The next morning was chaos, as expected.
"Levin! Hurry up! The bus leaves in fifteen minutes!" Mom hollered from downstairs.
"I'm coming!" Levin yelled back, wrestling my backpack over my shoulder.
Levia, of course, was already at the door, looking far too smug for someone who had been banned from electronics the previous night.
"Took you long enough," she said, inspecting her nails. "The fossils might have decomposed further while waiting for you."
"Thanks for the concern," levin muttered, stepping past her.
In the car, Mom gave us her usual spiel.
"Behave yourselves. No pranks, no fights, and for the love of everything sacred, don't embarrass me. Do you hear me, Levia?"
"Crystal clear," Levia said, feigning innocence.
"And Levin, keep an eye on her."
"Because I totally signed up to be her babysitter," levin mummered.
"Huh" Mom turned to hear what he said.
" oh ofcoarse, and we'll miss you mom" he said frightened
When we pulled up to the school, the buses were already roaring to life. Students milled around, lugging bags and chatting excitedly. I spotted Ember near the second bus and felt my stomach do a weird flip.
"Have fun, kids!" Mom said, waving as she sped off, clearly relieved to be rid of us for three days.
Voice: Three days. Ninety-six hours. Pray for me.
(On the Bus)
Levin ended up seated next to Ember, which was both the highlight and the stress-inducer of his morning.
"Excited?" she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Uh, yeah," he replied, trying not to sound like he'd just swallowed a frog. "Fossils and all that."
Behind him, he could hear Levia and Exzy giggling about something. Probably Tom.
Voice: Great. The Devil and the Drummer are plotting.
"Hey, Ember," he said, trying to steer his thoughts back to the present. "Do you actually like fossils?"
She smiled. "They're fascinating. It's like holding history in your hands."
Voice: Wow. She's poetic. Definitely wife material.
He nodded. "Yeah, totally. History...hands...fascinating."
She laughed, and levin silently thanked God for not making me sound like a complete idiot.
(At the Campsite)
By the time they arrived at the campsite, the sun was high, and the excitement was palpable. The teachers herded us into a clearing, where we were introduced to the group leaders-college interns who looked way too thrilled to be supervising a bunch of hormonal teenagers.
"Alpha group, over here!"
"Beta group, this way!"
Levin followed the Beta leader, a guy named Connor who was so chipper he could have been mistaken for a golden retriever.
"Looks like we're together," Ember said, falling into step beside me.
"Yeah," I said, trying not to trip over a stray root.
And then, of course, Levia sauntered up.
"Don't worry, little brother. I'll make sure this trip is unforgettable," she said with a grin that promised disaster.
"Please don't," levin muttered.
Connor handed out maps and gave us a rundown of the activities: fossil excavation, team-building exercises, and a trivia contest. Points would be awarded for participation and performance.
"Remember," Connor said, "this is a competition. The group with the most points wins a special prize!"
Levia raised her hand. "Is the prize freedom from this camp?"
Connor blinked. "Uh, no. It's a gift card."
(Later That Day)
Our first task was fossil excavation. Armed with brushes and tiny shovels, we crouched in the dirt, pretending to know what we were doing.
"This is kind of fun," Ember said, carefully dusting off a rock.
"Yeah," levin said, trying not to stare at her too much.
Levia, on the other hand, was poking the ground with a stick.
"Levia, what are you doing?" Levin asked.
"Trying to summon a dinosaur ghost," she replied.
"Of course you are."
Suddenly, a scream pierced the air. We all turned to see Exzy running toward us, clutching her arm.
"There's a snake!" she shrieked.
Levia immediately jumped to her feet. "Where? I wanna see!"
"Levia, no!" Levin yelled, grabbing her arm.
Connor ran over, calm as ever. "It's just a garter snake. Totally harmless."
"Harmless?" Exzy wailed. "It looked like it wanted to eat me!"
Levia grinned. "Should've let it. Might have been an improvement."
"Levia!" Levin hissed.
Connor shooed the snake away, and order was restored-for now.