the beginning

Paige sat on her bed wrapped in her favorite pink blanket. Even though it was April, it was still chilly this year in New york. She clicked out of her Netflix show as an alert popped up. She had a new email. As she clicked into the email, the sender's name shocked her.Camp Northway, she read. She hadn't seen that name in a long time. She sighed, what was this about? Begrudgingly, she kept reading. Congratulations on your acceptance to be a junior camp counselor. This was very confusing! Acceptance? When did she apply? She would have never in her right mind applied to be a camp counselor there. She stormed down stairs holding her computer and barreled into the kitchen, glaring at her mom.

"Woah there." Her mom turned around to see her glaring face. "Ahem" Paige said,as she held the computer up to her moms face. "What is this!" "What do you mean?" her mom groaned, moving to look

towards the computer screen.

"This! What is this!"

"Your gonna have to be more descriptive" her mom joked, as Paige kept glaring at her.

"Alright, alright!" Paige's mom looked at the email. "I really don't know why you're so upset about this. They offered you a job."

"Yeah but…'' Paige stopped, not being able to come up with a good excuse. Of course, she couldn't tell her mom the real reason because she wouldn't understand. It's not like she wanted to tell her mom anyway.

"I would love to move back to camp," ...referring to how her parents used to work there all year. "The scenery was magnificent."

"Look I don't want to work with snotty children, okay?" Paige grumped as she stormed off back to her room.

"You love kids!" her mom called up to her. Shaking her head, her mom went back to the dishes.

Paige got back to her room, about to slam the door, but then decided to carefully shut it. She needed to be calm. She took a deep breath and suddenly her anger went away. Why had she been so mad in the first place? Why did she need to be so offended about the past? It's not like she would ever accept the offer. Paige got comfortable back in her bed.

Then she clicked the email into the trash bin, put her laptop away, and turned her tv show back on. Soon she forgot all about the email and all the bad memories it brought.

Days later at school Paige stopped at her locker on the way to her next class. Paige turned the lock, opened it up, and heard a click. She looked in the mirror that was on the locker door. Her wavy blonde hair was tangled. She was about to grab a brush as the warning bell rang. She rushed to class hoping not to be late; she didn't want any tardies on her report card this quarter. Paige got to class a little out of breath, as she had to run all the way across the school.

"Hey Paige." Her best friend waved her over to her usual seat.

"Hi Amanda," she smiled back. Soon the class started and the girls chatted when the teacher wasn't looking.

"So I just got into the NASA Space Program!��

"Really, that's so great!" Paige remembered talking about this with Amanda a couple months ago. Amanda loved space and always had a dream of going there one day or at least working with NASA. The NASA Space Program was a summer internship for teens. It lasted the whole summer.

"I'm so excited for you!" Paige grinned, excited for her friend.

When the class ended she said goodbye to Amanda and headed back to her locker to brush her knotty hair. As she was pulling her brush through an especially tangled piece of hair she realized she should probably get her own summer job. She was sure the rest of her friends would have jobs also. She really didn't want to be bored all summer and have nothing to do. And, of course, she wanted to make money. She was saving up for a car for when she could drive next year. So when the school day ended she raced to the bus. She sat down by herself and started researching jobs. There were the boring fast food jobs. She wasn't old enough for retail jobs yet. What else could she do? She put in an application for a few fast food restaurants as a backup plan. And she put applications in at a few random places nearby, like the hostess position at Denny's. . She hoped her qualifications were good enough. Now all she could do was wait. Weeks went by with still no response from most of the places she had applied. Finally, she was able to get two interviews. The first was at

Denny's who told her she was too young when she got there. The second was McDonalds.

"I'm back!" Paige called into the living room.

"How was your interview?" her mom said, getting up from the couch. "No luck" Paige sighed, walking with her mom back to the couch. "That's the last job in the whole area I could have possibly gotten,." Paige groaned.

"What about the community center?" her mom tried.

"There is nowhere else and anyway, I don't have time to apply. It's basically summer now." Paige started to walk away.

"Hey Paige, wait."

"What?" Paige turned around.

"Look, I know you didn't want to go back to camp, but they said the offer is still available."

"Yeah, I don't know about that." Paige shook her head. It would take a lot to get her to go back. Even though she couldn't get any other jobs she really didn't want to go. Her mom gave her a look.

