Pump Up the Prom (Chapter 2)

A few days later, the girls were in school, getting their education. After third period, lunchtime had started. Students used the time to put their books in their lockers before walking to the cafeteria. Madeline skipped putting her books away to approach her crush, Jackson. She had a crush on Jackson before but got over it when she found out that he had a girlfriend. But hearing that he's newly single, she decided to go for it. She practically followed him all the way to his locker. When he dumped his books in there, she sprinted up to him.

"Hey, Jackson," she greeted with a smile.

Jackson closed his locker. "Hey, Madeline."

"How are you?"

"Good. How are you?"

"Very good. How's soccer?"

"Really good."

"That's good! You know, I go to a soccer game once in a while just to cheer you on."

"You do?"

"Of course. I'm the one who calls out, 'Whoop, Jackson!'"

"You're the 'Whoop, Jackson!' girl?"

"Can you believe it?"

Jackson chuckled.

"So... prom's coming up."

"Yeah."

"Since I don't have a date and you don't have a date hopefully, I was wondering, would you like to have the best time of your life by going to prom with me?"

"Oh, Madeline, I'm flattered. But I was just gonna go there by myself."

"Great! Do you think you can pick me-- What?"

"I don't want a date for the prom. I've been enjoying the time of being single so I was going to go to prom with a few friends. Sorry."

Madeline paused. "Don't be sorry, Jackson. It's okay. Being single can be really fun. Trust me, I'm very single. Don't worry about it, alright?"

"Thanks, Madeline."

Jackson walked away with Madeline looking at the back of him.

"What do I look like where guys say no so easily?" she asked herself.



Meanwhile, Lizzie met up with her boyfriend, Warren. She usually greets him before going to lunch since they don't have the same lunch period to talk. But Lizzie expected to get her "ask" during the time she was required. She greeted Warren with a hug and a grin.

"How are you?" she asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm doing good," he answered. "It's been a good day. How have you been?"

"Jolly like Santa Claus."

"Oh, you're going to give me a Christmas present?"

"Oh, Warren, you're so crazy! Am I supposed to?"

"No, forget it."

"Okay. So have you heard?"

"About what?"

"You know, prom."

"Oh, yeah. Yes, I've heard."

"You've heard?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Did you know it's an event in high school where teenagers dance and socialize?"

"Yes, Lizzie."

"Okay. Lots of people think it's important. I don't really care; I just want to go."

"Okay."

"Yep."

"Do you want to go?"

"Where?"

"To prom?"

"Yeah, I just said that."

"No, I mean do you want to go with me?"

"Oh! Oh, Warren, this is all so sudden. Are you sure you're ready?"

"Lizzie--"

"Don't speak anymore! I will go with you."

"Great! Thank you."

"You are so welcome."

Pump Up the Prom (Chapter 1)

Madeline entered the cafeteria a few minutes late with what seemed to be tickets in her hand. She walked up to her table and slammed the tickets down, almost surprising her girlfriends.

"Boo to the yah," she said before sitting down.

"Are those?" inquired Lizzie.

"Yep, prom tickets."

Lizzie squealed while clapping.

"We could've bought our own tickets," reminded Skye.

"I know," said Madeline. "But I wanted to make sure that we all had them."

"Oh, thanks, Maddie," smiled Debra.

"I love it when you buy us stuff," Andrea commented.

Madeline picked up the tickets and read through them. Individually, she handed one to each of her girlfriends. As she did, she said, "This one's yours, that one's yours, here you go and that's yours." She was left with one ticket. "Here's mine."

"Oh, I'm so excited for prom," confessed Lizzie. "I've been dreaming of this day since I was a child."

"Ah, prom," started Skye. "The biggest event of school in the history of events. Just weeks of allergic reactions to new makeup products, sweating in dresses that your mom wants you to wear and bruising your skin from waxes and razors. Oh, yeah, I'm so prepared."

"Orale, Tim Burton," remarked Andrea. "Why judge what you haven't experienced?"

"Because I'm not a girly girl. You guys know me."

"You're right, we do know you," said Madeline. "And you are a girly girl."

"You have no proof."

"Proof? We're your friends. We need no proof."

"Skye, you don't got to be a girly girl to enjoy prom," said Debra. "Plenty of goths go to prom."

"I am not goth," said Skye.

