1: Break Begins

Jillie POV

"Jillie."

I closed my locker and turned around to the sound of my name.

"Hey, Aaden. Hey Jarren. Where's Mallory?"

"She's late as usual," Aaden replied.

We began walking down the hall toward my first-period class. I had it with Aaden. We said bye to Jarren at the door, then headed to our seats in the back.

"Hey, Aaden." Some redhead said, batting her eyelashes.

"Hey," he replied, giving her a nod. She blushed. Her cheeks turning the same color as her hair, and she went to her seat.

"So you ready for Christmas break?"

"Two weeks out of school, of course, I am."

"It's technically three," Aaden informed me.

He was right. After our two weeks of Christmas break, the seniors got to take their one-week trip. Our school tradition was that every class got a weeklong trip. The seniors went in the winter, juniors in the fall, sophomores in the spring, and freshmen at the beginning of May. That was one of the perks of attending an exclusive school that cost an arm and a leg.

The bell rang, and class started. I took notes and doodled when I got bored. Mrs. Key, my English teacher, who was one of my favorites, along with her husband, let us during the last ten minutes of class. They were also the student council and senior class sponsors, which put them in charge of the trip.

"Jillie, Aaden, don't forget about our meeting at lunch. Make sure you tell Jarren and Mallory, but this is just a senior officers meeting," Mrs. Key told us as the bell rang.

"Okay." We replied in unison

I went my separate way from Aaden and went to chemistry. I walked into class and took my seat at the back beside Jarren.

"Hey, short stuff."

"Shut up, Jarren," I said, glaring at him. He laughed. We have this same little conversation every day.

All my friends like to pick at me because of my size. I'm 4'11 though I claim five feet. I was born prematurely, and while sometimes it didn't have an effect, I hadn't been so lucky. My friends and family all just towered over me.

Ms. Hollins began class, and I took notes. Jarren, on the other hand, decided to sleep. He always slept in science, yet he had the best grade in the class. I wasn't complaining, though. Being his partner meant I always made an "A" on labs and projects.

"Jillie." I looked to my right.

"Yes?" I replied to Greg.

"Do you have a pen I could borrow? Mine just ran out of ink." I handed him Jarren's pen since he wasn't using it. "Thanks."

"Yeah."

I went back to taking notes and waiting for class to end. When it finally did, Jarren, now awake, and I headed to French class.

"Hey, Jillie Jill. Hey, Jarren," Mallory greeted as Jarren and I walked into class.

"Don't tell me you're just now getting to school."

"No, I got here middle of the last period."

"Yep. That's so much better," Jarren added sarcastically.

"Shut up, Jarren," Mallory shot back. We took our seats as the bell rang.

"Bonjour class."

“Bonjour Madame Conger.” The class replied in unison. Class began, and Mallory passed me a note.

I can't wait until we go on our senior trip. It's going to be awesome.

Yeah, I can't wait, either.

Do you think the four of us could get a room by each other?

I'm sure we could since Mr. and Mrs. Key are handling that part unless they let us, as officers, take care of it.

Yeah, your right.

"Pay attention," Jarren leaned over and whispered in my ear.

I looked at him. "Says the guy who's texting." I motioned toward his phone.

"I'm great at multitasking. You, on the other hand, can't walk and chew gum."

I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him. I heard his teeth click together as he pretended to bite at me. I then heard Mallory giggle. I stuck my tongue out at her too. She blew me a kiss and laughed. Jarren and I couldn't help but laugh with her.

“Trois faites-vous vouloir quelque chose vous partager ?” (Is there something the three of you would like to share with us?) Madame Conger asked us.

"No, Madame." We responded in unison. She eyed the three of us before going back to teaching.

We sat quietly for the rest of the class period. Mallory and I just passed notes back and forth, and Jarren did what he does in most of his other classes, which is sleep. He still had the best grade in this class as well.

“La classe correcte, apprécient votre coupure. Les troisième années ont l'amusement en votre voyage. Au revoir.” (Okay class. Have a great Christmas break and a great trip. See you when you get back.) Madame Conger said as the bell rang.

Jarren sat up, and the three of us headed to Drama. We walked into the classroom, and Mr. Key was at his desk.

"Hey, Mr. Key," Mallory greeted at the same time Jarren and I said. "Hey."

