What do you guys expect from the trip?

Disaster? Friendship? Hatred? Sadness? Happiness?

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Chapter 19 - Early Christmas || Cassidy's P.O.V.

"Bye Cass! Be alive for us, alright?" Reese waved at me as he went home with Clarissa. I rolled my eyes and waved back.

When I reached to Mr. Ricarpo's office which is the meeting place, the guys weren't there yet.

I waited for a few minutes and saw them arrive. I rolled my eyes and knocked Mr. Ricarpo's office so we could all get inside.

There, we found his assistant who is now guiding us towards the gate where faculties park their vehicles.

"Well those are big trucks." I looked at three trucks in front of us filled with plastic bags. I looked at my phone again to make sure that Sasha wasn't worried because I only told her that I will go home late. She'll just tell my parents when they are looking for me that is.

"Fifty-nine more minutes." Xavier checked his watch for the tenth time since we sat down on the back of the truck.

We weren't all cramped up but at the same time, it wasn't spacious also. We were all surrounded. "Look at these foods." I looked at the things around us and boy was it bountiful.

"Yeah, I guess base on the population of the school," Asher replied while playing at his phone.

I looked around me and scrunched up my noes. I reminded myself that I am surrounded with boys. Not just boys, my enemies. "Which is exactly ten thousand and twenty-six," Xavier chimed in. For the first time, he said something with numbers that is not related in time.

"Fifty-eight more minutes," Josh reported. Base on his face, it was clear that he is officially bored. Well, so am I, like any other people in this truck who didn't want to waste their cell phone batteries.

"Don't you guys want do something more worthwhile or at least to distract from counting down the time to get there?" I asked them, giving them a weird look.

I mean, surely when you put six boys together in a car, they would talk something that is not relevant to the time that they are going to spend each other. Right? What do boy talk about anyway? Is it because there's a girl in the truck with them that made them talk other things?

"I think I can see the sign board of Jaigara." Jack narrowed his eyes toward the endless road upon us.

"Yeah, good luck with that." Nick ruffled his hair, which Jack in return gave him a slap in Nick's arm.

"Careful with my arms, they are born with my great care," Nick said, talking about his 'muscles' which you can obviously see even from afar.

He kissed both of his muscles as I gagged. How did I end up here with them?

"Stop the joke." I rolled my eyes. Nick scoffed and said something about being "jealous" and "weak."

"If your definition of weak is having less muscular than you are, then you are a disappointment to our school," I stated, remembering that Mr. Ricarpo would always greet us with something that is related to being good leaders with great minds that are strong enough to step forward to lead.

The boys gave Nick a loser noise, which would go like "Boom!" and "You just got burned!" and lastly "That's low."

"I didn't say anything about being less muscular. Wait, are you admitting that I am more muscular than you are?" Nick said innocently. This is the reason why boys like them don't go well with people like me.

"Your ego is probably eating up all of your brain that it is now the same size of your head," I replied icily.

"His head is small," Connor commented. The boys snickered secretly and I just shook my head. 

"Any girls would die just to be in your position to hang-out with us." Xavier smirked at me.

"Good luck finding one," I bantered. Any girls. Pfft. Not this one.

"And anyone would die if they have to be stuck with you for an hour," Xavier answered back. 

I mastered up my biggest smile and replied, "I'll be the happiest person to attend your graveyard."

"Fifty minutes," Asher said as he continued on playing his phone.

"Tick tock. Any last words?" I batted my eyelashes, faking a sweet smile. I can see that Xavier's eyes are cold but I don't feel threatened at all. 

"I'll hunt you. Every. Single. Night." Xavier gritted his teeth. I sighed as I expressed how boring he is.

"You bore me to death." I closed my eyes, hoping I would get rest instead of wasting my time on some people that —

"Glad to know you're dying first," Xavier retorted. I opened my eyes, realizing I should not have said that. 

"I didn't know that you're a bad joker," I faked giggle as Xavier returned his attention on something else.

Connor, who was sitting beside me, must have been bored for the past thirteen minutes. I mean, I kind of felt bad for him since he was stuck sitting beside me because the boys first got into the truck and took the front row. You could probably add one more person there but I guess with bodies like them, you would be going behind the seat with me.

"This trip is so boring," Connor mumbled under his breath. I sighed, for the nth time of this trip. "What more for the trip to Italy." I replied back.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about it." Connor sat up, now looking at me.

"I hope I could say the same thing." I massaged my temples as I tried to think of happy thoughts. Me killing Xaiver. Me sleeping at my own comfy bed at home. Me acing a test. Me eating a lot of junk food. Me -

"Well, I don't think you're that banal to spend with for two days," he said. For a second, I was flattered. "Brilliant." I faked British accent.