"But what would you rather be: a goth or a girly girl?" asked Madeline.

"Overruled."

"So a lawyer?" inquired Lizzie.

"Guys, of course I'm going to go to prom. I've never been to prom before. It's just that it shouldn't be a big deal."

"Uh, it's a pretty big deal," said Madeline. "I got to be my hottest. I don't want people to look at me and think, 'Okay.' I want them to look at me and think, 'Okay!'"

"Well, I don't care what people think."

"Is that why you dress like that?"

Skye glared at Madeline.

"I'm kidding! But if you're worried about not having a good time, ask your boyfriend to be your date."

"He is not my boyfriend."

"Oh, are we still playing this game?" asked Andrea.

"We never had talked about it."

"You probably don't have to," said Madeline. "Jeffrey probably calls you his girlfriend to his friends."

"Are you okay with that?" asked Lizzie.

"If Jeffrey thinks we're in a relationship," started Skye, "then we don't have to have the talk."

"So you want to be his girlfriend?" questioned Madeline.

"Yes but I'm not so..."

"Skye, if you like him, then like him."

"He knows I like him."

"He's just not your boyfriend?" Debra inquired.

"Right."

"Then what are you to him?" asked Andrea.

"His special friend."

"Okay, so if Jeffrey went back to Marla, would you be okay with that?" asked Lizzie.

"Of course... if he wants to die." Skye took a sip of her can of Pepsi.

"You're lucky Jeffrey can't be with Marla," said Madeline, "because she's going out with Lizzie's Hank."

"Figures," said Lizzie. "But that's okay because I'll be going with Warren to the prom."

"Did he ask you?" asked Debra.

"No, not yet. But I'll get him to."

"If you already want to go with him, why don't you ask him?" asked Andrea.

"Because it's like a marriage proposal: if he doesn't ask me, I won't get a ring."

"Is the ring the corsage?" questioned Debra.

"What's a corsage?"

"It's flowers," responded Madeline.

"Like a bouquet? Gee, I'm planning my wedding already."

The Camping Trip (Chapter 5)

Everybody on the campsite packed up their bags and helped each other disassemble their tents as the trip was coming to an end. The top ranger used a remote to deflate the shared chaperones' tent. Several students, including Debra and Madeline, helped the chaperones clean up the site as well.

The Cow Belles loitered, not bothering to help anyone after preparing themselves to leave.

"Thank God that we get to leave this dump," Pamela shared with Mauricia.

"I'm glad you had fun," the ranger overheard.

Pamela scoffed.

"Thank you for letting me use your hot comb," said Mauricia, playing with her fixed, curly hair. "You are my hero."

"Oh, you are my hero."

"Thanks, girl."

After Madeline closed a suitcase for a chaperone, Speed walked up to her. She wanted to ignore him but thought she might as well listen to what he has to say.

"Hi, Madeline," he greeted.

"Hi," she responded, not looking into his eyes.

"Look, I assume that you're mad at me about something. So I want to say I'm sorry."

"Funny how you're talking to me and all of these people are staring."

"I don't care at this point. Do you think you can forgive me?"

"I don't know. You and me reside in two different worlds. I'm smart enough to know who I should be with and that guy can't be you. Sorry, Speed, I'm letting you go."

"You're not gonna think about this?"

"Oh, I've already thought about it. But don't worry, you'll find another rich girl to feed off of, Phineas Georgestown."

"Please don't call me that."

"Call you what? Phineas?"

"Shhh."

"Come on, everybody knows your name is Phineas."

"Not everybody. Be quiet."

"You don't like that, Phineas?"

"Shut up." Speed ran away from Madeline as soon as he felt eyes on him.

"What you running from, Phineas?!"

"I hate you!"

"Your name is Phineas Georgestown!"

Andrea walked up to Madeline, giggling. "His name is Phineas?"

"Yes. Please tell as many people as you can."

"Okay. Listen, I'm sorry it didn't work out between you and Speed."

"It's okay. We weren't meant to be. I sort of saw it coming."

"Hey, 'Phineas' is better than 'Madeline', right?"

"Way better."

The two were soon approached by the Cow Belles. The girls rolled their eyes but directed their attention to them.

"Thank you for letting us sleep with you, girls," said Pamela.

"You're welcome," smiled Madeline.

"But can we give you a tip?" asked Mauricia. "Lose more weight; that tent was getting a little claustrophobic."

