A Trip to Remember

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A Trip to Remember

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Jan 15, 2023 9:54 pm

Everyone look left~
Everyone look right~

Everywhere you look I'm... staring at the last time I logged here on this site, like seriously, WTF, How dare I--

*Ahem ahem*

In any case, I'm not actually new to this site, but boooooooy howdy has it been a long, LONG time. My former username and login was Nanogirl (both on this site, the last, and on Minimizer's). Hopefully I haven't become distant memory from the past since I've been gone. It's been a whirlwind in the past few years (but then again, who am I telling? The whole world's been through the sheer gauntlet that was 2020-2022).

In any case, I couldn't get back into my last account since I've been gone for ages, which I guess is fair since it gives me time to use the account I've been using on my D.A. account, a place I also hadn't visited for even longer.

But in any case, let me shut up and bring to you another story (one I'll hopefully finish since I feel so bad for being absent and never forgot to finish some of my older stories like The Pet Transition (which I can't get ahold to anymore Dx) and Pastime. I think the Bet I might have somewhere in my old files, but hell if I know, I kinda forgot about that one ages ago)

A good ol' raunchy, sexy story filled with this ensemble cast of college girls under one roof.

Loljk, this story is not that. Warning ahead: Violence/Gore (but not enough to go into the VSW imo, but I'll see), PTSD, SA, Some hard topics and other warnings will appear ahead of time.

In any case, ENJOY~!

-----

Prologue

Lily’s hand clamped over her mouth once the massive dark shadow passed over the little crevice they had taken to hiding under, her heart seizing up in her chest.

It was still looking for them… prowling about in search for its easy prey.

She could still hear Minh performing CPR on the unconscious, or maybe already deceased, Stephanie, her hands pumping up and down on the woman’s sternum with desperate urgency, swiftly switching from pressing her chest in to mouth to mouth every two dozen or so presses. At some point, Lily had registered the sharp, chilling sound of the young girl’s ribs breaking, but in her mind, Stephanie had already been gone.

A rather cruel intrusive thought came to her mind to hush Minh and tell her that Stephanie was already as good as dead and that she was just making them easier for it to hear them, but then a stinging guilt, brief as it was, made her hold her tongue.

Stephanie was her friend as much as she was Minh’s, wasn’t she? How could she wish to abandon her so readily in that moment?

Although… she had already lost so much blood…

There was no way… no way she could…

The shadow came back, sweeping by and blocking out the light.

Lily flinched.

A massive digitigrade feline leg, black and furry, swung into view, along with its mammoth-sized body, its large golden eyes and vertical pupils facing away from their little hidey-ho, a blessing.

If she hadn’t been in such mortal danger, she would have found the absurdity of her situation hilarious enough for her to laugh at.

Here the three of them were hiding from a giant cat.

Or was the cat normal and they were the small ones?

If she survived, she wondered if she would ever find out.

Her family had owned a few cats throughout the years. At home, she had a large fat calico named Pearl who would lounge around the house wherever she wanted, occasionally coming up to Lily to ask for a back-scratch or in the very rare few moments, even nestle up to her and let her cuddle with her in bed as she did her homework or scrolled through social media on her phone.

If Pearl had been here, would she see her and her friends as delicious snacks to eat up just like this cat did?

Would she even see her as the human who had fed her and raised her when she had been a mere kitten?

Or would those terrifying fangs tear through her torso like every other mouse she caught?

Ever since she found herself in this awful and terrible world that was set to a scale of titans, she had empathized with those mice, and she no longer had to imagine the so many ways she could meet such a brutal end.

Fearful tears welled up in her eyes, beginning to roll down her cheeks.

She didn’t want to die.

Oh God, she didn’t want to die.

Not like this.

In her scant twenty years of living, never did she imagine that she would be eaten alive by a creature she had once absolutely adored. Just one of those claws that would have been a mere irritating scratch against her skin on a cat proportionate to her size could now impale her and cleave through her body like it was made of paper.

Just like it had done to Evelyn.

If she actually had any food in her stomach, she would have vomited.

Evelyn…

She had been just two months shy of graduating with her bachelors. She had told Lily that she had wanted to go for her Masters and become a child psychiatrist. The firstborn in her family of five and who only desired to make her ailing mother proud.

She hadn’t deserved to die the way she did.

None of them did.

Her grip on her makeshift weapon tightened.

“No…”

She couldn’t see herself going out like that, with nobody in her family ever knowing what happened to her. She didn’t want to imagine her parents going through the pain of losing their only child, not knowing what happened to her. She didn’t want her boyfriend of three years, someone she could’ve seen her future with, someone she could have had a family with, to think she disappeared from this world without a trace.

“No…no…please no…”

She couldn’t bear the thought of becoming a mystery left forgotten by the world, quite literally, at large.

All her achievements…

All her goals…

All her dreams…

…Amounting to nothing in the belly of the beast that lay just beyond the enormous tomes that had provided them shelter and ever fleeting safety.

It was such a cruel fate to envision that she couldn’t stop shivering.

The shadow that had blotted out the light disappeared, a wafting tail bobbing up and down as the cat passed their hiding spot.

She finally let out the breath she had been holding before looking back at Minh, who was still doing her damndest to save the redheaded woman from the dark clutches of death. But judging from the dark haired woman’s wide eyes as she tirelessly continued the chest compressions, it was obvious that it might already be too late.

Lily lowered her hands from her mouth to let out a wet hiccup as a deep sense of despair gripped her churning heart.

“You’re not going to make it home,” said a cold, cynical voice in her head, as the bleakness of their situation began to truly settle in. “This is it.”

She just barely managed to stifle the sob that threatened to overwhelm her that this voice in her head might have been right.

In this world that was gigantic beyond comprehension, maybe this was the end.

She sniffled, the tears pouring down her face unabashedly.

At least, she hoped sullenly, if she was to die here, it would be quick.

But maybe even that would be too much to ask for.
Last edited by Flippity-Floosy on Sat Oct 07, 2023 10:53 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: A Trip to Remember

Post by littlest-lily » Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:16 pm

I'm a new reader of yours but I'm hooked! I'm so stressed out for them already!! xD

Also I totally got a kick out of the fact that we both have characters named Lily (who is not supposed to be me, despite the username..... yeah I didn't think that one through haha). I look forward to seeing her adventures in the desperate hopes she doesn't meet a gruesome death so soon!
If you’d like to support me and my work, please feel free to leave me a tip and I will be so grateful! https://ko-fi.com/littlestlily

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Re: A Trip to Remember

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sat Jan 21, 2023 8:58 pm

littlest-lily wrote:
Mon Jan 16, 2023 10:16 pm
I'm a new reader of yours but I'm hooked! I'm so stressed out for them already!! xD

Also I totally got a kick out of the fact that we both have characters named Lily (who is not supposed to be me, despite the username..... yeah I didn't think that one through haha). I look forward to seeing her adventures in the desperate hopes she doesn't meet a gruesome death so soon!
From DA to this board, I'm glad to see ya and glad you're liking the story! :D I promise, it's pure coincidence that the character is named Lily for the first chapter, lol! But it's actually an ensemble cast I'm working with, so trust me, you'll see a number of names oing around here and there in this story. She (and the rest of these poor college kids) are definitely in for a not-so-fun adventure!
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Re: A Trip to Remember

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sat Jan 21, 2023 9:10 pm

Chapter One: Sight for Sore Eyes

Sixty-five days ago,

Lily slowly began to wake up to the cacophonic sound of her phone alarm, the obnoxious noise breaking her away from her rather pleasant slumber. She snagged the phone off the cord and looked at the time, the bold, white words on her screen reading seven-thirty in the morning.

