misplaced || l. valdez

1 || the amnesiacs wake up on the magic school bus

° ~ •. ♆ chapter one ♆ .• ~ °
"the amnesiacs wake up on the magic school bus"

Mari couldn't tell what was worse— waking up on a bus filled with strangers or not having any idea who she was.

She awoke in the back of the bus, with her head on a boy's shoulder. She sat up quickly, trying to look around. The seats in front of her were filled by kids who looked to be around— fifteen? Some kids were talking to their friends while others had earbuds tucked into their ears. However, one boy was staring directly at her.

He had dark hair cut Superman style and a deep tan. He wore a Dallas Cowboys jersey, western jeans and boots. The longer he stared, the more uncomfortable Mari got. He was staring intently at her, as if he'd won a game she didn't know she was playing. Before she could do anything however, the boy gave her a sly smile and turned back around. Mari took a mental note to stay away from whoever that was.

"Hey, are you ok? Is Dylan bothering you again?" someone asked.

Mari flinched in surprise as she looked to the person next to her. It was a boy with curly black hair and light brown eyes— so light that they almost looked like orange flames.

"Uh— yeah, I'm fine. But where am—" Mari started, but she was quickly cut off by the boy.

"Ok, just making sure. Piperrr," The boy said, drawing out the r. "You owe me five dollars now!"

"Are you sure?" someone responded.

Mari turned around to see a girl sitting behind them. She had dark choppy hair and tan skin. She was wearing skinny jeans and a ski jacket, and there happened to be a boy sleeping on her lap. The boy had pale skin and blonde hair, and he had a little scar above his lip.

"I mean, she's looking at you right now." the boy said.

"Ughh, fine." the girl said, picking up her bag and rummaging through it to produce a crumpled five dollar bill. "Here. Next time, though, I will absolutely win."

"Sure, Piper. Sure." the boy said, looking to Mari with a mischievous grin.

The girl, or Piper, just rolled her eyes as the boy on her lap stirred.

"Mornin' Jason." Piper said, her voice softening as the boy woke up. "How was the nap?"

"Great, here we go again." the boy said, pretending to throw up.

Jason's eyes fluttered open, and his calm expression quickly turned into confusion as he looked around. He got up and started to panic, trying to distance himself from Piper.

"Jason? Are you ok?" Piper said, surprise and concern quickly filling her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Uh, I don't—" he started, but he stopped when he saw Mari. His eyes widened in surprise, as if he recognized her from somewhere. "You— you're—"

"All right cupcakes, listen up!" someone said from the front.

Mari turned back around to see the person who spoke. He was definitely a coach, with a baseball cap pulled low over his hair so that you could only see his eyes. He had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd just eaten something moldy. His arms and chest pushed against the bright orange polo shirt he had on and his nylon workout pants were a spotless white. A whistle hung from his neck and a megaphone was clipped to his belt. He would have looked very intimidating if it wasn't for the fact that he looked 5 feet tall.