[Chapter 8]: The Outing

"Attention everyone, on friday, we will be having our educational fieldtrip. It is to entertain students and to take a break from school activities. I hope everyone joins in so we can have an excitin day!" professor said cheerfully. We all were happy and excited with this news. People started talking about who to sit with, "We will be having a seating arrangement." and everyone looked at the professor. "Aw what?!" others said. They were all shocked and stuff but this got nothing to do with me. I mean, somehow atleast, make my seatmate someone decent, not that I'm saying some of my classmates isn't, but due to excitement some of them will be this happy-go-lucky persons.

As the bell chimed, we went downstairs and saw that there are papers pasted on on the bulletin. It is the bus number plus the seating arrangement. I was shocked though. Cause damn, my seatmate happened to be Arthur. Sean looked at me and tapped my back. "Looks like someone gets to be with his boyfriend." he teased. I looked around us luckily there's not much people. "You jerk shut up!" I whispered as I tried stepping on his foot but I have accidentally bumped into Arthur. I looked at him, blushed and looked away from embarassment. "Shit sorry!" I said, he laughed, "So you're seatmate huh?" he said and I nodded, "That's good, I get to be with someone I'm close with." he said and I blushed. He seriously said these sweet words that pierced through me. I saw James not looking quite happy, "You alright James?" I asked and he looked at me, he nodded, "Yes..." he said. I looked at the bulletin to check who his seatmate is, it happened to be someone from class-2 named Ethan and James doesn't look like he's okay with this. I smiled at him as Sean grabbed my wrists and dragged me away from the crowd. "Be gentler next time, damn, you're gonna leave a mark there." I said and he smirked. "You got yourself two boyfriends?!" he teased. I smacked him hard on his head this time, "Ouch! Damn you!" he said as he tried chasing me but he couldn't.

—Night Before The Trip—

As I enter the dormitory, I rushed towards my room as it was already late. When I came inside, I saw James talking to Arthur. I was shocked as I saw their faces looked so serious. "S— sorry! I must've bothered you..." I said then as I tried going out, "Oh, Mint is your roommate?" Arthur asked to James. Looks like he doesn't know yet. "Y— yeah, he's the guy my father said." James explained. Arthur rushed towards me and gripped my wrists, he dragged me inside, "It's your room, I must be the one who bothered you." he said and I refused. "N— not at all." I said as I blush. James' face became more serious. "I think that's all we need to talk about Arthur. Thanks you may go now." James said. "So fast? I just came in—" as Arthur tried finishing, "Go now, it's already late." James said furiously. Somehow, James has changed. His tone went back to being furious, his eyes were too sharp and his face looked more serious. Arthur tried understanding him, "Alright then, I'll go now." Arthur said and he went out.

As Arthur leave the room, James prepared his bed and arranged his futon. I wanted to talk to him but I am afraid. I won't be able to sleep seeing James like that so I really took the courage to talk to him. "Are you okay, James?" I asked. It was no help, James had already covered his face underneath his sheet. "A— alright then, I'll leave you." I said as I leave the room. Sean invited me to buy foods for the trip so I went out with him.

As me and Sean walk towards the grocery store, "Something was off at the dorm when I went in." I said and Sean looked at me wondering. "What do you mean?" he asked. I looked at him, "When I went inside my room, I saw Arthur and James talking to each other and both of their faces looked so serious. I don't know what they were talking about but as soon as I got on, James told Arthur to leave immediately." I explained and Sean was shocked. "Oh ho! I was wondering why Arthur's face was so bitter when he went inside our room." and this shocked me. "Wait, Arthur is your roommate?!" I shouted from surprise and Sean looked at me, "Wait, James is your roommate?!" Sean said and I nodded. "Oh ho! Your hubbies are all over you aren't they?" he teased and I tried smacking him but he was able to dodge it. "Damn you Sean." I said.