"Hey, kids," he said, looking up from the papers on his desk. We took our seats at the table in the middle, right at the front. This was the only time I sat at the front of the classroom. "You ready for our trip?" he then asked.

"More than ready," Mallory said excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm ready," I responded while Jarren shrugged.

More students began to file into the room, with Aaden among them. He took his seat at our table.

"Hey, Mallory. When did you end up getting here?" he asked.

"Middle of the second period," she responded.

"Aaden, we have a meeting today at lunch," I informed him.

"Where at?"

"I'm not sure. She didn't say. Her room, maybe."

"Mr. Key," he said, pulling his attention once again away from the papers. "Where is the meeting that we're having?"

"It's in here," Mr. Key said, indicating his classroom. "Alright, class." Mr. Key called attention as the bell rang. "Since today is the last day before Christmas break officially begins, I'm going to let you just talk to each other." See why he's one of my favorite teachers. A nanosecond after he made that announcement, the class buzzed with conversation.

"We need to talk about what we're packing," Mallory told me.

"You have two weeks to think about that," Jarren intervened before I could say anything.

"Jarren's right. We need to decide how we will ensure we end up on the same floor, with rooms beside each other." Aaden added.

"Jillie and I already talked about this," Mallory told them.

"I don't think it's a big deal. It should be fairly easy to make happen, and the fact that we're the class representatives should work in our favor," I told them.

"We just have to bring it up at the meeting and see," Jarren stated.

"Hey, Jillie." I heard over my shoulder. I turned and looked at Damien.

"Hey," I responded, smiling at him.

"I, um…was wondering if you had your partner for the trip. If not, maybe we could…"

"She already has a partner. You have to partner with who you room with,"

Mallory said, cutting him off.

"Mal," I hissed as I noticed what I thought was a smirk on Jarren's face.

"She's right, but we have to be in bigger groups when we go on our outings. You and your partner can be in our group," I told him.

"Yeah, okay," he said before returning to his seat.

I turned to look at Mallory. "Rude much?"

"That boy was not about to steal my partner. I saw the way you two looked at each other." I rolled my eyes, and I heard Jarren snort.

"Ying-Yang's right," Aaden said, calling Mallory by the nickname he gave her last year, which to anyone else who heard him say it would seem offensive since she's Asian. "He was checking you out."

"Your both imagining things," I told them. I heard Jarren snort again. "What the hell are you snorting at?"

"Your naivety."

"Screw you, Jarren."

"Friends, don't do that," Mallory said teasingly.

"Apparently, some friends do," I shot back, looking between her and Aaden. She blushed, and he hung his head.

"We were drunk," he mumbled.

"Yeah, I bet. I bet I also know why you call her Ying-Yang. Push and pull. Push and pull," I responded, causing Jarren to laugh.

"Shut the hell up, Jarren," Mallory shot at him. In typical Jarren fashion, he laughed harder.

"Mr. Key," she whined loudly.

He chuckled. "Jarren, leave Mallory alone." This was an everyday occurrence in this class. We all laughed.

"So I was thinking we should have a Christmas party," Aaden told us.

"Where?" Mallory asked.

"At Jillie's house."

"Why my house?"

"Because it has that empty room," Aaden responded.

"Well, we'll have to ask my parents. They may have some charity or fundraiser thing going on."

For the rest of the class period, we talked about the party. Everyone filed out of class when the bell rang for lunch except the four of us. Mrs. Key walked in a few minutes later with three large pizzas, a two-liter Sprite, and Dr. Pepper. She sat it all down on our table. Mr. Key brought plates and napkins around, and Mrs. Key returned and closed the door.

"Alright," Mrs. Key began while leaning against the desk. "First thing first. How many students have not paid their money?"

Jarren grabbed three slices of pizza and then turned to Mrs. Key. "Four."

"Who are they?"

"Rebecca and Dylan Crawley, Courtney Fields, and Toby Cox," Mallory responded.

"Well, Dylan and Rebecca aren't going. Their parents aren't comfortable with the distance we're traveling. So what do we do about the other two?" Mr. Key asked.

"Let's give them another week," Aaden suggested.

"No, the deadline is today. The tickets for the flight have to be confirmed before midnight," I told them.

"Then they have to the end of the day," Mr. Key stated.

"If they go, how many do we have?" Mrs. Key asked.

"Eighty," Mallory informed us.