"You're claustrophobic," snarled Andrea.

"Whatever, elephant thighs," said Pamela, putting her hand up.

Andrea started to get a crazy look in her eye. Madeline held her back just in case she was going to strike. The Cow Belles rolled their eyes at them before walking away. As they did so, Pamela accidentally kicks a squirrel on the ground.

"What the--?" said Pamela.

"What is it?" asked Mauricia.

"Nothing. Just some stupid squirrel. Get out of my way, creature," she glared at the small animal.

The squirrel began chattering loudly. Then it crawled up Pamela's leg onto her body. Pamela tried to shake the squirrel off but it had a tight grip. Then the squirrel jumped from Pamela's shoulder onto her face and started to attack her. Pamela's screams muffled on the squirrel's body and she ran around in circles, trying to tear the squirrel off. But the squirrel was too strong, holding onto her face with its claws and chewing on her skin with its buckteeth. Mauricia followed Pamela, attempting to help her while Madeline and Andrea stared at the action.

Andrea began smiling and dancing with her arms in the air while singing cheerfully, "I ain't worried bout nothin'. I ain't worried bout nothin'. I ain't worried bout nothin'."

The Camping Trip (Chapter 4)

When there was enough wood, the ranger told everyone to stop and made a fire naturally by rubbing two sticks together. He dropped them into the large pile of sticks, igniting the whole pile, creating a bonfire. After the sun went down, he instructed the teenagers to sit together around the bonfire so they could all engage in more activities that include "bonding".

"Stick your sticks above the fire, kids," instructed the top ranger, "so your marshmallows can get toasted."

All of the teenagers moved closer to the bonfire and raised their skewers with marshmallows stuck on them above the cackling fire.

"Why didn't you get a marshmallow, Maddie?" asked Lizzie, looking at Madeline from behind as she toasted her marshmallow.

"Because I'm on a no sugar diet," answered Madeline. "I don't want to wake up tomorrow with bags under my eyes."

"Everything you eat has sugar in it, Maddie," said Andrea, observing her toasted marshmallow.

"I disagree with that statement."

"Oh."

"Now who would like to tell a ghost story?" asked the ranger.

"I would," said Skye, raising her hand.

"Of course Casper the Ghost wants to tell a story," commented Pamela.

"Don't forget: you're sleeping in my tent."

Pamela snarled and nudged her head.

"Okay, once there was a kid; let's call him Jimmy. He was a prankster, a practical joker. He loved making himself laugh and he would do so by messing with others. Some found his pranks hilarious while others found them annoying because that's all he would do. So one day, he was staying at his grandmother's house because his parents were getting sick of him. His grandmother was losing her hearing so Jimmy took that fact to his advantage. He saw her in the kitchen chopping onions for a stew. She didn't see him so Jimmy decided to tiptoe into the kitchen and sneak up on her."

"Oh, lord, she done chopped his head off!" shouted Andrea.

"I'm telling the story! So... yeah, she chops his head off. And his grandmother freaked out but she didn't want to call the police because they would've arrested her. So when night fell, she digs a hole in her backyard and buries his body. She cleaned up the evidence and told everyone that Jimmy ran away. Yet she had no idea herself that even though she buried Jimmy's body, his hijinks would never stop. So one night, a month after the accident, Jimmy's grandma got up from bed to get a glass of water. She walked down into the kitchen and tried to open the cabinet for a cup but it wouldn't opened. It was as if it was glued. She pulled harder and harder until it opened. However, there weren't any cups; there were knives. Butcher knives that fell down on top of the old lady with one of them cutting her hand!"

Skye showed her hand which was covered with a red substance. She shrieked, making most of the teenagers scream. They were wide-eyed, squirmy and stuck staring at her. Skye began to laugh, making the campers calm down and some of them look at her with confused faces.

"Skye, your hand," said Lizzie.

"Oh, relax," smiled Skye. "It's ketchup. I found it outside the chaperones' tent and I decided to keep it."

"I knew we had more ketchup," said the ranger to himself.

After the bonfire, everyone was told to go to bed. All of the boys and girls dressed in their pajamas and tucked themselves into their sleeping bags inside their chosen tents. The girls were surely asleep by midnight except for the best friends and the Cow Belles.

Lizzie wriggled inside her sleeping bag before laying on her side.

