DIVINE » l. valdez

i

❝ this ain't Odysseus' Odyssey ❞

Hina knew something was wrong when she woke up on a bus full of boys and girls, with her head rested against a soft cushion. She moved slowly, trying to gain a sense of her surroundings, when her soft cushion moved as if laughing.

"She wakes!" a voice announced from above her with a snicker, prompting Hina to shoot upright, realizing her moving pillow was a human being. Bouncing to her feet, Hina stumbled, falling towards the floor of the bus when a warm hand grabbed her's pulling Hina back into the seat.

"Careful, Ina, you're gonna break a bone or something," the voice insisted, causing Hina to look to her side and see a Latino boy, with dark curly hair and mischievous eyes. Her eyes widened, unable to recognize the boy beside her.

"Who are you?" she asked, pulling her hand away from his, ignoring the pained expression in his eyes as he glanced down at his now empty hand. The boy quickly shook his head, revealing the mischievous gleam in his eyes once more as he gave Hina a crooked grin.

He was cute, Hina had to admit and full of energy, his hands constantly moving. His ears were pointed like an elf's, although he looked too troublesome to work at the North Pole.

"Yeah, right, Ina, like you don't know me," he chuckled, producing a few pipe cleaners from his pocket to fiddle with as he talked. "I'm totally not your best friend, Leo Valdez and secret crush." Hina blinked twice, unable to follow the boy's words.

"No, I don't know you, and I don't know where we are," Hina insisted, turning away from the boy, Leo, to look at the bus more. 

It was filled with kids all talking and laughing and at the front of the bus stood a short man in an orange polo and workout pants with a hat who Hina assumed was the teacher. The teacher locked eyes with Hina and frowned as if knowing she didn't belong. She sunk lower in her seat and turned back to Leo hoping for more answers.

Suddenly, the girl behind Hina leaned forward, brows furrowed. "Is everything okay, Hina?" she asked, glancing to Leo for answers, who nodded in response. 

The girl was without a doubt beautiful. She wore a tattered skiing jacket with ripped jeans. Her eyes were a kaleidoscope of colours, seemingly changing every time she blinked. 

"She's just playing dumb, pretending she doesn't know where we are," Leo explained, before the boy sitting behind him shot up from his resting position. The girl immediately turned to the boy and glanced at him, worry in her eyes.

"Jason, you okay?" she asked, only receiving a stuttered out response that was cut off by the man at the front yelling and grabbing everyone's attention, "All right, cupcakes, listen up!"

He stood at a solid five feet tall and a kid from up front heckled the teacher over his height. Hina watched perplexed as the teacher snapped at the student before giving his orders, "We'll arrive in five minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And, if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to campus the hard way."

He then picked up his baseball bat and swung it menacingly as if hitting a ball.

Hina turned to Leo and looked at him. "This isn't right."

Leo laughed, and turned around motioning Hina to turn with him.

"Yeah, right, you guys. We've all been framed! I didn't run away six times. Ina didn't break into a CVS. Piper didn't steal a BMW."