Chương 56: Episode 1: The Field Trip

We begin in a massive arena where a stone battleground sits in the middle, surrounded by four stone pillars glowing with an ominous green light. Hundreds of rows of seats circle around the dome, where hundreds of Earthnites sit cheering for the battle to begin. Drums played in the background, hyping up the crowd even more. The ceiling curved in a dome-like shape, with green light blooming out and dappling onto the arena and the massive crowd.

In the center of the battleground stood an Earthnite referee, holding a mic and wearing stone armor. Marked on the center of the battleground was the Earthnite insignia, and on the referee's chest was the same insignia. The referee shouted into the noise, "EARTHNITES! TODAY IS THE BATTLE! THE BATTLE WHERE TWO CONTESTANTS FIGHT FOR ONE OF THE BEST RANKINGS IN EARTHNITE HISTORY!" He pulled out a badge made purely of stone, the Earthnite insignia shimmering across it.

But it wasn't just any insignia — it looked very different from the one you'd see on a day-to-day basis. That insignia belonged to the Earthnite Warrior. Two axes crossed behind the original Earthnite logo. It symbolized more, and it meant more. What he was describing was very much true. Earthnite Warrior is a ranking most Earthnites want to achieve to become aspiring Heroes or aspiring Earthnite Soldiers. Most of these soldiers wear badges like that one, and some of them are as young as me.

I hope I get a badge myself someday. But here's one thing Earthnites do very strictly. They're strict with themselves, so strict, in fact, that I've seen eight-year-olds act more mature than I do these days. I sat backstage, getting my boxing gauntlets ready. My helmet rested beside me, shaped like an ankylosaurus head, with two horns curving down behind it. I picked up the helmet and put it on, then got up and tightened the gauntlets around my wrists. I felt good in the armor, like I was entitled to it.

I peeked around the wall and caught a glimpse of the whole crowd and the battleground I was about to enter. I'm not gonna lie, I was nervous, but I hoped not too nervous, because that could ruin my chance to become an Earthnite Warrior. Six years of experience is enough. After fighting in the Great War of Celestia, I'll earn my spot as a Warrior. I want to be someone who can make my own tribe proud and protect them from any danger. I'm the second Chosen One, but that comes later.

Right now, I'm here to fulfill my own dreams. You're probably wondering, "Where are this kid's parents?" — and that's a great question. See, I don't have any. Or, I used to. Way back when I was still a toddler, my parents were taken from me and killed by Lunaranites during the most intense years of the war. I loved them, but I don't remember much, I was so young. Four years old, guys. Right now, I live near a swamp. Most Earthnites don't enjoy talking to me because of how much personality I actually have.

Earthnites HATE having a personality. I mean, they always brood, act stoic, dead serious all the time, without ever having any fun. I have plenty of fun on my own. I go mountain sledding all the time, and that shit is better than ever. This is event however, is the only event to ever make an Earthnite crack a smile. There's a reason to why I'm doing all this. So the Earthnites can finally see, and realize, that even if one of them is different, they can still be one of the best of the best.

They told me my opponent would be two years older than me, fourteen. Not that bad. Compared to my other Warrior Classes at Insane Middle School, I've been through better and I've been through worse. The oldest I can usually handle is sixteen. Man, they're strong, but with enough wits and quick moves, they go down pretty fast. I should redefine "fast." Anyway, the drums started, it was time for the match to begin. I got up from the bench and turned toward the exit.

A massive stone pathway to the battleground stood wide open, waiting for me to step onto it. I adjusted my helmet and smirked under the mask.

"Let's go, Terrabite." I gave myself a battle name, by the way: Terrabite. Sounds pretty cool. My foot touched the bridge, and I started walking. All eyes were on me. I looked around, scanning every corner, up and down. I expected a wave of cheers from this crowd. All I heard were crickets. The entire arena sat in awkward silence. The only sound was my footsteps, echoing across the empty space. My feet were my only supporters. I was sweating under my armor, pressure piling up on me.

I couldn't get anyone to so much as smile as I walked across that bridge — every face was flat and bored. Teenagers and young adults were on their phones. Kids asked their parents if there were games on their phones. Adults checked their bank accounts. Even someone's pet Griorgriffon looked away from me in shame. I finally reached the battleground after a long, awkward walk. I forced a smile under my helmet and held out my hand for a shake with the ref.

