CHAPTER THREE

"Maya!" Mr. Logan yelled, waiting for his daughter in the sitting room.

"On my way Dad" Maya yelled back, packing her last suitcase. She dragged her box downstairs ready to leave.

"Dad, I'm ready"

"My little pumpkin, have fun, get kissed and make more friends" Her dad grinned like a sheep.

"Dad!"

"Oh lest I forget, have this" he handed her a pink envelope. "Don't open it till you've settled in Camp"

"Yeah whatever" She collected the envelope and stuffed it in her purse.

"I'm leaving" she muttered and opened the door to leave. The school bus waiting outside honked for the second time.

"Stay safe sweetie" Mr Logan yelled, still grinning. "I love you!"

Maya sighed as she made her way into the luxurious school bus. "So many students"

She swallowed hard and finally took a seat at the other end of the bus, just beside the window.

~

The drive to Crystal Island was too lively for Maya to withstand alone. With different screams and squeals and people talking all at once, she felt like she was stuffed in a bus full of barbarians.

Maya looked through all these people and was disappointed that Vinna wasn't among.

She sighed for the umpteenth time and couldn't wait for them to get to Crystal Island.

~

Lance alighted from his father's Rolls Royce, he didn't join the bus like the rest of them. He took his box from the car trunk and majestically walked to the Camp's male dorm.

Meet Lance Lee, MariLake High demigod. The heir to the Lee's Empire. Lance is an American Korean fashion model, he owns his own fashion line; and trust me he's as arrogant as ever, well only on some occasions.

He forcefully gets shipped with Savannah Banks by his father, because their fathers are both good business partners.

He comes to school once in a while due to the modelling shoots he has to attend in different countries and for different brands. And when he eventually comes, he skips classes and yet still ace his grades. Don't wonder how he does this, the power of being rich.

~1

He could hear the cheers of the other boys, they had arrived.

"Hey guys" Lance muttered just as he walked in

"Lance!" Kyle called out

"Hey bro, glad you finally made it" Phoenix muttered too

"Yeah thanks"

"Okay so let's help you unpack"

"Don't touch that, it's made of pure gold" Lance boasted, just like he always does.

~

Finally, they had arrived Crystal Island, all the students dashed out of the bus including Maya Logan.

She sighed heavily, not knowing where to head to. She was totally lost and helpless.

"Maya!" She heard the familiar voice yell her name. She turned around, searching for the one who called her.

"Hey" It was Vinna, her petite friend

"Vinna" she rushed and hugged her.

"I'm so glad you're here, I was almost helpless"

Vinna was the only student she was comfortable with.

"Well I wasn't expecting you"

"Why weren't you in the bus?"

"I was among the first slot of people that came in earlier" Vinna beamed.

"I didn't know there were different slots"

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? I wasn't expecting to see you here" Vinna told her.

"Well I changed my mind. I'm sure you're so happy right now" Maya replied, chuckling along with Vinna.

"We'll talk about that later. Common, let's go to my dorm. There should be space for you" Vinna squealed, helping her with her box and leading her to the female's dorm.

`

They got to the dorm just in time

"Welcome to my world" Vinna grinned. Maya looked around the room, it was spacey enough for them to manage. "Nice"

"You can get your stuffs arranged over there. I'll get the matron to help you fix a bed" Vinna stated.

"Uhm...sure"

Vinna left while she began unpacking. Maya was already stressed out, but she had no choice. She had to finish unpacking before sun sets.

~

"Hey baby" Savannah muttered, letting out a smile.

"Sav, you're here" Lance heaved. Just who he didn't want to see. "I've been expecting you, why didn't you call me?" She questioned.

He sighed again "I just got here, besides I was too tired"

"It's okay, baby. I'm here now" she planted a soft kiss on his lips and watched as he gave an half smile.

He was very uninterested. Savannah wasn't the type of girl he wanted, she was rather too loose and he just didn't like her enough. His relationship with her was just like a business deal to him.

"Okay so while coming, I branched a jewellery shop and got us a pair of couple bracelet. Ain't that cute?" she grinned, bringing out a parcel from her purse

'Urghh' Lance groaned within. 'It would soon be over, Dad would finish up his business deal with Mr Banks and I'll be done with Sav too' he made a mental note to himself.

~

"Okay so a proper introduction to my friends won't harm" Vinna muttered after she had helped get Maya's bed fixed up.

"Introduction to your friends?"

"Yeah, I haven't introduced you to Daniella.... my bed" Vinna grinned. Maya glanced at 'Daniella' and then at Vinna 'how could she name her bed Daniella?' She mentally asked herself.

"You gave your bed a name?"

"Yeah and the rest of my stuffs" she walked into the closet and brought out a big pink teddy "Here's Pinkey" Vinna added

"That's Maddie and Jojo and Bryan and Perry and Michelle----"

Maya watched as her friend kept pointing at stuffs and mentioning names. She knew Vinna was weird but she never knew she was this weird.

~

Maya was stressed out already, and remembering how Vinna gave all her properties names, almost creeped her out. She suddenly remembered the envelope her Dad gave her earlier. She held out her purse and brought the envelope at once.

She opened the envelope and starred at the letter full of ink and with her dad's writing;

' Dear Amaya,

If you didn't go against my instruction, then I'm sure you're settled in Camp now. Don't forget to have fun and make enough friends to let you forget your pasts.

