𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 || 𝗝. 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 LOVE YOU TOO THE MOON AND TOO SATURN

1.1

IRENE KNEW SHE WAS HAVING A BAD DAY even before she got flung off a skywalk.

When she woke up, a blonde boy was staring back at her. She quickly sat up realizing she was lying on his lap.

"Sorry, I—" her breath hitched, as she looked around.

Dozens of kids were sprawled out in seats in front of her, sleeping, or playing on their phones with headphones on. They were sixteen...no. Fifteen?.. Okay, that was scary. She didn't know her age.

The bus rumbled along a bumpy road. Out the windows, the desert rolled under a bright blue sky. Irene was pretty sure she didn't live in a Desert. She realized she didn't have a memory of anything except for—

She snapped her focus back to the boy who looked just as confused as she was.

Something about him made Irene feel fuzzy inside. She was sure she knew him, she desperately needed to know who he was. He had wavy blonde hair that was pushed back, and a cute scar on his upper lip, his face was kind, and gentle with sky-blue eyes that stared back at her with such intensity she was sure he could read her mind.

"Irene?" he stated, or asked, she wasn't sure.

"Jason?" She finally asked, then confused herself. "Do I know you?"

"Morning lovebirds." A girl said from the seat in front of them. She had chocolate brown hair, that was cut and uneven yet, it looked perfectly styled, Irene didn't know if it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but she was sure her irises changed color; Brown, to Blue, to green, they settled on a warm chocolate brown.

"What?" Jason said.

"Who are you?" Irene demanded surprised at the hostility of her voice.

In front of the bus, a teacher shouted, "Alright cupcakes, listen up!"

He was a coach, and his baseball cap was pulled low over his hair, so you could just see his beady eyes. His buff arms and chest pushed against a bright orange polo shirt.  A whistle hung from his neck, and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would have looked pretty scary if he wasn't so short.

One of the students shouted, "Stand up Coach Hedge!"

"I heard that!" Coach Hedge scanned the bus for the offender. Then his eyes fixed on Irene and Jason. His scowl deepened.

A jolt went down Irene's spine. She was sure Coach Hedge knew she didn't belong here.

But Coach Hedge cleared his throat and looked away. "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back the hard way."

He picked up a base bat and made it like he was hitting a homer.

"Can he talk to us that way?" Jason asked Irene who looked just as confused as he was.

The girl in front of them shrugged. "Always does. This is Wilderness School. 'Where kids are the animals'"

She said it like a joke they shared before.

Irene and Jason stared at her dumbfounded.

"This is some kind of mistake," Jason said and glanced at Irene. "I—I don't think we're supposed to be here."

The boy in front of them turned and laughed. "Yeah, right. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Piper didn't steal a BMW!"

Piper blushed. "I didn't steal that car, Leo!"

"Oh, I forgot Piper. What was your story? You 'talked' the dealer into lending it to you?" He raised his eyebrows at Irene and Jason like, can you believe her?