Chapter 8: The Start of the Week-Long School Trip

When Dash and Danny met the day before behind the bleachers, they agreed on meeting on a certain place to make sure nobody sees them. If he likes me, then why does he mind being seen with me? Is what Danny thought. However, he didn't care much because he was still stuck on the fact that Dash just touched himself with him on his mind.

"You're stopping already? When you just started?" Sam asked. "Well yeah, apparently, it's not going to work out. We aren't learning anything." Danny replied. "Anyways, I don't want to talk about it anymore." He sighed. Sam and Tucker looked at each other before looking at Danny. "Come on, let's just go to my house. Let's study there. We have exams tomorrow and the day after the next. I thought we want to go to the trip?" Tucker said, trying to sound cheerful. Sam and Danny nodded.

Since Danny started studying with Sam and Tucker, he missed his tutoring sessions with Dash. So for those three days or so, Dash waited at the corner, where they promised to meet, every day. Of course, Danny never came. This made Dash incredibly disappointed and Danny knows it. Every night, Dash would talk to his bear. "Why do you think he stopped going? Did he find me weird? I thought our studying went well… it wasn't that 'well', but I thought we were…having fun. And I thought this could be my chance… to make him fall for me. To prove to him that I'm not what he thinks I am. He started avoiding me at school too. I mean, he usually avoids me, but I think he avoids me more this time. I even thought he's starting to warm up to me. You see, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I can see him blush sometimes and it was starting to make me feel hopeful. But I guess I was wrong." These are the things Dash would say repeatedly to his bear, which made Danny guilty, making him feel worse.

The following week, the results of the exam came out. Dash passed but his grades were just at the edge. Sam, Tucker, and Danny also passed, with average grades. "Wooh! Finally. It's over! We could relax now in the field trip." Tucker said, pumped out. "Why are you so excited anyways? I thought you'd be sad since we're going into the woods and all, where there's no tech stuff." Sam commented. "That's the point! I'm going to make a vlog about it." "Huh?" The two kept talking but Danny wasn't paying attention.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked after noticing the other. "Huh? Nothing." Danny replied lamely, which in return, made Sam and Tucker got angry so they started nagging at him. "Well, I just don't want to be his freaking bear anymore! It's driving me crazy!" He said. He also explained how Dash would always whine to his bear about him not showing up. "I don't even know why this is happening to me!" Sam and Tucker consoled him. Danny sighed. "I'm sorry guys. I mean, I'm happy… I just, I'm not sure if I can take this anymore—" Danny abruptly stopped. "What?" Sam asked, noticing the pause.

"How… how can I go to the trip with this curse? I don't even know what happens to my body when I turn into that freaking bear!" Danny frowned. "Well, we're sure it doesn't disappear." Tucker said. "Don't worry. We'll take care of it. You should worry about breaking the curse, you know. Maybe Dash has to kiss you…in your human form, or something." Sam said and Danny frowned even more. "Fine, fine… just to stop this thing." He said, giving in. He was still uncomfortable with what happened, but he was willing to endure it.

The following Monday, the students of Casper High met at the front gates for an early assembly. Danny was there at the assembly…as Dash's bear. Dash brought his bear and hid it in the bag where his briefs are. Great. Danny thought as he stared into the white underwear with a red face.

"Where is FENTON?!" Their adviser yelled and yelled. "How can he be late? If he doesn't show up until 6 am, we're leaving without him." Sam and Tucker got worried. "Uhm, we'll wait for him sir. We'll just follow." Sam said, dragging Tucker along with her. "Well, fine." The teacher said and started grouping the students together. He left Sam and Tucker instruction and left a teacher without an advisory class to escort them. At around 6:30 am, Danny came running towards his friends. "I-I'm sorry I'm late!" he said, catching his breath. The teacher that was left behind didn't care so he didn't say anything. "Well, let's go." Sam said and the four of them rode a taxi to the nearest bus terminal.

"Basically, I was there the assembly." Danny muttered to Sam and Tucker after he was lectured by their adviser. "It's just the beginning of the trip and this curse is already taking a toll on me. How can I possibly last a week?!" Danny sighed as he fell on his chair, feeling depressed. Meanwhile, Tucker was setting up his camera and started video shooting. "Now, in Tucker's "Geek in the Woods" vlog series, we can see a wild Fenton, already depressed at the loss of technology, explicitly showing the despair in his eyes." Tucker said, while zooming in the camera on Danny, in a voice like those in animal channels where they narrate the behaviors of wild animals. "Stop it, Tucker." Sam giggled. Danny looked at Tucker and smiled. "Finally, he smiled!" Tucker exclaimed.

The place they went to was very beautiful. It has a pier that overlooks to a calm sea that is connected to the sky. The cabins there looks very sturdy and if it were a man, it would be a handsome and muscular man—with a stubby. The trees intertwine with each other such that it looks majestic rather than creepy. The three, nor the other students, don't exactly know what this trip is for, but they sure are liking it.

Because of the ambiance of the place and his friend's efforts, Danny felt better. However, when night fell, he was starting to feel the weight of the curse again. Soon, he'll turn into a bear again. It was a good thing that the activities ended early, as well as the dinner, so by the time that the curse takes effect again, it doesn't really matter. Fortunately, he was in the same room as Tucker.

On the next cabin, Dash shared the room with Kwan and two other guys. This means that he could not talk to his bear there. So what he did was, when everyone was asleep, he took a small bag with his bear in it, and went out. Sometime when they were having an activity, he found a spot with a lake as its view. It was quite hidden so it was the perfect place for him to be with his bear—his own "Danny". He sat on one of the larger rocks and spoke. "This place is so beautiful, isn't it? Does Danny likes this sort of places? I would love to take him here… he looks…so sad. I wonder what happened to him. Maybe that's why… he stopped going. Ugh. I just want to go there and hug him and I want him to tell me what's wrong so I can make it all right again. I want to comfort him, I want to make him feel loved and happy. I can't be happy when he's like that." Dash stared into the black, glittering water of the lake.

Danny stared too.