"Well, if it helps you, you're very dull," he mimicked me. I rolled my eyes and said sarcastically, "Cheers."

We said nothing and silence filled between us. It was really awkward. I mean, what more if I was with him on the real trip to Italy?

"I think the weather today is rather parky," Connor said. Seriously. Just when I thought we were going to talk about weather.

"I know-h righ', it is absobloodylootely co'd," I said nonchalantly.

Wait, did I just sound British? A real one? Am I mastering it?

"I don't think this place has been this cold for donkey's years." Connor shivered, rubbing his arms gradually.

"I would fancy seeing this place with better environment." I sighed, once again, as I thought of the time when my mother used to tell me her times when she could play outside of the house and enjoy the fresh air and not care of any people jumping out and pulling guns from their pocket then pointing it at you.

"But global warming put paid to our beautiful environment," Connor said sadly. I wonder how long we can keep up with this act. "I know, this place is a shambolic." I rolled my eyes, referring on how our city is now in state of chaos.

"Murphy's Law," Connor replied.

"But it's nice to know that everything is sorted." I smiled. I realized that Connor has been staring at my smile for so long that I frowned, at the same time he said, "You should smile up more." Finally, Connor lost his British accent.

I looked away from him and covering my face with my hair when I felt my cheeks burning. Did he just say that? And why am I blushing? Why am I being such a girl? Man up, Cassidy.

"I'm just winding you up." Connor poked me in the face.

"Well, I am wound up by it." I faked annoyed and looked at the window.

"I didn't think that it would mean up to you. Since you have handled a lot of fights at school, I thought it would costs bugger all." Connor said which made no sense to me.

"What are you on about?" I asked Connor. "Aren't those kids full of beans?" Connor looked at his windows and that's when I realized five kids are playing.

Wait, are they playing? Well, isn't that a new game of pushing someone. And did I just see the other kid's nose bleed?

"Stop the truck!" I shouted quickly.

The boys gave me a weird look and told me about being 'disciplined' but I didn't care.

"Stooooooooop the freakin' truuuuuuuuuck!" I shouted with all my lungs out.

Finally when the truck stopped slowly, I jumped out, not caring if it is still moving and quickly ran towards the kids.

I heard them fighting and quickly removed the tall kid's hand from the poor kid's face.

"What is going on?" I said, trying to be calm. I heard footsteps behind me, which I guess would be the guys.

The kids said nothing and I can see anger on two kids with them.

"Where are the faculties? Can't they at least help these kids?" I asked, although my breathing is still hard after the run.

"The other truck went first. They probably didn't notice us stopped." Asher panted beside me. I looked back at the kids and gave them a worried look."Okay. Now, would anyone like to explain what happened?"

The tall guy pointed at the poor kid and I can't help but feel anxious. "Can you explain what happened?" I asked the poor kid.

He didn't say anything; instead, he looked angrily at the tall kid and the other three kids behind him. "He started on saying bad things about his mom," one of the kids said.

"And I was just defending my mom," the tall kid continued.

"So you beat him up?" I finished. The tall kid nod and I felt my head boil. "Do you think that beating the poor kid up would make anything change? You're only making it worse. You can talk to him about it and make him take back his words. If he doesn't listen to you then he's not worth of your time. You can't always satisfy anyone," I lectured, trying to calm myself. I was surprised that I didn't shout at them because all I could think about is how I would react if someone insulted my own parents.

"But the other kid has a point. I mean, if I were him, I would defend my mom. Hurt anyone but my family." Xavier took side with the other kid. My eyes must have popped when I saw what was happening.

"Are you taking his side?" I asked. I gave him a dirty look but Xavier didn't look any different from being confident. 

"Seriously, he has a point." Asher took a step beside Xavier.

"But does it necessarily have to be a physical action to fix it?" I was now moving my hands as I talk at the same time. 

"It's a problem between guys. You don't understand." Josh shook his head. How dare he insult my gender! If I knew this would happen, I would have a paper right now with the list I made about boys being irrational. Feminism would be the title. 

"Yeah, I don't understand. Because you guys think that hurting someone would make yourself feel better," I retorted. I'm starting to feel like this conversation isn't about the kids anymore.

"Don't talk like you know how it feels when you really don't." Xavier narrowed his eyes and I did the same.

"Apologize," I said sternly to the tall kid.

The tall kid didn't move and so did the guys.

"I said--"

"Wait, you don't have the right to tell him what to do. I think he has his own mind to do that," Xavier said as he saved the tall kid. I sighed and closed my eyes. We're delaying our trip and I can feel the sun on my face. I think I'm getting tan because of this.

