Templeschool

7. Field Trip For Brothers

If you asked Twoie if he could wake up at 5 am in the morning without waking the sleeping kid upstairs, the answer would be yes. Barely.

It was hard enough trying to figure out a way to program the alarm function on his phone so that it wouldn't make noise. It was even harder to sneak up the stairs and steal Steven's cheeseburger backpack. Luckily, he had managed to perform both tasks.

There was a reason he was up so much earlier than usual. Today was the big day! The field trip to the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History! The young man quietly placed the cheeseburger backpack on the counter. It was easy to pack up Steven's notebooks and pens since the kid left them on his desk after classes were over. Now, the next step was to make them a sack lunch.

Twoie prided himself on his homemade lunch for the two of them. He'd made them sandwiches, packed some Chaaps, juice, water, and an apple. Let it be known he would not have Steven eating a bunch of junk food on this trip. Both lunches were in paper bags that Twoie had labeled with their names and a drawing. A smiling sun for Steven and a simple star wearing glasses for Twoie. Each lunch was tucked into their respective bags.

Everything had been packed up and set by the door at 6 am. Now it was time for the easiest part. Twoie quietly jumped off the porch. It was time to go get the van.

Steven had a feeling that today was going to be different. The first thing he noticed was that he woke up earlier than usual. Cookie cat's LED eyes glowed 6:32 am. The next was how quiet the room had become. Twoie normally preferred sleeping in the temple, since they didn't have enough beds, but lately, he'd been sleeping on the couch. The blanket and pillow he usually used were folded neatly on the couch. "Hmmm. Something is very different today..."

Steven crept out of bed. Silence permeated the house. "Maybe he decided to sleep in the temple after all?" The pink gem glowed on the temple door, opening up into Rose's room. He frowned at the empty room. "Twoie?" He called out. No answer. He stepped back into the living room. There was no note on the table or in the kitchen. He checked his phone. No messages.

There was no way Twoie had gone back to the future. The gems had placed the task of finding the adhesive on pause in light of Peridot's whereabouts being unknown. So where was Twoie? Steven decided he didn't like how dark and empty the house felt in Twoie's absence. It made him feel cold. Lonely.

"M-maybe he's outside?" It wasn't until he grabbed the door handle that Steven finally noticed the two bags by the door. "Huh? What's my cheeseburger backpack and Twoie's briefcase doing by the door?" He opened up his backpack and saw the lunch bag.

"Aww! That's so cute! I guess we're going somewhere today?" He put the lunch away and stepped outside. When he peeked over the porch's rails, he saw the van driving towards him. "Dad's here? This morning is so strange!" Steven ran down the stairs to wait for the van. His eyes went starry when he realized who was driving.

Twoie pulled up about a couple of feet from where Steven was waiting. "Morning, Sunshine! I didn't expect you to wake up until seven! I guess the surprise is slightly blown."

Steven couldn't stop staring at him in awe. "You're driving the van!" He breathlessly whispered.

Twoie graced the response with an undignified snort. "Better get used to it because I'm taking us on a field trip today! You saw your bag by the door, right?" He started walking up the stairs. A second later, Steven was following along.

"Yeah, I did! Where are we going? What are we doing? Are we spending the night?" The bombardment of questions stopped when Twoie held the door open for him. "Grab your bag, Steven. It's a surprise!"