004. what happened

JUNE 17TH, THE DAY OF THE TRIP TO UPSTATE NEW YORK. to say the least everyone was excited. for some this was the first time leaving the state or the town.

"arzaylea? harlow? are you two listening?" nova asked.

arzaylea, paisley, harlow, and nova
were at nova's house, finishing up the last minute packing for their trip.

they were supposed to be at the school in fifteen minutes ago but the group decided to wait for alyssa. in the meantime nova wanted to show everyone the plan she made for their trip.

"we need to go bike riding and go to coney island." nova said, trying to get everyone's attention but the three were zoning out, or being occupied by other things.

"girls! alyssa's here so we can get to the school now." nova's mom yelled from downstairs.

"sorry guys, i ran to the film store last minute. i can't afford to loose any of the film i get on the trip." she explained as she started filming.

"it's no big deal hollywood. lets just hope we're not late." arzaylea says grabbing her bag.

they all got their bags and piled into nova's mom's car. the ride to the school was very short. four giant yellow buses lined up behind each other.

nova's parents were pretty chill, they adored nova and were very overprotective of her. she was their only child, whom also happened to be autistic so to say the least the they always worried about her.

"do you have everything you need? oh god nova you left your sunscreen- i can go home and get it—" her mom said anxiously.

"mom, no i'll be fine i swear." she said slightly embarrassed. "i'm gonna go stand with my friends now. love you." she says hugging her mom as ivy waves to her.

"love you too. keep an eye on her for me, eh?" nova's mom says jokingly as ivy nodded.

"come on nova lets find the good seats." harlow said grabbing her hand.

"wait wait pictures!" alyssa shouted. as the group including ivy took pictures in front of school.

"try to stand in front of where the graffiti is. i don't want it to mess up the shot."

they were on their silly picture when ashton, corbyn, ruben, and zach crashed it by scaring them.

"that was so not funny—" arzaylea scoffed.

"no, i think it really was. you should've seen your faces." ruben smirked.

"i mean ruben has a point. this is definitely going into the yearbook." alyssa chuckled.

"but babe my hairs all frizzy." corbyn pouted.

"let me fix it for you." she says before messing up his messy hair even more. "there." she laughs loudly, before corbyn tickles her.

"pda at eight in the morning? as expected, especially from you two." sieamae jokes as tyler elbows her.

"shut up, their adorable." he awes.

"hey lilian!" crawford smiled.

"h-hey."

"are you excited for the trip?"

"y-yeah, new york is my home state." she said.

"really that must've been exciting."

"it's okay, i mean its just new york." lilian shrugged.

"just new york? i've never been outside of wes ham in my life." he said as she gasped.

"well that means this trip is gonna be extra special." she said smiling lightly.

the once small group became more louder since the rest of the seniors arrived. each discussing drama or their own plans for the trip.

"sieamae." cassandra called.

"just please don't, i don't want this trip to be ruined." sieamae said, cassandra was about to speak again until the bus driver cut her off.

"okay everyone on the bus!" the driver said sternly, making the crowd of two hundred quiet.

"all im saying is if we end up at crystal lake, i'm betting that guy is the killer." one of the students muttered.

sieamae, tyler, ivy, and oakley sat across from each other leaving an empty space. oakley saw lilian and invited her to sit with them.

"hey lilian! come sit next to us!" she said as lilian awkward sat with the group.

"t-thanks." she said as she listened to tyler and ivy talk about their favorite broadway shows.

"sorry to interrupt guys, but i can i get a photo for the yearbook and my short film on our trip?" alyssa asked.

"i would just hurry and say yes. she's been taking everyone's pictures all morning." harlow said rolling her eyes playfully.

"how else am i supposed to get into cal arts without a good portfolio?" she said.

"lilian get in this one!" ivy said as lilian squeezed in the frame.

"everyone say nyc!" she smiled.

"nyc!" they said, as the bus driver got on the bus.

"hey romeo."

"give it a break zach." jack said rolling his eyes.

"oh come on! you two totally hit it off the other night." zach continued.

"so did you and oakley?"

"no this is about you jack. here's phase two to my full proof plan." zach rambles.