She briefly vacillated between turning it off or pressing snooze, and for once, she decided to choose the former option.

After all, she would have plenty of time to sleep once she got on the bus, an estimated four hour drive, give or take a half hour or so.

Ever so slowly, she leaned up from her bed and languidly stretched her arms above her head, sweeping her bedhead from her eyes and letting out a noisy, wide-mouthed yawn as she tried to break away from the lingering urge to return to sleep.

Grabbing her phone to peer through her messages, she saw that she had only received three messages, one from her dad and one from her best friend of six years, Julie, and one from her boyfriend Malcolm.

Her father’s read: “What’s going on, Lily-Silly! Hope you have a wonderful trip! Love ya!”

Julie’s read: “You better send me pics or else I’m going to break both your legs and drag your skinny ass all the way back here! </3”

And Macolm’s, oh man of few words, read: "Have fun, Lily-Moo! Miss you and love you already!"

She smiled, amused. They were so incongruent to each other but in essence, the love was there.

After a moment, she peered tiredly peered out through the slits of her window shades where the horizontal beams of light lit up her room and saw that it was a bright day outside. Too bright for her liking, she wanted another excuse to lie back down for an extra five minutes or so. She still had an hour and a half before she’d have to get on the bus for the trip. But she’d rather be up early rather than accidentally oversleep and be left behind. Especially since she had spent quite a sum of money already for the travelfare and lodging.

So, with a cranky groan, she tore the covers away and pushed herself off the bed and onto her feet. Slipping her feet into her plushy, monkey-style slippers, she stepped across her bedroom and gathered her morning kit and headed out of her single-person dorm room.

St. Clare Hall was a small dorm, which made sense for a rather small college. Being one of two of the dormitories on campus, the only option being the very small apartments about a mile out from there, it was small but convenient. Especially since the bulk of her classes for both her major and her electives were closer by from this dorm than the other, Brustem Hall. Sure, it was smaller and since it had mostly freshmen in it, she didn’t see her friends as much from it, but it was cheaper, convenient, and definitely much more her style.

The glaucous walls of the hallway had ample sunlight shining through the windows as she carried herself down the hallway to the communal bathroom of the second floor, passing by a couple of other students along the way.

When she reached the bathrooms, her eyes immediately went straight to the familiar and equally tired-looking face of her friend, Ayanna.

The taller, Creole woman, who had been in the middle of brushing her teeth, spotted Lily immediately and waved before spitting in the sink so she could verbally greet her.

“Mornin’ Lil’,” Ayanna said with a small smile before wiping whatever residual toothpaste was left around her mouth with a napkin. She reached up to take off her bonet and remove the pins and curlers from her hair, her eyes not leaving the mirror when she asked, “Trip today?”

“Yup. Hold on,” Lily replied as she placed her kit down on the ledge and went into one of the stalls to relieve herself. After finishing up her business and washing her hands, she fished out her own mouthwash and toothbrush, starting with the mouthwash first as she poured it into the cap. One of the perks of living in a single dorm, she learned, was not having to worry about backwash. Glad she didn’t live with her former roommate anymore. Thieving bitch. “Supposed to be leaving by nine. Already packed my stuff up last night.”

Ayanna continued to take out the pins out of her hair, seeming to struggle with one particularly stubborn one. One of the downsides of having curly hair. “I thought it was going to be a bus taking off from the train station?”

Lily had to finish gargling the mouthwash and spit it out before answering. “Nah, not this time. Dr. Burchess has us taking the bus from here.” She capped the mouthwash and poured toothpaste on her toothbrush. “Don’t mind though. At least it's faster and we get there quicker.”

Ayanna snorted. “Yeah, if it wasn’t rush hour.”

Lily shrugged her shoulders, “Hey, it’s a four hour ride, and as long as I get to sleep I’m good.”

The olive skinned woman gave a noncommittal hum before refocusing on styling her hair, turning her head this way and that to make sure she was able to get her bobbed curls out and flowing in the way she wanted.

There was a comfortable silence in between them as the two went on with their morning routine side by side. After a few minutes, Ayanna had just finished properly styling her shoulder-length hair and Lily had just started her own hair routine. It was when Lily was affixing her white headband on her head after putting her long blonde hair into a messy low bun when Ayanna said, “You still don’t sound like you don’t wanna go.”

Lily let out a drawn out sigh, “I really don’t. I mean… I don’t have anything against being outdoors and all that but I don’t wanna spend all day with everyone. Like, even though it’s a big place, Dr. Burchess has us shacking up in rooms by two and I just don’t wanna have to share a room again. Not after what happened with…” she frowned upon recalling her former roommate, finding herself hissing at the thought of her, “she-who-will-not-be-named.”

Ayanna’s brow rose up before recollection occurred to her of just who Lily was talking to. With a scoff, she rolled her eyes, a gesture that was more playful than insulting. “Girl, please. Beatrice’s been gone from the school since last year.”

Lily let out a dry laugh. “And yet, the bitch still haunts me.”

Ayanna chuckled at the remark and brought out her makeup kit, applying blush to her face. “Damn, she really got to like that, huh?” She quickly did her forehead and cheeks before going back to the main subject, “Can’t see myself going on the trip though, even for the extra credit. Especially to a mountain.”

“What? Is it because you’re afraid of heights?” Lily asked as she put on some lip balm. “Or the hiking and long walking part?”

“Both.”

She started doing the finishing touches of blush around her chin before expounding upon her statement. “I don’t mind doing walks if its on something like a sidewalk or the side of the street, but I don’t like doing winding roads like that,” she finished up with her blush and switched to mascara, “And I’m not climbing any mountain that’s higher than, like… ten feet or some shit.”

Lily laughed, letting out a rather unfeminine little snort as she gathered her things. She didn’t really wear a ton of makeup and had long finished up what she needed to do in the bathroom. “Don’t blame you. Heading out. Can I still borrow your portable charger?”

“Door’s unlocked,” Ayanna watching herself do her makeup in the mirror, “It’s on my desk. Just bring it back after the trip.”

“Y’know you’re the best, right?” Lily said as she left the bathroom.

She swore she heard Ayanna call out with a “Damn right I am,” and smiled as she turned down the hall. Before going back to her own room, she went into Ayanna’s rather neat and nicely decorated room to snatch the round charger off her desk next to the picture of her friend with her mother and aunt, and remembered to close the door behind her before going back to her room.

