iii.

—THE whole class took their leisurely time getting off the dingy school bus, and at this rate, Savannah was starting to get a headache. The bus wasn't moving but it was getting hot and claustrophobic in the back. Leo must have noticed the signs of sickness all over her because he tugged on her wrist to cut a few people in the aisle.

"Hey! Watch it!" Isabel practically shrieked as the girl was pushed back down in her seat.

"Sorry," Savannah threw over her shoulder as the boy continued to maneuver his way through the students. Eventually, they reached the furthest point they could around halfway and stopped. "Thanks, Leo."

"Eh, it was nothing. I didn't want you barfing all up on me," he laughed.

"Would have been better now than earlier while we were still driving," Savannah shrugged. "Imagine just having to sit in all that grossness. Eugh."

"I definitely wouldn't have sat in it. My clothes would have been sent straight out the window."

"You would have just gone naked?" Savannah chuckled, not really minding the prying ears that tuned it at the word 'naked.' Wow, how scandalous of a word.

Leo looked around, though, quite embarrassed at the prospect of everyone listening to the conversation now. "Well, no. I would have taken your jacket and worn it as pants and taken Jason's to wear regularly."

"That would have been a sight."

Leo rolled his eyes. "And not a pretty one."

They were off the bus at that point and started stretching out their muscles like everyone else.There were echoes of everyone needing to find the bathroom, so a large chunk of the students went inside to find it. Savannah and Leo stuck behind to talk to Jason and Piper about the memory issue.

  Savannah started to put on her hoodie. It wasn't supposed to be cold but the wind was whipping around like crazy and it made her feel chilly.

  "You cold, Savi?" Leo asked, chuckling as her head got stuck in her hood. She used her hands to move things around till it sat right on her.

  "Could be warmer," she admitted, synching up the strings. Her jacket had the mascot of a random middle school she didn't go to. It had come from a thrift store and had been with her for a few years, fraying at the sleeves. "Do you not feel it at all?"

  Leo was in a simple t-shirt and some jeans that were a little short for him, exposing his ankles. Nobody at their school had new clothes so they took what they could get. "I'm usually hot so this is really nice for me."

  "Crazy," she muttered and blushed as Leo moved closer. She raised her eyebrows at how fast she warmed up even at this distance. It felt unnatural, but she didn't question it. He was warm.

  "So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said as the couple stepped off the bus in front of them. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'" — Leo made some air quotes with his fingers —  "which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble, so they shipped you off to this lovely prison," Savannah nudged him, "sorry, 'boarding school' — in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day though the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?" He was out of breathe by the end and was heaving on Savannah's side.

  "No," Jason glanced around at the other kids a little apprehensively — for good reason, Savannah knew there were some oddballs around, including them.

  Leo rolled his eyes, "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Okay, so the four of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your dessert and do my chores —"

  "Leo!" Piper and Savannah snapped. Savannah liked to pick fun as much as the boy did, but her mind was telling her something was totally off with Jason.

  "Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than a friend, and you don't like Savannah in that way."

  Savannah rolled her eyes at the unnecessary comments. Frankly, Jason didn't really look like he was retaining any of this because Leo was speaking too fast.

  "Leo, stop it!" Piper snapped again. Her face was burning with a red tint. Jason's cheeks and neck were also a faint pink. "He's got amnesia or something," she continued. "We've got to tell somebody."

  "Yeah, I agree. The longer he doesn't remember, the least likely he will," Savannah said.

  "Who would we go to? Hedge would just try fixing Jason by whacking him upside the head," Leo deadpanned.

  "Leo, Jason needs help," Piper insisted. "He's got a concussion or —"

  "Yo, Piper." A boy dropped back to join them as they headed inside the museum. He wedged himself between Jason and Piper and knocked down Leo, who had successfully managed to keep Savannah from hitting the ground by making her land on top of him, but he had sufficiently had the wind knocked out of him. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?" He gave his pearly white smile.

  "Go away, Dylan," Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to work with you."

