Chapter 2

Dante filed onto the bus with the rest of his classmates, and searched for a good seat. Dante looked around the bus at the students who had already sat down. He saw many familiar faces, which, Dante thought up some good sarcasm, contrary to popular belief, was hard to believe seeing as he went to school with all of them.

Sitting in the back was another friend of Dante's, Ryan Dick (Boy#8). Ryan was a nice guy; he was big into sports. He had short, cropped brown hair and he was somewhat built. He was quite lanky, though, and his long legs rested into the lap of the person beside him, Alex Jeffery (Girl #1). Alex was a likable girl, one who was easy-going, smart, and funny. Alex and Ryan weren't going out, but they were good friends. While Ryan was a jocky, goofy teenager, Alex was a sophisticated, mature adolescent. Put the two of them together, and you have every trait a person could have.

Just in front of them, talking to eachother were some guys Dante never really knew; they were both real assholes anyway; Kael Tennant (Boy#20) and Lee Noble (Boy# 15). They were both rural kids, who were big into hunting, rifles, that kinda stuff. Dante was never into that crap. However, they lacked anything whatsoever when it came to matters of intelligence. Ike had made fun of their intellect, claiming them to be semi-autistic. Dante was never interested in the jocky kind of guy, but he figured they seemed okay enough. Kael was short and small, with numerous spots about his face. He also sported what Ike called a "pansy stache," a post-pubescent moustache. Clayton was stocky, with curly hair and freckles.

Being from Canada, Dante was used to cold weather. Temperatures below zero were nothing to be afraid of for him and his friends; in fact, they were something to laugh at. "Haha! The weather's being a pussy!"

Dante and Ike lived in Cochrane, Alberta, a town renown for its extremely fast growth, one of the fastest growth rates of a small city in Canada. A little over 10,000 people, it was tucked quietly in a valley, just west of Calgary. Dante and Ike both went to, strangely enough, Cochrane High School. It was an OK school, though Dante never really liked any of his teachers.

The teacher of the class Dante and Ike were a part of was named Boyd Rogers, who was looking over the bus with a clipboard. He was a dick. He was in his 40's, wore those wide, thin spectacles, and wore a permanent frown, complemented nicely by his incredibly shiny bald head. Dante figured he looked like a bald eagle. He had often verbally abused children, which obviously, had caused him to be quite disliked by the vast majority of Cochrane High.

Looking forward, Dante saw a group of lame girls talking to each other in a busy circle. Dante had always hated girls like that… Introverts. How lame. "They're shy around everyone else, and they only express themselves when around another. I guess that makes a good clique… but…. LAME!" He disliked all of them, for hiding in their circles of mindless banter about "OMG BOYZ" and "OMG SPORTS" when no one really cared for their presence. He thought they were all rather annoying…

The girls consisting of the group were Amanda George, (Girl # 24) a large, loud-mouthed girl, Michelle Smith(Girl # 8) , an acne-covered quiet girl, Brianne Brianson (Girl # 2) a somewhat decent looking girl, who, actually, when Dante thought about it, he didn't mind, Lindsey Bartholemew (Girl # 6), an intelligent girl who was afraid of the spotlight and Stephanie Mitchell (Girl # 11), a small, high-voiced girl whom everybody hated because of her extreme immaturity.

Dante scoffed and looked at the next group within his vision. It was the rest of Dante and Ike's friends; the… well. Now that Dante thought about it, he and Ike never really belonged to a particular group. They weren't part of this group either. Although Dante was considered liked by most of the class, he had chosen to hang out with the people he liked the most. He had always though the popular people were lame; they would over-exaggerate on the stupidest things. "My mom ran over a basketball yesterday!" "SWEEEET!"

Dante had always thought it immature and unnecessary. Really, who gives a fuck?

Upon seeing them, Dante's friends summoned him and Ike over.

"Ow," Dante scraped his head against the roof of the bus. "Huh… Am I really that tall?" Dante rubbed his head with his palm. Being 15 years old, Dante had reached somewhat of a plateau regarding his growth spurts. Nearly six feet tall, Dante was quite skinny, though he did have somewhat of a definition.

