"How about this one?! I'm sure it would look good on you." Evie waved a red coat in front of her friend. She and Mellis had been shopping for clothes all morning at their local mall, and neither were enjoying it.

"That's very nice of you Evie, really, but I'll have to decline. Red is not part of my color palette", Mellis objected, straightening her glasses, and waving away the coat.

Evie stared at her. "Your what?" She asked.

"My color palette! That coat doesn't go with any of the colors that look good on me." Mellis explained before saying, "I only wear blacks, blues, and whites. Anything else would make me look like a poison dart frog in a China shop." "It's like how you look good in white, black, and yellow."

Evie facepalmed. "Mellis, we aren't here to play dress up, we are here to buy more clothes for that literature summer camp that Leo's uncle is running." Gosh, Mellis may be her best friend, but her pickiness had always been frustrating to her. Like the time they went to Disneyland and Mellis refused to take a picture with Goofy because their outfits didn't match in color. Or the time she, Mellis and Leo went to build a snowman and-

Suddenly a realization fell over her. "Mellis, last winter when you threw Leo's green jacket into the dumpster, was that because of his-

"What?" Mellis put on an innocent expression. "He looked like Kermit in it, and besides, I paid him back and bought a new, navy blue one for him! It had even better quality, too."

Afterwards, the two girls finished up shopping and packed up to leave for the camp.

~~~~.~~~

"I do wish that our families and Leo's family weren't best friends," Evie complained, sitting at the train station bench with ever-loyal Mellis at her side. "Then we wouldn't be forced to go to all these events and stuff."

Mellis nodded before pulling a bag out of her backpack. "Me too," she said. "Although I am looking forward to reading more books." Opening the bag, she turned to Evie. "If it will make you feel better, my mom and dad baked me some cookies. They were supposed to be for the road, but since you're feeling down and Leo's probably going to be late, you can have one if you like."

Evie accepted, and the only sound that filled the station was the quiet noise of two girls chewing on cookies.

That is, until a certain boy ran in and threw his backpack and suitcase practically on top of poor Evie. "This is so, bad! This is so, so bad!!!" He whined, plopping on the bench.

"What is?" Evie huffed, pushing the suitcase to the floor. Leo took a moment from holding his face in his hands to look at her.

"Everything!" Exclaimed Leo. "I have to spend one whole month with my uncle, and even worse, you guys! No offense, but still. My uncle also has hired the weirdest people in his house!" He shuddered.

"I'm sure it can't be that bad" Mellis stated, adjusting the black bows in her pigtails. "For Evie and I, I mean. We have each other, and we brought Mad Libs." Mellis smiled before pulling out the game.

"And anyway, it's not like we're test subjects going to a research institute!" Evie said optimistically. Leo gulped.

Just then the train pulled in, and the three of them climbed in.

The train ride was very pretty, to say the least, Evie thought as she stared out the window. They had been on the train for about two hours, and she and Mellis had filled out the whole Mad Libs game. So, they were now peeking out the window and staring at the sheep and other livestock they were passing by. They were somewhere in the mountains, and Leo said that there were many vineyards in this area. Mellis perked up at this.

"Do they have red grapes or green grapes?" She asked, her eyes widening a little bit.

Leo frowned. "Unfortunately most are red, but the green grapes are much better when you find them."

Mellis' smile grew larger. "Finally someone who realizes the unimportance of red grapes!" Leo smiled back, and Evie watched as her best friend opened up and chatted away with Leo very happily as if they were childhood best friends.

Giving a slight sigh, she stared idly out the window, and in the distance, she swore she saw a huge mansion of some sort. I wonder what that is, she thought as it passed by just like everything else. She then nodded off and leaned against the window.

"Oi, Evie! We're here!" Mellis' voice broke in through the silence. She gave a start and looked around. She, Leo, and Mellis were sitting on a bench outside of-

"The mansion!" She said in surprise. Leo and Mellis stared at her before Leo stretched.

"We and Mellis had to carry you from the train to the cab and from the cab to Uncle's house! How deep of a sleeper are you?!"

Evie cheeks flushed a little. "Let's just go inside, or whatever."

As if on cue, the huge doors of the house swung open. Leo deadpanned. "Uncle Silas!" "We don't need a huge grand entrance, it's embarrassing!"

A small giggle was heard, before a hooded figure suddenly appeared in the middle of the courtyard.  The person slowly moved towards them, as if studying their each and every move.

"Ah, Leo, your hat looks awful on you!" The hooded person laughed. Evie was taken aback for a moment. That wasn't a man's voice. That was a girl's voice! Mellis didn't seem to care at all, but only nodded.

"I have to agree with you. I'm so sorry that Leo has no sense of color matching." She gave a slight smirk.

The hooded figure suddenly threw of her cloak, revealing a girl about fifteen or sixteen years old, with sandy blonde hair and bright and alert blue eyes.

"Hi! Mr. Silas couldn't be here for the first week, so I'm in charge! Isn't that cool!? It's my first time running anything so huge! Dusting the windows is SUCH a pain, maybe I should just put you on cleaning duty! It would be such a shame to let ya'll be lazy." The girl rambled on and on, not even seeming to care that she wasn't letting the others speak.

"But we came here for Mr. Silas' cla-" Evie began.

"-Oh! Right, how silly of me! You'll need dusting supplies!"

The blonde threw a broom in Evie's hands, a dustpan in Mellis' arms, and stuffed a handle-less mop on top of Leo's head.

It seemed the three were in for a long month.

CHAPTER END.

Thank you for reading chapter one!! I'm so sorry if it feels rushed! I may add onto it later!

Bonus:

Evie and Mellis in school :D