The ref looked me up and down with a bland expression, then said something into the mic.

"Give it up for… Terrabite." It was so silent I could hear one cricket getting bodied by another. I nodded awkwardly.

"Thanks, sir." I took my place on one side of the battleground. The ref got ready to announce my opponent's name, and he looked pretty excited about it.

"Now, here comes the one everybody's been waiting for. Non-stop combat for EIGHT YEARS STRAIGHT!" EIGHT YEARS?! Had anyone even told me who I was fighting? Because I didn't know a single thing about a guy with eight years of combat experience! I mean, I had six, so it couldn't be that ba—"WEIGHS NINE HUNDRED POUNDS!" NINE HUNDRED POUNDS?! My ears nearly shattered at that number. And I weigh five hundred? What kind of matchup was this?

"AND MOST OF ALL, HE'S ON A WIN STREAK OF TWENTY-THREE!" A win streak of twenty— My balls dropped. Sorry, WHAT?!

"Excuse me, sir," I called out to the ref. He turned toward me.

"Who exactly am I going up against? Because I think they mixed up the matchup." I pointed at myself.

"I'm twelve. Five hundred pounds. The monster you're describing sounds like a grown-ass man." He rolled his eyes and lowered the mic.

"Kid, you're going against a sixteen-year-old. You're on the advanced list of combatants, and with those combat test scores from Power's training and Insane Middle School, you're going against someone who's in your level."

"THAT IS NOT FAIR! YOU'RE DESCRIBING A BEHEMOTH!" I lashed out. He shrugged, unbothered.

"Doesn't sound like much of a behemoth compared to what I've seen in the Warrior Army." BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Footsteps. I looked across at the other entrance. Dark and hollow, but someone was in there, stomping their way out. The entire arena exploded into cheering. The ref couldn't wait any longer.

"GIVE IT UP FORRRRRRRRRRR—" BOOM! The behemoth stepped out.

"SIGRID!!!!!!!!!!!!" A seven-foot, nine-hundred-pound Earthnite bull with skin of complete stone. The fact that his entire skin had turned to stone told me he was long done with puberty. Mine hadn't even started, I still had to wait until I turned thirteen. His horns were massive, curved and jagged. I was not about to mess with that. So this is who they put me up against. Someone nearly impossible to beat, and WHO exactly was greenlighting these matchups?

Never in my life had I fought an Earthnite this large, this powerful. The biggest threat I'd ever faced was Duke, and he was fifteen and wore cybernetic armor. This guy took things to a whole other level.

"I'M MEANT TO BE FIGHTING THAT?!" I shouted. He stepped fully into the battleground and looked down at me like I was a puny insect, too easy to flick away.

"I COULD SQUASH YOU MORE THAN ONCE, EARTHNITE!" Guess this is my life now. Gotta accept what you have. I wasn't about to let this hot-breathed teenager ruin my dreams. My feet dug into the stone beneath me. I clenched both fists, feeling stone form over them for extra coverage. I was gonna pound this kid into the ground.

"HRAH!" BOOM! I leaped off the ground, rattling it, shooting toward Sigrid with a fist reeled back, screaming in determination.

"I'LL WIPE THE LITERAL FLOOR USING YOU—" An ice pack rested against my back inside my hoodie, another sat on top of my head. I sat on the bench, badly bruised and bleeding. The sky was blue, and birds were chirping. It was supposed to feel like a good day, but I'd just gotten my shit rocked by someone I could've easily avoided. And now they'd rejected me from becoming an Earthnite Warrior. Even after everything I'd done. I saved Celestia with my own class. I sacrificed myself multiple times and kept going.

I had every quality of a warrior.

And yet, there I sat, on one of the outside benches, near the city. Massive stone-and-mud domes everywhere, swamp wrapping around it like it refused to leave. All in different sizes, large and small. Tall towers of stone loomed over head. Earthnites walked on the sidewalk behind me. Skies were still in their blue color. I decided to be any decent 12-year-old and pull out my phone.

"Let's see what the group chat's yapping about…" The second my screen turned on— BOOM. Notifications. Hundreds.

"… HOW do I even HAVE this many—" I paused. Deep breath in. Slow exhale. Stay calm, Olsen. You are stronger than the notifications. I tapped into the group chat and started typing:"Waiting for a taxi rn, what are y'all up to?" Don instantly replied:"We're at school man, where are u cuz ur missing out!" If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. On what?! I can't miss out on another special event!