"Paige, what aren't you telling me? Something's up."

Paige looked at her mom. There was no way she was telling after all these years. "I feel like they're not going to pay me enough," Paige lied. Her mom raised her eyebrow but softened her face.

"Look. At least it's a job and you'll see everyone again. I'm sure it will be great!"

"You're right, mom." Paige put on a fake smile that seemed convincing enough. She went up to her room and opened the computer. Was she really gonna do this? she thought. Then she realized that Amanda would be gone all summer with her job anyway. She would be bored and lonely if she stayed here. After all, what were the odds they would recognize her at camp. Feeling like she was making the right choice, she fished the email out of the trash. Here I go, Paige thought, typing in a reply. Maybe this won't be so bad after all.

That night, Paige's dreams were filled with happy camp memories;. Playing by the lake, racing from the cabins to the mess hall, even sneaking into the kitchens to get extra dessert, everything she had once enjoyed at camp. Everything was bright and the sun was shining. The warm water at the lake invited her to go swimming with its pretty

soft waves. Butterflies hummed around her, giving her little kisses. It was too perfect, like a child's fantasy.

Suddenly a huge hulking creature with black hair and green eyes arose from deep within her dream. She screamed, trying to run, but was stuck in place. It came closer and closer. As it got close enough to eat her, she realized this was no monster. She woke up with a start. She knew exactly who had been in her dream, one of two people she feared to see, now that she was going back. The worst kind of people, bullies. She was walking right into the monster's den. It took her a while to fall asleep. So many thoughts were racing in her mind. What would it be like to see them again? Would they still hate her? She pushed them away. Paige closed her eyes, finally drifting into another peaceful dream. This one though did not have any monsters or bullies.

Two weeks went by faster than usual. At least that's what it felt like to Paige. She begrudgingly started packing all the essentials: sunscreen, toiletries, a hairbrush, all that seemed to be the most important. She eyed her mom's pepper spray as she went downstairs to grab some things. She considered adding it but decided it might be a little much. Maybe "Bully Repellent" would be a better fit. After this, she packed all of her clothes and other assorted camping supplies. She got some extra things, a bracelet making kit and a couple of books. Should she bring something to amuse the kids? What about extra clothes? At this point, her bag looked like it was overflowing. She took out one especially hefty raincoat in order to make some room.

She was in the middle of deciding between a fluffy bathrobe and one of her bigger books when her dad walked in.

"Hey honey! Are you excited to go back?" he started.

"Uh huh, yeah, very excited" she responded while putting on a fake smile.

"Well, I'm glad I know how much you used to love it there as a kid." "Yep, can't wait!" she said a little too enthusiastically. Her dad gave her a look, then brushed it off and he smiled as he shut her door again. She sighed. She couldn't believe she never told her parents about the bullying after all these years. Now that she thought about it, she realized the reason. She had a friend at camp that helped her get away from them. She struggled to remember her name. Amelia, that's what it was. Her last year before she left camp, she and Amelia became close.

She had realized too late after camp ended that she hadn't gotten her number. Wait a minute, she thought. What if Amelia still went to camp and she would see her again for the first time in five years. Excitement started, feeling like little butterflies in her stomach. Then she pushed them away. Five years was a lot of time. There was a big chance Amelia wasn't going to be there. Well, she could still have hope. At least this new thought seemed to brighten her mood. She finally decided the fluffy bathrobe would have to go.

"Alright, time to go," her mom said, waiting at the stairs for her.

Paige quickly texted her friends that she was about to leave. She really hoped she would have cell service at camp but it was definitely "iffy". She lugged her stuffed duffel bag down the stairs, almost tripping on the last step. She went back up for her suitcase. The suitcase was small to begin with as she never needed a big one before. But the camp lasted all summer. So she might have missed something she couldn't fit. She just then realized her suitcase was in fact a child's suitcase and may or may not have Hello Kitty on it. She gulped. As long as nobody noticed she would be fine. She ignored the fact that the suitcase was also covered in brightly colored children's cartoons. It was the brightest pink she had ever seen. She hugged her mom and said goodbye as she walked out to the car with her dad. They got into the car and her dad started the engine. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky.

The drive would be long; about four hours. Paige put on her seatbelt as her dad said, "ready?"

"Ready!" she replied, still not sure if she really was.