  "Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her away into the museum. Savannah looked after them, standing to her feet with Leo's help. She could have sworn the boy just gave Jason the most hostile look ever. It wouldn't have been unusual for the guy to do that considering he liked Piper, but as she tried to recall any instances where he'd interacted with Jason, she came up short.

  "I hate that guy." Leo offered an arm to Jason, like they should go skipping together. "I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!"

  "Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."

  "Yeah, you tell me that a lot." Leo grinned. "But if you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes. Come on, you're with us now, I guess since your partner ran off into the sunset with a jerk."

  Jason shook his head, but followed nonetheless.

  The three actually made a pit stop with Coach Hedge. Leo and Jason stayed back to discuss more about their friendship while Savannah actually spoke the the guy. "Coach Hedge?"

  The short man grunted and looked up at the girl. He folded his arms and cocked his head. "What do you need, May?" The girl noticed him side eye the boys not too far away and he grumbled.

  "Um, Jason, we think he needs medical attention," Savannah said, wringing her fingers.

  "Jason?" He asked questionably like he didn't even know the name. His head snapped to the boys again and this time they were looking over. "May, I think ... Jason will be just fine. He can take his knocks. Keep an eye on him. A careful eye, he's trouble." The man walked away but gave Jason and Leo a withering glance.

  Savannah shook her head and walked back over to her friends. "I don't think he's going to help us? Sorry, Jason."

  "We'll do something. I'm sorry I can't remember anything," Jason grimaced.

  "It isn't your fault," she smiled back and they walked further inside to the exhibits. They came upon Piper and Dylan. The girl was still trying her best to get away.

  Some of the snooty girls stared at them and started to whisper. One of them said, "Hey, Piper, does your tribe run this place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?" The other girls laughed. Even Dylan was holding back a smile. Piper's hands clenched in her snowboarding jacket sleeves.

  "My dad's Cherokee," she said. "Not Hualapai. 'Course, you'd need a few brain cells to know the difference, Isabel."

  Isabel's eyes widened before she smirked, "Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right; you never knew your mom." Savannah felt Leo grab her hand, parents were a tough subject for all of them.

  Piper charged at her, but before anything could happen, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat."

  As they all moved on to the next presentation, more comments were being sent to Piper.

  "Good to be back on the rez?"

  "Dad's probably too drunk to work. That's why she turned klepto."

  "I heard Savannah's dad went insane and that's why she's a pyromaniac."

  The last few had Leo and Jason trying to charge at the girls, ready to punch them themselves. Savannah latched onto their arms, "Hey. Hey, Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, those girls would freak if they knew who her dad was, they'd all be bowing down at her feet like she were a princess."

  "What about you?" Leo asked. He didn't want those girls to get away with insulting her.

  "I honestly don't care what they say about me. And they're not wrong about my dad," she frowned, thinking about her dad always put her in a glum mood. Leo grabbed her hand again.

  "What was that about Piper's dad?" Jason asked.

  Leo laughed in disbelief. "You're not kidding? You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad —"

  "Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad."

  Leo whistled. "Whatever. We have to talk when we get back to the dorm."

  The class headed out the doors with Coach Hedge claiming that the skywalk could hold seventy jumbo jets. It was like standing on glass. You could see the whole canyon below and Savannah kind of hated it.

  "Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."

  "That's one way to put it," Savannah breathed out. Birds were literally flying under their feet.

  "You all right?" Leo asked Jason who was wobbling a bit. "You're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should have brought my camera." He built it himself.

  Jason grabbed the railing. He looked sweaty and his body was shaking. "I'm fine," he managed. "Just a headache." Thunder rumbled and a strong and cold wind swept by.

  "This can't be safe." Leo was squinting at the clouds and holding onto Savannah tightly. He was almost completely sure she was light enough to just go flying off with this wind. "Storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"

  "All right, cupcakes!" Coach boomed. He frowned at the storm like it was bothering him. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember complete sentences!"

  "What should I put for question nine?" Savannah asked, clicking her pen.

  "Uh, put that it's really long and it is really big," Leo suggested, looking over her shoulder. He snickered as she gasped and smacked his arm.

  "We can't write that, Leo!"

