the sea foam of burgess island

commencenent (06)

"your senior class of 3076 has been chosen to serve the government, the president, and essentially, the country."
*****

feeling some discomfort in his neck, jack opened his eyes and rolled his neck around. he noticed the bus was oddly quiet, but he supposed people's excitement had finally died down. it was dark out, from his brief look out the window. but when he checked his phone, it was only 7 pm.

then, he noticed how ominously silent it felt.

jack looked to his best friend, who was fast asleep in a peculiar position. it almost looked as if eugene had passed out, for he was slumped over, his face mashed in the seat in front of them.
jack looked to the row next to him, where rapunzel and moana sat. they were also asleep. rapunzel was slumped over the side of her seat, while the side of  moana's face was mushed against the window.

feeling a sense of dread and weariness, jack turned around.

all of his classmates were completely knocked out, slumped over their seats. at seven? it was barely even night! what was going on?
he looked to the front, where professor callaghan was sleeping as well.
viewing his peers and teacher, jack could feel his own eyes drooping. what the hell? he could feel his entire body growing weaker, dizziness overtaking him.

in the midst of his sudden fatigue, jack still felt panic rising. something was wrong. "eugene...eugene...!" he poked his friend's back, barely even hearing his own voice.

his vision began to blur...

*****

jack woke up in a classroom, feeling groggy and hungover, a similar feeling to when he would wake up the night after a party. he was sitting at a desk.

were they back at school?

but how did they get in the classroom?

he looked around. his classmates were beginning to wake up as well, muttering similar confusions. jack looked to his right. eugene was next to him, lifting his head and groaning.

"are we at the resort?" eugene asked stupidly, looking around. he didn't seem to need an answer.

they weren't back at their high school. but they were at some school, some classroom somewhere in the world. the classroom was nondescript—no posters or shelves or even a teacher's desk. in the front left corner of the room was a big pile of black bags. in the adjacent front corner was their luggage and suitcases. the chalkboards were still dusty, as if they had been hastily erased.

"where are we?"
"why aren't we at the resort?"
"did they seriously prank us?"
"i can't believe they made it yet another educational trip..."
"this is our last class trip, what the hell?"
"where's professor callaghan?"

jack furrowed his brows. yes, where was their professor? he definitely needed to explain himself.

"jack...where are we?" a soft voice asked behind him.
jack turned around. rapunzel was rubbing her eyes, just as confused.
"i-i don't know..." he responded, a strong sense that something was off. "was this on the itinerary callaghan gave out?"

"jack, what's on your neck?" eugene pointed a finger to jack's neck.
jack put a hand to his neck, his fear heightening. a thick piece of metal surrounded his neck, a collar of some sort. he noticed everyone was wearing one.
"you have one too," jack said, pointing to eugene's neck. eugene grabbed the collar, immediately trying to force it off.
"be careful, eugene! you don't know what it can do. i have a bad feeling about this," rapunzel held out a hand to stop him. eugene immediately stopped.