Underestimated Heiress

CHAPTER 13 - Camp Day 1

Jess and Colin got out of the car, it was a semi camping area with minimum facilities like BBQ, Toilets and information center. They both assessed the camping area, it was beautifully located on the top of the mountain and the weather was pleasant. Jess was still very cautious of her surroundings, she trusted her father but she was still a bit scared. Due to the end of year school holidays the camping area was fully booked, most of them were with their families. Jess tried to assess all the people around her, she made sure to at least remember their faces so that she could identify if she found anything suspicious. Colin noticed Jess's actions, he asked, "What happened? Are you not comfortable in this kind of place?", he thought maybe Jess has never been to camping like that before. He liked to go out with his friends and they preferred adventures, so he had stayed in places like these a couple of times in the past.

Jess replied, "No, I am making sure that the place is safe for us to stay. I mean we all are just high school kids, and being President, it becomes our responsibility."

Colin understood Jess's concerns and said, "Yes. That's a good thought. While you are doing that I will complete the formalities at the information center", he was walking towards the information center, when his driver approached him and whispered slowly, "Master Jess, there was a car following us. Initially I thought that maybe they were going the same way and because it was uphill they didn't overtake us. But when we reached here I noticed a few strange things. They are just a group of a few men and they don't have any booking at this place, I confirmed at the information center. When I was keeping an eye on them, I overheard one of them mention Miss Jess." Colin was shocked and looked at Jess, unfortunately Jess was also looking at him.

Jess suspected and walked towards Colin and asked,"Why do you look like you saw a ghost? What happened?" She then looked at the driver and again at Colin, expecting an answer.

Colin thought for a while before answering truthfully, he repeated everything the driver said to Jess. Jess had a composed expression but she was alarmed, she thought for a few seconds before saying," Let's go and confront them." Without waiting for Colin to reply she started walking towards the car park, Colin and the driver soon caught up with her. Colin thought she was acting brave without thinking, it could be risky.

Colin said while walking with Jess, " are you sure this is wise? Shouldn't you call your father first?"

Jess replied," if they are here to cause trouble for me, they would have already done so, it's been 15-20 minutes since we reached here, they had their opportunity. Let's first understand the situation and then decide whether to involve my father or not. He is a busy person and I don't want to make him worry unnecessarily." It sounded like she had given it a proper thought before reacting.

They all walked to the car, when those men saw Jess walking towards them they were speechless and were looking at each other expressing that they were exposed.

Jess approached them and asked,"Do you know me?"The men looked at each other but didn't answer. Jess asked another question, "did you follow us here?" no one answered, Jess felt a bit annoyed so she said in a hoarse voice,"you are already exposed, we know you followed us here and we also heard you discussing about me. This is the last time I will ask this and I expect nothing but the truth. Do you know me? Why did you follow me here?". Colin and the driver were surprised when they heard Jess's commanding voice, it appeared as if she was not scared or worried. Only Jess knew how she really felt, but she had learnt from her father to always hide emotions otherwise it would become your weakness. She knew that the problem can't be solved by being scared, that's why she wanted to talk to these people so that she can find a solution.

"Miss Jess", one of the bodyguards said, seemed like their leader. "We are your bodyguards, we apologize for any inconvenience or miss understanding."

Jess and Colin took a sigh of relief, Jess said "that's alright, Colin's driver found you a bit suspicious that's why I asked all these questions. Please keep a low profile." The bodyguard nodded acknowledging Jess's request.

Jess started walking towards the information center but she noticed that Colin was still standing near the bodyguards. She called, "Colin, are you coming?". Colin was still thinking, he and most of his friends belonged to wealthy families but none of them had so many bodyguards, their drivers were trained as bodyguards who followed them everywhere, but Jess had 5 bodyguards. He felt something was wrong, considering Jess wanted to keep a low profile then why did she allow her dad to send 5 bodyguards.

"Yes, coming.", Colin replied.

"Others will be here in no time, we have to hurry up and complete a few formalities before they arrive. If we want things to go as planned then we should not waste another minute.", Jess expressed her concern to Colin.

Colin said, "You are right. Let's divide and conquer.", Colin ignored his suspicions about the bodyguard and focused on the camp activities.

Colin went to the information center while Jess found out about first aid and emergency details, they both worked well as a team and got ready to welcome their team. Jess was a bit relieved after she met her bodyguards, she was trying to find some time to call her dad and inform him.

Before she could call her dad, the team started arriving one after another. They started settling in and Jess and Colin helped them. Soon after a few minutes, Richa arrived in her chauffeur driven car, when she saw Jess she was too excited. She ran towards her and gave her a hug, she said, "I am so glad you were able to make it. I really thought that you won't be able to come. I also thought that Colin will help you convince your parents because he sounded so confident in our meeting. I want to know what changed your mind.", Richa said the last sentence in a teasing way and winked at Jess. All the girls except Jess were part of a group chat where they were discussing Jess and Colin coming together to the camp. They also suspected that Colin met Jess's parents and convinced them. They all thought of Jess as a poor girl so someone also said that Colin paid her parents. Richa didn't participate in the discussion but was a silent listener, while she understood what they meant she secretly hoped for Jess and Colin to be a couple.

Jess simply replied,"I was able to convince my parents, that's why I could come. There is no other reason, please hold your horses and don't let them run wild." Richa sighed and said,"How boring."

Soon everyone arrived and were gathered for a quick briefing. Colin and Jess explained the safety procedures, pointed them to first aid and explained the rules of the camping area. They gave them 15 minutes to look around while they took this time to discuss a few things with the vice presidents.

Their first activity that they will do together as a team was setting up 2 tents, one for boys and another for girls within a given time. They thought it was the easiest activity they could get, but when they found out that tents were all messed up and all the rods and hooks were mixed, they realized the challenge. Finally, they all were successful in setting up 2 tents in the given time, it was not perfect but they did it. There were few heated arguments between them while doing the task and the atmosphere among them had changed.

While everyone was settling down in their tents, Jess and Colin thought they should discuss a few things before starting their next activity. So Jess didn't get much time to keep her stuff in the tent, by the time she was back it was time for all of them to start cooking. They all enjoyed BBQ and had dinner together. Colin and Jess organized a campfire to play a few games which also gave them an opportunity to reduce the effect of the argument.

Everyone started getting ready for bed, but Colin and Jess had another meeting to discuss today's outcome and plan the activities for tomorrow. It was very late when they went back to their tents. Jess took her stuff from Colin's car and went to her (girls tent). When she went in she saw that the tent was completely occupied, 2 girls on each side had taken all the place in the tent. She was confused, where will she sleep? She could clearly see that the girls purposely organized their stuff and sleeping bags this way so that there would be no space left for her. Richa came close and whispered, "Sorry Jess, I tried to save some space for you but they didn't allow me, they moved their stuff just now when they saw you coming. We will try to adjust in my space, you get your sleeping bag." Jess saw that Richa had the least of space among all the 4 girls and there was no way both of them could fit in there. Jess was calm, she said to Richa, "don't worry, I will find out a way, until then you stay here otherwise they will bully you along with me."

Jess came out of the tent, she didn't know where she would sleep.