Christian Camp

The Bus Journey

- Ginny -

The bus was a lot more crowded than Ginny had imagined it would be, so much so that she and her sister Libby had struggled to find two spare seats next to each other and had only just managed to claim a space near the back. All around them, teenagers their age were chatting happily and exchanging glances at copies of their Bibles. Ginny felt a squeeze of excitement in her stomach. They would be attending Christian Camp for three weeks and in those twenty one days Ginny hoped to grow more closer to God than ever.

"Alright, that's almost everyone accounted for. Have we got Maisie Tarken?" The camp leader called from the front of the bus. There was a short hush as a girl with blonde plaits raised her hand. Ginny surveyed their camp leader with curiosity as he crossed off the name on his clipboard; he was dressed like no camp leader she had seen before, in shiny black shoes and a tight, broad-shouldered black suit that hugged his tall figure. Ginny could have mistaken him for a lawyer perhaps or even a dancer - but not a Christian camp leader. Then again, no human was the same.

"Gavin Casalegno? Gavin?"

"Here! Sorry." A boy said apologetically as he climbed onto the bus, late.

"You know..." Libby hummed conspiratorially beside Ginny, narrowing her eyes at the camp leader with a small smirk. "He's pretty hot, don't you think?"

"Who? Him?" Ginny asked incredulously, following her line of gaze. Her sister wasn't the greatest fan of boys - but trust her to be attracted to their Christian camp leader for the tri-hebdomal camp!

"You can't be serious. He's about twenty seven!"

"Eh. It could be worse." Libby shrugged unaffectedly. Ginny watched as she shrugged her bag onto her shoulder and slowly got to her feet.

"What are you doing?"

"Sorry, Gin. But I've got to talk to him." She explained, making her way down the aisle towards where the man had now taken a seat. Ginny shook her head in disbelief, unable to hold back a smirk. Really, her sister was funny.

"Um, hey, is this seat taken?" A hesitant voice drew her attention to the golden haired boy hovering in front of her. His lips were quirked into a hopeful smile, making it practically impossible for Ginny to refuse. Besides, she sincerely doubted her sister would come back again.

"No, it's all yours." She smiled, dragging her bag out of the way so he could sit down.

"Thanks." He murmured, quickly taking the seat. "I was so late I thought I wouldn't get a seat here."

"You almost very nearly didn't. Thank God my sister's into men dressed in suits." Ginny lamented, glancing over to where her sister had miraculously struck up a conversation with their camp leader. She heard the boy breathe a quiet laugh beside her as the bus rumbled to life and began moving - before it was drowned out by the sound of everyone breaking into cheers around them.

"We're off, everybody! Praise The Lord!" The camp leader announced loudly, getting to his feet. His sentence had barely finished before music blared out from the radio, the familiar tunes of Praise by Elevation Worship filling the entire vehicle. Ginny grinned, leaning back in her seat and letting the lyrics sink into her mind as she silently prayed to The Lord.

"Oh, I love this song." The boy sighed from beside her, imitating her actions and leaning back in his seat. Ginny glanced over at him with a smile, meeting his striking blue eyes. For some reason, her heart decided to stammer.

"I'm Gavin, by the way."

"Ginny." Ginny told him with a grin. She pointed to where her sister was chatting animatedly to the camp leader. "That blonde girl over there's my sister, Libby - the one who likes men in suits."

"Ah, I see." Gavin murmured, nodding his head. "The reason why I have this seat. So... have you ever been to a Christian camp before? It's my first time."

"Mine too." Ginny said. "This is going to be the best three weeks of my life."

Gavin nodded again as an impressed smile overtook his lips. "Gosh, it's weird hearing people talk about God in a good way. I don't hear a lot of that. I'm glad I managed to book this trip, even with shoots and things coming up. I'm an actor, I love anything to do with film." He added when she frowned at him.

"An actor? That's so cool." She gasped, grinning. "I've never met an actor before. What's it like?"

"It's actually pretty great, but your personal life changes a lot, which is a downside. What about you? What do you do?"

"Nothing like that. I mean, I've modelled a bit before but I was never any good at it." She admitted. Gavin smiled at her.

" What sort of people did you model for?"

"Oh, only small magazine companies. I modelled for Gap once, actually. But when I realised that I wanted to grow closer to God, I decided to take a break from it. 1st Peter 3:3-4." She added. Gavin frowned for a moment before recognition dawned on his face.

"Your beauty should not come from outer adornment." He recited with a small nod. He flashed her a smile, suddenly appearing hesitant. "Well, I think you're pretty enough anyway."

Ginny opened her mouth to thank him, but any reply she might have conjured was drowned out by the sound of people around them belting out the chorus of the song at the top of their lungs.

"*AS LONG AS I'M BREATHING I'VE GOT A REASON TO PRAISE THE LORD, OH MY SOUL! PRAISE...*"

Ginny grinned and closed her eyes, relishing in the joy the Holy Spirit brought. She couldn't wait for camp to properly begin.