Silver River by Purple Dragon Jensen is a 12 y.o. kid that goes on a trip with the school. During this trip, and with the support of his friends and family, he'll discover things about himself that he didn't know, and grow up to become a more complete person. Feedback is welcomed and encouraged.

Chapter 8

We got up the next morning quite early. We had to get ready for our horseback ride, so it was simply not possible for us to sleep late in the morning. Emily could, if she'd wanted, though. We got ready, went to have breakfast and gathered with the other girls and the teachers where we had agreed the previous day. I was still wearing my braids, as was Emily. Well, Emily wasn't coming with us to the horse ride, though. It was just a school thing. They boys weren't going to make it on time for it, but they were going to be here before lunch, which was nice. I somehow missed my friends and wanted to see them.

The ride went OK. Some of the girls were giving me wierd looks, but I sticked to my sister and friends. I knew not everyone in my class liked me, but I also knew that they wouldn't bully a small kid, which was was what they considered me. I also don't think they would want to deal with my overprotective sister, her friends, and Miss Cooper.

We were given a crash course on how to ride, and were told to keep our horses in line, which we did. The horses mostly behaved themselves. The weather was nice, the sceneries were amazing and we really had fun. A couple of the girls fell off the horses when their horses reared, but nothing serious happened. Miss Cooper had also noticed my braids and kept giving me funny glances, but she didn't say anything. I knew that at some point she would want to talk with me, but preferrably when we were alone.

The boys were already there when we came back. Finally they had arrived!

There were only 12 of them left. 4 of them were sent back home with their parents after the joints episode. I also got some weird looks from the boys, but just ignored them. Joey and Kevin, along with a couple of their own friends, came to greet us.

"Hey squirt! You look good!", exclaimed Kevin.
"Hey!", I exclaimed back, smiling, happy to see them.
"Hi Jens! Cool place!", Joey greeted me.
"You're a girl now?", asked Raoul, one of our schoolmates. Joey looked at him with severe eyes. I just shrug.
"Hey, I was just asking!", he replied. "It's OK for me, I have no problem with that!", he excused himself.

Emily came, as she saw me from the distance, then hugged me, and greeted my friends.

"Hi! I'm Emily, a friend of Jenny!", she introduced herself. She was still wearing her two braids, which matched mine.

Joey chuckled, Kevin stared at us with an amazed gaze and the other two guys just grinned. I simply rolled my eyes.

"Hi, Emily! Nice to meet you!", said Kevin politely, amused by 10 y.o. girl's nerve.

The 14 y.o. boy gave her a charming smile and offered her a handshake.

After a brief conversation, the boys parted from us, as they wanted to explore the surroundings. Joey and I agreed to meet after lunch to play some music, to what Emily quickly signed up too. The other boys politely declined to take part. I had the feeling that Kevin was in a hurry to meet as many girls as possible in the place. Girls his age, I mean, no smaller kids like Emily and I. Did I ever say that he was an incorrigible flirt?

Emily and I had lunch with Keith, his brother Mike, Roy and Nick. I have always felt the age gap between my friends at school and I, but sharing table with the 9 y.o. made this gap feel even bigger. Well, not all of them were 9, Emily was already 10 and Keith was almost 11! Even my sister and her friends were looking at us as if we were little brats. We were behaving a bit childish, I have to confess, but it didn't worry me in the least, brats or not I liked them and we were having a good time. I even talked a bit during lunch. Besides Keith's naughtiness, there was something in him that screamed trust.

Emily is a great girl, and I was starting to love her to bits. But she was definitely a loudmouth. Yet a funny one. There was no way she could keep anything secret, I guess. And I probably wouldn't have liked her as much if she did. She started talking about yesterday's night, our sleepover and how we ended up being all dolled up. Roy surprised me with something he said, then.

"You should be a girl, you know?", he said, suddenly. Keith nodded.
"Yeah!", exclaimed Mike, "Keith would like you a lot if you were a girl!"

I never thought I would ever see a boy as shameless as Keith turning red, but he did! We all fell laughing.