"What's wrong, Liz'?" muttered Madeline, blinded by a sleeping mask but sensing it was Lizzie moving.

"It's hard for me to go to sleep," Lizzie answered. "It's so cold in here."

"I know," agreed Andrea. "It's colder than a Pamela's teat in here."

Pamela took off her sleeping mask and sat up. She glared at Andrea but Andrea had her eyes closed. Pamela put back on her mask before laying back down.

Lizzie switched sides and tried to keep still. But she opened her eyes when she heard rustling as if the leaves outside were being vigorously shaken.

"What was that?" she asked. She then gasped. "Is it a bear?"

"It can't be," said Andrea. "Mauricia's right here."

Mauricia slipped off her sleeping mask then sat up to stare at Andrea, whose eyes were closed.

The tent itself began to shake with the rustling noise still continuing. Madeline took off her mask, hearing the noise.

"Oh, my God, what if it's Jimmy?" asked Lizzie, sitting up.

"Jimmy's not real," said Skye.

The tent continued to shake but harder than before.

Pamela pushed her upper body up and pushed up her mask. "Okay, what is going on?"

The tent's door unzippened and a strange boy popped his head inside.

"There's Jimmy!" shouted Lizzie, pointing at him.

Suddenly, more boys put their heads inside and raised up water guns. All several of them began to shoot water at the girls. Except for Debra, all of the girls screamed and squirmed. They put their hands out to block the water but it didn't help them. The boys kept shooting at them as the girls crawled towards the back of their tent. Pamela held up their sleeping bag in front of the girls while Madeline opened the tent's "emergency exit" and slithered out, doing it almost out of notice. However, the boys didn't stop until all of the girls were drenched with water. The boys backed out of the tent and zippened the door closed. The girls put down the sleeping bags and gasped and panted while wiping the water from their faces.

"Where did they get super soakers?" screamed Andrea.

"Oh, my God," whined Mauricia, petting her head. "My hair."

Debra sat up from her sleeping bag then stretched and yawned. "What happened?" she asked while dripping with water.

"You didn't feel that?" asked Skye.

"Feel what?"

"Wait, where's Madeline?" Lizzie asked.

While the boys were shooting the girls with their water guns, Madeline slipped away and took a trip within the forest. She thought the prank was a distraction so that Speed could get some alone time with Madeline without anyone really noticing. She scrambled through the trees for a while, searching for Speed.

"Speed? Speed," she whispered and called.

Madeline kept walking until she saw a lake from afar. From her left, she saw Speed, but he was with his punk friends. She hid behind a tree so the group wouldn't see her.

"So are you and that Madeline still running around with each other?" asked one of the friends.

"Yeah, I spoke to her today," Speed answered. "She is pretty hung up on me."

"How long are you going to stay with her?"

"Until she makes me popular. Madeline knows that we can't date publicly because I'm nothing like her. So, based on her personality, I can tell that she'll make me join the committee and convince the members to take me in. And before I know it, I'll be running the school. Heck, I might convince the students to make me president and inauguarate her."

"Shoot, man, you're a mastermind," said the other friend. "I like that."

"Yeah. Also, Madeline is rich so free gifts."

Speed's friends laughed.

"Come on, let's get out of here. This lake is boring."

The group walked up the hill into the forest towards the campsite.

Madeline was appalled. They promised to not tell anyone about their relationship and even though she told her friends, their relationship was based off a plan to become popular. She was being used and she was disgusted, even though it wasn't the first time. She entered back into the forest and clambered through the trees, leading herself towards the campsite. When she found her tent, she unlatched the back door and stuck herself inside the tent. She crawled tediously inside of it, almost scaring some of the girls. Pamela and Mauricia scooted away from her to give her space. Once she was all the way in, Madeline sat up.

"Madeline, where the freak did you go?" questioned Skye.

"I got an idea to get back at the boys," Madeline said.

