Survival

Chapter 5

The air conditioner felt soothing, compared to the scorching sun outside. The bus, which was used for trips, or bringing in items to school, was a long and white coloured bus. It was very big that it contained all my class students. All 34 of us. But today, only 28 were embarking on the trip with 6 guides. The inside was furnished with white chairs. I looked for a position by the window to sit. Only five students were in the bus, so it was easy finding a suitable seat.

"Hey guys." Everyone greeted me except Adriana, who didn't even seem to care. Not that I did, too. She must angry she had to take a bus instead of her fancy car, I thought. The bus rode on, stopping by each students' houses and picking them up. By the time it was 8:30am, the bus had taken the way to the camp. We stayed a bit at Ibraheems' considering how his mom kept praying for him much to his annoyance.

Our school hired two guides from a life guard camp in Texas, for effective operation. Our teachers announced the rules and regulations and told us what to do and not to do. Besides, we already knew the drill too well. Failure to abide by these rules, would lead to drastic consequences. I fought hard not to roll my eyes, as Mr. Cameron stood in front us with his ruler and marker. He even brought a board in which he wrote the rules again. My thoughts lingered on various things. How did he manage to bring that board? Was he going to be lecturing us in the camp? I hoped not. But with him, everything is possible. It seemed he was ready for camping, but not in the fun way. Mr Cameron was that kind of teacher that was very strict and every student hated him behind his back. After that, the new guides introduced themselves as Joanne and Graham. Joanne was a short, slim lady of about thirty three years. She was obviously the funny and friendly type, since I entered the bus she had been smiling and probably making jokes because the other guides would laugh at something she said. While Graham seemed more serious even though now and then, he would smile at the students getting on board. He was tall, a bit muscular, and had dirty blond hair with light brown eyes. They all sat at the front row of the seats.

"I repeat, no fighting! Is that clear?" One of our teachers, Ms. Anna concluded her speech. We were travelling with four of our teachers, who would also be serving as our guides - Mr Cameron, our P.E. and Maths teacher, who was also the strictest of our teachers. Mr Alessio, our English and Literature teacher. Ms. Anna, our Science teacher, who didn't get along with me, and Mrs. Sana, our History teacher, whom everyone loved because of her friendliness, jovial attitude, and niceness.

"Yes, Ma'am!" We all chorused.

*****

The bus rode slowly as it reached a curve. We had been driving for an hour now. We were supposed to be driving for five hours - Florida to Savannah. I had never been there before, so I kept my eyes glued to the window, wandering at the scenery. My dad bought me a Savannah guide book, for my journey. It was very small and easy to read. Although I did some research prior to our journey, and discovered a lot of interesting stuff. Savannah was actually founded in 1733, by a general called General Oglethorpe. It was said to have been haunted, and was once used as a burial ground for the dead. I didn't think it was true, because I knew for sure that there were people living in Savannah - a lot. So, the haunted theory didn't seem real to me.

I prayed for our journey to be smooth, then took out my earphones and played on a random playlist. "Do you think we could play football? Like in the..." Ibraheem asked. I paused the current song playing - Complicated by Avril Lavign.

"What? Who cares about football? I was thinking more of tennis. It's much more interesting," Peyton said.

"I don't think I'm going to be playing any sport, guys. This is camp. We should be chilling out and enjoying ourselves," I replied.