Then a message popped up—glowing like it was blessed by destiny:"FIELD TRIP!!!!!" Prince sent it. Then immediately followed it with a dog flossing. I blinked. No way he thinks this is funny. I typed back fast:"Where are we even going?!" Demaruion:"TO ZERIATH, BABY!" My eyes lit up. ZERIATH?! For a field trip?! Oh yeah—I'm there. Because, a trip to Zeriath isn't just a field trip. It's more than that. Zeriath used to be a part of Avangard before it was divided, that was how the story was told.

No Avangardians ever entered the land, and only Nomanites did. Nomanites who live in Avangard say that Zeriath is a pretty cool place. Since I've never seen it before, and the way it's described by others. I'm gonna love this one. I typed:"I heard they got DINOSAURS there!" Don instantly:"I lowk know sum dino stuff." Archie:"I'll BURN your mouth." Demaruion:"I AIN'T tryna all dat!" Prince:"5 HOURS OF YAPPING IS INSANE DON!"

I jumped in:"We get it bro, you know everything abt dinos 😭" Don:"Damn, i wasn't serious gng" Yellow taxi, straight from Iris Town, parked right in front of me. The driver leaned out the window.

"Hey! Get in here, bud! I did NOT drive all the way from Iris Town for nothing!" I smirked.

"You need that paycheck, don't you?" He scoffed.

"Well now I'm getting paid EXTRA to help fix Celestia after the Great War!"

"Oh… right. That." I rolled my eyes, grinning as I opened the door and slid into the comfy backseat. The driver, Teo, turned around. Mustache, hat, full NPC energy.

"To Iris Town, right, kid?"

"Yup. Iris Town." He nodded, then paused, staring at the wheel for a second.

"Heh… you kids are always heading there these days. It's a fun place, isn't it?" The engine rumbled softly to life. I leaned back, smiling.

"Yeah… it really is." The taxi pulled off, rolling down the long dirt road before entering a massive glass tunnel. Below us, the ocean stretched out forever, waves crashing and sparkling under the sunlight like it was showing off. Cars and trucks zoomed past as we merged onto the highway. And just like that, I was on my way to Iris Town… and a field trip to Zeriath. Okay yeah, today might actually be insane. Teo had some low music playing, nothing loud, just soft enough to blend into the hum of the engine.

I was glued to the window, face this close to the glass, like the outside world was a movie and I had front-row seats. Because bro, outside? It didn't even look real. The ocean stretched beneath the glass tunnel, endless and alive, waves folding into each other like they were breathing. Sometimes they rose so high it looked like they were trying to touch the sky. And the sun was posing, just sitting there, reflecting off the water like it knew it was the main character. It felt like it was looking right at me.

Smiling. I leaned closer to the window. Yeah, I gotta capture this. I pulled out my phone, angling it just right to catch the reflection, the ocean, the sky blending into one— SPLASH!! A dolphin launched out of the water like it got shot out of a cannon.

"WOAH—!" I jerked back so fast I almost dropped my phone. Water slammed against the glass tunnel, spraying outward in a wave that spread across the surface right in front of me. Droplets streaked down the glass, distorting everything for a second. The dolphin flipped midair, clean and smooth like it had done that a million times, then disappeared back into the ocean. Gone. Just like that. I leaned forward again, pressing my face to the window.

"Wait, wait, where'd it go—" Nothing. Just water. No ripple, no shadow, no sign it was ever there. I stared for a few more seconds, then slowly sank back into my seat.

"…Okay. That was kinda fire." I crossed my arms and checked my phone. Still good on time. Plenty of it. I exhaled, letting my head fall back for a second. And then it hit me.

"…A field trip." I sat up a little straighter. Now hold on — pause the entire universe for a second. A field trip? We haven't had one in, like, months. Ever since everything went down with Don and that whole Celestial fight, it's been nothing but chaos, training, and near-death experiences on repeat. And now suddenly we're going to Zeriath? ZERIATH?? I let out a quiet laugh, shaking my head.

