ii.

—WHEN the prospect of a field trip to the Grand Canyon came up, Savannah was practically bouncing off the walls. A chance to get away from the monotony of school life, to see one of the wonders of the world? Sign her up. But then she read the fine print on the flier: 'Departure: 6 AM'.

Hard no.

The excitement drained from her in an instant, replaced by the kind of dread that only comes with the thought of being awake before the sun. Savannah slouched down into her seat, staring blankly out the window as the early morning chill seeped into her bones. She might have been more enthusiastic about the trip if the sun had been up—if the world wasn't so groggy and oppressive.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little excitement bubbling under the surface. There was something oddly comforting about being with her friends, even in the early hours of the morning. The only thing keeping her from keeling over in exhaustion was Leo.

Leo, with his never-ending stream of chatter, his energy infectious despite the hour. Savannah sometimes wondered if he had a secret stash of caffeine in his backpack or if this was just his natural state. But right now, she didn't care. He was the perfect distraction from the weight of sleep trying to drag her down.

"We're getting the back of the bus!" Leo declared, grabbing his sack lunch from the cafeteria lady. She gave him a tired, resigned look, and Savannah couldn't help but feel bad for her. She wasn't the only one who was not exactly thrilled about this early trip.

Savannah smiled weakly at the woman, but the woman's frown deepened, and Savannah quickly looked away, awkward.

"The back gets all stuffy, though," Savannah protested, her voice low and tired. "And every bump in the road literally kills your butt."

Leo rolled his eyes, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. "You're being dramatic. We'll crack open a window, sit on jackets. Boom—problem solved. Improvise, adapt, overcome."

Savannah couldn't help but laugh despite herself. "Fine. But if I get car-sick, you're going to be the first person I puke on," she warned.

Leo barely seemed phased by the threat, which was probably the wrong approach. But it was Leo, so it was hard to stay mad at him for long. "I think you mean bus-sick," he corrected with a teasing glint in his eyes.

"And I think you know exactly what I mean," Savannah shot back, raising an eyebrow.

Leo's arm swung around her shoulders, pulling her toward the front of the school where Jason and Piper were already waiting. Savannah couldn't help but smile at how effortlessly Leo did that, just pulling her into the fold, always so warm and... a little overwhelming. But she didn't mind. He made her feel less out of place, more like she was part of something.

"Oh, Savi, you say a lot of things that mean a whole lot of different things," Leo teased, his voice taking on a dramatic flair.

Savannah stopped in her tracks and turned to him, giving him a confused look. "No comprendo."

Leo smirked. "Oh, mi reinita, like you say you can't stand the sight of me, but what you really mean is that you can't get enough of me." His words hung in the air, and Savannah could feel the heat rising to her cheeks. She rolled her eyes, but her lips couldn't suppress the small, amused smile she was trying to hide.

The two of them separated when they reached Jason and Piper. Piper was leaning over Jason with a frown, her fingers running through his hair as he looked half asleep. He was even worse than Savannah. Late night.

"Look, once we get on, you'll be able to sleep for about an hour," Piper murmured softly to him. Jason let out a soft grunt, nuzzling against her shoulder with a dreamy smile.

"Sounds good to me," Jason mumbled, his voice thick with exhaustion. "Who even cares about the Grand Canyon anyway? It's just a crack."

Savannah stifled a laugh at the image that popped into her head — of a giant singing a song about stepping on cracks and breaking mother's backs. She shook her head, amused.

"Yeah, I know," Piper chuckled. She didn't seem fazed by Jason's delirium. In fact, she seemed to be enjoying every second of it.

Leo whistled lowly. "He stayed up so late last night. No wonder he's acting like this." Then he leaned toward Savannah, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "If he falls asleep, I'm calling dibs on coloring his face."

Piper's sharp gaze snapped to him instantly. "Whatever you're planning, don't do it."

Savannah nudged Leo with her elbow, her eyes narrowing. "Don't worry. He won't do anything. We're already on her bad list from the other night. Don't make it worse."

Leo threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Hey, it wasn't like I was actually going to do it."

"Uh-huh. You were still considering it, Leo. That's all Piper needs to call you out on."

"Jeez, can't a guy have a little fun?"

"Nope," Savannah laughed, the tension from the early morning slipping away. She took a seat across the aisle from Piper and Jason. The back of the bus was already starting to feel like a claustrophobic nightmare, but Leo had made his point. Jackets for comfort, right?

For the next fifteen minutes, Savannah fought with the urge to just shut her eyes and drift off. Every time she started to nod off, her head would drop forward, and then she'd jerk awake with a startled gasp. She tried to force her body to relax, but it wasn't working.

Leo noticed, of course.

"I wish I could record you doing that," he teased, his voice barely audible over the hum of the bus. "It's hilarious."

Savannah glared at him half-heartedly, pushing his shoulder lightly. "There's just no way to get comfortable. The window is too hard, and my head keeps falling down."

Leo's response was simple. Without saying anything, he just placed his hand gently on the side of her face that was turned away from him, pulling her head onto his shoulder. The warmth of his skin seeped into hers, and for a brief moment, Savannah forgot about everything — about the exhaustion, the awkwardness, the early morning.

"Better than the window?" Leo asked, his voice soft as he tried to look at her, but his angle was a bit off.

