~•♡•~

i had hoped my day would be normal. it was the least i could have, like any other 15-year-old girl.

evidently, i had asked for too much.

to start, my roommate at the wilderness school- also my best friend, piper mclean- awoke me this morning by flailing because a roach fell in her hair, and thus, sending the roach onto my face. this resulted in my flailing and banging my head on to top bunk, which gave me a gnarly bruise but subsequently killed the roach.

which, in turn, meant i now had roach juices on me. and yes- it happened to be carrying an egg sac.

already disgusted with myself, i ran to the communal bathrooms and showers, threw up to further my disgust, and hastily showered away my sin. it was maybe the fourth forehead wash when piper took the shower next to me and also began washing herself.

neither of us said a word as we wrapped into our towels, changed, and went back to our rooms to prepare for our field trip to the grand canyon.

then, as we filed on to the bus, leo valdez snuck up behind me and yanked my black jacket to get my attention.

"oi! hands off!" i grumbled, though i yawned on the last word due to a lack of sleep.

"dude! your eyes are black!" leo exclaimed as he pointed to the dark bags under my eyes. "did you even sleep?"

the answer, as usual, was no. unless you counted falling asleep at sunrise and awaking maybe an hour or two later sleep.

i yawned again as we clambered onto the bus. piper sat next to her boyfriend, jason, and i desperately looked for somewhere else to sit.

i found a vacant seat behind piper. i sat down, but before i could span my leg across the two-seater to block access like i usually did, leo sat down.

"so, what'ya been up to, babe?" he smirked as he pointed very lame finger guns at me.

i was slightly confused. after all, being a less-than-social (total hermit) teenager, i didn't really have friends. piper was only my friend because we literally live together. not that she isn't a lovely person, but it's pretty easy for me to simply decide not to approach anybody.

i knew that piper's life revolved around jason, her boyfriend, and leo, their friend. but, i had never really interacted with them. sure, we'd shared some friendly words in the past, but we'd never actually talked.

so, for leo to be cringey with me was a bit of a shock. rather than say something smart like the intellectual i am, i simply slung an arm around his shoulders.

"nothin' much. how 'bout you, cutie?" i smirked.

his face went beat red, and piper, standing up to watch as, suddenly erupted into laughter, making me cackle alongside her as i pulled away from leo.

"what do you do next?" piper giggled.

leo looked on, stumped. "i dunno. i've never gotten that far."

piper and i laughed more, which led to leo himself managing a gentle chuckle. i turned to him, and stuck out a hand.

"aruna rodrigo." i said as i stared at leo. evidently, weaks of sleep deprivation had affected me because an average aruna-day meant ignoring everyone.

"leo valdez!" he grabbed my hand, giving me a firm handshake.

"aw! how cute!" piper joked from above.

i flipped her off, and she playfully rolled her eyes before sitting back in her seat, choosing to quietly converse with jason.

"ugh. relationships." i shivered.

"pfft. tell me about it!" leo chimed in with a wave of his hand.

we were silent.

"would help if i had had one before."

"y'know, i was thinking the same thing."

~•♡•~

that part of my morning was fine. fun, even. i now had a new friend- leo valdez.

everything got weird when jason acted like he had suddenly gained a consciousness.

he looked around weirdly, studying his surroundings. he stared down at his hand, which was clasping piper's as it usually was, but he acted like he'd never seen her before.

piper squeezed his hand. "jason, you okay?"

jason let go of her hand and stared weirdly. "um, i don't-"

"all right, cupcakes! listen up!"

i groaned as we all looked at coach hedge. he proudly stood with his hands on his hips despite being a whole five feet zero, about six inches shorter than me.

"stand up, coach hedge!" someone yelled.

"i heard that!"

hedge suddenly fixated on jason. he seemed bewildered, on guard all of a sudden- almost like jason shouldn't have been here. i tilted my head, but coach only shook it off and moved on.

"we'll arrive in five minutes!" he called out. "stay with your partner. don't lose your worksheet. and if any of you precious little cupcakes causes any trouble on this trip, i will personally send you back to campus the hard way." then, he picked up a baseball bat and made like he was hitting a homer.

jason looked at piper, clearly bewildered. "can he talk to us that way?"

piper shrugged. "always does. this is the wilderness school."

"'where the kids are the animals'." i quoted.

"this is some kind of mistake." jason shuddered. "i'm not supposed to be here."

leo laughed. "yeah, right, jason. we've all been framed! i didn't run away six times. aruna didn't beat the crap out of a bunch of kids-"

"i actually wasn't sent here for that." i corrected. "my grandma bailed me out and sent me here so she didn't have to deal with me anymore."

"same thing." leo shrugged. "oh, and piper didn't steal that BMW."

piper blushed. "i didn't steal that car, leo!"

"oh, i forgot, piper. what was your story? you talked the dealer into lending it to you?" he raised his eyebrows at jason and i like, can you believe her?