  Leo looked at Jason who was holding a coin in his hand, "Dang, is that gold?" Leo asked. "You been holding out on me!"

  Jason put the coin back in his pocket and shrugged, "It's nothing. Just a coin."

  "Whatever. Come on, I dare you guys to spit over the edge."

  —LEO refused to help answer the questions and Jason had no clue what the answers were even asking so Savannah was left on her own. The boy felt bad, but Savannah assured him time and time again that she was smart enough to do a simple worksheet.

  Leo was busy building a small helicopter. Out of pipe cleaners. He made sure to let Savannah take a look at it as she loved to do before sending it flying across the canyon.

  "How'd you do that?" Jason asked.

  "He has a knack for building things," Savannah was always amazed by what Leo could build, to his delight. She kept challenging him to make more strange things, like the other day he made a hairbrush that could change into a toothbrush and a tube of lipstick. It was a dangerous concept if not paying attention. "Comes in handy for shop class. He's the teacher's pet."

  "It would have been cooler if I had some rubber bands," Leo said wistfully, ignoring Savannah's comment as she nudged him playfully.

  "Seriously," Jason said, "are we friends?"

  "What, you want a friendship bracelet? Leo could fix one up right here for you," Savannah joked.

  "No, I just — I don't remember is all. It's a little unnerving," he admitted.

  Leo was starting to feel the same way. Something was actually wrong with his friend. "Last I checked we were," he said.

  "You sure? What was the first day we met? What did we talk about?"

  That got him. "It was..." Leo frowned and wracked his brain for the answer. "I don't recall exactly. I have ADHD, man. You can't expect me to remember all the details." He looked at Savannah — she didn't have ADHD, but it seemed as if she was having a hard time thinking about it as well.

  "But I don't remember you at all. I don't remember anyone here. What if —"

  "You're right and everyone else is wrong?" Leo asked. "You think you just appeared here this morning, and we've all got fake memories of you?" The idea was very out there and meant to be a joke, but Jason's face told him it wasn't out of the equation.

  "I'll be right back," Jason walked off in the direction of Coach Hedge.

  "How much longer?" Savannah groaned.

  Leo just shrugged. "I don't know. You ready to go already?"

  "Yes," Savannah droned out.

  "I think there's an hour or so more, Savi," Leo sighed. She was so impatient, but then again, so was he.

  "Ugh. Fine. What is the main sedimentary rock in the canyon?" Savannah tucked her pencil above her ear and stared at the view. Leo smiled at how she kept running fingers through her hair after the wind made it disheveled. It didn't help any.

  "The red kind," Leo cracked, hoping to get a smile from her. He got one, but it quickly vanished as lightning cracked in the sky. Papers went flying with the harsh winds and the bridge started to shudder and groan.

  Leo grabbed Savannah's hand tightly, not letting go. His other hand latched to the railing they were next to.

  He could hear Coach Hedge through his megaphone, "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

  Leo guided Savannah closer to the building carefully, sort of shielding her with his body, though he supposed his skinniness didn't provide much help. The storm became a small but lethal hurricane and funnel clouds started to form. Kids were screaming as they ran for cover.

  Savannah almost toppled over the side but Jason popped in and helped Leo pull her back over. The Valdez boy's heart was racing.

  "Thanks," she shouted to both of the boys, her face crazed.

  Leo, Savannah, Jason, and Coach Hedge ran toward Piper and Dylan who were holding the doors open for their classmates, but they were unsuccessful as the doors slammed shut with Dylan and Piper trapped outside with the other four.

  Dylan was grinning maliciously as Piper talked to him with a frustrated face. He flicked his wrist and she went flying into the doors and slid to the ground.

  "Piper!" Jason tried to charge but Coach pushed him back with extra help from the wind.

  "Jason, Savannah, Leo, stay behind me," Coach ordered. "This is my fight. I should've known that was our monster."

  "What?" Leo and Savannah demanded. They were still gripping each other's hands for dear life.

NOTES ;
IT'S COME TO MY ATTENTION THAT
I NEED TO EDIT ALL OF THESE