All of us sat underneath the tree in the center field in a circle, taking off our life jackets and using them like cusions. Jackson was already over there, with a few other kids who were in our group. They all looked like they were between the ages of twelve and fifteen.

"Okay, everyone! How abut we play a little name game to get to know each other?" Ally suggested, taking a seat on her yellow life jacket.

"Good idea, Ally!" Jackson agreed. "We'll go around in a circle. Everyone say your name how old you are, and what your favorite animal is." He pointed at Margaret first.

"My name is Margaret Leroy. I'm thirteen. My favorite animal is.... um.... not sure." She said.

He pointed to a boy with light blond hair and blue eyes. He was tall and I thought he looked like the oldest kid in the group. "My name is Alex Mayer. I'm fifteen. My favorite animal is almost anything." He smiled.

'Nice to meet you, Alex!" Ally said, then pointed to the next kid. She was also fairly old, with light brown hair in an elegant bun and a pink life jacket.

"I'm Emma Warren. I'm fourteen and I guess I like dogs...." Emma said quietly.

Russell was next in line. "I'm Russell Billings. I'm twelve, and do Pokemon count as animals?" Everyone laughed.

Next was another one of the younger kids. She had reddish-blond hair, blue eyes and freckles. "I'm Eliza Ellington. I'm twelve, and my favorite animal..... I'm not sure." Eliza said.

It was my turn next. "I'm Mattie Saylor. I'm thirteen, and my favorite animal is a peacock!" I smiled. Peacocks are very beautiful birds, and I love them.

The next girl in line had dark hair and tanned skin. "I'm Lena Harsel. I'm twelve, and I like dogs." Lena gave a smalll wave.

The last kid was blond with brown eyes and glasses, and short for his age. "I'm Bradly Allon. I'm fourteen, and my favorite animal is the most obscure aninmal I can think of at the moment..... Amazonian Tapir!" We all laughed. Bradly seemed like a class clown.

Ally went next. "I'm Ally. I'm twenty years old..."

"Wait, what?!" Everyone excalimed. Ally looked like she was eighteen!

"It's true!" Ally said. "Most people think I'm much younger." She smiled and tipped her cowgirl hat.

"And I'm Jackson, and I'm twenty two." Jackson finished.

Margaret, Alex, Emma, Russell, Eliza, Lena, and Bradly. This seemed like a fun group of new friends. I hoped that we would all get along.