Watcha doin’ shortie?” Ryan asked as he towered over me, “Writin’ to your mommy?” He snatched the notebook from my hands and opened it. “Poetry,” he scoffed, “the little girl is writing poetry.”

            “Give it back.” I said as I stood up.

            “No.” he replied mockingly, still towering over me. He shoved me and I stumbled backward. I thought I would fall over, but instead I backed into a tree.

            “Ryan,” Mr. Calienes said as he emerged from his tent, “give the notebook back to Jessie.”

            Ryan glared at me before throwing my notebook to the ground. As he headed toward the big rocks to join his friends in racing to the top of the highest one, I quickly picked up my notebook and walked in the opposite direction. “Thanks.” I said quietly as I scurried past my teacher on my way to the river.

The river near our campsite is my favorite place to sit and think. The rushing sound of the water is so relaxing. As I sit there, on that rock with the green moss on the side, I begin to recap the day’s events. It started with my dad waking me up at five o’clock in the morning.

“Today’s the day you’re going camping with your classmates.” He said, “Did you forget? Get dressed and packed and then meet me downstairs.”

My face lit up as he left my room. I loved camping. I quickly threw on some clothes, got my things together, and raced downstairs. “Ready!” I said enthusiastically.  My dad drove me to school and I got on the bus. I was on my way to a wonderful weekend with nature. It had occurred to me that my classmates would be there too, but I knew I could see as little of them as possible without too much effort.

Finally, three and a half hours later, we reached our campsite. It was a remote campsite in the woods, so there wasn’t anyone else around. I stepped off the bus and breathed in the fresh forest air. After we set up the tents, I grabbed my notebook so I could write about this wonderful place. That was where Ryan came in. I know Ryan has a hard time, what with the way his dad and brother treat him and all, but he just makes me so mad.