She went to get dressed in the clothes she had ironed out last night, a pair of skinny jeans and a simple white shirt. After pulling on some dark leather-brown knee-high boots and her equally dark-leather, racer jacket, and her silver cross necklace, she took one last look at herself in the body-length mirror and deemed herself ready. Grabbing her purse and suitcase, she made sure she had her chargers, earphones, and did a quick sweep to make sure she hadn’t left anything she’d need and after seeing that she was pretty much good to go, she went out of her room, locked the door and made her way out of the dorm.

Stepping out from St. Clare’s double doors and to the outside, she noted that it was slightly cooler than she anticipated, and wondered if she should switch from the jacket she was wearing to the coat she had in her suitcase, but decided against it. Morgana Dining Hall was only a three minute walk and she was pretty sure they said temperatures would climb up after a few hours close to noon, and she’d be on the train or the bus by that time.

She let out another yawn as she walked down the sidewalk, passing by some of the other students who were chatting with one another and a freshman and her boyfriend whom she had no doubt had been snuck into the dorms during the night at some point. She didn’t really think much of it, too busy dreading the trip.

The trip, in and of itself, she was actually looking forward to quite a bit. And from the pictures she had seen of the lodge-style cabin they would be staying at for four days actually looked very nice and spacious with a lot of amenities and things to do. But she had learned from several previous experiences that spacious can become awfully cramped when there’s a lot of people. Only six students all together out of all twenty-nine in both Dr. Burchess’ Colonial Archaeology and Native American History courses had decided not to go on the trip.

Apparently the majority of students were really aching for those extra credit points.

While she didn’t technically have any beef with any of the students, she would be lying to say she was comfortable with sharing a room with someone she hardly knew. Especially since most of her classmates in her Native American History class were acquaintances at best. Sure, she didn’t mind getting to know more about them, but she had only wished she could do it in a less… heavily shared space. And while she knew at least one person in the Archaeology class she wouldn’t have minded sharing a room with, she didn’t know if the rooms were already put together or if they even had a choice on who they’d get to share a room with.

In a way, just imagining being there made her feel a bit claustrophobic.

As she neared the dining hall, she huffed; there was no use in wondering about it now. She guessed she’d know once she got there.

Pulling out her card at the front counter and stepping into the cafeteria area, she noticed that there were three tables next to the large windows nearly filled with students she had recognized from her class, with Dr. Burchess sitting at one of the ends of the tables and laughing while passing out papers around for the students to read.

Not wanting to miss whatever her professor was saying, she made her way to the tables and put her things to an open seat, the redheaded woman that had been next to it scooting over to give her enough room to sit down.

Dr. Burchess noticed her instantly and gave her a friendly smile, “Morning, Lily. You can go ahead and get something to eat, I’m not going to start explaining what we’re going to do just yet.”

She gave her professor a grateful smile. “Good morning and thanks. I’ll be back.”

She didn’t take long. She got a plate with eggs, bacon, french toast sticks and a few cantaloupe slices before pouring in a glass of water and making her way back to the table where she sat between two girls that must’ve been in the Archaeology class since she didn’t recognize them from the history one.

The girl next to her passed her the schedule after she had set her plate down and after giving her a small thanks, she picked it up and looked at it, resting her head on a propped up hand and spearing her food with a fork as she looked down at the paper.

It wasn’t just today’s schedule, but the schedule for the entirety of the trip. There was also a map of the area around the lodge, some key places zoomed in to allow her to see. The area had quite a bit to offer and she wondered if it doubled as a ski resort when in season. She frowned when she realized that, judging from the map, they would be some ways away from main civilization; which she guessed was the point of the trip to some degree.

It was located somewhere around the Blue Ridge Mountains, and apparently compared to most mountains, it was on the smaller side. Mount Tawodi, or simply Hawk Mountain, had a lesser known history to it that she had learned in her class. Apparently, before Colombus came to the place, it had several smaller tribes living as one in its area, and a particular assortment of geoglyphs as a landmark that managed to stand the test of time. They were going to learn more about it once they got there, she guessed, as she remembered Dr. Burchess only briefly going over it in class, and it maybe being a tiny footnote in their textbook.

She took a bite of her eggs, stirring it a bit more in the cheese before going back for more. Well, four days wasn’t too bad. Especially now that they had a pretty good itinerary, from what she could tell. Most of the activities planned for the days to come were for ten o’clock sans today and the last day where they were expected to get there around two o’clock in the afternoon, give or take, and were expected to leave early Thursday around seven o’clock in the morning. There wasn’t as much hiking as she had thought there would be, but then again, she vaguely recalled the professor mentioning that there would be a bus and some mountain jeeps that would take them to certain places accessible via roads.

A few other students came around the table, making her look up.

She guessed they all knew each other to some extent since they came in together. A slightly tall pale-skinned freshman or sophomore girl with preppy bleached blond and brown ombre hair that reached down to her hips who looked a bit too dolled up for a trip to the mountains with her black shorts, orange turtleneck top and fishnet stockings and black ankle boots and a bespectacled dark-skinned girl with a set of long braids set up in a low ponytail who was wearing a more sensible hoodie and jeans sat next to each other at the table. She easily recognized the black girl, Summer, from some of her other classes. While she didn’t know Summer all too well, she seemed like a pretty cool person. But the other girl she didn’t recognize one bit.

The other three girls that came in from behind them were also mostly strangers to her, and upon hearing them converse with one another for a bit before they took their own seats, she noticed that they all had a different foreign accent from one another.

One girl, an East-Asian woman with long, straight black hair under a french beret and dark brown eyes wearing a simple green dress under a long brown cardigan with black tights and Timberland-style boots was talking two girls, a caucasian woman with curly dirty-blonde hair with a light scattering of freckles around her nose wearing black pants and a white and pink checkered blouse with a frilled collar and another Asian girl with a tomboyish frayed dark brown bob and black sweatpants and a pullover with a large smiling emoji face in the center. Lily surmised that they were probably one of the foreign exchange students who were studying abroad here in the States. She didn’t know any of them or where they were from, but she guessed she had time to find out.

Or maybe not.

She didn’t pay them too much mind as she went back to eating, hearing the shuffling of paper go around the table as lofi music played on the speakers in the background as the newcomers went to grab breakfasts of their own.

After a few minutes of eating and light chatter around the tables bunched around the windows, Dr. Burchess cleared her throat to get the women’s attention.

“Alright, so, first of all, I’m glad I decided to come to the dining hall! Looked like all of you had the same idea. Wasn’t expecting most of you to be here, to be honest,” the older woman said with a mild air of pride as she turned to look at the gathered nineteen students there. “I forgot so many of you live on campus. Nonetheless, I texted the girls who aren’t here and they’re going to be here before the bus gets here, so I’ll repeat what I’m going to say to them when we get there.”

She stood up, holding up the paper in front of her with two hands. “I hope you all got this paper, so let me just quickly go over this.” She placed the paper back on the table before straight into it. “So, thankfully, the bus is only about half an hour from here so we’ll probably start boarding around eight-fifteen.” She smiled brightly. “I hope you’re all as wired up as I am to go. Woo!”

In contrast to her more spirited exclamation, most of the students with the exception of one or two returned it with a halfhearted “Woo…” of their own, with the exception of the ever excitable Belle and Angela returning it in full spirit.

