DEJA VU || Leo Valdez

two

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The bus dropped them in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, just sitting in the middle of nowhere. A cold wind blew across the desert. Brooke felt a sense of dread the second she stepped off the bus but she brushed it off as her hate for the desert. She doesn't have great memories of deserts especially not in this part of the country.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo said, in a helpful tone that made Jason think this was not going to be helpful. "We go to the 'Wilderness School'"-Leo made 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-sorry, 'boarding school'-in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through 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?"

"No." Jason glanced apprehensively at the other kids: maybe twenty guys, half that many girls. None of them looked like hardened criminals, but just like the four, well three of them, they all had to have done something to end up in this school.

"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 snaps as Brooke hits him on his arm scoldingly. "Quit it."

Leo rubs the spot Brooke hit. "Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than your friend, the last few weeks-"

"Leo, stop it!" Piper's face turned red. Jason could feel his face burning too. He thought he'd remember if he'd been going out with a girl like Piper.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've got to tell somebody."

Leo scoffed. "Who, Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside the head."

"Or... he may know what to do. How to help." Brooke offers.

The coach was at the front of the group, barking orders and blowing his whistle to keep the kids in line; but every so often he'd glance back at Jason and scowl.

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

"Yo, Piper." One of the other guys dropped back to join them as the group was heading into the museum. The new guy wedged himself between Jason and Piper pushing Brooke to the side and knocking Leo down. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

Ugh this jerk, Brooke thinks.

Dylan had dark hair cut Superman style, a deep tan, and teeth so white they should've come with a warning label: do not stare directly at teeth. permanent blindness may occur. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, Western jeans, and boots, and he smiled like he was God's gift to juvenile delinquent girls everywhere. It was understandable why Brooke despised him.

"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 through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911.

Brooke offers a hand to Leo. He gets up and brushes himself off. "I hate that guy." He offered Jason his arm, like they should go skipping inside 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!'"