"i don't think she's lying." i admitted.

"oh lord, don't entertain it!" leo groaned.

"no, i'm serious." i nodded. "she's pretty enough for it."

piper blushed again.

"but, leo, if you tried to do the same thing, i think they'd call animal control."

piper laughed and leo just rolled his eyes. "anyway, i hope you got your worksheet." he said to jason. "'cause i used mine for spit wads days ago."

"ew."

leo squinted as he and jason stared at each other. "why are you looking at me like that? somebody draw on my face again?"

"i don't know you." jason said. my gut twisted with the sinking revelation that jason wasn't lying. my heart raced as he stared at me, too, also trying to place my face.

leo, however, only offered his usual grin. "sure. i'm not your best friend. i'm his evil clone."

"valdez!" hedge yelled. "problem back there?"

leo winked at me. "watch this." he turned to the front and cleared his throat. "sorry, coach! i was having trouble hearing you. could you use your megaphone, please?"

coach grunted like he was happy to do so. he unclipped his megaphone from his belt, and brought it to his mouth.

in a darth vader voice, he tried giving directions. kids laughed, and when he tried again, the megaphone went 'THE COW SAYS MOO!'.

the kids howled, and coach slammed down the megaphone. "VALDEZ!"

piper stifled a laugh and i turned to look at leo in amazement. "how... how did you..."

he slipped a screwdriver from his army jacket, and offered a smile. "i'm a special boy."

"guys, seriously." jason interrupted. "what am i doing here? where are we going?"

i frowned. piper knit her eyebrows, her multicolored irises swirling with worry.

"jason, are you joking?" she asked.

"no! i have no idea-"

"aw, yeah, he's joking." leo grinned. "he'a trying to get me back for the shaving cream on the jell-o thing, aren't you?"

i was as confused as jason. "you did what?"

jason could only manage a blank stare.

"no, i think he's serious." piper said. she tried to take jason's hand again, but he pulled away. i winced at the pain piper seemed to be feeling.

"i'm sorry." jason whimpered. "i don't- i can't-'

"that's it!" coach hedge yelled. "back row has just volunteered to clean up for lunch!"

i groaned as the rest of the kids cheered. leo snorted and shook his head.

"there's a shocker." he muttered

piper trained her eyes on jason. "did you hit your head or something? you really don't know who we are?"

jason shrugged helplessly. "it's worse than that. i don't know who i am."

~•♡•~

the bus dropped us in front of a big red stucco complex like a museum, and it just kind of sat in the middle of nowhere. a cold wind blue across the desert, making me shiver slightly.

"so, a crash course for the amnesiac." leo said in a helpful tone, which made it clear he wasn't going to be very helpful. i almost snickered at how small he, a 5'6ish scrawny latino, looked next to jason, a 6'2 monster with tree trunks for arms.

"we go to the 'wilderness school'," leo began. "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 skills like running ten miles a day through cacti and weaving daisies into hats! and for a special treat, we go on 'educational' field trips with coach hedge, who keeps order with a baseball bat. is it all coming back to you now?"

"no."

"bruh."

leo rolled his eyes as i shook my head.

"you're really gonna play this out, huh? okay, so the four of us started here this semester. we're totally tight- well, aruna doesn't really leave her room- but she's totally in love with me-"

i raised an eyebrow and leo turned around.

"anyways, you do everything i say and give me your dessert and do my chores-"

"leo!" piper snapped.

"fine. ignore that last part. but we are friends. well, piper's a little more than your friend, these last few weeks-"

"leo, stop it!" piper's face turned red, and jason's soon followed. "he's got amnesia or something. we've got to tell somebody."

"pfft, like coach?" i snorted. "he'd whack jason and call it medecine."

"agreed." leo nodded aggressively.

"leo, runa, jason needs help." piper pleaded. "he's got a concussion, or-"

"yo, piper."

dylan surged forward, and i felt like puking. his vibes were always off- always reminding me of someone i hated all too much throughout childhood, despite looking nothing like him. dylan wedged himself between piper and jason, and knocked leo to the ground.

i walked up, and pulled leo to his feet.

"don't talk to these bottom feeders. you're my partner, remember?"

piper looked like puking, and i let leo go as i stared at dylan.

"oi, asshole, go away." i grumbled. "she's not into you."

dylan sneered. "like i would listen to a mongrel like you."

"say that again, you used blunt!"

piper shook her head. "runa, it's fine." then, she nodded her head to jason, shot me a 911 look, and allowed dylan to steer her away.

leo brushed his shoulder off. "i hate that guy." he muttered. he offered his arm to me like we should start skipping inside together.

"'i'm dylan. i'm so cool, i want to date myself, but i can't figure out how! you want to date me instead? you're so lucky!'" leo impersonated.

"leo," jason said. "you're weird."

leo seemed to realize i wasn't going to take his arm, and he seemed to drop it with a somewhat sad look. it wiped away quickly, and he turned to jason.

