We three decided to have a sleepover two days before the trip. Sophia, Emily and I. That explains why we were collapsed on my bed, with F.R.I.E.N.D.S playing on my laptop screen and the empty pizza boxes lying on my room's floor. I rubbed my hands over my belly area and groaned at its fullness. Both of them laughed at my action. Instead of getting embarrassed, I joined them too and soon, it was all three of us, laughing crazily. "I guess I should empty my bladder first." Sophia said when I opened another can of Sprite. "Hey. Isn't it Adam? I didn't know your rooms are that close." Sophia said when she looked out through the window. "Hey Sophia." I heard Adam's muffled voice and a frown appeared on my face. "Hey Adam. What's up?" she asked him which he answered briefly. After Sophia had walked into the bathroom, I stood up and closed the windows, but not before momentarily gawking at Adam. "What was that?" Emily asked when I sat down on the bed again. "What?" I asked. "The jealous vibes when Sophia talked to Adam. It was so evident on your face." she said in confusion. "Jealousy?" I laughed. "Why would I be jealous?" "I don't know. You tell me." she crossed her arms and asked. "I am not jealous." I said warily and started scrolling down my phone. "Al?" she started again. "Do you like Adam?" My heart skipped a beat and I suddenly felt tongue-tied. "Who likes Adam?" Sophia asked as she made her way to my bed. "Nobody." I exasperated, feeling suddenly stripped off. "Oh. So you do." Sophia smirked and I groaned. As much as I loved my friends, I didn't appreciate their interrogation. Adam and I, the concept sounded very foreign to me. He couldn't even bear my sight, let alone like me. "Ok. Topic change. What about Andrew and you? Is it just some sort of fling or an actual relationship?" I asked, diverting the spotlight from me. "Well... As much as I'd want it to be something more, it is not possible." she grieved, looking sad all of sudden. "Why?" Emily inquired. "Because of my dad. He wants me to join Stanford and he said any long term relationship will decrease my chances of getting in." she replied. "Oh Soph." Emily moved forwards and gave Sophia her famous bear-hug which probably had some magical healing powers. "I'm fine guys. Sophia Stone is made of steel. She ain't breaking anytime soon." she chuckled but I could see the sadness in her eyes. For few minutes, silence prevailed between us and nobody dared to speak. "Okay let's forget about all the stupid boys and focus our attention on Chandler Bing." Emily broke the silence, laughing. "Best idea." I commented, forgetting about Adam momentarily. "Like seriously, could this man be more awesome?" "Exactly." Sophia raised her hand and we all started chuckling. ... Dad stopped the car in front of Redwood High and turned his attention to me, "Take care Ali." "I will, dad." I said and passed him a toothy grin. "Have you kept snacks with you? And mobile charger?" he looked around in panic. "What about painkillers? A first aid box too? In fact -" "Dad! Dad! Dad!" I rubbed my hand on his own large one to relax him. "I'll be fine. I'm going for just two days, not a whole decade." Before Dad could start again, Sophia knocked the glass window and greeted me. After kissing Dad on his cheeks, I exited the car and hugged her in excitement. Picking up my bag pack from the car, I bade my goodbyes to Dad and walked inside the school with Sophia. "Your dad's fine as hell." she commented after we entered school's ground. "Where was he every time I visited you?" I slapped her arm and glared at her playfully. "Stop being so gross." "What? It's not like I am going to make a move. Should I?" she teased and I huffed. She seemed to enjoy my irritation. Ignoring her comments, I looked around to find Emily. When my eyes finally met her sitting figure on one of the benches, I frowned. Her eyes were zoomed in on Chloe and Justin who were busy sucking each other's faces in the middle of the ground and she looked like she wanted to suffocate both of them. "Oh Em!" I whispered sadly. "Is there anything we can do to cheer her up?" We both trudged towards her and surprised her from behind. She jumped in surprise and then smiled when she realized it was us. "You just gave me mini heart-attack." We were just talking when Miss. Celine, our trip in charge, began to announce something at the speaker. "All the students are advised to find their names in the lists pasted on each bus." her voice boomed in the ground. "There are three buses. In each bus, there will be one