VIVIANITE • leo valdez

ii.

CHAPTER TWO -
CRASH COURSE IN WILDERNESS SCHOOL

LEO, LILY, PIPER, AND JASON STOOD in front of the red building that stood as the entrance for the museum that sat in the middle of absolute nowhere.

"So, a crash course for the amnesiac," Leo began, in an announcer voice. "We go to 'Wilderness School'"- Leo had made air quotes around those words. "Which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, the court, or whoever, decided you were too much work and shipped you off to a prison-I mean 'boarding school' in the middle of Armpit, Nevada. Where you learn valuable nature skills like running ten miles a day through the cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat we go on 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

"No." Jason said blankly, eyeing the surrounding students wondering what they could've done to be sent there.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out? Okay, so the four of us started here this semester. We're totally tight. You do everything I say and give me your desserts and do my chores-"

"Leo!" Lily snapped at the boy.

"Fine. Ignore that last part. But we are friends. Well, Piper's a little more than a friend and you have no crush on Lily whatsoever."

"Leo, stop it!" It was Piper's turn to scold the boy as she began blushing lightly at his comment as Lily turned away from Leo to hide her own blush at his statement.

"He's got amnesia or something," Piper said. "We've gotta tell somebody."

Leo scoffed at her suggestion. "Who? Coach Hedge? He'd try to fix Jason by whacking him upside his head."

"Leo, Jason needs our help," Lily responded. "He's got a concussion or-."

Lily was suddenly cut off by a boy shoving himself between Jason and Piper and shoving Lily to the ground. Leo scowled at the boy while helping Lily up and holding her close.

"Yo, Piper. Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"

"Go away, Dylan." Piper grumbled. "I didn't ask to be your partner."

"Ah, that's no way to be. This is your lucky day!" Dylan hooked his arm through hers and dragged her through the museum entrance. Piper shot one last look over her shoulder like, 911.

"I hate that guy." Lily grumbled as she picked off a couple pieces of rocks stuck to her jeans. Leo nodded in agreement continuing her statement. "He's always like, I'm Dylan. I'm so cool, I want to date myself, but I can't figure out how! You want to date me instead? You're so lucky!'"

"Leo," Jason said, "you're weird."

"You tell him that a lot." Lily commented laughing at the boy's impression of Dylan causing him to turn red. If Jason wasn't so worried about his lack of memories he would've commented on how much they blushed around each-other but he kept his thoughts to himself.

"But, hey! If you don't remember me, that means I can reuse all my old jokes!"

Leo kept fidgeting and pulling out different nuts and bolts and tools from his army jacket like he had to keep his hands moving at all times. Lily simply admired the different boards about the Grand Canyon and the Hualapai tribe, who owned the museum.