Dr. Burgess let out a small chuckle, “Ah, I guess you’re all still sleepy. That’s alright. In any case, it’s going to be a fun trip, you guys. Trust me. I’ve been there several times and it’s a really nice place.”

The professor gave a single clap before going on, “So! Let me just remind you that once we get on the bus, we’re going to make a little buddy system. And no, none of you are too old for the buddy system. If you have a friend already that you’re pairing off with, then absolutely be my guest, but if not, don’t be afraid to talk to those in either course and pairing up with them if you can.” She leaned in forward as she said, “Just to emphasize this, no, your buddy doesn’t have to be your roommate who you’re sharing a room with, but when we are traveling up and down that mountain, please please please, make sure that you know where your partner is and try to stick together as best you can. It’s very easy to get lost if you’re not careful since we’re on a mountain with a fairly large wooded area and while the lodge we’re staying at had wifi and power, I absolutely can’t guarantee that certain parts of the place do.”

Lily fiddled with the cantaloupe on her plate, her mouth pinching into a small frown in slight consternation. Sure, what the professor said made complete sense, given just where they were going, but she definitely wasn’t looking forward to having to be with someone else for most of the trip. The introvert in her felt like it would collapse if she didn’t find some place to hole up in for at least an hour or two by herself.

“Remember that it will take us about five hours to get there counting both the bus ride and walk to get there. I made sure for us to have some snacks for the bus trip since I’m sure most of you will probably be hungry by then. I know all of you are young women who are now adults here, but you’ll be surprised how many times I have to sometimes make it clear to please use common sense. You don’t want to lose the extra credit by doing something stupid, and it's sad that I have to say this, but I’ve had several incidents in the past where some of the girls apparently didn’t know how to conduct themselves like adults. But I’d like to think that most of you guys are pretty good at keeping a good head on your shoulders, so I doubt we’ll have anything come up.”

There was a slight warning in her words. Or actually a plea now that Lily thought about it. Not that Ms. Burgess had to worry about her. She had no intention of doing anything outlandish. But, of course, she could imagine a few other students taking advantage of the fact they were even further away from home than usual.

She explained a few things, like certain places to meet up and what to expect once they got there, nothing particularly that was beyond expectations. As she finished her breakfast, it dawned on her that while she had to share a space and a god portion of time would be visiting the historical sites and learning about them, it would be her first time in a long time since she’s been to such a remote area where she could possibly see the stars and actually enjoy the great outdoors.

She had lived in New York for the past ten years, having moved from Philadelphia to Brooklyn as a kid, and now situated in St. Agnes in Brooklyn. Sure, Upstate had mountains and the beautiful vistas she had always wanted to see, but now she was actually going to stay somewhere for more than just a few hours to actually experience the sight of numerous mountainside views and rolling hills that she hadn’t experienced since she was in her early teens.

As she took another look at the picture of the mountain on the pamphlet, the gloom of sharing a space with so many people took a backseat for a moment. This place was picturesquely gorgeous from what she could tell. Colorful trees and flowers spreading out as far as the eye could see. A path to ride bikes along the trail.

And, of course, she would have the view of seeing the sunrise and sunset in a way that many people didn’t.

The beginnings of a smile began to work its way upon her face.

Perhaps… this was what she needed. Despite this being a class venture, this was going to be a great time.

“Renting a bike is fairly cheap, and I actually recommend it. In fact, I…” she suddenly looked to her side and her face paled instantly, her smile disappearing right off her face as she stopped mid-sentence.

Lily, as well as a few others, turned to see what caught her gaze and when Lily saw what she was looking at, her heart dropped.

A young woman, waif-like with short and messy black hair with red streaks, and a pale complexion, and dark clothing consisting of a dark gray turtleneck under a black windbreaker and a pair of jeans and simple white tennis shoes had arrived at the table.

But what caught everyone’s attention was that she was sporting a swollen black eye, one that everyone could tell was extremely recent and fresh, no doubt obtained last night.

Her one good eye, dark blue and downcast, didn’t even lift up to look at any of the stunned onlookers as she took an empty seat somewhere on the other side of the table from Lily, muttering, “Sorry m’late.”

Everyone either continued to look at her in abject shock or averted their eyes, either out of a conscience effort to try not to bring too much attention to the girl or murmuring to their friends about what they were seeing, theories of domestic abuse or a cat fight travelling around the table in low whispers.

Lily, on the other hand, was just silent, not knowing what to do as her eyes flitted to the others around the table and to the face of the new student in their midst. In the end, she just brought the paper up to her face and pretended to read.

An awkward situation to say the least.

“A-Amerie…?” Dr. Burgess couldn’t contain the concern and startled confusion in her voice. “Are… Are you al–”

“I’m fine,” the new girl, Amerie from what Dr. Burgess called her, responded sharply, silencing the table. It wasn’t quite a shout, but it was obvious that she didn’t want to bring anymore attention to her face than necessary.

But Dr. Burgess, didn’t quite relent. “Amerie… hon, did something… do you…?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Amerie snapped acidly, her voice making the professor jump. Her face softened immediately however, flushing red with embarrassment and her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Please, we just… just talk about what you were before. I’m fine. Really.”

Her voice betrayed her words, and upon hearing the desperation in her voice to just not be put on the spotlight, she felt a part of her wilt inside as sympathy took its place. She stood and reached forward, handing her own paper to Amerie, who wordlessly took it and gave her a grateful nod before reading its contents. She sat back in her seat, resisting the urge to look back at the other girl’s face, and looked back to Dr. Burgess, who looked besides herself.

For a few long moments, the professor seemed to be struggling on how to proceed, before she plastered a fake, faltering smile. “Um… o-okay so… the trip! It’s gonna be a ton of fun, you guys!” she continued, having forgotten about the subject of rental bikes entirely. The enthusiasm, what had been genuine previously was now mostly artificial. Her eyes, while mostly on everyone, would occasionally flicker to Amerie, who had her eyes on the paper on the table, refusing to look up at anyone. “Once everyone’s done eating and has their things, I think we can all go on together to the train station to meet the others. A few of them texted me back to let me know that they’re already there, so I reckon that we should be able to leave in the next twenty minutes or so. Everyone good with that?”

A series of confirmations in the form of “yesses” and “okays” went around the table, no particular objections.

Everyone ate in relative silence, chatter spurring up every few minutes or so before dying off. There was an atmosphere of unease that permeated the group however, but no one decided to address the elephant in the room, at least, loudly or directly, as it didn’t seem to reach Lily’s ears, and, she hoped, Amerie’s ears as well.

In what simultaneously felt like forever and no time at all, Dr. Burgess announced that it was time to get ready to go and asked for those who hadn’t fetched their luggage to go get them as everyone else who did would wait in the lobby. Lily snagged the handle of her bag and headed to the lobby, noting how Amerie pretty much was the first to get to a stand and leave the dining hall, looking rather conspicuous as she all but hurried out of the situation.

