𝑨𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 • 𝐿𝐸𝑂 𝑉𝐴𝐿𝐷𝐸𝑍

TWO

ii.

—WHEN the prospect of a field trip came about, Savannah was over the moon about it. Grand Canyon? Sign her up. Get her the heck away from this school. But to discover that the bus would be taking off at 6 o'clock in the morning?

No.

Savannah was no longer excited about it. The only thing keeping her from keeling over in premature unconsciousness, was Leo's constant — yet not unwelcome — talking. He had the energy of five cups of coffee at all times. Whether that was just him or his ADHD, Savannah didn't know. But she didn't mind because it was keeping her from falling on her face, asleep.

"We're getting the back of the bus," Leo demanded, grabbing his sack lunch from the cafeteria ladies. They weren't happy with this field trip either because they had to get up early to pack the students' bagged lunches before they left. Savannah could feel their pain and smiled at them. They didn't return it. Ouch.

"But the back gets all stuffy and every bump in the road literally kills your butt," Savannah groaned.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're being dramatic. We'll just crack open one of the windows and just sit on a jacket. Boom," he shrugged. "Improvise, adapt, overcome."

"Fine. You're going to be the first person I puke on if I get car sick."

Leo wasn't even phased. "I think you mean bus-sick."

"And I think you know what I mean," Savannah scowled.

Leo threw his arm around her shoulder and guided them over to Jason and Piper by the bus. "Oh, Savi, you say a lot of things that mean a whole lot of different things."

"No comprende," Savannah looked at him weird.

"Oh, mi reinita, like you say you can't stand the sight of me, but what you really mean is that you can't get enough of me." Savannah rolled her eyes but the smile on her face doesn't go unnoticed. The two separated once they reached their friends. Piper was frowning over Jason's tired face. He was even worse than Savannah. Late night.

"Look, once we got on, you'll be able to sleep for about an hour," Piper ran a hand through the boy's hair and he smiled all dopey.

"Sounds good to me," Jason mumbled against her shoulder. "Who even cares about the Grand Canyon anyway? It's just a crack." Just a big ole crack in the ground. Savannah imagined a giant out there somewhere, singing that song about stepping on cracks and breaking mothers' backs.