"Yeah, okay. I'm glazing. I don't even care." Because Zeriath is everything. It's alive, bright, jungle everywhere, thick greenery, wild terrain, stuff actually moving instead of just sitting there looking pretty. It's not boring. It's not stiff. And yeah, dinosaurs. I glanced down at my hands, flexing my fingers slightly. Don's the loud dinosaur nerd. He'll talk your ear off for five hours straight if you let him. I'm not innocent either. I know about the Megalodon. Know even more about the Mosasaurus.

I could go on a whole rant about Tyrannosauridae if someone really wanted me to. And my favorite? I smirked a little.

"Ankylosaurus." Why? I tapped my arm.

"…Because I am one." I leaned back again, watching the tunnel lights and passing cars streak across the glass. Everything blurred together, motion, color, reflections— And then something else appeared. A face. Right there in the glass. For a split second. My heart jumped. I snapped my head to the side so fast my neck almost complained. Nothing there. No one. Just the empty seat, the window, the tunnel stretching behind us.

"…What in the physics…?" I turned back slowly, staring at the glass again. The reflection was gone. No face, no movement. Just me. Okay. Nah. I definitely saw that. I leaned forward, eyes narrowing.

"That wasn't just me… right?" I turned toward the front seat.

"Hey, Teo—" He glanced back at me through the mirror, one eyebrow raised.

"Something wrong, Pre-Hero?"

"…Uh…" I hesitated. Do I sound crazy right now? I sound crazy.

"I wasn't the only one who saw that reflection in the glass… right?" Teo blinked.

"…What reflection?" Yeah. That answer told me everything I needed to know. I sank back into my seat.

"…Never mind." He gave me a "yeah, this kid's imagining stuff" look, then turned back to the road. I turned back to the window. So I'm the only one. Cool. Cool cool cool. That's not terrifying at all. I rubbed the back of my neck. Probably just the light. Reflections. Moving cars. Brain doing too much. Yeah. That made sense. Totally.

"…Too soon… am I, Olsen?" My entire body froze. The voice didn't come from the front. Didn't come from outside. It came from inside my head.

"…What?" My voice barely came out. Too soon? Too soon for what? Who even— BANG!

"AGH—!" My back slammed into the seat as something snapped inside my mind. Noise flooded in all at once. Screams, desperate ones. Images crashed into my head like they were being forced in: Nomanite insignias flashing and glitching, Nomanites falling, bodies hitting the ground, superheroes with faces I didn't even recognize flickering in and out — all of them dead, blood pooling beneath them, spreading, swallowing everything.

"STOP—!" My hands shot to my head. It didn't stop. It got worse. The screams layered over each other, louder, sharper, tearing through my skull. Then a flash. Green light. A gem, floating, clutched in the hand of something dark. A figure outlined in white light, almost like a Zenith, but couldn't be one. Everything about it felt twisted, like it wasn't supposed to exist. The light around it cracked, the image shattered, and just like that. Silence. My eyes snapped open.

I was back in the taxi, breathing hard, chest rising and falling like I'd just run for miles. Same seat, same tunnel, same road. Everything normal.

"… What was that…?" I wiped my face and realized my hands were shaking. I glanced toward the front. Teo was still driving, calm, focused, hadn't said a word, hadn't even reacted. Like nothing happened. Like I didn't just lose my mind in the backseat. I stared at him for a second, then leaned back slowly. He didn't notice. Of course he didn't. Teo's just Teo, good guy, simple. He drives, gets paid, minds his business. Not the type to question things unless it's crashing into his windshield. But that wasn't nothing.

I looked down at my hands again. Still trembling.

"…That wasn't a dream." It couldn't have been, not with how real it felt. Nomanites dying. Heroes, dead. That symbol. That gem. And whatever was holding it. I clenched my fists slightly.

"…A Zenith." But not one I recognized. Not one that felt right. I looked back out the window, the ocean still moving beneath us like nothing had changed. My reflection stared back at me in the glass, and for once it didn't feel like just a reflection.

"If that's what's coming next," I muttered, "this isn't gonna be anything like what Don faced." The tunnel stretched forward, and for the first time since I got in the taxi, the calm actually felt like something I should be worried about.

While the car drove along the road, the sky started to get clearer and brighter, more blue than orange. Teo turned around and said, "Alright, bud, we're here…" I slowly looked up, my eyes blinking after a long nap. In front of me was the land of Iris Town, growing before my eyes. Huge houses, their walls built of stone brick, rose everywhere. Even taller towers loomed above, dwarfing the houses. These towers had the same cottage-style roofs, but they were completely wooden.