male and one female faculty member. The respective faculty members will be your guide for the whole trip. Each bus can accomodate 20 students. Go and sign against your name in the respective buses." All three of us rashed towards the bus number 3 because it was the least crowded one. We searched for our names in the list but failed to find. After bus no. 3, we went to bus no. 2. Despite the crowd of boys and girls around it, we managed to take a peek of the list. My mood soured when I found Sophia and Emily's name in it. "Shit. How will I spend the next three hours without you?" I said in a disappointed voice. They wanted to console me but their faculty in charge called them inside. After hugging them goodbye, I strolled towards the last bus and signed against my name in it. My irritation hightened when I found Adam and Noah's name in the same list. Mrs. Dale called my name and that's when I realized that I have been thinking about them for too long. Without any further argument, I sauntered inside the bus. All the seats were already occupied except two. I mentally groaned when I fought hard to choose between the one beside Adam and the other beside Noah. Noah patted the seat beside him and passed his signature smirk slash smile to me. Even Adam's face was decorated with a teeny, tiny smile which made his usual face look a little.. Um.. constipated. "Hurry up Miss. King." Mrs. Dale said to me in her annoyed voice. "Go on. Sit with Mr. McArdle." I thanked her internally to pull me out of the dilemma of choosing. On any other time, I'd happily sit with Adam but after his constant rude remarks, I was trying my best to mantain some distance from him. Without appreciating his presence, I sat down beside him and made myself comfortable. He was wearing a different cologne now and the delicious scent was urging me to inhale deeply but I resisted. For the first half an hour, nobody spoke but then, few of the students started singing some party songs. After a while, everybody joined them too. Well, everybody except Mr. Too-Cool-For-Such-Stuff aka Adam. I myself was clapping according to the rhythm and singing the lyrics loudly. Noah was the one who decided that only singing while sitting was not enough. He stood up and started showing his dancing skills by doing haphazard dancing in the bus. The other students joined him too and within no time, the whole bus was dancing like a bunch of maniacs. Even Mrs. Dale, who always looks ready to strangle us, was tapping her foot on the ground in rhythm. I lost balance when the bus halted to a stop and fell backwards on Adam. His strong arms held me tightly and my own hands moved to clutch his shirt. Few noises of "Oooh" erupted from around us and my cheeks flushed red. Even Adam, who was sitting there like a statue, blushed at the cheering. I stepped away from him and then decided to sit on my seat silently for some time. Most of the students were exhausted from the one hour of dancing so the bus was almost silent now. I felt hungry so I opened my bag pack but there was nothing salty in there except lays. The rest of the snacks were biscuits and chocolates and I was in no mood of eating something sweet. Dad had offered to make some sandwiches but I had refused him. Stupid me! I was busy searching inside my bag pack when delicious aroma of burgers reached my nostrils. My mouth watered when Adam placed his lunch box in front of me. There were two medium-sized beef burgers in there. He picked one and then silently waited for me to pick the another. "I don't want one." I said in a serious tone. "Tiffany made the second one for you." he said and turned his face back to the magazine he was reading. Shrugging, I took the first bite and sighed in pleasure when it reached my tastebuds. I knew one thing for sure that Tiffany didn't make this. Because as much as she loved to try, she was a really bad cook. That meant Adam was sharing his hand-cooked food with me and the thought made me smile. After eating the delicious burger, he passed me his bottle which contained fresh orange juice and a plastic cup. This time, he didn't even explain anything. When I had chugged down the whole glass, I let out a small burp. Adam smiled at my action and I frowned. As my stomach was full, I started feeling sleepy. After many failed attempts of keeping my eyes opened, my vision started turning blurry and finally, turned black. My head soon shifted to Adam's neck and despite my inner feminist quivering in anger, I didn't attempt to pull away from him. ___________________________