Astral: Founded (Astral Book 2)

Chapter 3

My alarm went off as soon as it hit 5 A.M. Jess initially planned to head off by 6:30, so it's only fitting to wake up at this time. I could hear the rain from the outside and I thought it would not be over soon.

I grabbed my phone and went over the news channel. The weather forecast showed that the rain will persist longer than expected, which makes our trip more of a rough one. I went off my bed and started packing my things.

My bag only contains my phone, wallet, camera, and some extra clothes. I figured that we won't last there 'til the night, so I didn't pack heavily. We were also not assigned any homework for next week, so I can really enjoy my time with Jess and Brent, though they have a project to do.

Mom and dad were not awake yet, so I quickly grabbed a half baguette and went to Jess' house. I told Brent yesterday that he doesn't need to pick me up since my parents would hear his car. As I reached Jess' house about after seven minutes of walking in the hard rain, she was already waiting for me in her garage door.

"Did you make sure to bring your materials?"

"Yes, I did. Now, don't stress yourself over our project. Where's Brent?"

As those words came out from her mouth, Brent arrived with his runabout. It's fairly loud, but Jess' parents usually don't care about the noise in their environment.

"Hop on, my ladies. You first, madam." Brent, pointing at me.

"Someone woke up on the right side of the bed today."

"Oh, stop teasing, did you bring our materials?"

"Yes, for the hundredth time."

"But, where's the bag with it?"

"All of them fit in my bag here." Jess insisted she had her materials, though we were already doubting that she brought them since there's no way that all of those would fit in her small bag.

We hopped on in Brent's runabout and left for Weatherhill. I switched places with Brent and Jess sat between us two. We placed our things under each seat and luckily, all of them fit without any hindrance on the pedals. The takeout from Quebec's Best was almost unable to fit, but we made it work. I prepared to drive and we eventually began moving.

"So, be careful, Rosey, we might trip over a rock on the way there."

"As if you won't if you're the one sitting here. I'm joking! I know you're a better driver than I am, but let me have my freedom to control the wheel, k?" I kinda stuttered but delivered my message anyway.

"Okay, so what should we do first once we arrive at the top?" Jess asked.

"You know, camp in the free tents, eat our delicious takeout, and take pictures once the rain gradually stops." Brent suggested.

"I think we should run through the outdoor obstacle course, but of course, when there's no rain anymore." I pitched.

"Good, good. Your mind is indeed the best among all of us."

"Hey, I'm good too, but not today."

"When were you ever as good as my baby, Jess?" Brent said, trying to flirt with me while I take full responsibility of the steering wheel.

"You two are so disgustingly sweet. I'll just take my time to appreciate the wonderful mountains."

As time passed, I hoped that Jess switched with Brent. I can sense that Brent was feeling lonely at the other side with no one to low-key make love with since Jess was keeping us apart. Jess was beginning to close her eyes, and I figured that she did not have enough sleep last night for this trip, even though I annoyingly emphasized that need to her when we were at school before dinner. Brent was still bored at the other side of the seat. To freshen the mood, I began talking about going to a stopover for lunch before heading up to Weatherhill.

"Wake up, sis. I have a question."

"What? You're disturbing my peaceful nap."

"You call that peaceful? I can barely hear your voice because of the rain and the sound of the engine."

"Yeah, those are the things which make it peaceful. Duh. Don't you appreciate the awfully relaxing sounds around us?"

"Very funny, Jess. Oh, by the way,"

I started to forget what I was originally going to ask.

"Do you think that Mrs. Lopez would be at our graduation? That professor is so lazy, right? I mean, from what I've heard from your rants, she just gives out assessments and doesn't teach a single thing!"

"She likes parties, so I guess." Jess responded.

"Really? That's so not her, well, thanks for the insight. How 'bout you, baby? Do you think-"

And he began to lower his head, signaling us that he's about to sleep.

"Now, that's what happens in trips, sister. What's the reason why you woke me again?"

"Oh, yeah, umm, do you mind if we go to a stopover for lunch? I mean, we can't survive with our snacks alone, you know."

"Sure. How 'bout Brenty here?"

"Man!"

Jess slapped Brent in the back just like how she slaps me during dismissal whenever she goes to our classroom. It's appropriate to say it hurts a little, enough to wake the soul out of you.

Just kidding, but it does hurt a lot. As in, a lot.

"Aw! What's your problem?"

"Lil' Miss Rosey here wants to ask you if you're okay to eat at a stopover for lunch? Or do you want to eat at Weatherhill?

"Umm, sure, sure. You sure did wake me up there with your excruciating slap."

"Jess! I told you don't do that anymore, but I have to agree it sounds so good with Brent." I said laughing.

"Babe!"

"Joking! Okay, we are about to reach Hawk Pines. They serve the BEST apples!"

I've had a weird interest for apples ever since I was about 5. Maybe because they're easy to eat and they go well with baguettes! I typically caramelize them and serve them for myself as a baguette specialty, though it's not really that much special. Jess has admired me with my likes, so that's one of the reasons why we became the best of friends.

We eventually reached Hawk Pines and I parked Brent's runabout. People look up to you whenever you have a vehicle during this time, and I always get shy whenever I ride one, especially Brent's since his is a limited edition runabout, only for those wealthy enough to bet for it. His family is pretty rich, but that's not why we're together. I can say that we are kind of in the upper class, but not so rich. My parents used to always say whenever I go to school to always remain humble and grounded and don't ever brag about my stuff. There's a high chance that their values have kept me shy whenever I hang around with people who always look at my or my friends' quite expensive treasures.