Dawn

Chapter Three: Jessie

The bus is red. It has Camp Animus written across the side in white. It has a more futuristic look to it. The front of the bus comes to a point and the back is like a Jaguar. There was one door on each side. The length of the so-called "bus" is about the same length of a limo. To sum it up, the "bus" looks like an outstretched sports car.

I look back at my mom and she nods with approval. I walk towards the "bus" and approach the driver, "Excuse me".

He looks at me with his long face. He looks like one of those evil French dudes from an old cartoon, "Are you Dawn Hawkins?"

My throat swells up. I nod my head. I don't sense anything good about the driver.

"Hop in!" he says rather excitedly.

The door slides open automatically. I step inside the "bus" and look over my shoulder to see my mom standing in the driveway. I wave and my mom waves back. The door slides shut and I look down the aisle of the over-stretched sports car.

There are many faces that I don't recognize but, one face stands out to me in particular. She is a pale girl with long black hair tied back. She has on a black shirt and her bangs are going to the side. The girl is nodding her head and has one finger up to her ear. Her eyes are closed.

Probably listening to music, I think.

I see a cord coming from her ear.

Yeah, she's listening to music, I think to myself.

I go up to her seat and sit down next to her. She looks at me. I smile a little bit. The girl looks back at her Mp3 player and pauses her music. She pops out her ear buds and looks at me, "Hi. My name's Jessie. Yours?"

I pause for a second. No one has ever been this happy when they first meet me. They're always kind of awkward but, I don't care. If someone is this nice when they talk to me for the first time, they should be good. "Dawn. My name is Dawn."

Jessie reaches out her hand. I grab her hand and shake it. "So, what are you listening to?" I ask.

"Oh, nothing. It's just hard rock", Jessie looks embarrassed, "No one really likes it".

I look at Jessie's big, round, black eyes, "I do".

She smiles a little bit, "Aw yeah!" Then, she high fives me, "I can tell you're going to be awesome."

"Thanks. You seem pretty awesome yourself". I put my hands on my lap. I smile just a little bit to have a good first impression, "So, how long have you been on this bus?"

She looked at me in a confused way, "I don't really know; maybe about three, four hours? I don't know. I just came here from Chicago. Where are we right now?"

All of the sudden, the speaker comes on, "Is everybody situated?"

Everybody in the "bus" screams, "YEAH!"

The man on the speaker tries to sound enthusiastic but, it doesn't really work, "Okay! Let's go!"

Jessie looks annoyed, "He does that every stop. Now, back on subject, where are we?"

"Umm, we're in Houston... You said you came from Chicago and have been in here for about four hours. Is this like, some super-fast bus, or a time travel machine? To drive from Chicago and arrive in Houston in about four hours, that's insane".

All of the sudden the engine roars and everybody gets stuck to their seat, "How fast is this thing?" I ask Jessie. I can't move or feel anything because I am nearly stuck to my seat due to how fast the "bus" is moving.

"I don't know; maybe about two-hundred miles an hour?"

I look at her crazy, "That can't be possible! Wouldn't we get pulled over or something?"

Jessie looks confused, "I guess so. But, this bus is pretty awesome!"

"True. True. But where are we even going to? What is Camp Animus? Why am I here?"

"Just look on the bright side of things, Dawn! This camp is about us. Well, what I mean as in us, is everybody on this bus. But, you get what I mean."

All of the sudden the bus comes to a stop and the doors open. Then, someone new steps on the bus and starts to come down the aisle.