It was 5AM in the morning. I was having a real good sleep. My mom stepped into my room. She switched on the lights. "Arrgghh!" I grumbled to myself. "Get up! It's time." She called me gently. I covered myself up with my bedsheets and snuggled into my bed more. "Honey, wake up!" and she pulled the bedsheets away from me. I sat up frustrated and sleepy. "Don't you feel claustrophobic?" she asked me. I nodded in disapproval. She pulled out the curtains and opened the window panes. A cold wave rushed into my room Keeping my eyes closed I fumbled around for my bedsheets. My mom dragged the sheets down my bed. Getting pulled out of bed early in the morning never please me at all. I was irritated out of my wits. I whined like an irritated puppy and kept on rubbing my eyes vigorously. I tried to make it clear to my mom that I was not at all happy with this behavior of her. She just smiled sweetly in return. "Mom , it's just 5:10."i mumbled. "Baby, you are going to be late for your school trip!" I didn't respond to it. I was busy drowsing. "It's over time dear. You are already late for your school. Angy and Ashme will be upset with you." saying this she shook me alive and unwillingly, I swooned into life. It was then when it struck me, 'It's 7th November.' I thought to myself. I sprang up. "It's the trip day" I squealed with joy. I gave my mom a big bear hug, flashed a big smile at her and without wasting anymore time, I ran towards the washroom grabbing my toiletries.

I let the geyser run hot while I did my hair, brushed my teeth, painted my nails and did other minor stuffs. I let the hot water run down every inch of my body and remove the numbness off it. The chilly morning was seriously getting on my nerves. The steam warmed the air of the washroom. I began to hum an off tune 'Taylor Swift' song as I detangled my hair with my fingers. Having done with that, I applied the shampoo, conditioner and body wash and came out of the washroom draped in towel. I rubbed my hair dry and put on my jeans, top and the cardigan. Done with all my businesses in a perfect chronology, I handed over my toiletries to my mom, who got busy in doing the final packing.

I ran down the stairs with my phone and earphones plugged in and sat down to gulp down my sandwiches, scrambled eggs and the orange juice. This was my favorite breakfast. I scrolled the social media feed and kept on gulping the the food. I found a lot of people posting pictures and showing off their excitements over the social media. I hit the like button for a few and ignored the rest of them. Having done with my breakfast, I brushed my hair and tied it into a tight bun. That's my go look. I did my eye makeup for my mom's makeup kit, sprayed a little perfume and put on my glasses. "Okay! I am ready." I said as I gave myself a final look into my picture perfect reflection on the mirror.

It was a four day school excursion. I was overjoyed because it was my first solo trip. No Parents, No restrictions, No hard and fast rules - Just enjoyment. My dad was already waiting for me in the porch, with the car ready to roar back into life. I ran towards him, dragging behind the big suitcase and the backpack with me. I kept on tripping here and there with the two monstrous bags, as I successfully reached my car. I thrust the bags into the car and pushed them to the extreme end of it to give myself a comfortable space to settle into. I kept half listening to my mom's instructions as she repeated herself for the thousandth time. I climbed up into the car, beside my huge bags and made myself seated in that little but comfy space. I waved my hand at my mom for the umpteenth time and finally, we drove off. I plugged in my earphones and tuned into my favorite song. I eyed my dad, he was driving cautiously. I closed my eyes and kept on vibing with the music as my dad drove me to school.

"Won't you miss us?" dad asked me softly while driving. "What?" I muted my phone and took out my earphone from on ear. "You will not miss your mom?" he repeated himself. It was the first time in the day my dad had spoken to me. He was not very pleased with this trip thing that our school had arranged. "Well, Yes." I said "I will keep on giving updated time and again" I ensured him. He nodded silently. I put my phone and earphones inside my bag and looked out of the window. The sun had started to rise. There was mist and fog all around the road. I closed my eyes as the air hit my face. "Won't you miss me?" He asked softly. Maybe he thought I didn't hear him as my eyes were closed. Thus, he choose to keep quiet. I didn't open my eyes. I just smiled silently as 'WON'T YOU MISS ME?' kept on ringing in my ears.

We reached school by 6:15AM. I was drowsing by the time we reached school. "Wake up!" I heard my dad. Immediately I opened my eyes. I saw my dad standing with my door open and both the luggage at his feet. "Why did you do this alone?" I scolded him. "You were sleeping. I didn't feel like waking you up. You looked so tired like that." my dad said. I got out of the car and adjusted my dress. I picked up my bag and saw my dad looking at me fondly. "What happened dad?" I asked him. "Enjoy your trip." he said as he guided me till the school gate.

My height of excitement knew no bounds when I stepped into the school premises. After all, this was my first solo school excursion. I saw Vas standing at the corner of the basketball ground of our school premises and looking intently at her phone with rays of tension illuminated her square face. "Hey!" I wished her, pulling my trolley and backpack behind me. "Hey There. This late!" She asked me smiling. "Well I can't sacrifice my sleep!" I giggled. She laughed out heartily. "Come over, in the auditorium. Won't you?" I beckoned to her. "You carry on Sam. Imma waiting for my mommy." She replied as she got back to her phone. "Why so?" I asked her. "I forgot my purse at home, she's getting it." She cooed. "Oh! Okay. Come in the auditorium as soon as you get it." I waved at her as I skipped towards the hall. She waved me back nodding her head in approval.