"you are gonna ask sieamae on a date when we get to the city."

"or he can just sit with her on the ride there." ashton interjected.

"or that." zach added.

"sieamae!" zach says getting her attention. "jack wanted to ask you something, right jack?"

"i hate you." jack mumbles as he nodded.

"love you more, now get in there romeo." zach says pushing zach closer.

"hey mae! mind if i call you that?" jack stuttered.

"sure thing, what's up?" she replied.

"i made a playlist if you want to listen with me on the ride there." he asked.

"sure, you guys don't mind right?" siemae asked.

"go have fun, we'll survive the next seven and a half hours." tyler said reassuringly.

siemae picked up her bag before sitting next to the curly haired brunette. he handed her one of the ear buds as he plugged in his phone.

"everyone please sit down, we're starting the drive." the bus driver said as the bus pulled out of town.

𝟖 𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐑 ...

"rock slides, the road is closed. you're back home" the bus driver said.

"we're still in west ham?" a student scoffed.

"what?" daniel said, rubbing his eyes as the bus doors opened.

"yeah."

everyone got off the buses, as they stood in the field of the high school. it's was dark out and no one looked like they were coming.

"doesn't look like anyone was expecting us." ruben says.

ashton heard the phone ring out for the seventh time before he got to the familiar voicemail.

"it's darren, leave a message." he sighed as he shook his head, hanging up.

"my dad's phone keeps ringing." ashton spoke.

"so is my mom's." oakley added.

"maybe they're asleep." ruben suggested.

"well then what should we do now?" harlow wondered aloud.

"well i'm going home." cameron said coldly.

"without me?" paisley asked jokingly, as he purposely ignored her.

"hey mom. mom, i'm back home. they- they brought us back home. this is outrageous! mom— hello?" cassandra said into the phone.

miles dallas rolls eyes his before walking home. he was was also on the student body council and a member of the debate team.

like sieamae and pretty much everyone else, he didn't like cassandra. he thought she was too pushy and liked to be in charge over everything.

our group made their own separate ways. sieamae, ivy, tyler and oakley went to sieamae's house since her parents were rarely ever home during the week. they didn't mind it since that past year has been especially hard on sieamae.

alyssa walked home with arzaylea, nova, harlow, and paisley instead of going over to corbyn's.

the guys ashton, jonah, corbyn, daniel, ruben, jack, and zach walking home together. crawford would've went along but he decided to accompany lilian on her journey home.

it was nearly pitch black out and he felt an overwhelming need to protect her.

"you really didn't need to walk me home." she blushed.

"it's okay, i want to." he smiled.

the two walked the ten minute distance to lillian's house. she thanked him as he watched the blonde safely get into her house.

➤

back at sieamae's house, the four decided to watch movies.

"i texted my mom and she still didn't text me back." oakley said, concern laced in her voice.

"maybe the storm knocked out our data, if you want we can go by your house in the morning?" tyler suggested, comforting the girl.

"okay two picks, friday the thirteenth or nightmare on elm street?"

"the original masterpieces or the shitty sequels?" tyler asked.

"the originals duh." sieamae said playfully rolling her eyes.

"i go with jason voorhees." tyler says munching on popcorn.

"then i go with freddy kruger." ivy says.

"okay oakley, your our tie breaker." said sieamae as oakley's and phone started ringing.

"hello?" oakley answered. "what do you mean she's not there?" oakley asked.

"well what about nova, arzaylea, or harlow?" she said. "don't panic, i'll call you back." oakley said as she hung up.

"paisley said her parents or her brothers aren't home."

"that's strange, maybe a last minute thing?" tyler suggested.

"paisley said her mom's keys are still there and both cars are too." oakley continued. "and she said nova, harlow and arzaylea haven't seen their parents either."

"well shit." ivy said as she went to text crawford but she got a text from cassandra telling everyone to meet in front of the town church.

𝐁𝐑𝐈𝐀 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐒!
[ june 16th, 2021 ]

edited? yes

authors note:
hey faves!!
i hope your all doing well. i'm getting some of these chapters done. this also my last week of school thank god 😩. remember to drink water and get some rest. i love you so so much :)
—bria 🤍