Dante never really had problems regarding his looks. He had azure-blue eyes, which he thought looked quite intriguing. Other than that, nothing really stood out to him. He had somewhat long hair, which was colored in different spots because of him experimenting with it. Black and gold covered the ends of his hair, whereas the new hair was still brown, his natural color. He had wide eyes, which, accentuated with the color, he thought were good-looking. He had medium-sized lips and a shallow, tall nose. He never really had trouble with acne. Maybe a pimple once in a while, nothing to fret about though.

Ike, on the other hand, was small and scrawny. He had a similar hair color to Dante's, which was a little shorter, though it was considered by most quite good-looking. His eyes were a dark, cold, brown, and he had a long nose.

Dante and Ike walked over and sat opposite their two friends, Justin Lutley (Boy#21), and Cedric Rodriguez (Boy #1). Justin was medium-sized with glasses. He had a slight problem with acne, with minor blemishes appearing on his cheeks and forehead. He had short, fluffy brown hair and a huge mouth.

Cedric was Spanish, so he had black hair. He was small, and, well… Ordinary. Nothing really stood out about Cedric.

"Hey guys." Dante said as he sat down beside Ike, who took the window seat of the bus.

"Hey," replied Cedric. "You're late… Mr. Rogers is quite pissed." The four of them laughed at Mr. Rogers' name.

"Yeah. I could care less, though." Dante leant back in his seat and propped his feet up on to the top of his seat. He accidentally bumped the head of the person in front of him, which turned about to be the loner of the class, Sid Algar. After their confrontation a few minutes ago, Sid had avoided Dante. Upon seeing him again though, Sid turned around and glared at Dante. Dante feigned giving head just to piss him off. It succeeded and Sid sneered horribly, is noise turning upward sickeningly.

Dante ignored Sid's sneer and looked around the rest of the bus. Beside Sid Algar was a new girl, who was very good-looking, but still unacquainted with the rest of the class. "Pst," Dante nudged Ike. "What's her name again?" Ike responded extremely loudly. "Who? Her? Who knows? Who cares?"

"Jesus, Ike." Dante laughed and Ike made a sly smirk. Dante saw the girl divert her eyes forward for a moment, an indication that she had heard them both, and then looked back out the window.

"Ced. What's her name? Beside Sid, here."

"Kaleigh Humm. She'd be girl #21."

"Thanks Ced."

"Whaddya need it for?"

"Nothing. Just curious."

"Okay. Hey, you play the new Final Fantasy?"

Cedric and Justin began to converse in their seats, then Dante started looking around again. In near the front were the popular girls. Dante had found them the most irritable of the class. They were kinda like the introverts, except these girls actually had boyfriends, so the "OMG BOYZ" was replaced by something like… "OMG BOYFRIEND TROUBLEZ". Dante had always ignored them, seeing as they were incredibly annoying an unnecessarily loud. They were good looking, but just unlikable. Part of that group was made up by their leader, Nicole Zimmel (Girl #14), who, of course, was only the leader because of her status with the quarterman, the quarterback, who was behind her, brushing her hair… Brushing her hair! Jesus.

His name was Jesmund Bosworth (Boy #2). Dante had always hated him. Jesmund had picked on Justin and Cedric ruthlessly for the earlier years of junior high, which infuriated Dante. How dare he! Bastard. I'll kill him in his sleep.

Er…

Yeah. He was tall and muscular, and he wore the same purple-and-gold football jacket day in and day out.

Around Nicole and Jesmund were the rest of the popular girls; Evelyn Teegan (Girl # 10), a dark-skinned girl from Jamaica who was good at basketball, Lauren Johnson (Girl # 12), a good-looking volleyball player whom Dante had once fancied, and Beth Bournes (Girl # 5), a smart girl who had been longtime friends with Nicole.

A row behind them were the rest of the jocks, Tom Shelton (Boy #11) a small, cocky football player, and Michael Lees (Boy # 14) who was a hockey player.

The only sport Dante enjoyed was volleyball; though no one in his class played it. His father had taught him to play long ago.

