misplaced || l. valdez

2 || jason finds out he has money and mari almost faints

° ~ •. ♆ chapter two ♆ .• ~ °
"jason finds out he has money and mari almost faints"

The bus dropped them off in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, where it sat unbothered in the middle of nowhere. As Mari got off the bus, her stomach twisted into knots when she noticed that despite the obvious desert surrounding them, a cold wind was blowing through the air.

Trying to take her mind off of it, Mari looked down to see what she was wearing; a short sleeved band t-shirt and baggy jeans. She also noticed she was wearing a ring. It looked like it was made of gold, with a tear drop shaped moonstone. She didn't know why, but it felt important to her somehow.

"So, crash course for the amnesiacs," Leo said in a cheerful tone that let Mari know that he didn't believe them yet. "We go to the 'Wilderness School,' which means we're 'bad kids.' Your family, or the court, or whoever, decided you were too much trouble so they shipped you off to this lovely prison— sorry, 'boarding school'— in Armpit, Nevada, where you learn valuable nature skills, like running ten miles a day through cacti and weaving daisies into hats! And for a special treat, we go on these 'educational' field trips with Coach Hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. Is it all coming back to you now?"

Jason just looked at him blankly.

"Weaving daisy hats sounds cool." Mari said, and Piper patted her shoulder.

"That's 'cause you're the only one who enjoys doing it. You've seen Leo's daisy hats."

"Hey, I think my daisy hats looked great!" Leo protested. "But it sounds like it's all coming back to you. What about you, Jason?"

"No, nothing's coming back." he said, looking apprehensively at the other kids.

Leo rolled his eyes. "You're really gonna play this out, huh? Ok, so the four of us started here together this semester. We're totally tight. Mari is my amazing girlfriend and you do everything I say and give me your dessert and—"

"Leo!" Piper snapped, and Mari's face turned a bright shade of red.

"Fine, ignore those last two parts. But we are friends. Well, Piper's actually a little more than just your friend, the last few weeks—"

"You know what, Leo? Shut up." Piper said, this time her face turning red. Even Jason's face turned a little pink.

"Jeez, you guys are becoming walking tomatoes." Leo joked. "Anyway, Jason and Mari probably hit their heads during that dodgeball game yesterday. I mean, did you see the way Jason got crushed—"

"We've got to tell somebody!" Piper said urgently.

"Who, Coach Hedge?" Leo scoffed. "He'd try to fix them by whacking them upside the head."

The four turned to look at the coach, who was now barking orders and blowing his whistle at kids to try and keep them in a line. He looked over at the group and his face was suddenly laced with concern, like he knew that something was wrong.

"But Leo, they need help," Piper insisted. "They've gotten concussions or—"

"Yo, Piper!" someone yelled.

A guy dropped back from the line to join the four kids as they walked into the museum. The random guy wedged himself in between Jason and Piper, knocking Leo over, who then knocked Mari over. "Don't talk to these bottom-feeders. You're my partner, remember?"