"yeah, you tell me that a lot." leo grinned. "but if you don't remember me, that means i can reuse all my old jokes! come on!"

~•♡•~

leo kept pulling piper cleaners, bolts, and nuts out of his army jacket pockets. he couldn't seem to sit still as he consistently put them all together, then disassembled them, and then made something totally new.

"hey, piper, does your tribe run this place? do you get in free if you do a rain dance?"

i snapped my gaze to isabel, who was snickering with her friends. i brushed my black hair out of my face and got ready to fight, but piper beat me to it.

"my dad's cherokee, not hualapai. 'course, you'd need a few braincells to know the difference, isabel."

isabel widened her eyes in surprise. "oh, sorry! was your mom in this tribe? oh that's right. you never knew your mom!"

piper and i marched forward from other ends of the room, but before either of us could start a fight, coach hedge barked, "enough back there! set a good example or i'll break out my baseball bat!"

i tried to ignore the snide comments the girls kept making. leo snapped his fingers, and waved me back. i noticed jason staring angrily as well, his fists balled up.

"be cool. piper doesn't like us fighting her battled. besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd all be bowing down to her and screaming, 'we're not worthy!'" leo snorted.

"why? what about her dad?" jason asked.

i stumbled and leo laughed in disbelief. "you're not kidding? you really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad-"

"look, i wish i did, but i don't remember her, much less her dad."

leo whistled. "whatever. we have to talk when we get back to the dorm."

i walked away, scanning some of the exhibits. a few girls snickered as i walked around, interested in the different facts about the grand canyon.

"so, what about you?"

i frowned as i turned to isabel. "what about me?" i asked curiously, ready to fight or smack a bitch.

"aren't you wetbacks familiar with the desert?" isabel snickered. "or what about your gook dad? y'know, before he killed himself."

i raised a hand but coach hedge whistled so shrilly, everybody groaned and stopped moving.

we were at the far end of the exhibit hall, where glass doors opened to a terrace.

"all right cupcakes!" he announced. "you're about to see the grand canyon. try not to break it. the skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. if possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as it would cause me extra paperwork."

leo jumped in front of me. "hey, follow me before you throw isabel off."

i followed reluctantly. as much as i hated isabel, killing her meant jail and lawyers. and seeing my grandma again, so it wasn't worth it.

we walked onto the terrace. the horseshoe walkway was made of glass, which made me uncomfortable, but not too bad. otherwise, it was amazing. the grand canyon was ten times larger than i had ever imagined it would be.

"man, that's pretty wicked." leo said.

jason looked and seemingly felt pained. i stared at him in confusion, almost scared of him. leo caught on and his eyebrows furrowed.

"you all right?" leo asked.

i deadpanned. "do he look fuckin' alright?"

leo blew his tongue at me and refocused on jason. "you're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'cause i should've brought my camera."

"i'm fine." jason said, though he clearly wasn't. he shivered and gripped the railing. "just a headache."

"guess you clunked yourself pretty good." i sighed. "no wonder you have no memory."

thunder rumbled overhead and the wind blew a bit harder.

"this can't be safe." i mumbled. "there's... why is the storm only over us?"

a massive stormcloud had parked itself over the skywalk, but all around was a clear blue sky. unnatural. suspicious.

"all right, cupcakes!" i was dangerously close to killing coach hedge. "we may have to cut this short, so get to work! remember, complete sentences!"

jason shoved his hand into his jeans, and pulled out a golden coin. it was about the size of a half-dollar but kinda lumpy and warped. stamped on one side was a picture of a battle axe, and the other was a man wreathed in laurels. and inscription read IVLIVS.

"damn, is that gold?" leo asked. "you been holding out on me!"

jason put the coin away. "it's nothing. just a coin."

leo shrugged and seemed to focus on other things. this boy was probably hopped up on enough sugar or caffeine to kill a blue whale. "come on." he said. "dare you guys to spit over the edge."

~•♡•~

we didn't try very hard on our worksheets. jason seemed to distracted. leo was building a helicopter out of piper cleaners. i just don't like science, and i was also starving.

"check it out." leo launched the helicopter over the edge. instead of plummeting, i watched with fascination as the piper cleaner blades actually spun, and made if halfway across the grand canyon before it tanked.

"how'd you do that?" i marveled.

leo shrugged. "would've been cooler if i'd had some rubber bands."

"seriously," jason paused. "are we three friends?"

"last i checked." leo replied.

"i'm more of a tolerated acquiantance." i corrected.

"nope, we're friends." leo grinned.

"you sure?" jason asked. "what was the first day we met? what did we talk about?"

"it was..." leo and i frowned. i could understand not remembering it, because i wasn't really a friend of jason's, but leo?

"i dunno, man. i'm ADHD. you can't expect me to remember details."

i frowned.

none of this was okay.

~•♡•~