Camping Tip # 11: People don't understand how important it is to plan your camping trip beforehand. You have to know where you're going, what time you have to be there and most importantly who else is coming. After all, last thing anyone wants is to spend a weekend in the wilderness with someone you hate.

So, the whole reason my parents were even getting their vows renewed was because Mom saw this segment on The Marilyn Denis Show about Drew Barrymore's wedding and how it was this simple and traditional ceremony that happened over a weekend with close friends and family and how it was probably the most talked about wedding of the year. The fact it made it onto the cover of People magazine only made my mom squeal louder.

 She spent two straight days reading about the wedding, who was there, what did the venue look like, her wedding dress. My youngest sister made the mistake of asking Mom what her wedding was like and Mom got really emotional and took out the photo album. I was dragged into it and I had to sit for two hours as Mom guided me and Dione through every picture and the story behind it.

 Three days later, Callie came over to my house and we were both re-watching the fifth season of America's Next Top Model, when Mom barged into the living room and declared she was getting married. To Dad. Again. She said they were getting their vows renewed because it was romantic and it was going to be way better than Drew Barrymore's ever was.

I love the romance, the fact two people were agreeing to spend the rest of their lives to together in front of their family and friends was the most romantic thing ever. I always ended up crying during the wedding ceremony, usually around the time the bride and groom were declared man and wife. I loved seeing what the bride was wearing, my sisters and I would usually judge and rate their dress.

 Not to mention seeing the venue, and the food and especially the cake. It was a really emotional event for me and I loved every aspect of it. So when Mom said they would be renewing their vows it was the best thing I had heard all year. So the next two months I helped plan the wedding and it was really fun choosing what dress she was going to wear and the food and who was invited and best of all, I got to spend some quality with my mom.

 As much as I enjoyed planning this wedding with her, Mom was starting to get on my nerves. It was early April and the wedding was next month, on the second week of May and the closer it was, the more neurotic and just downright annoying my mom became. This camping trip Callie had suggested was a blessing. It would be great to have a break from the wedding plans.

After I came home from Lemon & Lime with Callie, I told Mom I was going camping. Actually, I waited until she was in a better mood and then I told her. I expected I would have to convince her and I had my argument all ready. My argument was mainly comprised of the fact I was sixteen and I would be entering the twelfth grade after the summer. To my surprise, when I told Mom of my plans to go camping with Callie, she smiled and said it was fine. Apparently I deserved a little break after all the help I had given her with the wedding.

        When, Tuesday afternoon rolled around, the day we'd decided to go camping, I was in my bedroom collecting the last of my things. Everybody was okay with me going, it was just my little sister who had a problem. Dione had been pestering me ever since she found out.

        "No!" she said, "you can't go!"

        "Calm down," I told her, "it'll only be for a few days."

        Dione pouted, "that's too long! I need you here!"

        "For what?" 

        She threw her arms in the air, "Stuff!"

        I laughed, "You know Di, as exciting as stuff sounds, I still need to go."

        She folded her arms across her chest and she huffed. I set my rucksack on the edge of the bed and placing my hands on her shoulders, I smiled down at her. She looked so genuinely sad that I didn't know what to do.

        "Can't I come?" she asked.

         "No," I said and gently squeezed her shoulders, "Dione, you'll find it boring, you don't like camping, there'll be lots of insects and animals and dirt and we both know you hate all those things."

        There was no way in hell I was letting my eight-year-old sister come along with me on a camping trip with Callie. There was also no way in hell I was letting anybody ruin this trip for me. Ever since spring break started, I'd bored out of my mind, wandering aimlessly around the house in my pajamas and if I wasn't doing that I would be binging on Mad Men and America's Next Top Model. The door creaked open and I looked up to see Minnie walk in. She wasn't even paying attention to where she was going. She was fully engrossed on her cellphone, probably texting her latest boyfriend. Minnie was juggling was so many boys these days it was hard to keep up.

        Minnie didn't look up from her phone as she said, "Can I have your room?"

        I removed my hands from Dione's shoulders and stood up. "I'll be gone for like four days," I frowned at her, "not four years."

I knew Minnie would use my room to sneak her boyfriend in and I really didn't want to walk in on that again. I'd threatened to tell Mom because Minnie was fifteen and Mum had said no boyfriends until after high school. Of course, if I did that, she'd tell Mom I'd had two boyfriends in the last three years. 

        "So...I can have it?" Minnie said, popping the bubblegum in her mouth. That was another thing about my sister. She was always chewing bubblegum. She claimed it got rid of the unwanted calories in her cheeks. One of her friends who had recently gotten back from a holiday in Spain, said everyone in Europe was doing it. This was an obvious lie because I had googled it and all I found was an article about an old man who'd choked on gum and died.

        "No," I snapped, "stay away from my room, Minnie."

        I felt my cellphone buzz in the back pocket of my shorts. I pulled it out and read the text that had been sent. I smiled and slid it back into my pocket, "Callie's outside! I gotta go!"

        I ignored Dione's pleas for me to stay and Minnie's questions about whether or not she could borrow some of my clothes for an upcoming party. I picked up my hefty rucksack and duffel bag and I darted out of my room. I said a quick goodbye to my mom who was in the kitchen shouting to somebody on the phone about her wedding dress, and eagerly left the house.