—James—

As I cover myself under my sheet, I was wondering where did Mint go. I am actually worried at him, it's already this late and he still went out. Come to think of it, he tried talking to me, but instead of talking to him, I ignored him. I... I'm sorry Mint, but if I'd be suddenly exposed to you, I know you're not gonna talk to me and you're gonna hate me. I tried asking Arthur to change seats with him as he already know about me, but... he didn't agree. Still, even though he knew I like you, he just ignored that fact and kept on talking to you. I don't hate him though, I hate myself. For letting you go, for not being able to fulfill my promise. This time, I promise, I'll take care of you, I'll hold unto you until our very last breath.

—END OF JAMES—

—Mint—

I am feeling weird about this at all. About James, Arthur and stuffs. Something really is going on but I don't have the courage to ask what is it about and I knew, it wasn't a part of my business. After we bought foods, I went straight to my room and arranged the foods on the fridge. I went to bed and scrolled through my news feed. Just as I scroll, I saw a post related to long lost friends and stuffs which caught me to space out for a moment. Damn, there really is someone in my dreams. He has always been in here for so long and I don't know who he is. He promised me one thing, he'll take care of me, he'll look out after me. As I reminisce these memories, I felt my tears slowly falling down as I fell asleep. While holding my phone, that person I used to like, has always been in my dreams.

—Outing Day—

I fixed myself after I finished eating my breakfast and so did James. It's weird though, after being angry and sulky last night, now he's this cheerful. "Come on now Mint! We're gonna be late. Here, let me help you carry your stuffs." he said as he carry my bag. I didn't hesitate though, I knew he won't let me refuse his offer. He went out first as I arrange myself and soon followed him. I closed and lock the door of our room and went straight to the quadrangle to line up. Each bus is seperated and each bus is assigned with a number. I lined myself up in the middle of the crowd along with my busmates. As the tour guide delivered us to our designated bus, we arranged ourselves according to the seat plan.

I saw Arthur beside me looking so cute. He looks so irresistable. He saw me looking at him, I blushed and he laughed, "What? First time seeing someone so cute?" he teased. I pinched his arms and said, "As far as I know, there's only one cute guy here, and that's me." I said. He laughed and he touched my hair, "Oh ho! Someone's being naughty." Arthur said. Just moments later on, James coughed heavily which made Arthur stop joking with me. I don't know what the problem is, but James, who is just behind us is being unreasonable. As I look at him, he smiled and went back to sleep. The trip started too early, time check, 6:58 am. I looked back at Arthur and saw that he's already asleep. He looks so cute which made me blush. I did the same too, since I woke up too early, I took my sleep too after I covered my face with an eye mask.

"Mint you should wake up. You're always a sleepy cat." I heard as someone tries to wake me up. I saw James on top of me smiling, "Shit!" I shouted from surprise and others looked at us. James laughed, "I am your partner. Now get up before I leave you here." he said as he smirk. Damn this guy. I hate him. I stood up and fixed my hair. I grabbed my stuffs and went down. The trip is on a forest-history themed tourist attraction so basically the surroundings looks like we are in a jungle.

There were different games and activities made for us. One of them is actually the team-building games.

Right now, we're tasked to form a circle. We did form a circle and an instructor is in the middle. "Alright everyone, this game, will let you know more about each person that is in here. The game is entitled, two truths and one lie. One person stands up and tell two truths and and one lie about them. Others must guess which one is the lie. After 1 attempt, if you won't be able to tell which one is a lie, that person will tell it. Alright?" the instructor said and everyone nodded. "Alright, for the first one, why don't we start with you?" the instructor said as he points to Arthur. "Alright." he said as he stand up. "First, I like someone here. Second, I have a brother. Lastly, I studied from a private school in elementary." all were hard to guess. He is after all the son of the congressman so two and three would be true, however, the first one, he looked like he had already liked someone. "The lie is you have a brother." someone said from the crowd and we looked at that person. Arthur shook his head, "I'm not actually interested in anyone right now." he said and this shocked me. He... (I know from my delf that I shouldn't get affected by this.) he isn't actually interested about seeing someone, or atleast admiring someone? As the intructor clapped and so did the others, he pointed on another person, and that happened to be James. He stood up and cleaned his pants, "Alright. First one, I actually have a childhood friend here. Second, I like someone here. Third, I've already had a girlfriend." basing from his looks, he probably had a girlfriend already. "The lie the number 2?" I said and he shook his head and this gave me a shock. "I've never had a girlfriend before. I actually promised to someone that I'll take care of that person 'til the end." these sweet words sounded so delicate but I remembered my dream due to this. I've had doubts that the person from my dream is him so I didn't mind it.