Dante's family was normal, adjusted. His father worked at an oil and gas company, which was the main staple in Alberta, which yielded him a decent salary. His mother worked at a bank, which was close to school so sometimes Dante could visit her on the way home. Dante had two older brothers; Court and Kevin. Court was 17 years old, and he was a bit of a loner, though Dante still appreciated him. Kevin was 19, though he was in Japan studying abroad. Dante had looked up to Kevin; he had taught him everything, from drugs to school to girls. Kevin knew it all, or at least Dante thought.

A row behind the jocks was a couple of guys didn't exactly have common interests, but still hung around with each other nonetheless. Their names were James Crabbot (Boy # 6), Taylor Grandent (Boy #18) and Miles Templeton (Boy #9). Miles was childish, but likable, and was talking to Taylor, who was mature and sophisticated, about the school band. James, who was interested in politics, had his nose in a book about dragons.

A few rows behind were the girls Dante was interested in. Of course, the love of his life was a part of them. Yes, Ruby Fetega. Her two friends, Erin Hill (Girl #9), who wore plenty of bracelets on her arms and wore elaborate clothing, and the other girl, Vanessa Mosolf (Girl #18), who Dante actually was actually good friends with, were talking about some band. Vanessa and Erin were both good looking, and they were both very fun to talk with. Dante did talk to Ruby on occasion, but most of their conversations ended up the same as the one they had earlier in school; Dante making a fool of himself and Ruby giggling shyly. Ruby was a girl of medium height, who had her hair dyed pink and orange in some areas. Her natural color was black, which Dante thought provided a nice contrast with the shiny neon colors. She had a round, shiny face with doe-like brown eyes. She, too, wore elaborate clothing like her friends which Dante thought was very attractive. She also played guitar.

So, in all aspects, Ruby was perfect. Or so Dante thought…

Dante had once played bass in a band named Contusion, thought Dante thought Carpetburn Contusion sounded better… Anyway, they played stuff that often was popular on the underground rock scene nowadays, like The Mars Volta, Fall of Troy and other bands like that. Dante had liked playing the music, though he hated his band mates, who were, coincidentally, also in his class.

They were sitting a few rows behind Dante and his friends, and they were busily chatting about something. The three other members of the former band Contusion were, Cody Ligon (Boy #19), who played guitar, and although being very talented was very conceited. Sitting beside him with his swept black hair and spiked bracelets was the singer, Morrison Pagem (Boy #17). Morrison was nice enough… He and Dante had been good friends before the band had broken up. Although being a little cocky, Morrison was shy and relied on his friends for moral support. He had come from a rough family; his father had abused him and his mother had left a few weeks after he was born. His brother had long since moved out, moving onto better things and leaving Morrison behind. Morrison was left to take all the abuse, which Dante thought was quite sad. Morrison had been taken into a foster home, which was how Ike had known him.

Ike's parents owned the foster home. Ike had often spent time with the kids inside, and he had met Morrison several years ago when he had first arrived. Ike and Morrison were good friends, having known each other for a long time. In fact, when Dante thought about it, he would like to be reacquainted with Morrison.

Across from Morrison and Cody was the drummer, loud, boisterous Devin Gryznatch (Boy #7). He was a total idiot; he said things that made little to no sense, and he had often gotten himself into arguments, which he could not get out of. He was disliked by most of the class, and was part of the reason Dante had left. Dante hated Cody for his massive ego and Devin for his absurdity, which had caused Dante to only like Morrison. Morrison was quite passive and didn't care for Cody and Devin as long as he could play music with them.

Dante exhaled and saw near to the back an extremely intimate couple, who were making out all over each other. Eric Steinbach (Boy #13) and Amber Sorenson (Girl #19) were slobbering all over each other. Dante laughed and threw a pen at Eric. It hit Eric in the side of the head and he separated from Amber's mouth, staring at the front of the bus. He gave up in his search and joined Amber again. Dante scoffed and threw another pen, then turned back around. Dante had never actually spoken to either Eric or Amber, considering neither really had chances to speak in the first place.

A couple rows in front of Dante was the class artist, Clayton Proud (Boy #4). He was quite reserved, and he was not very good looking, although his art was beautiful. He had once drawn the emblem for Contusion, which was, to Dante's enjoyment, very graphic, though it looked great.