Savannah smiled, the hint of playfulness back in her tone. "Only slightly."

It was all she could manage before she was out like a light, her body finally relaxing, settling into the steady rhythm of the bus.

—PIPER looked over from her own aisle seat and smirked. She was in the exact same position as Leo, her shoulder weighed down by his friend's heavy head. "You're smiling now, Valdez, but the pain will come."

Leo just rolled his eyes and smiled. All the pain in the world was worth Savannah's little comfort.

Half an hour later, a pothole jolted the entire bus, sending everyone's butts momentarily off their seats. Savannah was ripped from her nap with an annoyed groan, rubbing at her red cheeks where they'd been pressed against Leo's shoulder.

"Hola, mi reinita," Leo chuckled, the corner of his lips tugging upward in amusement. She had a giant red patch on her cheek from where she had pressed it into his shoulder. It was a sight to behold.

Savannah grumbled under her breath, blinking sleepily as she rubbed her eyes. "How much longer?"

"About ten minutes," Leo answered.

"Thank god," Savannah sighed, stretching her arms above her head. Leo did the same, rolling his shoulder to release the tension.

After feeling the relief to be moving again, Leo's ticks started acting up. He tapped his hands against his knees and his heels bobbed up and down under the seat. He saw Savannah look at the movements and begged himself to stop, but the long bus ride was killing him.

"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" she suggested, her hands held out in front of him.

The boy could have kissed her for how observant and considerate she was of him. Of course, that wasn't what friends did, so no, he didn't kiss her. The thought was there, though.

Leo laughed and shifted as well. "You're on." They played several rounds before Leo started to throw in some other rules.

"No, Leo, fire does not beat rock! Why do people build fire pits with rocks? To contain the fire!" Savannah said.

Leo went to argue his case but they heard a worried tone come from the seat across from them. They looked over at Piper who was staring at a very confused looking Jason. "Are you okay, Jason?" Piper asked.

"Um, I don't — " he let go of the brunette's hand hastily as Coach Hedge started yelling, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!" His face was scrunched up more than usual as he frowned in what looked like Jason's direction.

A guy — who Leo believed to go by the name of Corbin shouted, "Stand up, Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" He gruffed. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way." He picked up his special baseball bat and swung it above the teenagers' heads.

"What do you think the hard way is?" Leo whispered to Savannah.

"Walking?"

"I was thinking crawling after he knocked their kneecaps out, that's hard," Leo grinned as Savannah screwed her face up in second-hand — third-hand? — pain.

Jason turned his head to Piper, "Can he talk to us this way?"

She shrugged. "Always does. This is the Wilderness School. 'Where the kids are the animals.'" Piper stole that from Leo directly and he shook his head. At least cite your sources!

"This is some kind of mistake," Jason said. "I'm not supposed to be here."

Savannah leaned over Leo to be included in the conversation as he said, "Yeah, right, Jason. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Savannah didn't light a ceremonial hearth and Piper didn't steal a BMW."

Piper and Savannah blushed. "I didn't light the grate," and, "I didn't steal that car, Leo," were heard.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. What were the stories? You just saw it burst into flames when no one else was around and you," he pointed to Piper, "'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eyebrows to Jason. "Anyway," he continued to Savannah, "I hope you've got your worksheet, 'cause I used mine for spit wads days ago." Leo gave an innocent smile to the girl.

"I got it, don't worry." They looked over at Jason again only to see him looking between the three of his friends with an alarmed expression. "Jason, you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I don't know you guys" Jason said.

Leo gave a giant grin. "Sure. I'm not your best friend. I'm his evil clone." He started tickling Savannah's side with a devilish smirk.

"Leo Valdez!" Coach Hedge yelled from the front. "Problem back there?"

Leo winked at Savannah. He'd been waiting for this opportunity all day. "Sorry, Coach! I was having trouble hearing you. Can you use your megaphone, please?"

He grunted with a pleased tone. Coach then unclipped it from his belt and lifted it to his mouth. But instead of his deep voice, it was Darth Vader's. When he went to try again it said, "The cow says moo!"

Everyone started cracking up and Savannah stuffed her face in Leo's shoulder to stifle the giggles. "Valdez!" Coach slammed down his megaphone.

"My god, Leo. How did you do that?" Piper wheezed.

Leo slipped a small Phillips head screwdriver from his sleeve, "I'm a special boy."

Savannah rolled her eyes, "Yes, you are."

"Guys, seriously," Jason pleaded. "What am I doing here? Where are we going?"

Piper knit her eyebrows. "Jason, are you joking?"

"No! I have no idea—"

"Aw, yeah, he's joking," Leo said. "He's trying to get back at me for that shaving cream on the Jell-O thing, aren't you?" Savannah burst into laughter, over the previous night's dessert escapade. Jason stared at her blankly, making her stop.

"No, I think he's serious." Piper tried to take his hand again, but he pulled it away.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't—I can't—"

"That's it!" Coach Hedge yelled. "The back row has just volunteered to clean up after lunch!"

"There's a shocker," Leo muttered as Savannah groaned.

Piper kept her eyes on Jason, her expression a mixture between hurt and worry. "Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?"

The blonde shrugged helplessly. "It's worse than that. I don't know who I am."

NOTES ;
NEED TO EDIT THIS ONE TOO