Chapter 26: Field Trip Head Start

"Aren't you guys excited? This will be our first middle school field trip!" Naz exclaimed as she quickly warped her left arm on top of Nicole May's shoulder and grinned at everyone in front of her.

"Hey, why are you here? You're not even in our class…" Nicole May muttered as she stared at Natalie exasperatedly.

Currently, they were in front of the school building, waiting for the other students to arrive and also waiting for the field trip to start. Even though Naz and Nicole May weren't classmates, she was with her, as she wanted to talk to her before the trip. Naz was also with Elizabeth, who was a bit reluctant at first, but she joined her anyway.

"I wonder where they'll take us… the teachers don't even know the location, only the principal…" Elizabeth pondered and folded her arms across her chest. She looked around the area, where the other students were all gathered up near the buses that would take them to the location. Then, she turned to Nicole May and noticed she wasn't with anyone. "Hey, where is Avegaille, anyway?"

"Late as usual, she probably overslept again…" Nicole May muttered as she tried removing Naz's arm from her shoulder and stepped a bit away from her. Then, she folded her arms across her chest. "Anyway, I'm not familiar with this town, except for a couple of field trips we did back in Midway Academy. So, if we're going to guess where we are going, it's probably some of those locations we went to…"

"Hmm, good point, although there was this place I always wanted to go to… that science museum they just recently built," Elizabeth said and giggled a bit. "Well, we should focus on writing articles about this trip…"

"Well, if we're going to a museum, we can't just take pictures whenever we want, can we?" Naz asked and became confused.

"Depends on the location, we aren't even sure of it yet," Elizabeth muttered and sighed. Then, she turned to the direction where some students just arrived and were looking around for their class. She could see from the crowd the two sisters who looked almost alike, and some of the students were actually staring at them.

"Oh, there's Avegaille!" Naz exclaimed as she frantically waved her arm, trying to get their attention.

Apparently, Avegaille was so sleepy that Jane was trying to push her around so that Avegaille would know which direction she should go to. The two sisters finally got to them, and Jane slightly positioned Avegaille besides Nicole May. Avegaille was so tired that she quickly took Nicole May's arm and fell asleep on her shoulder, which somehow surprised Nicole May.

"Hey, I hope you guys don't mind watching over my little sister…" Jane muttered and looked a bit exasperated. "It took me a while to wake her up since Mom already left… and well, I don't know what I can do to get her to wake up fully, so I'll let you guys do that."

"What was Avegaille doing last night anyway?" Nicole May asked skeptically as she sweat-dropped.

"How should I know?" Jane responded apathetically as she shrugged. "Anyway, you guys have fun on your field trip. The location is somewhere you might be surprised at…"

"Eh… you know where it is?" Naz asked curiously and stepped closer to Jane. "Come on, tell us, please?"

"Sorry… I can't tell you guys. Anyway, you're going to see it for yourselves…" Jane replied and sighed. She folded her arms across her chest as she looked around. More and more students were coming in and some of the teachers were already making their student line up in a single file next to the buses. Then, as she turned around, she saw her friend, Madeline, waving her hand and she quickly ran up to her.

"Jane, I've been looking all over for you!" Madeline exclaimed as she quickly pulled Jane's arm. Jane, on the other hand, tried to stand firm on her place so that Madeline couldn't drag her away. "Come on, we have a meeting to attend to!"

"What? What meeting?" Jane asked and looked confused. Madeline continued pulling her arm, like a child who wanted to go somewhere.

"Oh come on Jane, you even asked me to remind you about it," Madeline whined and pouted at her. "It's the monthly student council meeting where we have to talk with the leaders of all the clubs here!"

"Eh? Hey wait… hold on!" Naz interrupted and both of the seniors turned to her. "If you guys are going to have this sort of meeting, how come the school newspaper club wasn't informed?"

"Oh don't worry about it, we can't accommodate all clubs in one meeting, so we planned on doing another meeting for those who couldn't attend due to the field trip," Madeline explained as she winked. "This meeting is for the ninth and tenth grader club leaders since we knew today was the field trip for the seventh and eight graders."

"Are you a leader of a club?" Elizabeth asked Madeline while slightly tilting her head to the side.

"Yep, yep, I'm head of the literature club as well, although I don't look like it," Madeline replied and giggled. Then, she continued to drag Jane again. "Come on, we need to set up the room so that everyone will feel comfortable!"

