We somehow all fit into one bus, all forty-two of us. All fit onto that yellow school bus that we had grown to get used to over the years of field trips, bus rides to and from school, and often the site of arguments and fights.
We could all relate to that one.
I feel bad for the bus driver, a woman wearing a purple suit, and for some reason a gas mask. I couldn't understand why. I guess she was one of those weird, paranoid people that always were wearing extra precautions in case of "terrorist attacks."
Sure beat me.
I turned my attention back to my friend who sat besides me, watching me with an intensity that I could not quite grasp. The boy looked at me with concern.
"You alright?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
I wasn't sure how to answer to that correctly.
Physically, I felt fine. Hadn't gotten sick in a few years. I had a strong immune system, they said. Not like it was going to fail me now.
But mentally, I felt worry. I told myself over and over that it was going to be okay, that it was just a school trip and everything was going to be fine. Yes, I told myself. Yes.
Akimitsu, my best friend since we first met in Kindergarten, sent me a goofy grin, which made me snicker.
Classic Akimitsu. Never failing to make me feel better.
Akimitsu had his phone out, a new gold iPhone. Both of us were from wealthy families, most of us were, but there were a few that were here on scholarship. I watched as he unlocked it and fiddled with the case for a little bit, while watching out the window. He was like that for a little bit until he finally said "Hey, Akira, can you give me Midori's number?"
That surprised me. Why would he want her number? Unless he...... a develish grin crossed my face. "Someone has a crush...." I sang loudly.
He clapped a hand to my mouth, shushing me. "Hush! Someone may hear you!" he hissed, looking from side to side, but lucky for him everyone was absorbed in their own thing. Some were chattering happily, some were sleeping, and others were just sitting there, silent.
I laughed happily, shoving his clean hand away from my mouth. But eventually, I got my bag from under the seat and zipped it open, pulling out my own phone, the same exact one as Akimitsu's. We had gotten them together a few weeks ago. In a matter of seconds, I had unlocked the phone and accessed my contacts. It took a few minutes, but I finally found Midori sandwiched between Mom and Motohiko. I pulled the contact open and handed my phone to Akimitsu. He copy and pasted the number, used the home button to get to my iMessages, then sent himself the number. He tossed me the device back gently and then turned his attention to his own iPhone. After a few seconds of awkward waiting, it vibrated and the number showed up on his lock screen. He gave me a thumbs up and made Midori's contact on his own phone.
I shot a glance at Midori from the back of the bus. She was sitting in between her two best friends, Sumiko and Rikuyo. She and Rikuyo were chattering happily, holding a magazine between them, while Sumiko was slumped against Midori's shoulder, snoozing quietly.
I looked back at Akimitsu, who had opened up Flappy Bird on his phone and was tapping gently on the screen. Eventually, the yellow bird hit the bottom pipe and his score of '57' popped up. I smirked, knowing my high score was way higher than that.
I glanced out the window, and there was a few army soldiers standing at attention as we passed by quickly. I was confused, why were there Commonwealth soldiers doing here? And then we passed a tank, and then another. I had thought we were going to a museum. What? What is this? And that was my last coherent through before the lights suddenly went out, with my consciousness.
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