"Fine. Then show us what your mother taught you." I looked at the tall kid seriously.

The tall kid now looked at me with angry eyes, and then did the unexpected. He pulled his tongue out to me, such a chilish act. But an offending one.

"How dare you!" I almost hit him in the face when Connor stopped me. I didn't realize he was there because I was too focused on the kids and Xaiver.

"Let me go!" I tried to shrug off Connor's hand but he's way too strong. I didn't know he can handle me so easily since we never really got any physical contact.

"Well, you should also behave like what your mother taught you." Xavier scoffed at me, crossing his arms. I tried to ignore his comment and relaxing my fist.

"Sorry," the tall kid said later.

"Took you long enough," I mumbled. 

"It's not just his fault." Xavier looked at the poor kid who is now hiding behind my body.

"Sorry, too," the poor kid mumbled.

"Well, make sure you guys don't get too much trouble. I'm sure your mother won't be happy when she sees you like this, will she?" Josh told the tall kid who said nothing.

"And you try to understand what the others might feel. What if he did the same thing to you?" Jack continued. What am I seeing? Is it even plausible that this is happening?

Did I just see the guys did that on the kids? I can't even explain what they are even doing. I was speechless that the boys did all the talking.

"Now, go home and clean up your injuries, okay?" Nick reminded them again. The kids nod their heads and quickly ran back, towards their home hopefully.

"Let's get back to the truck. We don't want to be late," Xavier said icily, reminding me that it was my fault why we're late.

The boys started walking towards the truck except for Connor. I watched the kids still running, I wondered if they're okay.

"Are you coming?" Connor asked me. One of the tall kids did a handshake with the poor kid. I smiled at the scene and nod at Connor.

"Jones!" One of the guys shouted. Both Connor and I looked at the owner of the voice.

Xavier motioned Connor to come over. Clearly it was that Jones he was calling.

Stupid same surnames.

Connor quickly left me and I started walking towards the truck slower. When I got inside, I heard one of the guys murmured, 'troublemaker.'

How ironic.

Connor was looking at the window, so when I sat down and closed the door, he didn't notice that I slammed the door. It's whether he chose not to comment about my attitude or he really is deaf.

One moment the guys were all kind, especially Connor who even talked to me a while ago. Now, they're acting like what they should be, including Connor.

I won't be lying when I say that I'm getting a bit affected by their games. I don't plan on falling for their games.

I get more skeptical about them more day by day.

The truck stopped in the middle of nowhere and the driver must have noticed our confused faces. "We have to walk from here. The village is somewhere inside and the truck won't fit along the roads because it's too narrow and risky."

We all silently followed the driver when he went outside and started grabbing the goodies.

We all did the same, making me grab the last two bags and I noticed that they were very heavy. I think I saw cans inside. The driver locked the truck and started walking towards the forest.

"Isn't it creepy here when it's nighttime?" Nick asked the driver. "Well, we don't want that to happen, do we?" The driver answered. We all walked quietly, aware of the dangerous steps.

The road toward the village must have cracked up years ago because when you stepped on the moss, you can easily slip your feet and hurt your butt in the stone road. I wonder if anyone had an accident here before.

"There has been an accident before here at the forest, so you had to be careful," the driver said, but we arrived the village already when he said that. Hopefully we won't go on the same road when we get back.

"Switch?" Connor mumbled to me when the guys walked first. He must have noticed me sweating and my veins popping out when I was holding two heavy plastic bags that were doubled with plastic bags, maybe to refrain from breaking the plastic.

"No, it's okay," I said icily. One of the things that I hate, including unreasonable people and smokers, is being bipolar.

They think that they can fool me with all their 'kindness' and then the next minute, they are showing their devil insides. "Are you sure?" he asked once again.

"Go ahead before the guys see you talking to me."

Connor was about to say anything but I quickened my pace as I already hear the kids shouting numbers. Maybe the faculties already started without us and played games with them.

"That's right!" One of the volunteers said, she was older than us. But I think I saw her before at school. I think she already graduated.

"Yey!" The kids chorused.

"Now, I want all of you to make up four lines as we hand out goodies, okay?" the lady said.

The boys and I already put the plastic bags down the table and readied ourselves for the outburst of excited kids running towards us.

"This one is for you," I said kindly to the little kid after Xavier and Asher handed their plastic bags which I guess are the school supplies and clothing.

I didn't know that there were a lot of people in this small village. The line was long enough that the next kid called my name that got my attention back to my work.

"Have a nice day." I smiled at the small girl who walked out happily with three bags on her hands.

"Be careful with the bags," Asher said softly to the teenager.

I smiled at every person who got their goodies and when we're near to the end, I mastered up one last smile to the kid.

