‘I’m so pleased we’re all on the same team,’ said Ling-Fei with a shy smile at the group. ‘Now that we’ve met I can feel that we’re going to be friends, can’t you?’
Her heartfelt enthusiasm made Billy feel awkward. He rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Sure,’ he said. Maybe the easiest way to get through the next ten weeks at camp was to just go with the flow. He was good at that. The brief spark of excitement he’d felt when he’d been holding the bead upon arrival had sputtered out, leaving him feeling resigned. He wondered what his friends at home were doing right now.
‘Don’t you ever feel as if you’ve been waiting your whole life to meet the right people, for something to happen? And then when it does… BAM!’ Ling-Fei threw her hands up in the air for extra emphasis, startling Dylan, who dropped his chopsticks.
Ling-Fei laughed, the sound tinkling like bells in the air. ‘This feels like that,’ she said. ‘Can’t you feel it?’
‘I think all I’m feeling is a bit of jet lag,’ Billy said with a yawn. ‘I’m going to go find my cabin. And maybe take a nap.’
If Ling-Fei was disappointed by Billy’s lack of enthusiasm, she didn’t show it. Instead, she nodded. ‘Good idea! Let’s all go and find our cabins.’
It turned out that Billy and Dylan were sharing a cabin, and Ling-Fei and Charlotte had the one next to them. The other campers were sharing cabins with their groups too. Billy was glad that he was sharing a cabin with someone he’d already met.
‘I’m going to go find some wild flowers to decorate our cabin,’ Charlotte announced. ‘Interior decorating is another one of my talents. Come on, Ling-Fei, you can show me where to find some.’
Billy was pretty sure he’d never met anyone with so much confidence, or so many self-professed talents, as Charlotte. She seemed like the kind of person who constantly demanded attention and, right at this moment, Billy found her a bit draining. He was relieved to see her and Ling-Fei head out of the cabin and into the woods.
But it wasn’t just Charlotte. It was everything. Being at camp, meeting new people, hoping that everyone liked him. Billy wished he was back in California. Even though he would never have admitted it to them, he missed his parents. And his know-it-all older brother, Eddie. He wondered what they would make of all this.
He knew what they would tell him though. His mom would tell him he was lucky to have such a great opportunity. His dad would tell him that he’d be happy he’d done this, when he was older. And Eddie… well, Eddie would ruffle his hair (he knew Billy was vain about his hair) and tell him to suck it up, but then he’d say that he was proud of him for being brave enough to go so far from home.
With the thoughts of his family comforting him, Billy went to check out his cabin with Dylan. It was remarkably plain, with two beds, two desks and two chests of drawers. That was all. There was a communal bathroom that everyone at camp shared. Billy had never shared a bathroom with anyone but his family, and he wasn’t looking forward to it.
‘Billy,’ said Dylan as they unpacked their bags, ‘I should probably tell you I snore.’
Billy sighed. It was going to be a long summer.
A Sky Full Of Stars
That night, Old Gold gathered everyone around the firepit. Overhead, the stars came out – first one, then another, and then so many all at once that Billy lost count. He’d never seen so many stars in his whole life.
He’d taken a nap after lunch and was feeling slightly more energized about everything. Now, under a sky full of stars, the small part of him that yearned for adventure this summer sparked to life again, bigger than before.
‘Did you guys see that shooting star?’ said Kwaku, the boy from Ghana, pointing above them.
‘Look! Another one!’ said Charlotte.
They all watched the shooting stars for a few moments, and Billy made a wish.
He wished that he could do something at camp to make his parents and Eddie proud. What exactly, he didn’t know, but Eddie had always been the one his parents were proud of and, even though that was annoying, Billy looked up to him. Maybe just once, he could be the one they bragged about.
He looked round the firepit at all the new faces. Dylan, his eyes wide and twinkling with humour, Charlotte, currently explaining the workings of shooting stars to a bewildered-looking boy next to her, and Ling-Fei, her face eager and shining in the firelight. Yes, he’d try to make the most of this summer. And maybe, just maybe, he’d find a few friends along the way.
‘Are there shooting stars every night?’ asked a girl with light-brown skin and short dark hair. It took Billy a second to remember her name. Shreya, from Mumbai.
Old Gold smiled. ‘Yes. We’re lucky up here in the mountains. Most nights are clear enough to see the stars. Unless there is a storm, and then the clouds are so low you can almost touch them.’ He pointed above them. ‘Do you all see that bright star there, the one right above us?’
Billy squinted up at the sky. He found it impossible to differentiate between so many stars. They were brighter than he’d ever seen at home.
The kids all shifted and tilted their heads, trying to find the star that Old Gold was pointing at.
‘Oh!’ said Shreya. ‘That one!’ Billy followed her line of sight and his eyes