"All right, all right," Jane muttered while Madeline started dragging her. She followed her lead and the two of them disappeared from the crowd of students.

Then, Mr. Collins, who was Avegaille and Nicole May's homeroom teacher and math teacher, stood in front of the group and looked at his students. Elizabeth and Naz waved their hands sheepishly at him and quickly ran off to get to their homeroom class. The other students were getting inside the bus and some of the buses left already. Avegaille slightly opened her eyes and yawned. After that, she stretched her arms and took off her glasses to rub her eyes. Nicole May, on the other hand, was somehow relieved that Avegaille finally woke up and folded her arms across her chest as she turned to Mr. Collins.

"Okay, you two get in the bus, everyone's already inside!" Mr. Collins exclaimed as he pointed to the assigned bus for his class.

"Yes, Mr. Collins…" Nicole May muttered as she turned to Avegaille and sighed. She took her arm and both of them walked together until they got inside the bus.

As they looked around, Avegaille put her glasses back on and saw an empty seat in front of Phil and Emily, almost at the back of the bus. The two of them had been talking about various things while they were sitting together. Avegaille sat down close to the window and Nicole May sat down next to her. As soon as both of them sat down, the bus started moving and everyone inside all began chatting with their seatmates. Mr. Collins, on the other hand, was standing near the driver's seat, while holding on to the poles, like a tourist guide. He was giving out instructions for everyone inside. Of course, without a microphone or megaphone, only the students near him could hear him.

"Hey, Nicole May… where are we going again?" Avegaille asked as she scratched her head.

"I have no idea, but in case you've forgotten, today's the school field trip," Nicole May replied and sighed. She leaned her back against the seat as she folded her arms across her chest. "Anyway, what were you doing last night? I thought we already finished your homework the day before that…"

"Eh… well… I was… um…" Avegaille muttered and looked really nervous while she slowly turned away from Nicole May.

"Hey, Avegaille! Did you finish the game yet?" Phil asked and Nicole May immediately turned to the direction of the voice and saw his head above them. She sighed as she turned away from him while Avegaille looked up at him.

"Yeah, I did… but it was kinda hard…" Avegaille muttered. She opened her bag and took out a small gaming device, then gave it to Phil. "Here, you can have it back though…"

"So… you were up all night, playing video games?" Nicole May asked as she raised an eyebrow while looking at Avegaille.

"Ah… yeah…" Avegaille replied sheepishly as she sweat-dropped. "I wanted to play it but I couldn't afford it so Phil let me borrow his just for the night…"

"It can't be helped, this game is quite challenging and famous," Phil remarked as he placed the device into his pocket while Nicole May stared at him exasperatedly. Then, Emily joined in and stood next to Phil, while looking down at Avegaille and Nicole May.

"You should just let Avegaille do what she wants," Emily said to Nicole May and grinned. Nicole May just ignored her while Emily turned her attention to everyone else. "Anyway, you guys have an idea where we are going on this field trip?"

"Well… Mom said something about those amusement parks that educate children about science," Avegaille muttered and scratched her head. "Of course, I've never heard of such a place here in Centralville… yet."

"Oh, you must be talking about the 'Wonders of Science' amusement park, that place just opened recently. It's a bit far from school… and it's in the New York side of Centralville," Emily explained ecstatically. "Although, I'm a bit concerned in terms of how the principal was able to plan a field trip like this… especially when it comes to the school budget. Public schools usually can't afford to make field trips like this…"

"I think… I may have an idea on who helped her…" Nicole May muttered as she slowly turned away from them and sweat-dropped. She recalled her mother asking her for directions on how to get to the principal's office a few weeks ago while she was at school. Of course, her mother was wearing one of her disguises that day that no one recognized her.

"Eh?" Avegaille looked at Nicole May's expression and became curious at what she was thinking. She scratched her head for a bit and then, slowly turned to the window, looking outside. "This is going to be a long trip…"

.-.-.-.-.-

Back at Centralville Middle School, Vivian, the school secretary, was looking through the files on her desk. She was the only one in the office since the principal was doing her daily check-ups around the campus. A flyer lying by the edge of the table caught her interest and quickly picked it up. It was a flyer for the amusement park that the seventh and eighth graders were going to for their field trip today. She looked through it and saw how advanced were the facilities listed on it.

