Redwood High 2

Chapter 14

DECA Trip pt. 2

The busses began to load. It was still pretty early in the morning; about 7 in the morning. We should arrive at the Anaheim Convention Center at about noon-ish. I loaded my luggage and sat towards the back. Carol sat next to me while Riley sat in front of us, next to some girl I didn't recognize. When we arrived I will have about 4 hours of leisure time until I have to go take my marketing cluster exam. They use your exam grade and average it out with your competitive event score. This is how they determine the overall score.

The sun was shining high in the sky, not a cloud in sight. This was nice. A nice day for a nice distraction. That's all I need. Mr. Rios came onto our bus and began to do the spiel about how this is a professional field trip and we must be on our best behavior. He most likely heard about Mr. Flores. Mrs. Kathy was in the other bus doing the same thing.

"I hope I stage. I can show that bitch Maria I have what it takes," remarked Carol.

Riley sat up. "I hope I'm able to understand the test. I struggled so hard last year. I was a mess."

"Last year was a mess," I mumbled.

The busses roared to lie and we were on our way. If I remember properly, the entire trip is long. Long and dreadful. I had time to sit back and just relax.

"Grace, I have to be honest with you. Don't take it the wrong way, I just noticed something," Riley told me. We were in charter busses, the best way to travel, and seated in the back. I had the window seat right next to Carol. Riley was seated in front of us. She craned her neck to look directly at me. Carol was on her phone but she put it down to pay attention to us.

"Yes?" I asked.

"Okay so, I've noticed that these past couple of months you've been... like distancing yourself from Giselle. And I understand that you've been busy with your family but she was too shy to ask you up front."

I stared into her brown eyes. I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I wanted to just finally reveal what happened. Explain everything about my parents and my aunt. Nothing was holding me back because they're dead. Giselle hasn't spoken about it, which leads me to believe that she doesn't know. And I could finally get some closure with my aunt. She's the only family I have left, including my cousin who she has to deal with now with his drug stuff.

But I couldn't.

The longer I stared, the uneasier it became. Finally I said, "I can't explain."

Carol being Carol pushed for more. "Wait what does that mean? If you got some beef you can tell us."

And I wanted to. I should just stop being a baby and explain everything. Being silent about it all wouldn't solve anything. I sighed,

"It's a long story and I don't want to explain it around other people. I'll tell you everything when we get to the hotel."

Riley nodded still looking a bit uneasy. Carol nodded and went back to her phone. I inhaled deeply and sat back against my seat. The farther we got the cloudier the sky became. Gloomy, just like me.

***

One long trip later, we were finally at the hotel. As a freshman, I didn't pay much attention to the environment. There were more stores and more traffic. The sun was slowly going down, leaving the very cloudy sky pitch black.

"It smells like rain. I love rain," said Riley stepping off the bus taking a deep breath.

I was going to grab my luggage but things quickly became chaotic.