A dirt road ran through it all, grass surrounding it entirely, with small cottage houses and huge cottage buildings standing on the grass around it. Huge oak trees stood where children played. The skies were blue, and the clouds were thin and swirly. Citizens wandered the village, waving at the taxi as it drove across the dirt road. I looked through the window and watched all of them waving at me with smiles on their faces, something the Earthnites never liked to do for some reason. Cuz they were boring.

I was still looking for my friends when I heard a roar that made me look up into the sky over the tall buildings and cottage towers. What flew over them was a huge amethyst dragon, glittering with crystallized scales as he roared again. It was Don, banking to the side, flapping his wings, diving down toward the ground from above.

Demaurion climbed around the pole of a windmill, wearing his usual blue, white, and green jacket and blue jeans, throwing his fists into the air as he watched the taxi move along the dirt road.

"HE'S HERE! WE HAVE HIM!!! HE'S BACK AND ALIVE!!!" Prince blitzed through the sky with lightning trailing around him, crackling in arcs of electricity as he rapidly flapped near Uragas, squawking as loud as he could while he twisted over the pole Demaurion rested on, shouting, "OH YEAH! TANK KING IS BACK!" Everyone started clapping for my arrival, and then I heard Archie squawking through the other window.

I turned and saw him flying right by the taxi, smiling at me in his Blazing Phoenix form, fiery eyes lit up with excitement the second he saw me. Then things shifted. Don got near the ground, and everyone ducked as the dragon swooped over them. He hit the ground softly and skidded across the dirt, landing right in front of me, stopping in front of the taxi. Demaurion dropped from the pole with a grunt after shouting, "Chaos team is back at it again, missed you guys!" He hit the ground near Don.

Archie swooped around them both and, in a burst of flame, shifted into his base form. He landed near Don, cracking his knuckles.

"I'M READY TO BLOW THINGS UP NOW THAT HE'S BACK!" Prince flashed into base form and skidded across the ground toward us, stopping in front of the taxi beside the rest.

"Olsen! Out of the car, dude!" The taxi stopped, and I slowly got out while I peered up at Don, who let his scales rapidly shift and transform like gears. His wings snapped closed first, then started shrinking and settling back into place as smaller wings, his tail shrinking along with his scales. His body twisted as he lifted himself up, crystallized scales moving and binding across his chest before disappearing.

Then he slammed both talons against the ground, planted an elbow against the dirt, and kept shifting as celestial energy swirled and crackled around him. He grunted and snapped his fingers, and the celestial energy flashed him back into his base form. He walked toward me, arms crossed, tail moving with swagger, looking up at me with confident, determined eyes as he held out his hand for a dap up.

"No trouble on the way, right?"

"Right," I said, dapping him up so hard it created a tiny shockwave that grabbed everyone's attention. Prince pointed at the school on top of Iris Town, its spire shining at its brightest while the sun kept watch over it.

"We should get to the courtyard, everybody's already hanging out over there getting ready for the field trip!" Moose and deer grazed in random spots around the town, and the townspeople didn't mind at all. That's how chill the Nomanites and the people of Iris Town are.

"Yeah," Don said, turning to glance at the school.

"They'll be so glad to see you're here, since you're late." My head felt like it was betraying me.

"I was late?" Don paused for a moment, a smile quivering and starting to widen as he looked up at me, trying his hardest not to laugh.

"Don't tell me you—""Ah, DAMN IT, MY PHONE'S TIME SETTINGS ARE COOKED!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Don wheezed into laughter, covering his chest, trying not to lose air.

"HOO HOOO! HAHHHHHHHHHHH!!! DAMN, OLSEN, YOU REALLY DID IT AGAIN?!"

"SHUT UP!" Demaurion rolled his eyes.

"'Ha ha,'" his mouth straightened, "now you two shut the hell up, because we're going somewhere…" With that, both of us shut the hell up, and we started following Demaurion up the dirt trail to Insane Middle School to meet our friends at the courtyard.

The park stretched out as we entered the courtyard, and yeah, it was PACKED. Sixth through eighth graders were everywhere. Some were glued to their phones, some were talking in groups, others were messing around, playing games, throwing footballs, doing whatever they felt like. There were benches all over the place too, and of course, couples were sitting there doing… whatever couples do. Me and my friends scanned the whole area for our class, and of course, Prince spotted them first.