Thank you for agreeing to leave the house, finally I can bring in Lauren to have some free time with me. You must be wondering who Lauren is, I'm sorry I didn't tell you Darling. Soon you'll have a step-mom and I'm sure Lauren would make a good one.

'Don't be a fun sponge and have your summer break all to yourself. Ten days isn't too small to get kissed and try making out. You seriously need a boyfriend.

Don't forget I love you.

XOXO

DAD.'

'I can't believe Dad, how could he be hitting on another woman and I have no idea. Seriously!' She muttered all to herself.

Maya read the letter over again and also couldn't believe he encouraged her to make out.

'I mean I'm just 17' she mindlessly thought

She consciously tore the letter into shreds and tossed it into the waste bin at the door.

"So much for having an annoying Dad" she sighed and laid on her bed again.

She looked across the room to Vinna's space, neat and well arranged. With a yellow flowery patterned bedspread, an orange striped curtain over the window, and some almost faded posters of Hwang Hyunjin (from StrayKids) and the seven members of Bangtan Sonyeondan (BTS) stuck to the wall. Vinna really has a slight sense of fashion, plus she never knew she was a fan of Kpop.

"I'm back!" Was Vinna's voice breaking the fringing silence in the room, as she walked in. Maya sat up, hoping she came back with what she had promised.

"And yes, I got the food"

"Great! I'm starving" Maya heaved.

"Here you go" she handed her a brown paper bag, obviously stacked with food.

•••••

Maya groaned to the loud buzz that echoed from somewhere in the camp; that was the general alarm.

"Urgh.....is it morning already?" She heard Vinna grumble, still sleepy.

Maya hated to be woken up from her sleep, she knew she couldn't get back to sleep peacefully. She got off her bed and made to find the bathroom, so she could at least do her business

~~~

Day One for Maya in a strange Summer Camp which she seems uninterested to be in.

"So what are we doing today? Just sitting and lazing around?" Maya asked. They had both gotten dressed up.

"Of course not. Once its 10am, we'll be alarmed and that means its game time" Vinna told Maya who arched her brows, still confused.

"Game time is when all the students gather round the garden and every new member would get picked out to join respective groups. The choice wheel chooses whichever group you get to be in" Vinna added.

"So what group are you in?"

"Red Bug"

"You said what now?"

"Yeah, Red Bug. It's the name of my group. There's Red Bug, Yellow Bees and Green Hoppers" Vinna stated, letting out a small smile.

"Well okay. But whoever picked out those names sure didn't do well" Maya muttered leaving Vinna giggling.

She walked to the dresser, pondering whether to leave her long hair loose or just tie it to a bun.

"Vinna how do you think I should tie my hair today? I'm thinking of just making a bun" she asked, still starring at her reflection on the mirror.

"I think you should pack it, you don't want your hair getting all messy and rough during game hours. So a ponytail should do" Vinna replied, scrolling through her phone.

"Okay"

She sat and gently plaited her hair, starring at the mirror if she was doing it right.

Just immediately the alarm went off.

"Urghh...so loud and annoying" Vinna muttered putting a pillow over her face.

"So its game time already?"

"Yeah" she grunted

~

All the students were already gathered in the garden when Lance and his crew joined them. Lance was very much uninterested in the stupid game they were gonna have. He was only here because his mom wants him to. The fact that other girls were gawking at him, made matters more annoying.

His eyes suddenly met a face he felt was familiar. Her bangs falling loose across her face, yes she was pretty. He could see how naïve she was, as she spoke lightly with the girl beside her. He knew he had seen her somewhere before, but he couldn't put a place in mind. He couldn't think of where he knew her from, probably school.

"Everyone gather round" Mrs. Huggins the Camp's matron ordered. He didn't know he had been starring for too long.

"Another beautiful summer season has come, and as usual we are all here to have fun and enjoy ourselves" she paused starring at the students before her "Today's game would be 'Pick a partner', but before that as usual we would know our new members and place them in groups they should be in" Mrs. Huggins added.

Maya glanced at Vinna and let out a smile.

"All new members in our midst now, please step forward"

Maya hesitated before she walked further, she made sure at least five people were up already before she decided to step ahead.

Now Lance was convinced it wasn't in camp he knew her..

"What's your name?"

"Cindy Paige" a girl about her height muttered.

"Alright Cindy, this is the choice wheel. You would roll the wheel and know what group you belong to, your little fate." Mrs. Huggins told her, beaming slightly.

Cindy sighed before she lightly rolled the choice wheel.

The wheel landed on the inscribed 'Red Bug'

"Congratulations Cindy, you get to be a member of the Red Bugs" Mrs. Huggins remarked. And the students all rounded an applause, as if they've been told to do that always.

"Thanks" Cindy mouthed to her walking down the aisle where the other members of the Red Bugs stood.

Maya made sure she was the last to whirl the wheel and finally it was her turn.

"What's your name dear?"

"Maya Logan" she muttered, almost under her breath.

"Okay, you know what to do now dear Maya. Go on, twirl the wheel"

She gently placed her hand on the wheel and twirled it at once.

Within seconds the wheel rolled, Maya's eyes landed on Lance who had been starring at her all the while. Just as both their eyes met, she looked away. She recognized him, he was the famous Lance Lee a lot of girls were dying for, including Vinna..

Alas... the wheel landed on Yellow Bee

"You're now a Yellow Bee member Maya" Mrs Huggins beamed, just like she had been doing. As usual the students clapped again..

Maya heaved and walked the aisle of the Yellow Bee, where Lance stood.