"Hmm, I'm pretty sure this is much more fun if experienced first hand…" Vivian muttered to herself as she placed the flyer back on the table. "I wonder… why did Mrs. Rustford ask Mrs. Stewart to have the field trip in this location anyway?"

Then, the door slammed open and Mrs. Stewart entered the room, with a very giddy look on her face. She was carrying a couple of folders around her arms and approached Vivian. Then, she quickly dropped the folders on the table.

"Hi, Vivian!" Mrs. Stewart exclaimed and giggled. "I just got back from the records room and look what I found~"

"Um… huh?" Vivian stared at Mrs. Stewart dumbfoundedly and then, she looked down at the folders placed on top of her desk. She picked up one of them and slowly browsed through the papers inside the folder. "Mrs. Stewart… do you mind telling me what this is all about?"

"Oh, Jane asked me about how the school budget could accommodate all the school clubs," Mrs. Stewart replied and nodded slowly. "I asked the finance department and they told me to look at the records room. I'm having a bit of hard time understanding those, so maybe you could help me out…"

"Mrs. Stewart… I'm a secretary, not an accountant… you really should take these back to the people at the finance department and ask them…" Vivian muttered as she sweat-dropped and looked at Mrs. Stewart glumly. Then, she placed the folder back on the pile and stood up from her seat. "By the way, Mrs. Stewart… why did Mrs. Rustford want you to have the school field trip at that newly built… and rather expensive amusement park?"

"Oh, some sort of promotion, I think," Mrs. Stewart replied and shrugged. "Well, either way… they're paying for it and it doesn't affect the school budget, so it's all good. Besides, that place should teach children more about science and its secrets. Or, so they say… Originally, I planned on the field trip going to the museum since it was what the school could afford. Sandra was a lifesaver when she came to my office that day when I was about to submit the location for the faculty to review."

"Well, sounds good enough, I guess… I'm just glad the faculty agreed to it also…" Vivian said as she folded her arms across her chest.

"Yep, anyway, I have to get these to the people at finance," Mrs. Stewart said while she picked up the pile of folders on the table and walked out of the office.

Vivian sighed as she sat down on her seat again and looked at the pile of papers on her table. Then, she looked at the door, which was still open, and she quickly stood up and approached the door so she could close it.

.-.-.-.-.-

The bus finally arrived at the science amusement park, and the students all got out of the bus one by one. Avegaille and Nicole May were the last ones to get out of the bus. They stood next to Phil and Emily and all of them listened to Mr. Collins' instructions. Then, after that, he started handing out pamphlets to each pair, as the field trip involved being with a partner. Phil and Nicole May had been arguing over who would be Avegaille's partner since yesterday. Emily noticed the commotion and thought it would be better if she could be Phil's partner instead. Of course, Avegaille wasn't aware of the whole deal or around that time… she went with her usual day and later on agreed to being Nicole May's partner when Nicole May asked her.

Everyone headed towards the entrance to the park, which was decorated with a flashy header and there were ticket booths by the side near the turnstiles. The security guard and some of the staff at the entrance greeted them while each student went through the turnstile until they all got inside the park. The science park was divided into different sections, from the prehistoric times to the modern space age. Aside from the facilities, there were also some food booths near them, all with different variations and decorations depending on the section it was near to. They could buy dinosaur shaped cookies and corndogs shaped like a club at the food booth near the prehistoric area. Some of the other students were already going through various facilities and rides of the park, mostly at the modern space age section. Emily started dragging Phil away so they could at least get to a decent location without too many people. On the other hand, Nicole May put on her glasses and looked through the pamphlet given to them. She wanted to go to the dome which was shaped like an actual observatory so they could learn more about the universe.

"Hey, Avegaille… let's go here," Nicole May muttered as she pointed to the dome illustrated in the map. "I noticed that the more popular rides are crowded, so this one might be calmer…"

"Eh… okay…" Avegaille nodded slowly and then, yawned. She was still sleepy from earlier, and she followed Nicole May's lead.

While the two of them were walking, they noticed the commotion going over the facility with a huge spaceship. Nicole May looked at the pamphlet and read how people could explore the insides of the spaceship and its functions. Of course, it was just a model, modified for people to tour at. Then, Avegaille saw a futuristic looking building next to the spaceship model, where a lot of students were also lining up. She was a bit curious though the crowd was too much for her. Then, as they continued to walk further, Avegaille spotted Naz taking pictures while Elizabeth was jotting down through her notebook and constantly reading through the pamphlet. Naz stopped taking pictures as soon as she saw Avegaille and quickly waved her arm. Both Avegaille and Nicole May approached them quickly.