"Over there!" Way off by the bleachers, Class 101 was all grouped up. The girls were sitting in the back, talking about stuff and whatever else, while the boys in the front were just… doing their own thing. And yeah, somehow it had turned into another one of those competitions: seeing who could last the longest being tied up or restrained in three different ways at once. I was still the champion, obviously. Not to brag, but actually, yeah, I'm bragging. After a few minutes, we finally made it over there.

I leaned against the side of the bleachers while Prince immediately started zooming around them, leaving jagged blue lightning streaks behind him like he couldn't sit still for five seconds. Honestly, my team doesn't really socialize like that. We train. That's just what we do. Don was sitting on the bleachers with that same book again, the combat one written by Sentry, Power's original mentor. He was locked in, like nothing else existed.

Every page, every move, he was studying all of it like his life depended on it. Archie was in front of the bleachers, floating while meditating. Fire was swirling from his arms up to his head, sparking through his hair, but he was calm about it. He said it helps him control his fire better. Which is good, because… yeah, it's Archie. Demaurion was off to the side, just going crazy on a tree with punches: jabs, hooks, everything. Faster than usual too. You could tell he was really trying to push his speed. And me?

I was just standing there, leaning against the bleachers, thinking about the vision. That's the thing. Earthnites don't usually get visions. That's more of a Lunaranite or Celestianite thing. So if I had one, about some powerful gem and a new Zenith that could be a problem, then yeah, that's not normal. That's gotta be tied to the prophecy somehow. I don't even know when it's gonna happen, but I know I can't ignore it. Maybe that's part of my trial or something. Maybe it has to do with me being an Earthnite.

And yeah… I already know I'm different. Most Earthnites? Tough, strong, fearless. I've got the tough and strong part down, no problem. Fearless? … nah. I've got fears. But the BIG difference?

"Mature." That's what they call it. Honestly? It just means boring. Like, you've got literal eight-year-olds reading these super complicated, adult-level books with all these crazy deep ideas and logic, and somehow they're into that. Meanwhile, I'm just… not. Back in the Rufty Mountains, I was either wandering around or just chilling in mud. Yeah, mud. Earthnites don't shower. Not because we're scared of water or anything, it's just not how we do things. Mud keeps our skin rough and strong.

It literally helps with our durability. That's just biology. I was still thinking about all that when I saw Teo walking toward me from behind the school. He waved, smiling like usual.

"Why, hello there, Olsen. How's getting ready for the trip?" That alone threw me off. Teo doesn't stick around. Ever. He drops me off, leaves, and gets paid. That's it.

"Oh, hey, Teo," I said, giving a small wave back.

"You're still here? Shouldn't you be… getting your paycheck or something?"

"Oh, that." He leaned against the bleachers like it was nothing.

"Well… turns out I'm the one driving you guys to Zeriath today." … Yeah, that didn't make it better. Zeriath is FAR. Like, REALLY far. Even through tunnels, that's hours. And now he's just… driving us? Why him? I tried not to overthink it. Teo's a nice guy. He's always been cool. But still… something felt off. Then Bassi showed up out of nowhere, wearing a white T-shirt that said, "I LEFT MY TEACHER'S DESK TO BE HERE." Loudest shirt I've ever seen.

He had on green pants, his horns were sharpened, his hair was all styled, dude came prepared. He started waving his arms like crazy to get everyone's attention.

"OKAY, EVERYONE! THE BUSES ARE LOADING, AND I NEED ALL OF YOU ON THERE, BECAUSE I WANNA SEE SOME DINOSAURS!" Class 101 instantly lost it.

"YAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!" Meanwhile, the eighth graders were annoyed, and the sixth graders looked like they wanted to throw us into lava or something. Then Teo turned back to me. Just… staring.

"This will be a wonderful trip," he said quietly, tilting his head.

"Won't it, Olsen?" Yeah. Nope. Didn't like that. Something about him felt wrong. I couldn't explain it, but it was there. And I wasn't the only one. Don got up and started walking with the class toward the buses, but as he passed Teo, he gave him this side-eye. Not even side-eye, more like a straight-up death stare. Like if something went wrong, he was ready to throw hands immediately. That didn't help my nerves at all. I looked back at Teo.

"Uh… yeah," I said.

"I guess."