Making a Splash

The Camping Trip

Weeks passed for Lily and the others. And finally the time for the long-awaited school campout had finally arrived. It was a first time experience for all three of the girls as they rode together in one of the many buses making its way to the mountain campsite.

"This is so exciting." Marie said. "It's my first time doing something like this."

"I just hope there aren't too many bugs." Emma commented. "I hate them."

"You and me both. But that's why I brought plenty of bug spray." Lily said.

As the three girls continued to chat, Marie noticed the face of the boy from the other day staring at their direction. "Oh Lily. Looks like your secret admirer is looking at you again."

"Huh?" Lily looked towards Kyle and saw that Marie was right. The boy gave her a wave, to which Lily awkwardly replied in kind. "I played that cool right?"

"Sure, outside of your face looking like you just stepped into a cold shower." Marie teased.

"Ugh..." Lily sighed as she moved her head out of Kyle's sight. "I seriously suck at this."

"Don't make too much of a fuss about it. He likes you. That's what's important."

"You sure sound like you know a lot about this kinda stuff." Emma pointed out. "Any mysterious lovers from your past?"

Marie waved off Emma's suggestion with a laugh. "No, unfortunately. But a girl doesn't need experience to know these kinds of things."

Another hour passed before the bus finally arrived at its destination. Lily and her friends passed the time chatting with each other. It was a bit of a shame they couldn't talk about anything mermaid-related due to the risk of someone overhearing them, but they had plenty of other topics to talk about.

Once they arrived and exited the bus, the teachers began calling out to the students. "Alright everyone. Split yourselves up into groups of four. You'll be in those groups for all of today's activities."

Lily, Marie, and Emma didn't have any trouble choosing to group up together due to being friends. But that still left them with an empty spot for their group to fill.

"Who should we choose?" Emma wondered.

As they looked around, Marie noticed one particular student still looking for a group. Kyle. A playful grin came as she waved over to him. "Hey! Why don't you join up with us?"

Kyle saw Marie and walked over to the three girls. A nervous sweat rolled down the back of Lily's neck as she leaned in and whispered into her friend's ear. "Marie, what the hell?!"

"You'll thank me later. Trust me."

"Yo." Kyle said as he came up to the girls. "You still need one more person."

"Sure do." Marie nodded. "You don't mind being in a group of three girls, do you?"

"Not at all."

The day went on as the various groups took part in different activities. There was even an orienteering game that took them all around the mountain to checkpoints. Kyle was surprisingly helpful, noticing various shortcuts for them to take in between checkpoints. Lily wanted a chance to talk with him but couldn't muster up the courage. And so the day came to a close with her and Kyle remaining just as distant as they had been.

When dinner was served, each of the students formed their own separate groups to talk about the day. Veronica, being the stuck up girl she was, had her own circle of friends wrapped around her finger. Lily, Marie, and Emma kept their distance from her. She was mean to the core, that much was made all too clear when she had ditched Emma out in the middle of the ocean. If it hadn't been for Lily and Maria, she would have drowned.