Goodness, my cheeks hurt from smiling. I massaged my cheeks and my jaw as I realized that I have putting up a smiling face for an hour.

"It must be hard for you to do these small things," Xavier scoffed at me. I don't know why he's talking to me because every time that we do, we just argue with each other. 

"I'm just not used to working with people like you." I narrowed my eyes to him.

"You're lucky we're still alive after bearing those awful moments with you or else you would have been dealing with all of those, alone," Xavier retorted.

"Like what I said, I would be the happiest person alive to know that." I rolled my eyes. I then walked away, finishing the conversation. I didn't want to waste my time on getting my mood worse.

We kept on waffling, which means to talk on and on about nothing until we realized that it started to rain. The faculties were teaching the kids some simple math, English, and history about our country. Then the kids started shouting when they felt droplets on their faces.

Our school must be ready for any disasters because before the rain even hit us hard, the volunteers and staffs quickly grabbed some big umbrellas which was from the truck and covered the small village.

It must be thirty of big umbrellas that covered us because all I see is a blurry sky when I looked up the transparent umbrellas.

I continued to help the guys on packing up the tables that was set up by the faculties and helped some parents with their bags. When we were done, I looked for a chair and sat down.

I sighed as I realized how tired I am. I looked at my right arm, realizing that I didn't wear my watch today. The first thing that popped on my mind was the guys when I realized that I don't need their help.

"It's already seven, when are we serving the dinner?" one of the volunteers asked the staffs. We stayed for four hours already?

I told Sasha already to tell my parents that I will be coming home late and I'm going to eat dinner outside, but the thought of delicious food made by Sasha would not be compared by the food we will be eating which made me just a tiny bit sad.

I stood up from my chair when I heard that the staff was telling the others to open up the dinner tables. I helped them and the guys must have seen me walking towards the big white truck.

I helped one of the guys on carrying the fifth dinner table and when we put it down, we hurried back to grab some more. The more I carry, the weaker I am. I can feel my arms screaming to stop but I couldn't. I kept on hurrying and grabbing chairs to fill up the tables.

After grabbing the chairs, I went back and grabbed the plastic plates and quickly filled them with food and served it in the table so that when they sat down, they will all be ready to eat.

"Who's ready to eat?" I think it was Ms. Marvil, our English Department head, said. The kids screamed for excitement again and quickly stood up.

"I want all of you to go to the back without running each other off, okay?" Ms. Marvil told them. The parents quickly followed after the kids all ran to the chairs. The tables are quickly filled and after assisting all of them, all of us went to our tables, which is the last.

"I would like to say a prayer before we eat," one of the kids said. He looked like a young boy. Maybe he's just nine. Or probably eight. Or eight and a half.

"Dear heavenly Father, thank You for having these lovely people visit us today with a lot of things to remember and delicious foods. Thank You for letting us experience good food for once and we get to meet up beautiful people. Thank You for letting us eat together and remember every single bit of this journey. Amen."

We all said Amen and took our seat.

At home, we never prayed. But then again, we seldom eat together. Sometimes I even wonder if they like to know how I am doing after school.

I have always thought about not being the perfect daughter to my parents. I always make mistakes and they would always notice my mistakes. They never praised me after my father screamed at me. That moment on, I thought of being the biggest mistake of their lives. But I couldn't do that to myself, making myself feel bad. Because at least one small percentage of my brain says that they do worry about me, but they just show it differently.

I looked at the parents, sitting beside their children, and smiling back at the happy faces of the little kids. They looked happy. Even though they are not as rich as I am, they looked better than us. They look more like a family than us.

I looked down at my food. It was a soggy fried chicken and a small fish fillet on the side with some vegetables. Maybe the food upon me won't be as good as home. But eating together with all of these people and sharing laughter together and knowing that we made all of these less privileged people happy made me realized that this is the meaning of what Christmas should be.

"Oh, chicken."

"Is this really a real fish?"

"Isn't this enough for a day for us to eat?"

"They look delicious."

"It is a real fish!"

"Thank you."

Those are the words that I heard when I started eating.

After one person thanked us, all of them followed, making the village filled with thank you's.

It was like the bells ringing whenever you're at church. Or the sound of endless waves at the beach. But this was better, it came from their hearts.

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a u t h o r ' s   n o t e : 

The song on the side describes Cassidy when she thought about her parents. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!

Feel free to comment below or press the star button, vote! 

Question: Do you think this chapter was sweet? Or eventful? Or kinda boring?

P.S. sMiLe! :) 

"It takes a lot of energy to be negative. You have to work at it. But smiling is painless. I'd rather spend my energy smiling." —Eric Davis