I stepped in to the auditorium. It was decked up in a new color, very different from what we were used to see everyday. There was a lot of hub-bub in the hall. I scanned through the heads and spotted our teacher in charge Mrs Frost. I hopped up to her and greeted her with 'Morning Smiles'. While giving my attendance, she gave me a pep talk on how I should stay quiet and behave as a silent kid when I am out in the public while I looked around in the crowd to figure out someone of our jovial friend circle. Dragging the suitcase and the backpack along, I spotted Angy.

Bingo! Angy's been my favorite since childhood. Undoubtedly, she's my bestfriend. I spotted her munching on a sandwich. "Ang!" I screamed. Mrs Frost rolled her eyes. She clearly understood that her '15 minutes' speech has gone waste. Angy looked up. She flashed a big grin. she came up to me and helped me with my suitcase to her place. She kept on grinning like an idiot as she looked at me. "I am so happy." she finally squealed. "Me too" I smiled back. "I have been counting the days for past few months." she told me. I kept on listening to her. She actually looked so happy. She patted beside her as I was preparing to sit. I snatched a way a sandwich from her tiffin box. She pouted and said, "Why do you snatch?" "IDK, I find it fun" I said casually as I chewed. "So had talk with any of them?" I asked her after I finished my sandwich. "Yeah, I had a talk with Mayu and Vas. They were supposed to show up by now." She said thoughtfully. "Vas has already arrived, just waiting for her mom to get her purse" I said as I gulped down my last bite and Angy nodded. I picked up my phone and scrolled to see if anyone was online and found Mani out there. I began to text her.

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ME: 'Hey! Where are you!?'

SHE: 'Hey. You reached school already.'

ME: 'Yeah I did. What about you? When will you arrive?'

SHE: 'Well Sam, Imma not getting my newly bought pair of shoes. You know what, I bought them just for this trip!'

ME: 'Hurry up buddy, you're gonna get late.'

SHE: 'Doesn't matter bro. Let me Just Grab those pairs.'

ME; ':/'

SHE: 'No. I mean can you believe this, these pair just wanted to play Peek-A-Boo with me early in the morning.'

ME: 'I am absolutely speechless sweety -_-'

SHE: 'These shoes destroyed my chirpy mood!'

ME: '-_-'

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I locked my phone's screen and looked up at Angy. "What happened?" Angy mouthed. "Mani is out for hunting her favorite pair of shoes. I said it with a hint of sarcasm and out of pure frustration. Angy muffled a laughter. "Not funny bro." I screeched at her. "Is it to late now to say SORRY" she literally screamed in off tune. I gave her a base look. "What kind of stupid joke is this Ang!" I asked. "I am sorry." She said sticking her tongue out and holding her ears as a gesture of her fake apology.

"Why is Ang sorry?" We heard a familiar voice and looked up to see Mayu and Vas behind her. "Ang is sorry because she needs to be sorry." I spat up. All the three gave out a thunderous laughter. "Anyways, others are going to turn up any moment now." Vas announced. "I swear, she is really an useful piece of shit." I piped up pointing at Vas, who was giving me a death glare.

The very next moment all the four of us were chatting our heads away when Angy recieved a tight slap on her head. All the four of us turned our heads in unison complemented with Angy rubbing her head vigorously, to see Ashme tapping her heels. "I have been looking for you guys for last 5 minutes." She accused " And then that girl pointed out you four. You guys are spending a gala time here." She was clearly very angry with us. "You could have called me!" Mayu exclaimed. "It hurts!" Angy whimpered. We three, Me, Vas and Mayu got busy in attending her. I looked up at Ashme, who was chewing on her freshly painted nails. She looked apologitic. "You'll destroy that." I told her. "I am sorry, I didn't mean to hurt her this bad." she looked at me with watery eyes. " She's okay. Just go and tell her SORRY! Rest will be all fine." I smiled and assured her. She nodded and went to Angy who got Angry as she looked at her. " Don't you dare come to me bitch."

After a lot of persuations, Ashme finally apologized to Angy. and then we saw a smiling Ashme. She looked hilarious when she used to smile showing all her 28 teeths. In the next twenty minutes, we five were cracking jokes and making fun of others. We five were the noisiest in the auditorium. It was then when Mani came up to us "I swear, I am highly disappointed with the punctuality of my shoes." She kept on complaining a lot more stuffs about her delay as she settled down beside us. We were talking about our trip and planning our schedules of fun when suddenly Mrs Frost announced from the podium to get into lines and start moving in a que. Our bus had arrived.

Mrs. Frost handed us our bus number and the seat numbers. All the six of us were allotted the same bus number, but I was isolated from my friends. The seating arrangement was kind of crazy, I had been allotted the seat number 20, while the others were given 30 to 35 respectively. "WHAT!?" screamed Angy. She was allotted seat number - to the extreme end, far away from my reach. "Why do the teachers do this with the six of us?" wailed Mani in despair. "Chill Guys" I tried to calm them down.

