The Trip

Chapter One - The Beginning

It was a cool Sunday evening. The clouds gathered above made it look like it would rain. 17-year-old Alex Jacob was walking by the side of the slim road, with a bag strapped on his back and a small trolley bag dragging behind him. He looked up at the sky and saw that the Sun had hidden behind those fluffy dark clouds. A strong wind blew towards him which made him shudder. He didn't notice the long, useless weeds on the sidewalk, caressing his knees and depositing their seeds onto his favourite blue jeans as he was approaching the place he normally dreaded; His school. But today, he was really excited. He had been looking forward to this day for some time now. The day he planned to enjoy, the day of the school trip.

He stopped at the school entrance and took a moment to catch his breath. His bag had gotten heavier since he left home. The entrance was a combination of a gate and an arch on which five words were written in bold, block letters: St. Stephen's Higher Secondary School.

Vehicles of different build and colours were moving in and out of the school ground sending waves of dust everywhere. Alex trudged away from the gate onto the ground and was not surprised to find the normally desolate school ground filled with students of his age and their parents; who had come to drop off their kids. His own parents had a hospital appointment on that day, or else they would have been here with him. The hubbub around him filled his ears as Alex navigated through the crowd slowly, his eyes searching for his friends who were waiting for him. On his right were the plants which had been once covered with colourful flowers with dragonflies, butterflies, and bees hovering among them; But now even the last remaining flower had wilted and fell, announcing the arrival of winter. Through those bushes, one could see the three-floor building: his school. Once painted in an artic blue-indigo combo, the building was now sported in a gloomy orange and maroon shade combination. After searching for a while, he spotted them standing beneath the guava tree on the far side of the ground. He walked towards them and was greeted by the small group with whom he spent most of his time.

The first one he greeted was Samuel or as he used to call him, Sam. Sam was his best friend and they had been classmates since the ninth standard; that was the year when Alex transferred to his school. Samuel was a very handsome and confident boy, with fair skin and a medium build when Alex had first met him. His knowledge of movies and songs always astonished Alex. Both of them had decided to join St Stephen's for higher studies by the end of the 10th standard.

Justin stood near Sam, arguing with Gregory about something. Justin was the tallest guy Alex had ever met. He always walked with a slight hunch to make him seem shorter. People always advised him to walk straighter or his hunch might become permanent, but Justin never listened. His skin was so pale that Alex always suspected he was a 'day walker' like Blade. He was always teased for his thin body by everyone around him. But most of the time, Alex knew that Justin enjoyed the attention.

And Gregory and Alex belonged to the same church and knew each other for a long time. He was shorter than Alex and most of the time you could find him with his eyes glued to his phone. Alex always wondered how Gregory never needed to use spectacles.

Now Gregory was fighting with Justin about something regarding snacks. Sam ignored their bickering and turned towards Alex, who had just put down his bags with Sam's.

"You are late," he remarked.

"What difference does it make, Sam?" Alex sighed, "Even if I had arrived earlier, we would still be standing around here... Never believe the school's schedule, that's like rule no.1 of the school; You taught me that." he smirked.

"Point. But still, it would have been better to not suffer the quarrel of these two idiots alone." Sam shot a disapproving look at the duo.

"Hey!", both Gregory and Justin barked at him.