Sun Chasers Saga

Chapter 1 The Beginning-2

We were caught listening and discussing about the rumours ourselves by the three people that suddenly approached our table,

“Hey guys, we must be really lucky to be able to sit with the three of you”, one of them said with a smug face.

“Well well, look who do we have here, Aiden Rainer, Trevor Jacob, and Daniel William. Glad you guys saved some space for us”. The other one said.

They are the Double Trouble, as we’d like to call them. Andrew, Zac, and Tom; they are basically smart bullies, they are among the top ten students, but they also have very bad behaviours. They like to bully people, but they let their lackeys take the blame for them. Kind of like politicians in the making if you ask me.

I never had any problem with them, nor did Trevor and Danny, but I recently heard that Andrew, the smartest, and best looking out of the three is trying to hit on Lizzie!

“Hey, so what brings you guys here?” Trevor asked. “I’m pretty sure there are a lot of empty benches over there, no reason for you guys to come and sit with us”. He continued.

“What’s with the cold welcome, Trevor? We’re just trying to chat with you guys a little.. you know since it’s our last year, there’s no better time”. Zac scoffs.

“Well, that’s nice of you to come here, I heard we would have to make a group of six later, this means we already found our group!” Danny excitedly exclaimed.

There was a pause for a moment, I think even the Double Trouble wouldn’t know how to react to what Danny just said. They didn’t come with good intentions. Danny didn’t know that, he’s just too pure, he’s got a big heart. On the other hand, Trevor and I both knew them very well.

“Oh, that would be a good idea Danny, then we would be able to enjoy the rest of our summer getting to know each other”. I said.

“Yeah, I heard there are gonna be a lot of physical activities, it’s perfect for an all boys group”. Trevor continued.

Flustered, Tom replied “Oh, no.. we actually already have a group. We would love to be able to be in a group with the three of you, but unfortunately we were booked”.

“Yeah.. besides, you know what? It can’t be an all boys or all girls group. We got to mix! ..right guys?” Zac stuttered.

Both Trevor and I snickered and gave each other a look,

“Really? That’s too bad. But don’t worry Danny, we’ll surely find enough people for our group”. Trevor said to Danny.

Danny looked a little surprised by the sudden and quick answer from both Tom and Zac.

Andrew clears his throat and says, “Well yeah, that was too bad Danny. Maybe next time if you are quick enough; then you could at least make it in time to get in line”.

Can you believe that!? Who’d say that? I almost forgot that Andrew is an over confident self-centred guy. I caught a glance of Trevor about to swing his fist, but before he could swing it, Danny asked with a very confused tone and look, “What line?”.

We all looked at Danny, and I suddenly felt relieved, Danny didn’t catch on Andrew’s chaff. A fight could have break out if it wasn’t for Danny. I know Trevor, he’s a gentle guy, but he’s even more of a loyal friend, there is no way he would just stay silent about something like that.

I glanced back at Andrew, he was stiff.. his hands ready in front of him, he looked like he was about to jump out of his seat. Andrew is a bully, a troublesome one at that, and he’s a prick. But at only 5 ft 10 and a scrawny body, there is no way he could stand a chance against Trevor, should Trevor choose to throw his fist at Andrew just now. You would need at least five guys just to hold him back.

Andrew quickly put his hands away and clears his throat again and said, “Anyway, I just want to talk to my friend Aiden here, and give him a little word of advice; that he shouldn’t be thinking or even try to use this summer camp as a chance to get close to Lizzie, or...” before he could finish his sentence, Trevor snapped and said:

“OR WHAT?” with a very low and angry tone.

Andrew startled and responded, “Or that he will.. Might be disappointed when.. If Lizzie didn’t respond nicely to.. or like how Aiden expected”.

He continued, “Anyway, I’m just concerned, I just thought I’d need to give him a little word of wisdom before.. you know”, he shrugs his head.

“That’s all, see you all around”. The three of them quickly jumped out of their seats and left in a hurry.

Both Trevor and I burst out laughing the moment our eyes met. We had just scared the school’s biggest bully and chased them away with their tails between their legs. We had a year’s worth of laughs, and totally forgot Danny was still clueless, to which he responded:

“What are you guys laughing around for?” while raising his eyebrows,

he continued, “I really wish you guys could fill me in on that, but don’t we have even more pressing matters?” Danny asked.

Trevor and I stopped laughing, we rubbed the tears out of our eyes and jokingly asked Danny,

“Oh come on, that was good. What are you worrying about?”

Danny breathed heavily with disappointment,

“Really guys? Come on, give their words a little more thought.. how would they know Aiden has a crush on Lizzie!?” he raised his voice as he was talking.

