Day Dreaming (DreamNotFound)

3. The Days Before

Sunday was relatively boring. I spent most of the day working on homework I had neglected Friday and Saturday while jamming to some random artists - I don't really pay attention most of the time.

Yesterday's events were added to my memories that gave me hope that maybe, just maybe, I have a chance with Clay. Those memories often linger in my mind when I have nothing to think about, to the point where it's almost unhealthy. Of course, I've learned to stop taking them seriously.

Since I woke up so late, I wasn't done with work until about 4 PM. I got up, stretched, and decided to go for a walk. Switching out of my pyjamas and into walking clothes, I slip out of the house, starting my usual circuit around the neighborhood.

I normally take walks to go over thoughts in my head, and at the moment I had plenty - although lots of it came back to Clay. I hadn't really taken in the fact that I would be sleeping with him for 5 nights until just now. It was surreal, almost like something out of a romance novel - but that's wishful thinking. I'm sure he probably doesn't think too much of it.

Sighing, I continued onward. However, cloudy skies threatened rain, so I stopped about a third of the way around and returned back the way I came. This turned to be a good idea, as a raindrop hit me in the head as I walked into the small pathway leading up to my front door.

As I pushed open the entrance to my house, I noticed my mom sitting on the couch, reading a magazine. "Oh, Georgie! I was just about to text you to come back. It's about to rain."

"Yeah, I was getting rained on a little on my way back," I said, kicking off my shoes.

My mom smiled and sighed. "I wonder what we should have for dinner..." She looked out the window thoughtfully. I decided to just go upstairs. When I got up, I noticed my cat curled up on my chair. I scooped him up, placing him on my lap as I sat down. However, like cats do, he proceeded to leap off my lap and wander elsewhere around the house. I returned my attention to my screen, scrolling through Discord and Twitter, though nothing piqued my interest. The rest of today was spent playing Minecraft.

Monday morning rolled around, and I regret waking up. I groan, remember I have to wake up even earlier tomorrow. I skipped breakfast, grabbing my school stuff and packing a quick lunch before dashing out of my home and walking briskly to school.

The morning goes by as usual besides the fact that English was moved to fifth period so we could have both afternoon periods for Science, where we would be discussing the trip. When I entered the room, I noticed it was cramped. They had pushed the tables to the sides, but with the entire 10th grade, it didn't help much. I noticed that at the front of the room was Mrs. Blaire, my English and homeroom teacher; Mrs. O'Perra, my Science teacher; and Ms. Mendoza, the Spanish teacher. I was taking Latin, so I didn't know her very well. Mrs. O'Perra made sure everyone was present before beginning a speech.

"As you all know, the Wildlife Expedition trip begins tomorrow and will last 5 days. I hope you all have your supplies ready, because I've been reminding you for 2 weeks. We will have 3 major groups that house your trios - Ms. Mendoza will be with Mr. Hall's homeroom because he is unable to join us on this trip, but myself and Mrs. Blaire will be with our homerooms. Those of you who have already chosen your partners, those choices will be final. There will be no switching groups."

I tried to decipher what she was saying, but she spoke in a way that doesn't make much sense.

"Please follow your homeroom teachers to their classrooms where they will explain your division's agenda. Obviously, my class can stay here." There was a lot of shuffling and low muttering, but I squeezed through the crowd and out the door, following Mrs. Blaire back to our classroom. 

Once we got there, I noticed that the desks were organized in trios, with people's names on them. I briefly panicked, forgetting that we had organized our group with Mrs. O'Perra last Saturday. When I remembered, I looked around for Clay, who was already sitting with Nick. They were beckoning me over, so I quickly made my way to the cluster of desks and sat down.

"Bruh, why does Mrs. O'Perra have to talk like that? I'm more confused than when they first announced this trip," Nick whispered. Clay and I nodded in agreement, but we didn't speak, as Mrs. Blaire stood at the front of the classroom, getting everyone's attention. We got quiet fast.

"Um... hi guys. So this week's schedule for us... well, the first day, everyone's doing most of the activities together, but we will be doing some preparations for staying in tents for the rest of the week. The second day will be when we pitch tents in the morning, and the afternoon will be spent doing an in-depth tree study." She glanced down at the paper on her desk. "Let's see... third day is an animal scavenger hunt. God, I can't believe they're making highschoolers do this," she added under her breath, getting a few laughs out of everyone. "Our group will be trying to find and accurately classify fish, so we will be fishing in the lake. The fourth day will have... survival skills." She sighed, clearly reluctant to finish the fourth day's list. "There's also plant identification. Well, at least the fifth day will be fun. There's competetions and swimming. We'll stay for one more night after that before returning Sunday morning."

When she was finished, a sort of silence filled the room. Nervously, Mrs. Blaire said, "Well, I'm sure the other two are probably spending a lot more time than needed. Just do whatever you want until they tell me to bring you back. Use your phones, I don't really care." With that, she opened her laptop and did work. I turned back to my two best friends at the table.

"Holy shit, this week is gonna suck," Clay groaned.

"Tell me about it. What are we, six?" Nick giggled.

"Leave it to that bitch to make something like this unfun," I muttered. I'd never liked Mrs. O'Perra; while I normally got along really well with my teachers, she and I just didn't. She always seemed to want to come after me especially, but luckily, the principal was sensible, so I rarely got in trouble.

"At least we have Mrs. Blaire as our group leader. Imagine how much it would suck if we had Mrs. O'Perra," Clay sighed optimistically.

"True," I said. 

We talked more with nothing interesting happening until Mrs. O'Perra came in and said that we could spend the rest of the day in our classroom with a study hall. A few moments after, Mrs. Blaire told us, "Just continue whatever you're doing. You can study if you want."

We took the hint and chatter immediately erupted again. I found myself getting lost in Clay's face when he and Nick found a particularly interesting topic. He didn't notice, thankfully, so I was left daydreaming when I got the chance.

Several hours later, I'm getting ready to go to sleep. I'm in just my pyjama pants with no blanket. Worrying about how I would face this week with Clay while also excited for the trip overall, I'm unable to sleep. But eventually, exhaustion wins and I slip out of consciousness.

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