        I paused just outside my door, my eyes landing on Callie's familiar blue Ford Fiesta parked in the street. Callie had passed her driving test pretty quickly. Dad wouldn't let me start learning until summer because he wanted me to focus on my studies. Minnie told me Dad was planning on giving me his old car, a beat up mustang that didn't even have an engine. She also said he wanted me to help him fix and repair it as some sort of father-daughter bonding session. Cars and mechanics or whatever just weren't my thing. It really made me wish they hadn't shipped my older brother off to military school. He should be the one helping Dad fix the mustang not me.

        I skipped down the steps of my house and walked over to Callie. She was standing by the open trunk of the car, shifting some bags around. She looked up then and smiled when she saw me.

        "Looking good, Peryn," she said.

        I was all set for this camping trip. My dark hair had been pulled into a high ponytail, I was wearing a hoodie, denim shorts and a my favourite pair of doc martens. Although Callie was wearing a plain knee-length dress and high heeled boots, an outfit more suited for a house party than four days in the woods.  

        "I'm so excited!" I said, clapping my hands together in glee. "I bought so many marshmallows and my camera! We can take so many pictures and shove them in Savana Horowitz's face! Just because she spent a few weeks in South Africa she thinks she's Mother Teresa."

        Callie's smile faltered as she looked nervously at me. "Uhm, Peryn, I meant to tell you," she said, "there's been a slight change of plan."

        I stared at her, there was sudden an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. "Slight change of plan?" My eyebrows rose, "we are still going right?"

        "Oh yeah!" she beamed, "It's just that, well–"

        "Callie!" A voice said.

      My gaze skipped from an apprehensive looking Callie to the car and sitting in the front passenger seat was a dark haired boy greedily licking the ice cream that was melting onto his hands. It took me a few seconds to realize that this dark-haired boy was in fact Oliver Kaminski. He sat behind me in third period Spanish, he was the reason I was currently flunking that class. He smiled up at me, "Hey, Peryn."

        I ignored his greeting and glanced at Callie, "What's he doing here?"

        "Me and Jack are coming camping with you guys," Oliver answered.

        My eyes widened, "Jack? "

        And much to my horror I saw Callie's twin brother sitting in the back seat, who was lazily scrolling down his phone. As if sensing he was being watched, Jack's head instantly snapped up and his eyes met mine. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards into a small hesitant smile and my heart almost jumped into my throat.  My eyes widened. What the hell was my ex-boyfriend doing here? I whipped around to face Callie.

        "Callie," I said slowly. I think I already knew why they were here but I didn't want to believe it. "Callie, what's going on?"

        "I know you wanted it to be just the two of us," she began, raising her hands up as a sign for me to calm down, "but when I told my mom about the camping trip she said no 'cause she didn't trust us by ourselves and the only way we could go is if we went with Jack and Jack decided to bring Oliver here! I had no choice, Per, I swear–"

        "Hey guys," Oliver said, leaning his head out of the window so he could see us. His hand went up to his mouth as he cleared his throat, "uh, where's...uh, where's Ruby? I was told Ruby would be on this little trip."

        Callie looked unimpressed, "is that the only reason you came? Because you thought Ruby would be here?"

        Oliver had a crush on Ruby Blakewood for a little over two years now and he wasn't very subtle about it. Everyone knew he liked Ruby, everyone except Ruby herself. Watching Oliver Kaminski moon over her was not as entertaining as it used it be, these days it was just sad. Okay, it was like thirty percent still as entertaining.

        "No! For your information, I happen to love nature and anyway, Jack invited me," he said a little defensively.

        "I didn't," Jack spoke up, "you invited yourself."

        Oliver glanced back at him, "can you not bust my balls here?" When Jack just rolled his eyes, Oliver turned back to us, "so, uh, is she here?"

        Ruby was my cousin and had also been best friends with Callie and me since elementary school. Ruby's absence was the reason spring break felt so boring.

        "No, she's not here Oliver," I told him, "she's gone to New York to stay with her mom for the week."

        A month before spring break Ruby had even offered for me to come with her to New York to stay with her mom, who was my dad's older sister and to be honest my favourite out of all of Dad's siblings. I couldn't for the life of me remember why I had declined. How could I say no to two weeks in New York City?

        Oliver swore and went back to licking his ice cream, this time unhappily. I sighed and looked back at Callie who was now wearing a sheepish expression.

        "We still good to go?" she asked nervously. "I know it's not what you wanted but c'mon, we're already here, we might as well go."

        I closed my eyes for a moment and took a deep breath. Okay, so there was a slight mishap, Two extra people had joined our camping trip, those two people just happened to be my ex-boyfriend and his goofy best friend.  That was fine, I was totally cool with that. I had to be optimistic. I glanced back at my house and I contemplated giving up on this whole thing and just spending the rest of spring break watching marathons of The Bachelor. I looked at Callie, she was staring expectantly at me, her bright blue eyes wide and hopeful and she had this big sunny smile I always found hard to ignore. I sighed.

        "Okay, whatever, let's get this stupid show on the road," I said, dumping my rucksack and duffle bag into the open trunk of the car.

        Callie's smile grew brighter as she squeaked in excitement.

        "Yes, Per!" she said as she slammed the trunk shut. She ran around the car, before opening the door to driver's seat she looked over at me and grinned. "You won't regret this!" 

      It was just for a few days, I told myself, what could possibly go wrong?