I quickly threw my hand and covered Danny’s mouth and said, “Shhhhh! Everyone can hear you!”

Danny looked at me dead in the eye and shouted some gibberish while waving both his hands around me. I quickly responded:

“I know I know!” I couldn’t hear what he was shouting about, but I understand full well what he intended to say. I quickly realised how serious this is. Nobody should have known that!

As I was thinking and panicking about it, Trevor put his hand on my shoulder and calmly said,

“Maybe, it’s for your own good. You didn’t know how to approach her. But suddenly everyone knew you had a crush on her. This could be good. Don’t worry about it too mu..” before Trevor finished his sentence, I yelled at him:

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?” HOW can this be good?”

Trevor pulled his finger in front of him and said,

“Shhh, you’re too loud. Well, unless you want to draw more attention to yourself, you better keep it down”.

“How can I!?” I said, “I’ll approach her at my own pace, not like this”. I added.

Before any of us could say anything more, the teachers made an announcement using a blow horn. The teachers instructed us to finish our meal in the next five minutes and gather around on the pier by the lake, and we will be grouped randomly into groups of six. I could see the disbelief on the faces of the students when the teachers mentioned that, and I kind of cheered a little knowing the Double Trouble would be devastated by that. But I was also frustrated thinking that I couldn’t spend the rest of the summer camp with my two best friends. The Summer Camp hasn’t even started!

Before we knew it, we were already gathering around the pier by the lake. We were preparing gears for Canoeing activities and making sure all of the equipments are still in good condition and safe to use. The girls are applying sunscreen, and the teachers are checking in on the students, making sure no one is left behind or slipped away; when suddenly the thunder roars softly in the sky. I quickly looked up, as everyone did.

The sky was gloomy, it was dark, the wind blew a little harder than before, the air was chilly. It was summer, but it sure doesn’t look like one. Normally we would be enjoying the summer camp with cold drinks and ice cream since the hot air will suck every ounce of energy in your body. That is also why we decided to start the summer camp with water activities before anything else. But it looks like this summer will turn out differently than the ones before.

After discussing with the other teachers, Mr. Kim, our Maths Teacher, made an announcement. The teachers have decided that we will be continuing our activities according to the schedule, and only stop and rearrange the activities if the weather gets worse. So we were getting ready and were grouped randomly. Both Trevor and Danny got into group four together, and I got unlucky and put in group twelve all by myself. What a terrible start!

We begin the Summer Camp activities with Canoe Sprint; it’s a canoe race! It will be a group race, we are going to race to the designated finish line with 8 groups at once. The first 8 groups started the sprint and the atmosphere brightened up. We were cheering and shouting, encouraging our friends to put everything they have into the sprint.

Group 4 won the sprint with no surprise. The teachers were worked up and realised they had made a mistake putting Trevor and 3 other student-athletes in the same group as a joke, thinking they wouldn’t be able to work together since they are all from different sports teams and none of them do water sports. I’m pretty sure the teachers forgot that this is not the first time we have a canoe sprint in our summer camp, besides they have really underestimated the athletes ability to adapt quickly.

We were getting ready for the second sprint, but one of my groupmates still hasn’t shown up. I heard Sherly suddenly fell ill, she was supposed to be in group twelve with us, but she wasn’t feeling well, so her parents came to pick her up right before the canoe sprint started. With one empty space in our group, the teachers tried to come up with something. And after several considerations, they decided to put Lizzie into our group! Lizzie was supposed to be one of the student organisers; she was supposed to help the teachers arrange and prepare for the summer camp activities. Student organisers usually have their plates full, and wouldn’t be able to participate in any activities, but since our team is now handicapped, the teachers have picked her to replace Sherly.

I was surprised by the decision, and I was overjoyed! The thought of having a chance to spend the rest of the summer camp in a group with Lizzie, blew my mind. I immediately looked over to Trevor and Danny, and they were as excited as I was; they put both of their thumbs up and winked at me. That was their sign of approval. I just know that I have to take this chance and use it wisely.

Lizzie walks over to our group, she has the brightest smile, full of energy, and she immediately encourages everyone. We immediately got into position in the canoe. If anyone has seen a canoe, they will know that it’s pretty hard to move our legs when we’re in position. We will slip inside the canoe up to our waist, and it’s pretty narrow so we will be in a straight line; the first person will row to the right side and the second to the left, the person that comes after repeats the sequence all the way to the last person. Everyone will switch sides, from the right to the left, and from the left to the right when the first person gives the signal. This will be repeated once every few seconds.