The Journey To An Unknown Destination 52 Yosemite National Park

When Ivy saw her return to the bus, she couldn't believe it. She escaped so quickly? Looks like she had underestimated her. Oh well, at least she got scolded by the teacher. Now, her heart was in peace. They couldn't have left Emily here in the first place so this was good enough.

Aiden moved closer towards Emily and asked with his head in between the seats, "What happened?" Emily scorned at what happened just now and told him the entire story. Cyril listened in shock, while Aiden was really angry. "What the hell? How could someone be so nasty."He said and leaned back into his side, glancing at Ivy. Ivy quickly looked away and pretended that she heard nothing.

Shit... Did he find out? Ivy thought, depressed.

"What do you want from her?" Aiden asked in all seriousness. Ivy ignored and looked ahead. "Tell me." Aiden demanded again. Ivy looked at him with a mild surprise. "Are you talking to me?" She asked innocently.

"Yes."

"Uhhh... What happened?" She asked again as if she never did anything. Aiden did not persuade her further to answer his question. He simply smiled, a dangerous smile, which concealed his anger and disdain. Ivy shuddered.

Aiden turned back and spoke to the person sitting behind him, it was Cooper. "Hey, Cooper, do me a favor and switch places with Ivy." What? Ivy stared at him in shock. "But-" She tried to speak but receiving the deathly stare from Aiden, she gulped back her words and obediently switched places with Cooper.

"I thought you forgot about me, bro. Made new friends, eh? And left you childhood buddy alone. Boohoo!" Cooper pretended to wipe his tears by his sleeve and cry. "Okay, okay, forgive me. I was just caught in some busy matters." Aiden chortled. "Busy matters you say? What could be more important than me?" Cooper raised his eyebrow at Aiden, as he shrugged. Getting no proper response he glanced at the girl in front of him.

"Ooohhh!!! So you are talking about Emi-" Cooper raised his voice, but as soon as he was about to say Emily's name, Aiden plunged at him, covering his mouth. "Shh.. Don't talk rubbish!" Aiden whispered. Emily thought she heard her name and turned to look behind her and saw Aiden covering Cooper's mouth. Seeing that Ivy was not longer there, her mood enlightened.

"What's up with the two of you." She laughed, "I thought I heard my name." "Of course, you did." Cooper mumbled from behind Aiden's hand, who pressed his hands harder over his mouth. Why can't this idiot keep his mouth shut, he thought helplessly. "Ahahah... Well... We were just talking about how good at sports you are!" Aiden made something up.

Cooper rolled his eyes, shoving Aiden's hands away from his mouth. What a milksop.

The bus traveled on the straight road and after a while, it started to get curvy and in a zigzag pattern, moreover the plantation started to get denser. They could now see tiny hills, which started to grow in size as they got closer to their destination.

"We're almost there everybody!" The teacher announced in excitement. The bus slowed down considerably as they progressed further ahead. Everyone was now excitedly looking out of the windows, praising the natural beauty. They moved on for about fifteen minutes, when suddenly a majestic view appeared in front of them.

Their eyes widened in shock. It truly was heaven on earth. Mountains could be seen as far as their sight could go. Trees were thickly populated between those peaks. Since it was the mid of October and autumn was on its peak, instead of a lush green color, the entire view was painted in vibrant colors of orange, yellow and red. Only a few patches of evergreen tress were in sight. Looking closely they could spot a waterfall pouring from the corner of a mountain far away.

"WOAH!!!" All of them exclaimed together in shock. The teacher smiled at their reaction. Now they all started to anxiously wait for the bus to stop, so that they could start putting up their tents. The bus was filled with the chattering of students. As soon as it stopped everyone grabbed their stuff and dashed outside. It was a total chaos and all of them were pushing to get out through the narrow door.

Emily also grabbed Aiden and Cyril as they ran outside. As soon as she got out, she took in a deep breath, the cool and sweet smell entered her nostrils and gave a calm feeling. She stretched for two whole minutes before grabbing her suitcase and walking with the rest of them towards where they would be staying.

They all walked for quite some time on the uneven and stony trek. A few girls started to get tired, "Ma'am! How long do we have to walk further?" A few whined, complaining. "Almost there!" She replied. "Here we are!" She said after a while and pointed forwards.

They were... in the middle of nowhere.

Chapter end