Like a popped balloon, there was a release of tension that was palpable among the group as the conversations immediately went on Amerie, who was now out of earshot of the remaining students. Dr. Burgess still looked uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat and gathered her papers before standing up and making her way to the lobby. Lily was quick to follow, along with a few other girls who had brought their own luggage with them.

She could hear the foreign girls behind her conversing in English about the incident, but tried to pay them no mind (key word being tried) as she left the dining hall doors, extricating herself to the couches set next to the waiting area, where some of the other women also hung around, if not in that general area or the lounge area on the other side of the building.

Of course, her mind was still dwelling on poor Amerie’s black eye.

She didn’t know the girl at all, so most likely she had been in the archaeology class. She probably had seen her in passing a few times, given that the campus wasn’t so big and the student body was on the smaller side as far as colleges went. All kinds of scenarios ran through her mind.

Did she get into a fight at some point during the night?

Did she have a lover or family member who was physically violent?

Or maybe, it was the more mundane situation like accidentally getting hit in the eye with a ball or something or other?

She pulled her phone out, slowly exhaling through her nose.

Well, in the end, unless Amerie herself opened herself up to someone, there was no point in dwelling on it for too, too long. And until today, Lily didn’t even know who she was. Only seeing each other in passing, not even having a brief exchange of words with one another.

So, dipping her head down and putting her earphones in her ears, she slumped into the couch and scrolled YouTube, switching from videos to videos, even as the bus finally pulled up.

Ironically, she was now looking forward to getting on the bus more than ever. If only because being in the lobby was now beginning to feel a bit more stifling than she thought it would.

At least, on the bus, no one would go on and on about that black eye.
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Re: A Trip to Remember

Post by Flippity-Floosy » Sun Feb 05, 2023 3:43 am

Chapter Two: The Wheels on the Bus

“Oh God…” was all the words that Anna-Marie could muster before she bent over the toilet bowl and vomited, her shoulders retching heavily as she released the contents within her stomach.

Maeve was quick to come to her side, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back as her friend lost her lunch. She said nothing as the blond woman continued to throw up in the stall, ignoring the judgemental look of the middle-aged woman who had been washing her hands. The old codger probably assumed her friend had drunk herself into a stupor.

As much as she wanted to tell the woman to look away and mind her own business, there were bigger things to worry about.

Thankfully, the onlooker left fairly quickly, leaving only Maeve and Anna-Marie alone in the three-stalled bathroom, allowing them some peace of mind as Anna-Marie slowly began to recover enough from the nauseous episode to finally straighten up and take deep breaths.

“Slowly,” Maeve cautioned her friend, rubbing her back some more as she helped Anna-Marie get to a stand, “Take your time.”

Anna-Marie sniffled, heaving in air now that she no longer felt she had anything left in her belly to lose. Her face was red as tears ran down her eyes and a bit of mucus around her nose. “Can… Can you get my bottle out of my bag?”

Maeve was moving before she even finished her sentence, going into Anna-Marie’s bookbag and pulling out one of her water bottles as the other woman got a paper towel to wipe her mouth and face. “Sure.”

Maeve gave Anna-Marie the bottle, who promptly twisted the cap open and greedily gulped down the soothing water, finishing it to the last drop before wiping her lips. “Th-Thanks…”

“No problem," Maeve said, flushing the toilet with her foot as Anna-Marie took a moment to recuperate.

The seconds felt like it dragged on as Anna-Marie continued to take gulping breaths of air, her back to the linoleum wall as she tried to pull herself together. She imagined she had to be a sorry sight. She had pretty much overslept, having tumultuous rest, waking up at odd hours of the night and finally able to get just into a steady sleeping just when it was near time to go. With her auburn-blond bedhead hastily done up in a low ponytail and throwing on the pair of weathered ripped jeans, a slightly wrinkled, black and green flannel sweater, and some off-white tennis shoes, she looked like the average southern belle. At least, she would’ve had she not looked so red in the face from exertion.

Maeve, her roommate and friend of two years, was looking at her in deep concern, her eyes furrowing as the blond had finally gotten herself to as close to normal as possible. “You sure you want to go on this trip? I think Ms. Burgess will understand if you bail out now.”

“Ah’m sure,” Anna-Marie replied after letting out a gutsy sigh, the southern lilt in her voice on full display. “Ah already paid to go in the first place. Don’t wanna waste the money.”

“You can barely hold yourself together right now,” Maeve told her bluntly, not mincing her words one bit. Her bluntness actually kind of stung the blond, her jaws visibly tightening up, and while Maeve noticed, she she continued on. “Seriously, I’ll stay with you if you want. But don’t force yourself if you find it hard to do.”

“Maeve, please. Ah’m not forcing mahself. Ah do wanna go on this trip, and not just for the credit either,” Anna-Marie grumbled, averting the brunette woman’s eyes which had been full of consternation. “Ya gotta trust me, Mae. Okay?”

Maeve looked pensive for a moment, contemplating the words her friends had said and looking to not quite believe them, but nonetheless, she let out a sigh, deciding to not argue with the blond on this. “Okay, okay. If.. if you really want to, but… I don’t know about this Marie…”

Marie, enervated and whipped, gave her a tired gracious smile. “Thanks Mae. Let’s just… let’s just get going.”

Maeve gave her a tight frown before shaking her head, grabbing her own luggage from the wall, “Alright, alright… it’s just…”

“Just what…?” Marie prodded, feeling as though she already knew the question before Maeve even asked.

Deliberating between asking or not, at least from what Marie could tell, she saw Maeve take in a sharp intake of air before she just came out with it.

“You should tell him.”

Anna-Marie didn’t say anything, her lips pursing together tightly anxiously.

“You know I’m right!” Maeve insisted, her dark eyes looking hard into Anna-Marie’s green ones. “He’s going to be suspicious after some time when it gets more obvious! What are you going to do until then? Avoid him the entire time!?”

“Ah am gonna tell him!” Marie almost shouted, just managing to temper her voice as they crossed the threshold out the bathroom and into the main hallway. She took a deep breath, collecting herself once more now that she was in public, “Jus’... Jus’ not raight now. Ah promise. He’ll get ta’ know but… not yet…”

She looked at her feet, downcast, dread bubbling in her heart. “Not… not yet.”

Just like before, Marie could tell that Maeve wanted to say something more, that she was rearing to argue how much that was a bad idea, but she decided against it, giving Marie a disgruntled frown. “Alright, just… just don’t hold off on it for too long. He won’t… he won’t like it.”

Marie flashed Maeve a wan smile, her eyes brimming with unshed tears. “Ah know that… but he ain’t ready to hear it.”

“And I’m not either…” were the unspoken words that never left her lips.

The two roommates walked side by side in conflicted silence as they made their way to the exit of Morgana, heading towards the bus where several of the other students were waiting as both Dr. Burgess and the bus driver loaded the cargo into the storage compartment on the side.

In many ways, Anna-Marie and Maeve were quite different from one another. Appearances and styles, for one thing. While Maeve was an introverted, tomboyish woman with spunky, boyish pageboy and an androgynous face that made her more handsomely pretty in the same way that Marie had always likened her to a “k-pop star,” Marie tended to be a girly-girl, her long hair reached the small of her back, with her face naturally soft with a very light scattering of freckles and she had definitely taken to the party lifestyle so many former country bumpkins girls tended to do.

