The White Light

Chapter One

　

　

CHAPTER ONE.

The 13th of July started out as just another ordinary Friday. Despite the torrential rain, the school trip had gone ahead, and 50 of the highest attending students in my year were now trudging through the soaked undergrowth. Their hair was stuck to their heads, their hands wringing to collect some warmth yet they were all smiling and joking about the camping trip they were heading towards.

I however, was sulking. My water logged sneakers squeaked ominously under my feet, indicating that the trip wasn’t going to be pleasant.

The reason I was a spoilsport that particular weekend was because my best friend - Annabelle Carter - had not been invited. So why did I come? It would have been perfectly okay for me to have not spent the money on the camping trip from hell, and waste my weekend watching re-runs of my favourite shows. But no, the parents had to get involved.

“It’ll be fun!” My dad had wheezed, before sipping his orange juice and glancing back down at the Times in front of him.

“Yeah,” Mom had agreed. “Don’t be a stick in the mud, Soph. Get out there and meet new people!”

After many failed attempts at sickness the previous Wednesday and Thursday, here I was. Wet, alone and miserable. Peachy.

Dragging my feet along the damp floor, I realised that even in the receding sunlight the place looked spooky. Branches reached out as though waiting to grab you, and I was sure I could see something lurking in the shadows. Obviously, my imagination was already running wild.

Finally, I could see the bare field just ahead. It was where we would be setting up camp and - although I hated thinking about it - was also the place where we would be sleeping for the next two nights.

After the half hour walk from the coaches to the camp site, you’d have thought we would have been allowed to rest. But no.

The fun began with us putting up our individual tents. (Girls on the, left boys on the right to ensure no ’inappropriate mingling’ as Mr. Carter called it.) I thought it was ridiculous, what with the bugs and such threatening to get in the way of any so called ‘mingling’, but extra precautions were made none the less.

After my tent was erected, (and I was well and truly filthy from slipping so many times throughout) we retired to the main building to eat, before returning to our death traps (or tents as they are more commonly known) to sleep.

As I was walking back to my tent, I heard muffled giggling and instantly recognised it as the voices of Mara and Daphnee - the two most stuck up plastic evils in the school. I particularly hated Daphnee, as she hated me, so I wasn’t in the least surprised by what they were talking about. Or, more to the point, who they were talking about.

“God, did you see her hair? It looked like a rat had started living on her head,” I head Mara practically shout, before Daphnee took up the conversation with her almighty ’lets make fun of losers’ voice.

“Ugh, I know. Who does she think she is? Strutting around as if she is the queen of the school. Uh, hello! We all know that’s me. No offence Mara-” I heard offence “-and her shoes were squeaking, I was like god, buy some less squeaky shoes, ya know? Sofia really needs to learn how stupid she really is.”

After this little blood-boiling discussion, I heard Mara leave Daphnee’s (very pink) tent. Usually, conversations like this didn’t anger me, but I knew for a fact that I wasn’t stupid. In reality, that was the reason I was a loser - my nerdy-ness. So when I heard the offhand insult come out of her mouth I saw red and nothing else.