Half an hour later, the boys were inside their tents, laughing about the prank that they planted on the girls. Speed and his friends laughed along with them although they missed the action. Just when most of the boys got themselves situated in their sleeping bags to get some rest, they heard strange voices. The boys could see odd shadows moving around on their tents. A certain group of boys could see a hunching girl's shadow outside of their tent and hear constant coughing. One of the boys crawled toward the tent door slowly and with a shaking hand, unzipped the door. In front of the tent door was nothing until Skye, covered entirely in mud and leaves, jumped out. She spit out what seemed to be mucky water at the boys, scaring them and making them scream like little girls. The boys in the other tents could hear the screaming, creating anxiety inside themselves. In one tent, a girl who was also covered in mud tore a hole in the tent with a pocketknife. The boys inside shrieked as the girl crawled in through the hole and started growling like a monster. In another tent, the boys inside noticed a strange lump of dirt settled on the edge. When one of them moved closer to it, a dirty hand shot out of the lump and grabbed the boy by the wrist. A girl in mud slithered underneath the tent through a tearing hole, freaking the boys inside out. She shrieked at them like some wild animal. The other boys in the other tents were confused about the distant noises. So in one tent, one of the boys opened their tent and facing it was a girl holding two open bottles of a pink liquid. She chucked the bottles at the boys inside, drenching most of them with the liquid. The same thing happened to the rest of the tents, especially Speed's tent with which Madeline poured two bottles of a perfumed liquid on top of Speed and his friends.

"What the freak, Maddie?" he flipped out. "Now I smell like girl."

"Good," said Madeline before throwing one of the bottles at his face and leaving.

Yards away from her, she could see Skye being driven out of a tent by the boys who eventually knew it was her. As they walked out of their tents, Andrea and Lizzie, helping each other, chucked a bucket of mucky water at the group of boys. They stood surprised, drenched, disgusted and freezing. Two other girls did the same thing to a group of boys trying to get out of their tents. The boys who were outside went back inside their tents, feeling defeated. The large group of girls huddled together, swimming in success of their plan.

"Don't mess with this, don't mess with me," Andrea yelled at the boys.

"I'm the queen of everything," stated Madeline arrogantly.

"Whatever you say, Maddie," said Skye, rubbing her mud across Madeline's cheek.

Madeline flinched and sprinted away from Skye who began to laugh.

The Camping Trip (Chapter 3)