"Hey, have you guys been through the rides or facilities yet?" Naz asked. Then, she grabbed her camera and took a picture of Avegaille and Nicole May standing together. From her point of view, Avegaille and Nicole May were standing in front of the facility, which was a tour of the tropical forest.

"We were about to… until we saw you guys," Nicole May replied as she folded her arms across her chest. "How about you guys? I know your class arrived a bit earlier here than ours…"

"Well, we were just looking around and Naz takes pictures while I write down the draft for the article…" Elizabeth replied and looked down on the notebook on her hand again. She began writing again and after a while, she handed the pamphlet to Naz. "Anyway, I really am curious about that building next to the spaceship. Aside from the futuristic look, I think they also do virtual reality there. Like, they have machines that make you think you're riding an actual roller coaster, but it's only the machine shaking here and there…"

"Oooh, so that's what that building was… no wonder there were a lot of people…" Avegaille muttered as she looked back and could still see the crowd, even from where she was standing. Then, she turned back to everyone. "Nicole May and I were about to go to that observatory thing… you guys wanna come?"

"Nah, we still have other places to take pictures of," Naz said as she quickly took Elizabeth's arm and winked at them. "You guys have fun, we'll be around when you need us~"

"Um… sure…" Nicole May muttered as she watched Naz and Elizabeth run off to another facility until they disappeared from the crowd. Then, she turned to Avegaille and quickly grabbed her hand. "Come on, let's get to that dome before it becomes crowded!"

"Ah, yes!" Avegaille exclaimed while Nicole May started to drag her around and she walked along.

.-.-.-.-.-

While everyone else was busy going though facilities and taking pictures, Emily and Phil arrived at the prehistoric area, which, aside from large scale models of dinosaurs with matching backgrounds, there were also some rides for everyone to try out. The other students were lining up for the rides while Phil and Emily were looking at the large scale models displayed. Of course, Phil was a bit curious as to why Emily would want him as his partner for the field trip. He knew Emily was interested in Avegaille. Of course, he thought Emily would also want to be Avegaille's partner too. He felt that something wasn't right and that he should ask Emily. Although, he was a bit hesitant about it and let it pass instead. Both of them continued to walk while looking at the models and reading the descriptions placed on a tablet with small platforms. Then, Emily slightly tugged Phil's sleeve.

"Hey, Phil, you're probably wondering why… I wanted you to be my partner in this field trip…" Emily muttered and laughed nervously. "Well, actually, I wanted to ask you some things about Avegaille… since… you know her pretty well."

"Oh…is that it?" Phil smiled weakly as he tucked his hands into his pockets. "Well, to be honest, even though I do know some things about Avegaille, but those things are usually either too long ago, or quite personal that I don't really talk about them to anyone except really close friends…"

"Ah, really, I figured you'd say something like that," Emily remarked and smirked a bit. "Well, yeah, since you won't talk, that's fine. Anyway, you were having a quite heated debate with Nicole May yesterday too, so I couldn't really help but butt in…"

"Yeah, I really wanted to spend the day with Avegaille and talk to her about some things… but I don't know, Nicole May approached me about it and was staring at me as if she didn't want me around," Phil muttered and sighed. "She's creeping me out for some strange reason… whenever I tried to talk to Avegaille at school, she would just come out of nowhere and drag Avegaille away…"

"Ahaha, so typical of her," Emily remarked and giggled. Then, she clenched her fists and looked determined. "Don't worry about it, if you want to talk to Avegaille today or spend some time with her, I can ask… um… hmm, this is quite difficult… I don't know anyone who could separate Nicole May and Avegaille without anyone realize we're doing this on purpose…"

"Maybe you could ask Naz and Elizabeth to have Nicole May join them or something…" Phil suggested and shrugged. "I mean, you guys are also working on the articles for the school paper at the same time… right?"

"Yeah, Elizabeth is quite serious about it… she could use some help…" Emily said and folded her arms across her chest. "Okay then, let's set out on finding them!"

"Problem is… where do we start?" Phil asked hesitantly.

"Don't worry, those two are easy to find. We'll just have to look through all the facilities in this place, right?" Emily grinned mischievously while she placed her hands on her hips.