Mayu silently went to the group who were given the seats 21 to 25. Meanwhile, three service boys came to us and took our huge bulky suitcases to load it in the allotted bus. A jeering Mayu came to us hoppin with joy. "What!" we five exclaimed in unison, the seats 21 to 25 has been sorted. Mayu looked at me expectantly. I raised an eyebrow at her. "You stole seats?" I asked her. Her smiled disappeared. "Why on earth would I even steal a 'BUS SEAT' ? I asked them to interchange! That's all!!" She said in a half amazed and half angry tone. "Well, Well, Well can we just get boarded in our bus? We are slipping out of time." Ashme and Angy sang in chorus as they sensed an argument brewing up between Mayu and me.

I strolled off with my bag while Mayu and the others followed me from behind. We got into the bus one by one and seated ourselves in our newly allotted seats which we gifted to us all by ourselves. getting ourselves comfortably seated, I checked the time. It was 7:30 in the morning. "Time flies by when we enjoy ourselves!" I thought to myself and smiled. I, by the God's grace, had the window seat. Angy had placed herself beside me. Mani and Mayu behind us, while Vas and Ashme on the right side of us.

As we made ourselves comfortable in the bus seats, we started to search for our parents. The others found them and got busy attending to them while I was still looking for my dad. "Did he go back home?" I began to question myself. "There is your papa!" Vas squealed interrupting my day dream. "Where?" I asked getting excited "He's here!" I thought to myself. There was my daddy looking everywhere except my seat. It was clear from his facial expressions, he was genuinely searching for me. Getting utterly frustrated I asked everyone around me pointing in the direction of my dad "Can anyone of you please explain to me that what kind of search is this?" Angy had a hearty laughter, while Ashme started to cough as she had tried to gulp down her laughter. The others just stood there and chuckled.

"Whoa Guys! CONTROL" Vas scolded everyone playfully "I'll get your dad here." she volunteered. Vas actually had a tough time getting his attention at her. After she caught hold of his attention, she immediately guided him to my seat. No sooner did my dad see me, that an expression of calm shadowed his face. He seemed to become relieved as he saw me. I gave him a sharp look. "Aw! Stop being harsh on you dad!" Mayu said from behind. He gave me a bulky smile as the engine of our bus roared into life. I waved him a 'Goodbye' and he complimented it with a sheepish look.

The bus started to move and we were off for our destination. It was a 7 long hour journey. Till date, I believe that we six were the noisiest in the bus. The first hour had passed with a lot of chaos and chatter. Our excitements were hard to give a leash on to. We were actually out of our control. We six kept on creating a lot of noise while the others tried to manage and cooperate with us. We also kept on clicking a lot of pictures as our memories which we were to cherish forever.

After an hour or so, tiredness overcame our excitements. We were pampered with pack of snacks and light fruit juice from the bus agency. I and Angy got busy in chatting and seeing pictures of her previous trip and were deeply engrossed whispering and cracking jokes and munching onto our packs silently. At a certain point of time Angy yawned "I need some sleep Sam." "Sure thing" I smiled at her. Within next 15 minutes, she was off snoring. I looked at my pack of juice, 'Quite hospitable' I thought to myself. Then I took out my phone and clicked a few pictures of the highway we were crossing through.

I had a pressing urge to close my eyes and take a bit of rest. Waking up at 5AM sharp is not my cup of tea after all. My mind knocked me 'You are left to call you mom' I opened my eyes and dialed my dad's number because calling mom never helps. She is never near her phone. My dad picked up the phone after a few rings. "HELLO!?" he spoke in a sleepy and grumpy voice. "Dad. It's me" I replied "Oh!" his voice lightened up. i gave him a few details about our routes and trip details and handed over the phone to mom. "Hello." she sang. "Hi..." and a long conversation with the minute details carried on.

After a long soliloquy and a pause, my mom replied "Oh! This much enjoyment in just these few hours." We had a few more discussions as to where she kept my belongings and I replied her with brief "Hmm" and "Yeah". She was forced to keep her phone down because she had some other important call to attend. Relieved, I bade her Goodbye and finally switched off my phone. 'Such a chatterbox my mom is' I thought to myself. I kept my phone into my bag and looked around to see the whole bus drowned into deep slumber. I felt a tinge of sleep crawling up my eyelids as I closed them for some long awaited peaceful rest. I knew that 'REST' was going to be a word out of our dictionary.

Not sure of how long I was asleep, I was woken up with a sudden jerk. "What happened? Who fell? Who died?" I asked randomly with my sleepy head confused. I adjusted my specs haphazardly. Nobody even dared to answer me. "Where are we?" I asked Angy who came back looking agitated. "We are on the Baleswar National Highway". Alot of commotion continued in the front part of the bus. Angy and Me got up to take a look into the matter.

This was the turning point of our trip, which I wish didn't happen to us at all.