Later, after everybody set up their tents properly, the teens were instructed by the ranger to gather some sticks to help make a fire. So the boys and girls traveled into the woods to find sticks and other materials like rocks. Andrea gathered a pile of sticks all by herself from the woods and set them down on a plastic table so she could take a break and tie her combat boots. While she was bent down and making a bow with her shoelaces, the Cow Belles, the girls' mortal enemies, approached her. Since she was bent down, she could only see their feet.
"Hey, Andrea," called Pamela.
Andrea stood up straight. "What?" she said with an attitude.
"Haven't you heard? Short-shorts don't go well with cellulite."
"You puta! I'll--"
Andrea approached Pamela until Madeline came into action. She dropped her sticks and quickly stopped Andrea from hitting Pamela by grabbing her waist and pulling her back.
"Andrea, no!" she demanded.
The Cow Belles walked away as Madeline held onto the struggling Andrea.
"Andrea, let it go," Madeline said.
"I just hate her so much," Andrea admitted.
"It's okay. So do I. We all do. Just let it go."
"Fine." Andrea kept still, making Madeline unwrap her arms from her.
"Like Idina Menzel, let it go."
The girls collected their piles of sticks neatly and tightly grasped them in their arms. They walked over to the pile of sticks on the ground that everyone was instructed to place their materials. The girls dropped their sticks right in the center of it. When Madeline swiped the palms of her hands together to wipe off residue, Speed came over and dropped a stick into the big pile.
"Hey," he nodded.
"Hey," Madeline smirked.
Andrea motioned her eyes at the couple individually.
Speed caught her watching. "I don't know her," he said to Andrea while pointing at Madeline.
"It doesn't seem like you do," Andrea smiled.
Speed awkwardly loitered for a moment. He then sprinted away into the boys' side of the campsite. Madeline smirked at Andrea who smiled back, choosing a smile over a giggle.
After Debra got her sticks and dropped them in the large pile, she was approached by the top ranger. She turned around to face him.
"How are you doing, Debra?" he asked.
"I'm doing fine."
"You know, I heard that you're the outdoorsy type of person. So you must be really excited to be on this trip."
"Of course. I am mega excited. Although, I know that the school hired people to cut down the trees that used to be here to make space for this campsite. That I, however, do not appreciate."
"Oh, Debra, we did that so kids like you can experience things like this to make you admire life."
"I know but you couldn't send us somewhere with a natural clearing like a meadow or Canada?"
"Sweetie, if we took y'all to Canada, that would be one long, expensive bus drive."
"I get it. A long bus drive would affect the environment anyway."
Soon, Skye walked up to the ranger after dropping off her sticks of wood. "Hey, mister, I need to take a massive leak. Where do I do that?"
"Do your leaking by a tree on your side of the site," he instructed.
"I'll try not to kill any ladybugs."
Skye walked off as Debra made a face, mostly at herself, then looked at the ranger.
"Sir, you want us to soil the trees by soiling on their soil?" she questioned.
"Don't be such a stick-in-the-mud, alright? Hey, I made a camp joke." He guffawed then walked away from Debra, who crossed her arms and sighed in frustration.
Lizzie walked up to Madeline who stopped trying to walk towards the forest for more wood. "Maddie, I think I chipped a nail."
Madeline grasped her hand to examine her manicure. "Oh, I see it. Why did you do your nails when you knew we were going camping?"
"Because I expected to go 'glamping'. You know, break a couple of rules with it to make it more 'fantabulous'."
"Who put that thought in your head?"
"Yo," Andrea raised her hand.
"What's up?" asked Lizzie.
"No, she said 'me' in Spanish," explained Madeline.
"Oh, I didn't know 'yo' was Spanish."
"Okay."
Suddenly, the three girls became eye-to-eye with the Cow Belles who walked up to them and stood two feet away from them.
"Let us sleep in your tent," commanded Mauricia.
Madeline looked at the duo up and down quickly. "No."
"Come on," said Pamela. "No one would let us sleep in theirs."
"Why didn't you bring in a tent?"
"Because it's just easier to mooch off of somebody," answered Mauricia.
"What makes you think we'll let you sleep in our tent?" asked Lizzie.
"Because you love us," Pamela responded.
"That's the opposite of how we feel about you," said Madeline.
"Why won't you let us sleep with you?" questioned Mauricia.
"Many reasons," answered Andrea. "Including that joke you made about me having cellulite."
"That wasn't a joke, sweetie," said Pamela. "That was a comment because it was true."
Skye spotted the girls chatting and walked up to her friends to learn of the fuss.
"Look, there's no way we're letting you sleep with us," said Madeline.
"What if we pay you?" asked Mauricia, pulling out a wad of money from the back pocket of her shorts.
Skye swiped the cash from her hand. "Sold."
Her friends stared at her as she flipped through the money.
Skye looked up. "What? I'm gonna split it."
Their faces relaxed and seemed more content.
"That seems fair," Madeline commented.
"Like you need the money, Miss Princess," said Andrea.
All of the girls went their separate ways with Andrea and Lizzie heading to the forest for more wood and the Cow Belles grabbed their luggage to bring to the girls' pink tent. As Lizzie split from Andrea, Andrea stopped and widened her eyes out of what seemed to be fear. Debra eventually walked over to Andrea when she glanced at her frozen.
"What's wrong?" Debra asked.
Andrea pointed. "There's a-- There's a-- A squirrel!"
Debra looked, spotting a squirrel squatting by a tree and chewing on an acorn.
"So?"
"Uh... uh..."
"Come on, Andrea. Spit it out. We're friends."
Andrea sighed. "I'm afraid of squirrels."
"What?"
"Yeah, it's true!"
"How are you -- Andrea Gonzalez, scared of nothing and no one -- scared of a harmless creature such as a squirrel?"  
"It happened when I was little. I was walking home from school on a calm day. Out of nowhere, a rabid squirrel jumped out a tree and attacked me. I was so traumatized that I told no one but my family because they had to take me to the hospital anyway. I held my breath ever since."
"Aw, that's terrible. But that was when you were a kid. You can't be still afraid of them."
"I don't know, Debbie. I just don't know."
"Hey, listen. Try to calm yourself down and don't let your fears overcome you. You overcome them. Now tell me what makes you calm."
"Well, I get chiller when I listen to 'Ain't Worried Bout Nothin'' by French Montana. It makes me... worry bout nothin', you know?"
"That's good. Maybe sing it to yourself and you might get over your fear."
"Alright. Thank you."
"No problem." Debra left to gather more sticks so she entered the forest.
Andrea took a deep breath before slowly heading towards the trees. At the corner of her eye, she could see the squirrel by the same tree. She started singing to herself quietly as she kept her distance from the small animal.
"I ain't worried bout nothin'. I ain't worried bout nothin'. I ain't worried bout nothin'."