Moments later on, they started the campfire and I went to the cottage by myself. I saw Sean having fun with the same guy before (his partner on the physical class), something's really off here though. I drank some juice and went to the sands alone. I've felt James cold hands as he placed a cold drink on my face letting me feel the can's cold temperature. "Damn you that's cold!" I said and he laughed. "Thinking something deep?" he asked and on this moment, something inside me is telling me to ask him about the thing earlier. "Ummm—" I said as an intro. Man I'm really bad at confessing. "If any chance, have we met before?" and from what I've said, a smiling face turned into a serious one. "You really wanna talk about this?" he asked and I knew there was something. "I do." I said. He stood up, I looked at him and he asked for my hands. I let him support me as I stand up and he brought me to a more private place.

It was this late night and we're gonna have this serious talk. I'm nervouds though. I knew something was off but I've never been into these super serious talks. "Yes, we have already met. Not only met, but we know each other." he said. I wondered from what he said because I don't actually remember him. "W— what do you mean?" I asked. "When we were kids, we're always close to each other. We... we were never seperated and we actually liked each other." all these words the came out of his mouth, I slowly remembered my past. "I've given my word to you. That I... I will take care of you... I'll look out after you. But all of these stopped after an accident." he said and tears slowly fell out of my eyes. "Our parents only wanted us to be friends. They've always wanted me to be with a girl so we ran..." he continued. "We ran away as we hold our hands and we were happy. Not knowing, we were already on the road and a truck happened to pass by. I was gonna get bumped, but you pushed me away and threw your stuffs at me, saying "I want you to remember me, always." as you cry." he said as tears continued falling on my eyes. All my life, I've hated him and now, after these things, I've hated him more. "Tell me..." I said as my voice slowly gets furious. "W— why didn't you tell me the truth back then? Why did you waited for so long that I've already liked someone? WHY NOW OF ALL THE TIMES I'VE BEEN HAPPY THINKING OF YOU AS MY BROTHER?!" I shouted from hatred. My tears continued falling and I couldn't handle anymore of this. I left him alone crying as I went back. I can't take any more of these, I'm... I don't know anymore.

—Next Day—

As the sun shone upon my room, I grabbed my stuffs swiftly as I went back to the sands. Upon reaching the middle, my tears were still falling. I don't know what to do, but All I know is I wanna be alone for now.

While looking over the horizon, someone came near me and handed me a handkerchief. I looked at the person and saw she was smiling. "Are you alright?" she saw me crying. "Y— yeah." I said as a reason. She handed the handkerchief to me and I accepted it. I wiped my face, "Thanks." I said. She looked at me asked for a handshake, "Dianne." she greeted. "Mint, nice to meet you." I said as I fixed myself. I stood up and thanked her, "Thanks, I'll be going now." I said and I handed her handkerchief back to her. As I walk, she grasped my wrists, "Whatever you're going on, one day, you'll find a solution to it. Fighting only!" she said and I cheered myself up. She's right. I must fight on.

As I enter inside the bus, I knew my aura has to be cheerful so I showed what I must look like. As before, I sat beside Arthur and he saw my face quite pale. "Are you alright? Did you cry?" he asked and I looked at him, "I— I'm fine." I said and he didn't insist. He just nodded and smiled, "Fighting!" he whispered and I blushed. Later on, James entered the bus and I looked at him, he didn't look at me. He strayed his eyes from me and he sat on the very last chair of the bus. He knew I need space and time.