loping along through the cosmos

25: THEODORE MEETS HIS TEAM

Believe it or not, JP was the early bird between the two best friends.

Jenevieve would be first, if you consider the trio, but that's only because she needed more time to apply her makeup than the rest of her morning routine. Theodore, the heavy sleeper of the bunch, needed some punching first before he even get awake. Don't make JP add the mornings after training because he would need to list a bunch of household items in order to wake his friend up.

And Theodore's morning jogs mentioned in the previous chapters? That only lasted a week.

In Theodore's defense, he jogged so he would know his new surroundings. It was an instinct when he first got in the small village - an instinct that he benefited from since he got to save Jade twice from trouble.

Now, ever since he started training, Theodore was back to hugging his pillow until he only had 45 minutes away from his first period.

"Wake up!" JP slapped his thigh for the second time.

It was 5 in the morning, not the usual time for them to wake up for school, most especially not the usual time to get up on a Saturday.

"Come on! We need to go to school early so we won't miss the bus to Ardor!" JP pulled Theodore's arm to sit him up.

"Alright, I'm up!" Theodore yelled, eyes still closed.

"Get going! Hurry up!"

Thirty-five minutes later, Theodore and JP were already halfway to Sinclair Academy.

Outside the gates were the seven buses that will be used for the outreach activity. Apparently, the first years are tasked to help a public school decorate the rooms with their donations, and plant trees in the open field behind the school.

On the next day, they were scheduled to go house to house in the nearby village to give food.

"Hey, JP, run faster, will you?" Theodore teased his friend as they ran towards the bus for Group 1. There were only a few students left in line to board the bus.

"Good heavens!" he heard a mumble. "Would you stop running?!"

The question was loud, and most definitely not from his friend, it made Theodore stop on his tracks, causing JP to bump into him.

"What the hell!" JP groaned, holding his head.

"Did you hear that?"

JP was already back to running. "Hear what?"

I must be tired still, Theodore thought, shaking his head. Squinting his eyes, he could see Jade getting on the bus with her backpack, a scowl on her face like she wasn't liking the early call time as he did.

Just as the last student stepped in the bus, Theodore and JP finally caught on. With a deep breath, the two hopped in and checked the vacant seats.

With a quick scan, Theodore found Jade and Reverie seated together while Justin and Ira were on the other side. The only remaining seats were two separate seats behind them.

"I'll sit on the left," JP said, choosing the seat behind Justin. Quietly, they walked down the aisle of the bus. As soon as JP saw Lilith behind Ira, he backed away.

Unfortunately for him, Theodore was quick to sit on the vacant seat behind Jade, leaving the former to sit beside Lilith Delacroix for the rest of the ride.

"You're almost late," Jenevieve, Theodore's seatmate, gave him her water bottle to drink. "I'm guessing it's your fault again."

"You know me well," Theodore grinned at her before drinking water.