Manipulation High

Chapter 54: Role call

George POV.

“Have a good trip George, stay safe,” my mother said as she pulled me into a tight hug, which was surprisingly awkward as we were both sitting in a relatively small car. “And at least try to enjoy yourself. This is going to be the first and last time you go on a trip like this for school, so make the most of it.”

“I will mum,” I responded, before climbing out of the car and grabbing my camping pack out of the back seat, before walking across the school car park where my mother had parked the car to the school bus.

There were two plain white rental buses which were both being loaded up with luggage; packs, tents, and containers of food we were going to cook. All of my classmates who were going on the camp were gathering in a group in front of the two buses, chatting excitedly with each other or waving goodbye to their parents.

I walked over to the bus closest to me, and handed my bag to the bus driver who was loading stuff into the back. As I waited for him to secure my bag I glanced around cautiously, but much to my relief I couldn’t see Clay or his car anywhere. However, I did see Sanpap, Karl, Techno, and Wilbur all gathered around near the edge of the crowd of students.

The four of them noticed me as I approached them and all gave me a welcoming smile. “Hey George!” Wilbur greeted fondly. “It’s been a while since we’ve seen you man, how have you been? Sapnap told us you were sick.”
“Yeah I was,” I responded, “but I am feeling better now.”

“That’s good,” Karl said happily. “I have heard a lot of the other students who have gone on this camping trip in the past years all enjoyed it. I hope that this is worth going for.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” Techno informed the group. “Almost five whole days without having to put up with Tommy. Talk about a vacation.”

Wilbur gave a small agreement, but before our conversation could go any further Mrs Rogers, and the other history teacher, a man called Mr Ryans, who was Techno and Karl's teacher, gathered everyone’s attention. The pair of them were standing near the door of one of the two buses, and we all turned to look at them.

“Good morning everyone,” Mr Ryans greeted fondly, “thank you all for turning up on time, and I hope that you all are excited for this trip, which could be a great learning experience for all of you and a great bonding exercise.”

He was the more fun teacher of the two, and along with their outfits and stances you could clearly tell that they may teach the same subject, but they were polar opposites. In fact, Mr Ryans was apparently one of the most popular teachers in the school, according to a yearbook I was given before moving here to learn some things about the school.

“Before we go anywhere we need to take the role, make sure everyone who is currently here is meant to be here.” Mrs Rogers continued for him. “To make this easier we will have my class line up to the left of the school bus and Mr Ryans’ class line up to the right. Now, hurry up as we have a tight schedule.”

All of the students instantly started shuffling to wherever they needed to be, with Sapnap, Wilbur, and I heading one way, while Karl and Techno headed the other way. The whole time we were walking I continued to look around for any sign of Clay, still feeling hopeful that he wasn’t coming, but nervous that he still might turn up.

Mrs Rogers walked over to us and without any words to any of us she just started reading the class role, going down the list in alphabetical order. “Sapnap Armstrong?” Was her first name, and from beside me the ravenette called out ‘here’. The teacher put a tick next to his name before continuing.

“Alissa Brown?” She called out, and a girl near the front of the group let out a ‘here Mrs!’ before Mrs Rogers put a tick beside her name. It didn’t take too long for her to reach my name, since she was going in alphabetical order, and I responded in the same, bored tone that everyone else used, just saying ‘here’ before watching as she called out the next name.

Eventually she got down to the ‘S’ last names, and I knew that Clay’s last name was ‘Smith’ so he’d be called out around here. First there was a student called Lucy Selina, a strange name if you asked me but who was I to judge? After that was Clay’s name. “Clay Smith?” Mrs Rogers called out, and for the first time this morning there was no reply.

“Clay Smith?” She repeated, almost instantly getting agitated. “Has anybody seen Clay this morning?” The vulture-like history teacher immediately started snapping at us, her patience wearing thin (not that there was much patience to begin with).

Just as she was about to mark him absent we heard footsteps pounding against the concrete, and a couple of us glanced over to see the blond speeding over to us. “Mr Smith, where have you been?” Mrs Rogers asked, her dark eyebrows furrowing as she examined him standing there.

His clothes were messy, his hair wasn’t done, and he was holding his camping pack over one of his shoulders as though it weighed nothing. “I am sorry for being late,” he apologised. “I saw an injured cat on my way over, and I had to drop it off at a shelter to make sure it was alright before coming here.”

All of the girls immediately started swooning at that. The football player who was also smart, handsome, and rich, also had a heart of gold when it came to helping injured animals on the street, they must be close to fainting instantly every time he walks into the room.

Mrs Rogers didn’t seem to like his excuse, although she said nothing as the other class had already finished calling the role and she was in a rush. “Go get your pack loaded into the bus before coming back here,” she instructed, and Clay immediately did as he was told, walking over to the bus driver who was standing about fifteen feet away.

“Wilbur Soot,” the teacher continued her role, and Wilbur answered. There were only a few names after his, and so we merged back in with the other class and began conversing as the teacher discussed something with the bus drivers who were now standing with them.

The blond came over to stand next to us, however Sapnap and I both ignored him. This didn’t bother Clay as he just began talking with Wilbur, Karl, and Techno, repeating the story about how he saved a kitten on his way here for the two who hadn’t heard the story yet.

“Okay everyone!” Mr Ryans began once his conversation with Mrs Rogers and the bus drivers was over. “We are ready to head off now, so I want all of you to stand with whoever your partner is and start getting on the bus. Make sure you are sitting next to them, and normal school field trip rules apply.”

He motioned over to the bus closest to him. “We’ll start by seating half of you on this bus, then the other half will be on the other bus.” That seemed to conclude his talk, at least for now, as the students all began walking with their partner over to the bus that Mr Ryans told them to head to first.

From either side of me Sapnap, Karl, Wilbur, and Techno headed over to the second bus, since more than half of the students were already scrambling onto the first one. But while all of this happened I lagged behind, along with the annoying presence that was right beside me. I looked over at Clay who sighed, knowing this wasn’t going to be easy.

A couple of moments passed and he was clearly contemplating saying something, but eventually he gave up and just said, “how about we head to our seats?” I didn’t even give him the satisfaction of a gesture as a response, instead just starting to walk over to the bus and allowing him to follow me.

I know I promised my mother I’d try and enjoy this, but I don’t think I’ll be able to.
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