"99 bottles of beer on the wall, 99 bottles of beer! Take one down and pass it around, 98 bottles of beer on the wall!"

"God, I hate my brother," Miss Nettie groaned, clutching her pigtails.

"Psst, Nova!" Oliver hissed, poking Skip's shoulder.

SLAP! "The hell do you want?!"

"Why the long face, lil' sis? I know your friends and I don't have the best history-"

"And maybe it's because you stole Raven's diary and read it aloud? On Facebook, no less?" Skip countered.

"Point is, Mom's clearly into Miss Emily, but she'll never admit it. What d'you say we set 'em up?" Oliver proposed.

"Listen, Winford. I don't give a shit if your mom's the principal or if you're dating the school demon. I'm not helping anyone who fucks with my friends," Skip snarled, hands balling into fists.

As Oliver slumped back into his seat, Skip huffed and covered her ears with her headphones. Next time, lil' sis.

Mister Compass rested his head on Miss Ei's lap, eyes sliding shut as she traced patterns in his hair and back. Compass purred and nuzzled Ei, who smiled in response.

"Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale…" Professor Night instructed, gently patting Mister Mercury on the back.

"Well, at least now he'll shut the fuck up," Skell deadpanned, not looking up from his phone.


"Aaaand we're here!"

"Riley, wake up! We're at the hotel!" Robby hissed.

"H-Huh?! Where's Mister Snufflekins?" Riley exclaimed, flailing her arms around and smacking Ruby in the face.

"He's in your backpack. Come on, now," Miss Nettie assured her daughter, taking Riley by the hand and leading her off the bus.

As the group shuffled off the bus, Claire briefly stopped to gaze upon Hollyhock Resort. The brick walls complimented the logo of a poinsettia with holly leaves behind it, and its windows were spotless.

"What're you standing there for?" Mister Mercury called as Edward dragged him into the building.

"Coming!"

A few minutes and several elevator rides later, Riley was shrieking in joy as she jumped on one of the four massive beds in the hotel room.

"So, I guess we're all sharing this room," Engel chuckled as a pillow flew past his head.

"Which means we gotta figure out who's sleeping in which bed," Abbie added.

"For the love of God, don't make me sleep next to Riley," Robby groaned.

"Hey!" Riley snapped.

"You should sleep with the three of us, Rob. If you don't want Riley to murder you in your sleep, that is," Skip deadpanned. I wonder what Alice and the teachers are doing.

"What made them think 18 people would fit in 4 beds?!" Miss Grace snapped.

"Y'know, Ei likes the pull-out couch. I wouldn't mind sharin' that with her," Compass suggested, patting Ei on the head.

As the teachers worked out where everyone would sleep, Oliver watched Grace and Emily with a smirk on his face.

Wait and see, Nova. I'll be your big brother before you know it.


"Four large salads, three pots of chicken and rice soup, three pots of vegetable barley soup and two roast turkeys coming right up!"

"Man, whoever's paying for this trip must be loaded!" Edward chirped as Zip wolfed down a garlic breadstick.

"You can say that again," snickered Oliver while munching on a bar of soap.

After the feast was over, the group of 34 went back to their hotel rooms. Mercury and Oliver had to be carried to the hotel room by their respective partners.

"You had way too much to drink, Felix," Luna sighed as they patted Mercury on the head.

"Let us know if you gotta puke, little bro," Nettie added.

While Mercury and Oliver recovered from their hangovers, the students rushed to shower, change into their pajamas and sleep.

"Well, that's a preview of the next two weeks," Skell groaned.

That night, Claire stared up at the ceiling while Engel snuggled next to her. The boy purred and nuzzled his girlfriend, the feathers in his hair gently brushing against Claire's cheek.

This winter break's gonna be awesome. Especially with Engel and my friends by my side.