. "I've done that since you begged me to come." She continued to put her things in her locker. "But ironically...it seems obvious that you haven't pack."

She surely knew who I really was already. "Well...," I trailed off. "You know what! Let's just grab some food. I feel like I'm dying of hunger. That exam paper was eating my brain."

"I couldn't argue more about that. The questions were damn hard. I guess you-know-who found that exam paper to be easy. Since, he is really smart."

"Yeah. It wouldn't be surprising that he will get straight A's again. I wish I have his brain or I'll just eat it 'cause I'm hungry," I joked. You-know-who was just a nickname we made for Park Anderwood. We didn't want to speak his name, not that we were afraid of him like how much the wizards from the Harry Potter series were afraid of Voldemort. It was just that we didn't want to say his name and got find out that we were talking about him on his back. Park Anderwood wasn't just smart. He was athletic with good looking face that made several girls went crazy for him. He was that popular. Every competition he joined, he always won. He played guitar. He was also a perfectionist when it came to cooking and baking. No wonder, all girls fell for him. For me, Park Anderwood was just my inspiration to be a better person and to learn whatever I can with the capacity I was having.

"You know, you're funny. What? You've become a zombie now?" Lany chuckled. Lany shut her locker with a loud bang and we head off to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was crowded with people and it was filled with a loud buzz. I spotted Park Anderwood at the middle of the room. He was with a group of people. They probably were asking for answers on the exam paper. Park looked quite tensed. His eyebrows creased. He was holding a pencil and was scribbling something on the guy's notebook. I knew that guy. If I was not wrong his name was Stephen. Stephen was nodding his head and listening to Park.

I grabbed a tray and standing on the long queue with Lany in front of me. My stomach growled. I needed food right away but this was taking far too long.

Finally, I picked a bowl of spaghetti Bolognese, a bottle of orange juice, and a banana. Lany was a vegetarian so she picked a bowl of salad for her lunch. I was not sure how that salad could be filling enough to eat because if I were to eat just salad, I would go hungry again. We went to look for an empty table for the only two of us to eat. Sadly, there was none. So instead, we went to find a table where we can just crash into a group of people we happened to recognize. Lany spotted one and found there were perfectly two seats for us.

Peter, Amy, Jessica, James and Andy were grouped in one table, talking and laughing. They were our Chemistry classmates. And Andy happened to be my crush. But no one knew that. Even Lany didn't know. I liked to keep it as a secret. And surprisingly, I was really good with hiding my emotions. I managed to maintain it successfully.

"Hey, guys!" I shouted so they could hear me over the loud buzz in the cafeteria.

Lany smiled. "Are those seats taken?" she asked.

"No not all," Jessica shouted back. "You are very much welcome to join us."

I took a seat next to Andy. My knees felt like melting butter. But I kept my composure and my expression neutral. Nailed it! I was such a natural when it came to this, which I strongly believed so.

I was super starving. But seeing Andy next to me, so close, our elbows touching, I felt shy. Of all the food, why did I even choose Spaghetti Bolognese? I could've gotten a burger or a vegetable roll or shepherd pie. But no, I chose spaghetti Bolognese. I ate slowly, twirling them until the pasta did not dangle. I chewed them more than I used to in slow motion and constantly wiping my mouth off with a napkin. This was so unlike me. I used to live like a pig!

"So what do you guys plan to do this summer holiday?" I asked.

Jessica raised her hands. "I'm planning to volunteer to do a lot of charity work. I promised my mom that I would help her sort the things that people donate to the needy. I just - I can't believe exams are finally over," she said with her hands on her chest, still looked disbelieving.

"Wow! That's so nice of you." I replied. "I just happen to have a lot of things that I wanted to donate as well."

"That's great! You can just give them to me so I can sort those out for you," Jessica said.

"Perfect!" I grinned.

"What are you planning to do this holiday, Elle?" Peter asked.

"Lany and I joined the Rider's Camp. I heard they have over forty activities that we can experience and do. Our whole holiday was getting busy on that activities."

Peter eyes were wide open. "No way! Me too. Andy is joining as well. I heard a lot of good things about the Rider's Camp. There was this girl who were afraid of heights...her fear was like phobia...not an ordinary fear...now she's not afraid of heights anymore. She said she overcame her fear because of the Rider's Camp," Peter explained.

"That's it? That sudden? That doesn't sound convincing," Andy responsed with a 'meh' expression.

Peter rolled his eyes. But not out of annoyance. "Yeah..whatever it is. I just want to have some fun."

"I totally agree with you!" I said. What was fun was that Andy was joining us. I went back to eating my spaghetti.

"I wonder who will be my partner. I hope you're my partner, Elle," Peter said. I abruptly stopped twisting my spaghetti and I looked up at him. "You're better than Andy." He chuckled as he saw Andy's angry face.

"Come here you!" Andy was playfully punching Peter's stomach with his fist.

"Alright! Alright! Stop!" Peter laughed. Everyone laughed. And I joined in.

I had a good feeling that this holiday was turning out to be better than I expected it to be.