𝐌𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐋 𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍

03.

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but just to see her 1980s horror film,
i, oh, i was so scared

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CHAPTER THREE,
OMNISCIENT POV.

sage entered the still room as quietly as possible, her eyes scanning the room for a familiar brunette and curly haired lightskin. the library didn't seem as occupied as it usually was, seeing as it was lunch and most of the student population liked to sit in student park or the cafeteria. there were a couple lingering teens scattered throughout the tables, but it didn't take long for her to find valentina and isaiah sitting in the far right corner, as far as possible from everyone else, as usual.

valentina sat with her macbook in front of her, an open calculus textbook on the other side. a bored expression rested on her face, like she'd rather be doing anything else as opposed to the homework assignment next to her. which she most likely wasn't even doing; the airpods in her ears a clear indication of that. isaiah on the other hand, was engrossed in a thick book, a few others open and scattered around him on the wooden table. sage was only able to see his bright pink curls and thick, furrowed brows that peeked over the top of the book.

her steps were soft as her sneakers trudged across the carpeted floor and reached the table. "i have a plan," sage whispered as soon as she sat down. her voice pulled isaiah away from the book, his attention now on her as he raised a brow, silently asking what.

valentina pulled an airpod out, her response immediate and flat, "no."

sage frowned at the outright refusal, "what do you mean no."

"simple. whatever it is, no." she gave sage a blank stare, as if daring her to oppose. "want to hear it in spanish? noh," she pronounced it with an exaggerated accent, making isaiah giggle and sage roll her eyes.

"zay is rubbing off on you a little too much," the ginger grumbled before protesting again. "plus you don't even know what i was going to say!"

"well let me save you the energy," valentina paused, smiling sweetly. "no. we literally talked about it yesterday. not only is it dangerous, but flat out stupid. there's so much you haven't even thought about!"

"actually," sage said matter-of-factly, "i have. hence me saying i have a plan. i do. and it's safe." she turned to isaiah with a pleading look. "c'mon, zay, back me up! we could totally do this."

his face went a little panicked, looking between the two girls. "what, hey—no," he whisper-yelled, remembering where they were. "don't put this on me! i don't know, i mean.. valley has a point. it would be dangerous." he hesitated, feeling said girl's glare burning a hole on the side of his head. "but i can see why you'd want to, especially after everything you told us yesterday... i mean, okay, say you did have a solid plan,"

"i do," sage interrupted, a hopeful smile creeping up on her face.

isaiah ran a hand through his unruly hair, sighing in defeat. "maybe we could do this, then. maybe."

sage practically shot up out of her chair in happiness, "seriously?!" she was immediately shushed by the school librarian, who gave the whole trio a disapproving look. the ginger shot him a sheepish smile while isaiah tried to hide his laugh behind a fake cough, valentina rolling her eyes at the two. sage mouthed a 'sorry' before turning back to her friends, whispering this time. "seriously?"

before isaiah had a chance to answer, valentina questioned sage, her tone reluctant. "what's this so called plan, then?"

"well, since flying is out of the question—y'know, costs and all—we can drive there. it would only take like six hours to get to mexicali, three to get to the border i think, so we can do it in one day. i already did some research and since we're all older than sixteen, all we need are our passports, obviously, mexican car insurance, which is like, hella cheap, and a tourist permit, which i already applied for and got, for all of us," she paused, taking a route map out of her bag and opening it up. "and i already calculated the cost for getting there, which is not that expensive. the fee to cross the actual border is only $22. we'd be driving around 240 miles, so we'd have to stop for gas twice before the border and once after, so gas would be around $150, give or take. we can get snacks at the gas station and stop for food once before crossing, and then again after, which would only be around $100, because everything in mexico is cheaper. so, like $270 just to get there, double that for when we come back, $540. i don't know how long we'd be there, maybe a week max, so like $250 more for necessities. and i doubt we need it, because we'll get to xochicalli in a day, and it's a small town so we'd probably find my grandma quick, but another $70 for a hotel for a night. so, basically $850, to go and come back," she looked down at the map on the table, tracing a blue line from los angeles to tijuana, then tijuana to mexicali. "we can take the i-15 s to the border, then once we cross, the i-8 e to mexicali. simple."