Maeve liked the quiet solitude, spending most of her time reading or playing games, if not being as studious as possible, attending class on time and regularly taking trips to the library to study in peace. Anna-Marie had been quite loud and extroverted, spending many-a-night dancing at the clubs nearby or going to the best house party or gig around, sometimes bypassing her studies to have a good time at The LEAP or bar hopping with her more outgoing friends.

It was pure irony, or perhaps because opposites attract, that despite their different lifestyles, they were as thick as thieves, sharing a close bond that surprised anyone from the outside looking in, a powerful friendship.

So Marie trusted Maeve with all her heart to keep her secret, despite how much she disagreed with the notion to keep it. As the two of them walked in silence, not wanting to broach the subject, she held onto that thought at they walked across the campus, ignoring the morning chill in the air.

When the two of them neared at the bus, it looked as though most of the other students had already been there, with them the last to arrive.

Dr. Burchess, who had been stuffing in a rather highly decorated pink bag into the bus, turned just in time to see them coming. Her eyes lit up the moment they spotted the two girls. “Oh! Maeve and Anna-Marie! You guys just made it in time, I was about to count the both of you out.”

It was Anna-Marie that was the first to speak, plastering a forced smile on her face, “Good mornin’ Dr. Burchess! Sorry ‘bout that, we had a lil’ mishap with our luggage. Had to check for a coupl’a things.”

“Well, I’m glad you made it on time,” Dr. Burchess said, reaching out to take their bags from them, “You can grab something real quick if you need to. We’re gonna board in about ten minutes.”

“I’m good,” Maeve answered with a wave of her hand before turning to Marie, “What about you?”

“A-Ah’m fiyun,” Marie croaked before clearing her throat, “Ah-um, I’m fine!”

Dr. Burchess gave her a strange look, and it occurred to Maeve a bit belatedly that she could probably see Marie’s red eyes and flaky smile.

The professor’s face softened, as she gave Marie a compassionate look. “Oh Marie… it looks like both you and Amerie are having a bad day today.”

Marie raised an eyebrow, but it was Maeve who asked, “What do you mean?”

Dr. Burchess’s eyes widened, taken aback, as though she said something she wasn’t supposed to say. “Oh, um… d-don’t worry about it. You guys can hang around the lobby with some of the others. Everyone’s accounted for, so just grab the paper at the front desk if you need the layout sheets in paper.”

“Thanks, Dr. Burchess,” said Maeve before gesturing to Marie that she was going to head inside, making her way to the doors.

Marie, on the other hand, stayed put. “Wait, hold on… what’s going on with Amerie?”

Her professor seemed to uncharacteristically swear under her breath, before looking back at Marie with a look of slight consternation, “It’s… not my place to…”

She never finished her sentence, trailing off as her eyes seem to focus on what was behind Marie,

Marie, feeling a pit develop in her now empty stomach, turned around in time for her to meet Amerie’s gaze.

Amerie was sporting a black eye, and Marie had a feeling that she must’ve sensed that the two had been talking about, her or rather were about to talk about her. She didn’t seem to have anything to say about it though, her eyes immediately looking to the ground, in shame or in anger, it was hard to tell as she walked passed them, walking to the bench to get away from the crowd of women who were talking to one another in the gazebo area nearby, pulling up her phone and ignoring everyone else, seeming to seek solitude for the little bit of time they had before they would depart.

The two looked at her for a few moments before Dr. Burchess let out a long sigh, compelling Marie to look back at her, “Look Anna-Marie, I don’t know what happened last night, and I understand if you don’t want to talk about it, but do think that this trip will be good for the both of you.” Her smile was small, but kind when she said, “If you want, we can talk about it if you want. And if you don't want to go, It’s okay, I will understand.”

Touched by her teacher’s consideration and kindness, Marie stared for a moment before returning the gesture with a kind smile. “Thank you, Dr. Burchess, but Ah’m good.In fact, Ah’m really lookin’ forward to the trip. Ah think Ah really need it. Prolly’ be good for me raight ‘bout now.”

The professor gave her a motherly look, “Well, if only you’re absolutely sure. Okay?”

Marie gave the professor a grateful nod. Dr. Burchess may not have been her favorite professor, but she was close to it. “Ah will. Thanks, Dr. B.”

And with that, she walked to where she knew Maeve was, and joining in the small gathering of women who were talking about a multitude of topics, allowing her worries to be slightly abated for a time. While Maeve had glanced her way several times, she hadn’t brought up the issue, acting as though nothing had happened, and Anna-Marie more than appreciated it.

The time to board came sooner than she had expected, and with the aid of the driver, she got up the first step and walked towards the back, taking the seat at the window, with Maeve taking the aisle seat next to her.

Having now been situated in her seat, she let out a long exhale as everyone else began to board in relative silence, the sound of feet tromping in the aisle and others placing their carry-ons on the top compartment above the chairs. Once everyone had taken a seat, she watched as Dr. Burchess stood in the center-front of the aisle, doing a quick face count before waving a hand to get everyone’s attention.

“Remember everyone! We’ll be gone for four days,” she declared, reiterating her words once more with emphasis, “And if you haven’t found your buddy yet, now is a great time. We will make a chart with who pairs with who once we get to the lodge, and if you don’t have one already, you’ll get the choice to find someone since we have an even number of you guys here.”

Dr. Burchess also went on about the things to expect, how long the ride was, and all sorts of instructions and stories, all of it becoming white noise to Anna-Marie as the girl began to feel her mind drift off to the most pressing matter of all.

How Ezra would react once he found out the truth.

“He’s going to be more suspicious over time when it gets more obvious! What are you going to do then!? Avoid him the entire time!?”

She knew that Maeve was right. Ezra needed to know. The sooner the better,

But the thought of telling him made her feel awfully ill. Scared.

How would he react? Not well, she’d suppose. They had been dating for over seven months, and she would have no way of knowing how he would take the news. She herself wasn’t taking it so well, and even though she tried to keep a placid expression on her face, she was suffocating on the inside from the thought that she would have to face the reality of it all once they were back from the trip.

She rested her head on the window, the cool glass against the side of her face a pleasant feeling that failed to distract her from the churning in her gut.

No… she could deal with it later.

Even though it was mainly for extra credit, this was supposed to be her respite. Her retreat from it all.

She closed her eyes as Dr. Burchess began to wrap things up and get into her own seat. As the engine started on the bus and she felt the bus finally go into motion, leaving the parking lot’s loop as they began to leave the campus’ main entrance, she allowed her mind to wander. To try to get anything to off her mind of what was in store for her and everyone once she returned.

Try, and unfortunately, fail.

And, feeling a stray tear roll down her cheek, out of sight of everyone, as her thoughts once again went back to that Thursday night several weeks ago, no matter how much she tried to push it away from the forefront of her mind on the one question truly plagued her mind, over and over again.

How could she ever hope to ask him for forgiveness, when she couldn’t even forgive herself?

