Orange December

Chapter 6

The next morning, I woke up with my early alarm. I grabbed the duffel bag I'd packed and went straight out the door, group calling Luke, Violet, and Anne. We were all driving over to the dock in my car, and it was my job to make sure everyone was ready.

"Okay, guys, get up now! Anne, we'll be at your place in five, so be ready, yeah?" My enthusiasm was met with a lot of sleepy groans, but we still managed to get to the place in San Pedro with plenty of time to spare, stopping by a convenience store to get some more orange cupcakes.

"You know," Violet said once we were in there, "I've never actually tasted these. Are they good, Robby?"

"Here we go again," Luke groaned.

"They, Violet," I started, ignoring Luke, "are me.  They're an underappreciated but severely amazing thing of existence in this world that more people should realize and come to love. They are a shining beacon of hope, in the wake of the political climate and the disastrous effect of global warming, regardless of whether or not it really exists. They," I said as we walked to the counter to pay, Luke groaning loudly in annoyance at me, "are one of the last good things left in this world."

"Wow," she started, "if you like them enough to make up all of that nonsense, I kind of have to try them." She picked up a package, despite Luke's protest, and paid for them at the counter. We all walked outside the store and got in my car, where I waited expectantly for Violet to try her first one.

"Come on, Vi, try it," I goaded.

"Oh, you want me to try them now?" I nodded at her, making a point of not starting the car until she tried one. She opened the packaging and pushed one up out of the plastic container, then carefully took a bite. Her facial expression stayed neutral for a moment, but then she lit up, smiling.

"So...?" I asked excitedly.

"This... is so good!" she exclaimed, taking another bite. Luke got really annoyed at this and Anne just sort of chuckled at Luke's reaction, remaining indifferent. I pulled out of the parking spot and drove the rest of the way to the dock.

Once there, we recognized a small group of our classmates huddled together. It was a moderately cold morning, but they were all dressed for the warmth of the island. They huddled together for warmth as if they were penguins braving the Arctic winds.

"See, guys, this is why everybody thinks Californians are a bunch of crybabies who can't stand any form of cold," Anne said quietly as we approached the group of our peers huddling together. We laughed, standing generally around the group. Those of our peers who heard Anne's comment made little remarks about how New Yorkers were so entitled or something, which wasn't even valid since Anne had been living here for twelve years now.

Anyways, soon all of the students in our tiny senior class who wanted to go on the field trip had arrived, and we were led onto the boat that would take us. It wasn't anything entirely special, but our excitement for what was lying ahead made it seem like we were on the best cruise of our lives, even if it only lasted about an hour and a half.

Once we arrived, every single cell phone was out, and pictures were being taken almost constantly. We stepped out onto a picturesque island, complete with lush greenery. We were led off by a girl who attended the university on the island, and she seemed way too energetic.

"Hi, guys! I'm Aly," she started. "I'll be taking care of you today! First, I'll be leading you over here towards the beautiful-"

I stopped paying attention to her and mostly just followed the group, snapping pictures of everything I could. I turned around and got a shot of the boat sitting by the dock, surrounded by crystal clear water. I knew I was only using my cell phone, but I knew these photos would make a heck of a social media post later. I only had to come up with a clever, one-word caption to rake in all the likes, probably. I walked along with the group, snapping pictures and thinking of proper caption ideas as we went along.