Helpless

1. Off To Camp

The alarm clock on Lukas' phone rang loudly, waking up the sleepy teenager in the Valentine residence. He groaned, reluctantly lifting up his arm from under the covers and turning it off, trying to go back to sleep. But that didn't stop one of his mothers from gently shaking him awake.

"Good morning Sleeping Beauty. Time to start the day." Lukas' mom whispered teasingly to her son. He slowly sat up, rubbing his ocean blue eyes. "Hey mom.."

"Get up, or else you'll be late to camp!" his mother reminded him. Confusion struck Lukas as he ran a hand through his messy blonde hair. "Camp? What do you mean?"

Lukas' mom rolled her eyes in response. "Did you forget what day it is today?"

"Uhh, Tuesday?" Lukas guessed. The blonde woman in front of him giggled softly at the confusion of her son. "Sweetie, you're heading to camp today with your class, remember?"

Lukas' eyes widened in realization. "Oh.. OH!" His class was going camping for a few weeks, at this random place that was tucked away in the woods called "Sunshine Camp". How could he forget?

"You have forty minutes to get ready." Lukas' mother said before leaving the room, going back to her wife. Lukas finally got out of bed and quickly got dressed. He was relieved that he didn't have to wear his uniform, but instead he got a camp shirt with a color of choice, that was a million times more comfortable than his polo. His shirt was pink-ish purple-ish with a pine tree on the front. Despite the camp shirt, the students were allowed to wear anything they wanted. Lukas put on his black leather jacket, denim jeans and black converse before making his way to the bathroom. He opened the cabinet, grabbed his toothbrush and quickly brushed his teeth.

Lukas then went back to his room and packed his bag, which had clothes, his toothbrush and toothpaste, a hairbrush, his diary, and other unimportant stuff in it. He chuckled a bit before going downstairs. His moms were standing at the door, talking and chatting before turning their heads to him.

"Hi honey, are you ready to go?" Lukas' mother with blonde hair asked as she opened the front door.

"Do you have everything you need?" his other mom said.

"Yes moms." Lukas answered. Even though he loved his moms, they could be a little overprotective sometimes. But he figured it was probably for the better. Lukas and his moms left the house and got into the car. The ride to school was pretty much silent, with the songs from the radio being the only thing heard. When they arrived at the parking lot, mostly everyone was already gathered behind the school with their bags and/or suitcases.

"Have fun sweetie!" Lukas' cheery mother exclaimed. "But not too much fun." Lukas could've sworn he saw his mom wiggling her eyebrows, but he wasn't quite sure. He decided to shrug it off and stepped out of the car, and saw Jesse running up to him.

"Lukas! My buddy!" Jesse greeted as he approached his best friend. "How's it hanging?"

"Good. Could've been better, but could've been worse."

"Come on, the others are over there." Jesse said as he grabbed Lukas' wrist and led him to their friend group. They all turned around when they noticed them approaching.

"Hey nerds." Aiden greeted sarcastically. He and Petra still called them nerds, even if they were friends now. Lukas was okay with it, but it still kind of annoyed Jesse sometimes. Most of the time.

"For your information," Jesse began. "We're not nerds, we're geeks. Thank you very much."

"And those are not literally the same thing?" Petra asked skeptically.

"No. They're not." Jesse argued. While the bickering continued in the background, Lukas started to trail off when he suddenly felt a pair of hands cover his view.

"Guess who." a voice said behind him. Lukas smiled and played along. "Is that you Jesse?"

The person behind him smacked his head playfully before revealing herself. "It's me you dork!"

Lukas chuckled at the small tease of his girlfriend. She liked to tease him a lot, and honestly, it was adorable.

"You excited for camp?" Jess asked, wiping a strand of her raven black hair from her face. "Kinda. Not extremely excited though."

"Me neither. Being surrounded by nature at all times just isn't my cup of tea." Jesse said, joining in on the conversation.

Jess rolled her eyes playfully. "Oh don't be a baby. I for one, can't wait to go there."

The bus then arrived at school and the students all stepped into the vehicle. Aiden and Gill quickly rushed over to the seats in the back, claiming them for themselves.

"I don't see why the back seats are so great. They're just as plain as the other seats." Jesse said as he walked up to them, with Lukas following behind.

"Well you know what they say. Back seats are best seats." Gill chuckled.

Aiden facepalmed. "Gill, no one says that."

"Well, they should."

Jesse and Lukas took their seats, along with the other students. The bus then took off, making it's way to the camp. The radio softly played music, but was mainly inaudible because of all the children talking and chatting.

"They say that those who set foot on Sunshine Camp never return." Petra joked, trying to scare her fellow classmates.

"Psh, that's bullshit." Maya said, crossing her arms. "Did you get that from one of your stupid musicals?"

"Hey! Musicals are awesome!" Petra argued back. "Besides, it's not my fault I scared you."

Maya rolled her eyes. "First of all, you didn't scare me at all. Second, do you seriously think that your little "theory" about the camp is true? Because to me, it seems like you just made it up."

Petra rested her feet on the back of the seat before her. "I dunno. Guess we'll just have to wait and see."

While everyone continued talking and gossiping, Lukas stared out of the window, admiring the scenery of the winding country road. A bright green meadow surrounded by the distant forest, with a few oak trees here and there. It was beautiful.

Eventually, the bus arrived at the camp. The students stepped out of the vehicle, taking in the view of the campsite. After discussing some things and Lukas and Aiden almost ending up fighting, which they still did from time to time, they got their stuff and looked at the entrance before them.

"Wow," Dan began, looking around the forest as he walked. "It's so.."

"Campy?" Stampy suggested, stepping up besides Dan. "Tree-ish? Nature-y?"

"I was going to say boring, but yeah. That too."

"You're just saying that because you guys never go outside." Stacy joked, but in a serious manner. "You two should really find some hobbies other than gaming."

Dan scoffed. "Don't tell me how to live my life." Just when he said that, he bumped into someone. He was about to scold at them on how they should watch where they're going, when he looked up to see a man with bright red hair smiling at him.

"Well hello there little fella! Why, you must be our new campers."