—--

If there was one thing that stood out the most during her study abroad in America, it was just how cosmopolitan the country was in comparison to her own.

Ayaka had known what to expect to see to some degree during the long fifteen-hour plane ride from Tokyo to New York. If there was one country that every other place in the world had a better understanding of than any other, it was the United States. Media such as movies and television made it practically impossible for most people to not have some notion on how different the country was like. But, of course, movies and shows always exaggerated certain aspects of every nation: she didn’t expect the average American citizen to be a cowboy anymore than the average Japanese person to be a samurai.

But, boy were there enough guns in the country to make enough cowboys for a lifetime.

Nonetheless, knowing about something and seeing something with her own eyes were two completely different things. Upon arriving in the country, she was absolutely gobsmacked at how everyone looked so different from one another, in contrast to Japan’s significantly more homogenous populace. On this bus alone, there were so many people of different ethnicities, religions, backgrounds and even other countries. The girl next to her was Spanish woman hailing from Spain, with the women amicably chatting about some show on television in the seats in front of her African-American and Vietnamese-American. And that were just the people in her immediate vicinity. A diverse melting pot in just the bus alone.

Of course, other things caught her off guard as well like the ridiculously massive portion sizes (her first burger from McDonalds had been a spectacle to behold) and the sheer openness that many Americans possessed to speak about taboo topics such as sex and politics. Among many other things, but in a way, it truly was leaps and bounds different from Japan.

Having grown up in Sapporo, where the winters would collect meters upon meters of snow every other day, she had easily acclimated to the New York temperatures fairly well, and with her being very proficient, if not fluent, in English (although, her grasp on the American-colloquialism still needed some work, to her own chagrin. Things like the “tube” and “telly” were British slang she discovered belatedly), it was mainly culture shock that threw her for a loop.

But now that she was into her second semester of her study abroad program, and likewise her final one before she returned home, she felt the need to see more of the country than she had already seen. She had only been on the east coast so far, going to Florida to spend time with her fellow expats in Miami during summer vacation, Washington DC to tour the capital, and certain places like Six Flags in New Jersey and some jazz concert her friend had driven her to all the way in Baltimore.

But the country was huge, and there were so many more places she wanted to go to. She wanted to go to L.A. (no matter how much her friends told her it was dirty and just a tourist trap), Las Vegas (especially since she was now old enough to gamble, something that was illegal in her country outside of the pachinko parlors), San Francisco, Houston, Hollywood… it was as though she’d have to figure out some way to get to the other side of the country just to see those places, an expensive venture nonetheless.

Her mother had been absolutely right in saying she had a “wandering spirit,” or a travelling bug as her English-speaking friends called it.

"I don’t know if it’s because your father is from Osaka or if it's just because things happened this way, but I’m not shocked you want to see the world.” Her mother had told her last year when she had told her family she was planning to spend her fourth year in the United States. “You better work hard though. The plane ride is not going to be cheap.”

And she had been right. It wasn’t. But it most certainly had been worth it.

As the bus rolled down the highway, with most of the occupants either sleeping, reading, on their phones or engaging in light chatter, she took the time to look around the bus on a whim.

Carmen, a Spanish girl from Barcelona and one of the first people she had become acquainted with, had her eyes closed with earphones in her ear, no doubt fully intending to sleep for most of the ride. She, like Ayaka, were mainly history majors and had a need to see the world, it had been no wonder they became fast friends.

The girls in front of her, whom if she recalled their names correctly were Diamond and Minh respectively, were in front of her, had switched their topics to talk about some funny incident that had happened in their high school. While Diamond, the girl with curly hair and a matching pink and black exercise attire, had been in her Native American History class, she supposed that Minh, the girl with the rather thick coat and black-and-white striped sweatpants, must’ve been in the Colonial Archaeology class, something she had no idea about until now. She had talked to the two on a few occasions, and found herself liking the two, but they had been only acquaintances so far.

In the seats parallel from her were Evelyn and Angela, two girls who were transfixed on their phones, their fingers idly scrolling through whatever they were looking at, paying no mind to the others aboard the bus, or even each other for that matter.

A few others in her class like Genevieve, Rachel, Lily, Maeve, Anna-Marie and Yunha could be seen from her vantage point, either resting or on their phones. The other students she saw, whom she didn’t recognize all that much, were pretty much doing the same, with one girl, petite with pink highlights and a Pikachu-hat doing a crossword puzzle in a book with her friend, a chubby woman with long red hair and a scattering of freckles, pointing out certain possible words.

She grimaced, that pink-haired girl, whose name had evaded her, she had recognized for all the wrong reasons. Not long after she had came to the campus, she remembered crossing paths with her and almost immediately being inundated with questions about Japanese culture and anime, something she vaguely recalled her American friends warning her about. It was obvious that she was an otaku, or as the western people had said, a weeaboo, and apparently she had a proclivity towards anime that, while she had nothing against (and watched a few shows herself), she had a rather fictitious view of how a Japanese person would act.

Especially when she broke out into the “desus” and “kawaiis.”

That had been an... "encounter."

Her eyes quickly looked the opposite way before she finally laid them upon the girl of interest who was sitting in the very back.

Amerie.

Ayaka felt sympathy well up for the poor girl.

The young woman was simply lying against the window next to a bespectacled brunette, looking out the window as the scenery went by, her black eye standing in sharp contrast to an otherwise pretty face.

Ayaka would be lying to say that she knew the girl very well; especially since she noticed that she tended to keep to herself most days, not really going out to talk to others all that much or joining in at most social gatherings. That had to be incredibly lonely.

Someone tapped her shoulder, immediately making her turn her head back.

It had been Diamond, who was holding her phone.

“You dropped this, Yaya,” she said, using Ayaka’s sillier nickname while handing it to her.

“Oh, thanks, Dee,” she said gratefully; she hadn’t even noticed her cell fall off of her lap. She gave a cursory glance at the screen, seeing that it wasn’t cracked, before pocketing it in her jacket. “Don’t know why I even have it out since I barely use it.”

“I hear you girl,” Diamond replied with a chuckle, pulling up a flip phone to show Ayaka, “I have a burner with me. Don’t want anybody reachin’ me on this trip when I’m finally getting away from everybody.”

Ayaka let out a small laugh, “Away from everybody? We got over twenty-something people under a single roof.”

“I’ll take being with twenty-something strangers than having my sisters blow up my phone in the middle of the night.”

Ayaka smiled. “Blow of the phone” was such a funny slang term to her. “I should’ve done something like that, but I guess the time difference is kind of my way of having my days free.”

“I thought Japanese girls were all about their keitais and pictures.”

Ayaka shrugged. “I kind of was, back in high school. But I don’t know how to describe it, I find it um… um… how do you say er, haradatashii?”

“Oh, you mean, exasperating?”

“Yeah that,” she said, feeling somewhat (if anything, needlessly) inadequate in her English, especially since Diamond had a pretty good grasp of Japanese. Maybe she really should have chosen to do homestay instead. “I find it exasper–exas… can you say it one more time?”

“Exasperating.”