The Camping Trip (Chapter 2)

The next day, the juniors of Laguna Beach High School prepared themselves for the camping trip. Everybody packed their bags from home and brought them to school. They all were sent to the cafeteria to wait for the school buses to arrive. When they came, the students hopped on the buses assigned by their homeroom class to keep everybody organized. The bus drivers drove the teens toward the campsite for about an hour. The buses finally parked on the road near a huge forest. The students were led down a hill into a large clearing. They were instructed to stand by until the "top ranger" was there to give further instructions. He stood in front of everyone with a few chaperones by his side and made his declarations.
"Welcome, eleventh graders. I am so glad that ninety-five percent of you made it to experience the finest glow of nature. I hope you all learn something as we engage in camping activities such as sparking fires, setting up tents, toasting marshmallows and much more. The main lesson is to bring everyone together and how we don't need technology to stay connected."
"You're telling me," said Pamela, one of the wicked Cow Belles, looking at her cellphone. "My phone has no bars."
The students started clamoring and checked their phones, reacting negatively to the lack of reception that their phones getting.
"Please quiet down," ordered the ranger. "You don't need your phones to have a good time. I don't have a phone and I love every second of life that comes my way. I'm in a monogamous relationship with a stubborn woman and a eight-year-old son who wants to be a figure skater. Nonetheless, you all are going to be fine. Now let's just take a deep breath of nature's purest, freshest air."
"Smells like nature farted," commented Andrea.
"Okay, so after I stop talking, I would like for you all to settle into this campsite. Spread out, I have six packed tents that some of you were generous enough to bring in on each side. You shall put all of your stuff down to go and help each other set up the tents and figure out who shares who. After that is done, we will engage in the next super fun activity. So please, boys stay on my right and girls stay on my left. Let's keep this as sexually segregated as we can. I know how you kids get. Now go on."
The boys split from the girls to walk towards the tent packages on the ground. The packages were labeled by the owner's name so Madeline found the one with her name on it. She picked it up and was soon crowded by her girlfriends.
"I wonder what Speed is doing," Madeline said, tearing the box open.
"Probably not helping his friends set up the tent," guessed Skye.
"That is so like him."
Debra and Skye helped Madeline pulled the folded up tent from the box along with the poles and the instructions.
"Cool, a pink tent," commented Skye halfheartedly.
"Hand me the instructions, please," demanded Madeline.
"Oh. Maddie, who needs instructions?" questioned Lizzie. "Setting up a tent should be easy. Let me handle this."
Madeline hesitated but shook her head and gave the tent to Lizzie. Lizzie took it a few feet behind the girls for room. A bit worried, Debra decided to help Lizzie out. While the two girls attempted to set up the tent without the instructions, Madeline scanned for Speed in the far group of boys. She squinted her eyes to see if she could spot him better but there were so many boys. Luckily and eventually, she saw Speed sitting on a garbage bag full of his clothes from afar. He spotted her as well and gave her a wink. She waved at him as a response.
"You really like him?" inquired Andrea.
"He's different," responded Madeline.
"But do you see yourself being with someone who's the exact opposite of you?"
"No. That's why I'm going to change him."
"Change him?"
"Yeah, I'll give him a makeover, a few lessons on proper etiquette and before you know it, he'll be as popular as me."
"Why do that?"
"Because I know perfect."
"Yeah and perfect backfires on you."
"Please, Andrea. If he's just like me, he'll want to date me openly. And I wouldn't have to worry about getting a bad reputation. I only date boys who look like they own country clubs."
"Do you hear yourself?"
"Yes and I have a lovely voice and outstanding enunciation."
"I had to ask."
"Do you see the chaperones' tent?" asked Skye, nudging Madeline in the arm.
The three girls looked over at the adults who were standing by a large inflatable tent that was filling up with the air by the power of the top ranger's remote control.
"Ain't that trifling?" said Andrea.
"There's probably a refrigerator in one of their suitcases," Skye said.
The comment made the girls snigger a little bit.
"We got the tent up," called Lizzie.
The three girls gazed upon the set-up tent that Lizzie and Debra was standing by. Madeline noticed something wrong but she couldn't put her finger on it.
"Something's off here," she notified.
"Maddie, if it's up, we say yup," said Lizzie. She crawled into the tent through the door. She sat down in the center inside it and said, "See? It's all good."
Almost in an instant, a snap was heard and the tent quickly caved in, smothering Lizzie. She screamed, which was muffled through the fabric, and couldn't stand up as the tent was wrapped around her tightly.
Debra walked closer to the fallen tent and picked some poles that were nearby. "We forgot something," she said, looking at Lizzie who was swallowed up.