Three more girls were located across from Clayton, chatting busily about their plans for the field trip. These were the badass girls; known far and wide throughout Cochrane as legendary party goers, though they weren't sluts. Dante always found them interesting, though he never exactly got to know them. They were Katelyn Weir (Girl #22) and Rebecca Smith (Girl #20).

In front of him were two girls who pretty much were best friends. Their names were Janet Cayley (Girl #16) and Samantha Lynes (Girl #15). Janet and Samantha constantly kept to each other, only allowing other girls to talk to them. They were unpopular and disliked by many, though Janet was good-looking.

Just behind Dante were the delinquent girls. Dante said "Hey," to them, to which they replied "Hey," one after the other. There were three of them; Jennifer Penray (Girl #3), who was quite good-looking, though she had a renowned reputation for being a total slut. Beside her was her partner-in-crime, Hayley Campbell (Girl #4). She had long blonde hair, and wore way too much makeup. In the seat opposite them was the girl who soaked up all the hot gossip so that she could spread rumors among the school, Whitney Sabourin (Girl #7). She was small and ugly; she was disliked by many.

"Hey, I'd just like to tell you all that, I, uh, think you all suck." Dante laughed and Ike, hearing the comment, snickered and added, "Especially you, Jennifer. Literally." Ike and Dante laughed and high-fived each other, while the three girls behind them whispered amongst themselves.

Dante looked up and saw Ruby… He stared in awe, then, to his dismay, Ruby turned around and saw him. Ruby smiled and waved, to which Dante flopped his hand about, slapping Ike in the face. Ruby raised her eyebrows and returned to the conversation she was having with Vanessa, while Ike punched Dante in the arm and called him an idiot. Dante slapped himself upside the head and thought… "What an idiot…"

Dante feel back into his seat, and laughed as he tried to regain his emotional stability after embarrassing himself so vividly.

"Hey, man." It was another friend of Dante's, Shane Appleby (Boy #22). He was a guy who pretty much hung around anyone he wanted to hang around with. There wasn't anyone who wouldn't be willing to accept him into their group. He was street-smart, good looking and skilled at many things. However, he had a tendency to be quite arrogant when people praised him.

Behind him was his only consistent friend, Zachary Schmidt (Boy #12), who was the class clown. Zach knew how to please anyone; he could laugh people into doing anything. Zach was short and had brown hair, which curled past his jaw line. Shane was tall and built, and his brown hair lay on top of his head like a blanket.

"Hey." Dante looked further behind Zachary and saw the class representative, Peter Orwell (Boy #10.) Peter knew anything there was to know about anything; even on the class trip he had a pile of textbooks with him. Peter had averaged a 98 last term, and was well on his way to the university of his choice. Peter was a nice guy, though he was shy. He had black hair, which hung lightly over his face, reaching his eyebrows, which were pushed up by a pair of glasses.

The final two boys came onto the bus; two boys who were nothing alike, though Dante knew these two shared a bond somewhat similar to his and Ike's. They were best friends, and had been since they first met, around the same time as Dante and Ike. Which was diapers, basically. They were Thomas Phillips (Boy#24) and Nick Tomlinson (Boy#23). Thomas was small, a little chubby, and British. He had a somewhat unhealthy liking to The Beatles, and had tried taking up guitar, though he wasn't very good. Nick, on the other hand, was quite strong-willed and determined. He was quite strong, though he didn't waste his time with sports. He fought to raise money for some unknown cause. Nick was a mystery, that's for sure.

Behind him were the final two students; two girls whom Dante knew fairly well, Kim Grawitch (Girl #13) and Danica Kyle (Girl #23.) Kim was a gothic girl, though she was good looking. She was somewhat mean, though her pranks were often directed toward the popular girls so Dante didn't mind. Danica was a volleyball player, whom Dante had known because she was on the girls team. She was nice, he thought.

"Alright. Everyone is here? Okay. Let's go." Mr. Rogers stood at the top of the bus, his shiny head reflecting light throughout the bus.

"Mr. Rogers head is the holy grail." Zach said in an official voice that made the boys laugh.

And as the bus shifted into first gear and pulled out of the school parking lot onto the highway, Class 1 of Cochrane High School's field trip had finally begun.