“Yeah, exasperating,” the word felt very strange on her tongue, “to be called and texted all kinds of the day. Didn’t mind it so much in high school, but when I came here, I just… didn’t like feeling like I absolutely had to respond every time.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, I still have my main phone,” Diamond said, raising her other phone for Ayaka to see, “but it’s gonna be turned off ninety-percent of the time.”

“What’s the point in bringing it if you’re barely going to be on it?”

That came from Carmen, who had been rubbing the sleep out of her eyes; just awakening from her nap. She yawned before saying, “If you’re really going to get away from everyone, then the main phone should stay home.”

Diamond rolled her eyes, “Well, unlike you whose professors actually are willing to wait until you get back to catch up on your work,” despite her words, it was said in a playfully teasing tone, “Most of my profs send have me do the work online, so saying I was away for a week ain’t gonna cut it.”

“Poor you,” Carmen said snidely, “Should’ve lied and said there’s no internet out there.”

Minh was the next to speak, turning around to join in the conversation as she whispered “You know Dr. Burchess would’ve definitely said something though. Or else I would’ve gone with that lie.”

“Hey, I could’ve figured out some kind of excuse if I’d thought about it,” Diamond countered jokingly.

Ayaka gave out a small laugh, as did the other girls before they went quiet.

As if compelled now that she had an audience, she glanced back at the back at the bus, spotting Amerie in the back of the bus before looking forward, lowering her voice to a whisper, even though logically, Amerie shouldn’t have been able to hear her from the distance between her spot in the bus and hers. “Say, does anyone have any idea what happened to Amerie?”

The jovial atmosphere between them soon evolved into a malaise.

“I… I don’t know,,” Minh said timidly, furtively looking around to see if anyone else was listening in. “I mean… I don’t know her that much so…”

“Does she have a boyfriend?” Diamond asked, “If she does and he did that, he’s a massive dick.”

Carmen shook her head, “I dunno. Maybe. I’m just hoping it’s something stupid and not serious like a ball to the face or something.”

“I don’t think she would’ve acted like that if it was just some accident. Maybe a fight?,” Ayaka offered, fighting the temptation to look back at the girl in their topic. “I mean, does anyone know?”

“Y’know somebody’s going to ask once we get to the lodge,” Carmen stated, turning to her right, where further down, spotting the ombre-haired Veronica talking to Genevieve, unaware of the gaze of the four women further behind her. “Bet it's going to be Veronica.”

Diamond scoffed. “Bitch has no filter.”

“You have no filter,” Minh pointed out with a grin.

Diamond shrugged, “I have a better filter than she does.”

“Still, shouldn’t one of us, I mean… see if she’s really okay?” Ayaka said, bringing things back to topic.

“I mean,” Carmen started, frowning, “We should, but none of us know her and she probably doesn’t want to talk about it.”

“Doesn’t she have a partner?” Minh asked. “We all kind of need a partner.”

Good question. “I… maybe when Ms. Burchess gets the chart ready, we’ll see.”

“I feel bad for her,” Diamond said bluntly. There was evident concern in her voice. “If she’s being abused, someone needs to talk to her.”

“Are you going to be that someone?” Ayaka asked conspiratorially, looking Diamond in the eye. “Because if you are, I’ll do it with you.”

“Then I probably will,” Diamond declared confidently, “I mean, only if she wants to talk about it.”

Ayaka smiled. Out of all the people Ayaka’s met since she’s been in the country, or hell even back in Japan, Diamond stood out as one of the few people who possessed a strong sense of justice and didn’t mind breaking out of the mold compared to most people. It made sense, given that both of her parents were cops, a child no doubt raised to be lawful and just. She didn’t doubt that Diamond would act upon her own words, but she definitely was worried that the outcome might not be in either of their favor.

Carmen yawned again, placing her earbuds back in her ear. “Well, you do that. Any case, I’m going back to sleep. Let me know when we’re getting close, yes?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Ayaka said, but Carmen was already closing her eyes and laying back in her chair, letting out a slow exhale with her shoulders slumping. It probably wouldn’t be long for her to get back to sleep.

“Yeah, I think I’ll do the same,” Minh said, stretching her arms above her head before getting comfortable in her chair. “I went to bed at two o’clock this morning. Getting tired as fuck.”

“You always go to bed late, you ain’t got an excuse,” Diamond teased, with Minh giving her a playful swat on her shoulder before getting back into a restful position. Diamond gave a short laugh before turning to Ayaka, “But for real, Yaya, will you actually come with me to talk with Amerie when we get there?”

She nodded, readily agreeing. “Yeah, but I don’t think she’s going to be ready to talk about it any time soon.”

“You’re probably right, but still…” Diamond’s face became more sullen, “I had a friend back in high school who… well,had that kind of situation and I can’t just… y’know…. ignore it.”

Ayaka winced in sympathy. “I… I didn’t know that.”

Diamond’s smile returned, albeit less cheerful and more wistful. “I’ll tell you about it another time.” Then, pulling out her main phone, turning it on. “Now then…”

She waited for the screen to pull up before looking at Ayaka, expectantly. “Got Uno on your phone?”

Ayaka smiled, going straight to the game on her phone herself.

The two played a few Uno games together on their phone against one another and other players before talking about Youtube videos and sharing instagram videos and photos, before independently scrolling through their own things to do. After some time, Ayaka had to cut off her phone when it had reached around thirty-seven percent, spending the rest of the time looking out the window at the passing scenery of rolling hills and farmlands in passing, eventually nodding off to sleep.

She woke up from a dreamless slumber to someone gently tapping her shoulder, calling her name quietly. “Ayaka? Ayaka, wake up.”

“Mm…mmmhm?” she groaned, her eyes flickering awake slowly. Her blurred vision coalesced after several moments of blinking, blurs of green and brown taking the shape as trees and brushes, taking only a few seconds for her to she realize that the bus was going up an incline, driving through a forest with several elongated branches brushing against the bus in passing.

She noticed that several other students who had been asleep were now also awake and attentive as she leaned up from her chair, rolling her neck around to get the kinks out from sleeping in an upright position. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, taking note of the bus beginning to slow down, bumping a bit on the dirt road.

Within probably two to three minutes, the bus came to a stop. And amidst the sound of those who had still been resting finally coming to, Dr. Burchess’ voice rung loud and clear as she stood up and looked at the twenty-three students. “Alrighty, everybody! Wakey wakey, guys!”

There were a few yawns, groans and light chatter heard about as the rest of the bus who had been still asleep were waking up. Dr. Burchess’ graciously waited for everyone to get themselves together before she sing-sung, “We’re finally heeeeeere!”

Whatever residual fatigue Ayaka had was quickly giving away to elation now that she was aware that they had finally arrived at their destination after several hours of mostly staying in a rather uncomfortable seating position. Carmen, who was standing and stretching, moved to the aisle to grab her bag from the above compartment, along with several other students.

The doors opened just as Dr. Burchess said, “Let’s all wait around the front real quick, and I’ll give you guys more info on what we’re gonna do.”

The professor’s smile was wide and full of barely contained excitement when she asked everyone:

“You all ready?”
Little lady. Big weeb. Normal-sized writer. What's on the menu?
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