piece by piece~j.d

~55~

Ebony and Aubrey felt like zombies as they tried to organise both of their classes as well as the year sixes that they were going with, for the camp where they would be going to camp Coonawarra, thankfully for them, they weren't the only teachers that were going, with two other teachers and four of the parents tagging along to help. The busses were packed and people were saying their final goodbyes, Ebony and Aubrey were helping kids onto the bus once they were packed, having said their own goodbyes earlier in the morning, or in Aubrey's case, late the night before.

"The reception is going to be bad out there." Ebony mentioned as they stood at the entrance of the bus, waiting for more of their students to be ready to leave, something they knew would take a long time.

"I know, we should be kept pretty busy though. Never a dull moment with the kids." Aubrey replied looking around at the group that she would be with for the next three days. "I wonder if we'll miss anything important."

"Probably not, life is pretty boring here from time to time." Ebony responded and they once again fell into a silence, though their eyes were darting around for any possible things that might set some trouble off.

"I just feel like we might miss something." Aubrey shrugged. "How are you Leah?" She asked as one of the girls made her way onto the bus, carrying her bright green pillow with her, a choice that Aubrey herself wouldn't make, but one she respected regardless.

"Excited!" Leah responded, skipping off to find where her friends were already sitting, saving a seat for her.

"Love that for her." Ebony chuckled as the stream of kids coming onto the bus started to increase, the other teachers letting the parents know that it was time to say goodbye now and let their kids go. "Let's get on and meet the parents that we're working with again."

"Lets." Aubrey agreed and they both climbed onto the bus, sitting in the second row of seats, leaving the first two open for when they might need it. "You must be Amy and Dave, I know we've met briefly, but I'm Aubrey and this is Ebony."

"Nice to meet you." Amy said, showing a dimpled smile, one that Aubrey would easily attribute to one of her students Everest. "We're here to help when you get tired of dealing with the kiddies."

"Likewise, and don't worry. They don't tire us out too bad." Ebony laughed and they all got to talking about what the camp would entail for the next few days.

~~~

By day two Aubrey was already exhausted, with the girls in the third cabin staying up what felt like all night. They were split up into groups, some making rafts, some canoeing and some having a go at the giant swing, as they rotated through the ones that would take place that day.

"Miss Smith," Everest said, he was pouting up at her as he was second in line to being the next person to go on the giant swing. "I don't know if I want to have a go, it's really high."

"It's okay Ev, if you don't want to go you don't have to but you'll have a lot of fun." Aubrey bent down to talk to the little boy. "I could go first if you want me to, I'll show you how fun it is instead of scary."

"You'll do it?" Ev questioned, it was a pretty well known fact that Aubrey was scared of a lot, spiders, wasps, missing out. "Won't you get scared."

"I think I'll just be more excited, the first time I went on one, it scared me more then you're scared. I didn't even go to the top, but once I did it once I realised just how fun it was." Aubrey said, patting the young boys shoulder and stood up to go and speak with the staff member from the camp who was at the front of the line helping to instruct the kids on what to do.

After a few moments of them speaking, it was decided that Aubrey would go next as the rest of the kids who hadn't gone were the ones who seemed a bit sceptical and Aubrey saw that it was somehow part of her job to help push the kids just far enough out of their comfort zone and make sure they had a good time.

To say that the kids were excited for their teacher to have a turn was an understatement, both the year 6 teacher that was in the group with Aubrey and Everest's mum Amy were filming on their phones as the kids pulled and pulled the rope so that Aubrey could be lifted up to the top. As she pulled the string to let her go she squealed in excitement, the exhilaration of the fall was an adrenaline rush that Aubrey found herself loving every time.

By the time she got down all of the kids looked excited and ready to go, meaning that she had successfully done her job, while also having a good time. Something that was always a bonus. When they all got back to the main camp with the cabins, there was half an hour before lunch where the kids were able to wonder around the lake and play sports if they wished.

"Your phone has been going off." Ebony said when she and Aubrey sat down at the lake, keeping an eye on the kids. "I'm surprised you've been getting signal but seeing as Bailey has called you about ten times I think it's pretty important."

"Shit, thanks." Aubrey said as she took her phone from Ebony, she had left it at the site and was thankful that other people in her group had taken her photos, but now she wished that she had taken her phone so that she knew what Baz wanted.

"Hello?" Bailey answered the phone when Aubrey had made her way back into her and Ebony's room for a bit of privacy. "Finally you picked up."

"Sorry I've been a little bit busy, what's up?" Aubrey said. "Are you okay? Is Josh okay?"

"We're all fine, well everyone's more fine then I am. Tara and I broke up and I just thought that I should let you know first. Oh and I don't know what the hell I'm meant to do with myself?" Bailey admitted.

"You just need to chill out and take a deep breath, I know you'll keep thinking that this is all your fault even if its not you'll turn it on yourself somehow," Aubrey said, sitting down on her bed and thinking of how she could help her brother not close up and lose focus on the important things as he was in danger to do that, though he was so often seen as one of the strong people, he was also open about his mental health and how sensitive he could be.

"I'm okay, I just don't know what to do with my time." He said, his voice was slightly broken.

"You're young Baz, go out and have fun when you can." Aubrey advised. "When I get home we'll hang out and get over the dumb bitch who left you, you don't need her anyway." Aubrey said, though in the back of her mind she made a plan to possibly talk to Tara later if she felt it was appropriate, she had felt like the girl had become a sister and it would be weird if that all went away.

The rest of the camp Aubrey was distracted, feeling worried about how her brother would be. It was a testament to how strong their sibling bond had become since she had gotten back. But it was a real pain when she had to focus on the kids that she was meant to be looking after.

the drama that happened today at school, i cant
and im breaking out and masks are back, it is not
my week