Moonbright

Raven and I talk to Jackson and Cooper while we wait for Miss Kennedy to open the bus. What did raven think of last night? Why did she kiss my arm? Why am I thinking about her so much? I didn't notice Miss Kennedy opened the bus doors until Raven grabs my hand pulling me into the bus and towards the back. We rush to the back so we can have two seats each, which Kennedy allows because 6 students pulled out of coming on the trip. Raven sits with her back against the window and legs up on the seat. The outfit she's wearing looks really nice, I wish I had that style.

"Thomasyn put your legs up" she whispers.

"Am I allowed?"

"Just do it you gumboot"

I pull my legs up and spin so my back is on the other window and lay my legs on the outside of hers because mine are longer than hers. We sit like this for the first couple of hours talking and laughing about random things. Kennedy yells at us a few times for laughing too loud because everyone else is being quiet or sleeping.

��How long do we have left Miss" I whisper as loud as I can to the front of the bus

"4 hours Thomasyn" she replies

Raven sighs and yawned making me yawn. She moves in her seat and grabs her pillow, laying it across my stomach before laying her head down and sleeping. My heart starts beating a little faster and I get butterflies in my stomach, I move gently down so I'm laying more flat on the seat. Why is Raven making me nervous now? Why did I get butterflies? Maybe I Like her, but I can't like Raven she's my friend and also a girl and I like Jackson not Raven.

Is the bus stopping? Are we here? I open my eyes and look around the bus as it pulls into the car park of Moonbright's Surf club, everyone is getting up and walking towards the bus door. Raven is still sleeping in my lap, she looks so precious when she sleeps.

"Raven we're here now" I say as I wiggle her shoulder.

She rises slowly rubbing her eyes scouting out where we are, jumping up quickly with excitement and running off the bus. We gather our bags from underneath the bus and head inside where everyone else is. A local Moonbright life guard shows us the bunk rooms that are down some stairs under the surf club. Raven looks so excited when she steps in the bunk room her smile lights up the room, she rushes over to a separate bunk in the back corner.

"Thomasyn do you want top or bottom?"

"The top obviously"

I can never sleep on the bottom bunk because I'm afraid the bed above me will collapse on me in the night. I carry my bag over to the bunk Raven chose and put it underneath Raven's bed. The boy's bunks are in a separate room to ours so we tell the boys to meet us upstairs when they're ready. While we wait for the boys we make ourselves a bowl of Coco pops, we go and sit at a table and devour the Coco pops just in time for the boys to arrive.

"When do the Moonbright kids get here?" asked Jackson.

"They should be here in an hour or so when school finishes "replies Raven.

"Thomasyn what boards did the school bring for surfing?" Asked Cooper.

"5 short boards and 7 regular foam boards" I answer.

"Yo guys me and Raven are going for a skate before the Moonbright kids get here, who wants to come?" suggests Curtis.

"Hell yeah me and Thomasyn will catch up in a sec" Jackson says excitedly.

Raven looked at Jackson and back at me, she looked upset that I wasn't coming straight away with her Cooper and Curtis. I gave her a soft reassuring smile and they walked to the door grabbing their skateboards and headed for the doors.

I look back at Jackson, his light blue eyes are staring right into mine his blonde dreads held back by a bandanna, his silver nose ring was glistening in the light. Jackson smiled and blushed.

"Do you want to go to the park with me later and stargaze? "He whispered grabbing my hand gently.

Wow I did not expect him to ask me out on a date, we have known each other for as long as I can remember. I suppose this is my chance to see if my feelings for him are true, I go red in the cheeks and lead him by his hand to our skateboards.

"Only if I can play at the park?" I giggle

"Who do you think I am? Of course we are going to play!" he sassed.

We pick our skateboards up and skate out the door onto the road and to the board walk, Jackson shows off with a kick flip while I just cruise until we reach the skate park. Jackson goes to where the boys are trying to grind a rail while I sit for a second to adjust my shoes.

Ravens in the half pipe alone so I go join her. I wait for her to finish her run, watching her skate is electrifying. She finishes her run and I drop in doing a couple of 180s. We hear a school bell ringing in the distance and know it's time to skate back.

"Race you back" Raven shouts as she gets a head start.

I pump my leg hard and fast to catch her but she's just too fast, when we get back to the surf club Miss Kennedy asks everyone to go and wait inside for the Moonbright kids.

The Moonbright students finally arrived around 4:30, we did some group bonding activities until dinner is ready. The kids are really nice and laid back, there is more boys than girls but that doesn't bother me since our friend group is outnumbered by guys any way.

"Everyone, come get some pasta" Miss Kennedy shouts from the small kitchen.

Everyone rushes and lines up to get some cheesy bacon pasta. Raven and I go back for seconds while everyone is still finishing their first. One of my Favourite things about Raven other than her very unique style and her deep blue eyes is that she eats a lot like me and isn't afraid to go back for seconds or thirds.

The suns starts setting and the Moonbright kids say bye and head home, I see Jackson walk out the door and wait a moment before following him. I look outside the door and see Jackson running across the grass to the small park.

"Hurry up" he shouts cheekily.

You're such a child, running over to the park I search quickly for him, where could he be hiding? Wait I know. I run to the top of the tube slide and slowly slide down making sure I have enough grip to stop in the middle.

"Hey stranger" he smirks.

"Hello, fancy seeing you here".

We sat in silence in the tunnel for a couple of minutes just staring at each other. This will be good, with all my strength I pump him and myself down the slide. Jackson landed at the bottom of the slide and I came flying out on top of him.

"That's one way to get a guy on his back" he moaned

"Oh shit are..."

Before I could finish my sentence I feel his soft lips against mine, I close my eyes and kiss him back, the passion building. His fingertips gently caresses the exposed skin on my back, giving me Goosebumps building the tension. I break the kiss with a smile and I can feel him smiling back. I get up and give him my hand, he takes my hand to be pulled up. His hand holds mine firmly but softly while we walk to the sand pit to lay down in.

"What do you think the stars mean?" I ask.

"I'm not really sure, I just know they're beautiful like a girl I know"

"Your too good to people".

"I know"

We sat there under the stairs talking about our goals and plans for the future, I never realised how sweet he was until now. I can't believe I'm sitting here on a date with a boy I've known since birth. It felt comforting and familiar but I don't know if I feel as much for him as he does for me.

"Thomasyn and Jackson, get back here now!" Miss Kennedy shouts from the balcony.

Laughing we get up immediately and run towards the Surf club following the shadows so she couldn't see where we were.

"We're back Miss, we just heard a weird sound outside and decided to check it out" Jackson explained

"Okay good, now get inside you all should be getting ready for bed its 10:00".

We walk in the door, our facing turning red from holding in our laughs. He lets out a loud burst of laughter and I can't help but let out a burst of laughter too, his laugh is very contagious that we both get tears in our eyes as we walk down the stairs to the bunk rooms. As we separate I can still hear his laugh echoing through the basement until I reach the bunks. I quietly walk to my bed because some of the girls have gone to bed, while some of them are on their phones.

"Raven are you awake?"

She doesn't answer so I assume she's asleep. It's not like Raven to be asleep this early, what if she's mad I didn't tell her where I was going, maybe it's because of the long drive.