The Camping Trip (Chapter 1)

The bell rung to indicate the required students that lunch time had begun. Madeline walked in the hallways, mixed with oodles of teenagers, heading to the cafeteria. Almost out of nowhere, a hand grabbed Madeline's arm and dragged her away into the janitor's closet. A lean Caucasian boy with a green-dyed mohawk and a black leather vest closed the door from the inside.
"What do you think you're doing?" Madeline questioned, putting her hands on her hips.
The boy faced and approached her. "I need to talk to you."
When he was an inch away, he leaned in with no hesitation and locked his lips with Madeline's. She wrapped her arms around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist. After a good solid minute, they slowly let go of each other.
Madeline exhaled. "Good talk."
"I'm glad I had it with you," nodded the boy.
"A 'hello' would be good next time, Speed."
"I know, I'm sorry, Madeline. I just really want to keep this thing between us a secret."
"Me, too."
"Are you sure you haven't told anyone about us?"
"Positive. No one can ever know that the student body president of Laguna Beach High is seeing a misfit."
"Well, I don't want my friends to know that the awesome Speed is seeing the prissy Madeline."
Madeline laughed, making Speed laugh as well. "I need to go to lunch. I don't want a first warning for being late. You need to get to class."
"Hey, I'm always late so it doesn't really matter."
"Whatever. Open the door, please."
Speed pecked Madeline on the lips, making her smirk, before opening the closet door. He stuck his head out to see if anyone was watching. When the coast was clear, Speed stepped out of the closet and let Madeline out before shutting the door. The two went their separate ways as Madeline quickly walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria. Once she entered, the girls spotted her and Skye shouted out:
"Norm!"
Madeline chuckled as she sat down in her place of the table. "What's going on, guys?"
"Nothing much," answered Lizzie. "What was going on with you?"
"Oh, I was kissing Speed Jenkins in the janitor's closet."
"Again?" asked Andrea.
"Yep."
"You've been seeing him for about three weeks," said Debra. "Why doesn't he want to be seen in public with you again?"
"Because if his friends knew that we were hooking up, they'd tease him. But you can't blame him for liking me. I'm really likable."
"And you don't mind?" asked Andrea.
"No. I'm president, member of debate club. If I get caught canoodling with the boy who spray paints on walls, has detention almost every day and wears underwear above his pants, that would paste a bad image on me."
"So why are you with him?" asked Debra.
"Because he's so hot. Have you seen him? He has an earring. Ah, I love boys who wear jewelry."
Lizzie began to ask, "Aren't boys who wear jewelry--"
"He's not that type of boy. Trust me, I know."
"Well, congratulations for snagging the boy with a mugshot," said Skye.
"I bet his mugshot is cute."
"Of course. Is there anything else to talk about?"
"Oh, all the juniors are going on a camping trip tomorrow," responded Debra.
"Oh, yeah. Finally, I'll know what it's like to live as a bug."
"Gross," commented Lizzie.
"Yeah, it is."
"I can't wait to go camping," spilled Debra. "You know how much I love the outdoors."
"I've heard that they cut down the trees to make room for the camping," shared Madeline.
"What?! Those monsters! Now I don't want to go camping."
"There's no reason to take a stand," said Andrea. "They already cut down the trees."
"Relax, Debbie," said Lizzie. "It will be fun."
Debra slowly breathed in and out. "Sorry. I'm calm. You might be right; it'll be fun."
"It'll be so fun," Madeline agreed. "Especially since Speed is going to be there. Maybe we'll go deep in the forest and make out. Or sneak out into the lake and skinny dip. Who knows? I want to do something bad with him!"
"Do you hear yourself right now?" asked Skye. "You pick up trash from the ground and throw it away and it is never yours."
"Hey, littering is bad."
"It is, isn't it? Maybe you and Speed will do that on the trip."
"Oh, God, no!"