"When are the rooms supposed to be confirmed?" Mrs. Key then asked.

"Monday by noon," I responded.

"Do you know exactly how many rooms we'll need, Jillie?"

I nodded. "Forty-eight if Courtney and Toby go. Forty-six if they don't."

"We're going to book twelve rooms on the three floors and ten on another because there is no way we can all be on the same floor," Aaden informed them. They both nodded.

This is what I love about Mr. and Mrs. Key. They didn't treat us like kids. Being the senior class officers, they let us plan the trip with input from them now and then, of course.

"I thought it would be best if we put people in assigned groups of ten when we go on outings," Mallory suggested.

"Why not just group them by floors," Aaden suggested.

"That won't work," I told him

"Why?"

"Because there should be ten of us to every two chaperones."

"She's right," Jarren said.

"Okay, who has the list of chaperones and students?" Mrs. Key asked.

"I do," Mallory said, pulling a folder out of her oversize purse. Well, of course, she had it; she was the secretary.

"So, who's chaperoning other than the two of us?" Mr. Key asked. Mallory read the list to them, "Okay, let's pair them off first." He said after she was done.

"Whatever you do, don't put Ms. J and Ms. Hollins together. They can't stand each other," Jarren informed us, and he was right.

After we finished pairing up the teachers, we began assigning students to a floor. Of course, we put ourselves on the same floor together. We made sure we had Mr. and Mrs. Key and Ms. J and Mr. Coleman as the chaperones on our floor.

"Why don't we just group up and choose the groups we want to be in when we get to the airport."

"That's a good idea," Mrs. Key said.

"Now about luggage." Mr. Key said, eyeing Mallory.

"Five suitcases," Mallory said excitedly.

"Um…no," Mr. Key said. "How about one."

"One?!" Mallory nearly squeaked. "How about four?" she tried. He shook his head.

"Two." Mrs. Key finally said to a pouting Mallory.

"Does that include carry-ons?" Mallory questioned. Mrs. Key nodded. "Fine, I guess I can deal."

"Now, who typed up the itinerary?" Mr. Key asked.

"I did," I told them.

"We need to ensure every student and chaperone has one as soon as we reach the hotel," he informed me, and I nodded.

"Remember that everyone needs to meet at the airport at five. Our flight leaves at six forty-five, and we want to ensure we all get through the checkpoints on time," Mrs. Key told us.

"Wait. As in five in the morning?" Mallory asked. Mrs. Key nodded. "Who gets up that early?" she then whined. We all laughed at her.

"You can sleep on the flight. It's like eight hours," Jarren told her.

We finished our meeting and cleaned our messes up. We had about fifteen minutes till the bell, so we decided to go to the cafeteria. We were walking to our table in the back when "Hey Aaden." flew out of some girl's mouth. Aaden moved his brown hair out of his eyes and smiled at her. I could have sworn I heard her sigh. It was too funny.

We finally made it to our table and sat down. I was looking around when I noticed a group of girls drooling over the guys.

"Two o'clock," I told them. They both turned their head in the direction that I indicated. Aaden waved while Jarren snorted and rolled his eyes. Believe it or not, the girls squealed. I mean, they actually squealed like little pigs. I couldn't take it anymore, and neither could Mallory, I guess because we fell out laughing.

"Hey, Jillie," I heard through my laughter. I calmed myself down and looked up.

"Oh hey, Carson."

He took a seat at the end of the table. "What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "It was nothing."

"So you only see Jillie sitting here?" Jarren asked.

Carson ignored him. "So you ready for our trip?"

I looked between the two of them. "Uh…yeah."

"So I hear we have to stay in groups when we go out."

"That's the plan."

"Why don't we get in a group together," he suggested flashing me a smile. If he weren't such a jerk at times, he'd be cute, I thought. I heard Jarren snort, and my head snapped to look at him.

"I already have a group, but you could join us if we have room." This time I think I heard Jarren growl. Wait. What? He growled?

Carson smirked at Jarren. "Zac and I would love to. See you later, Jillie," he said before leaving.

"I can't stand him," Mallory informed us for what felt like the millionth time.

None of my friends cared for Carson, but Jarren hated him. I didn't know why exactly. None of us did. He had never done anything horrible towards me, so I didn't have a problem with him, though I can't just say we're friends.

"He can't be in our group," Aaden said, turning to me. "Jarren will probably kill him."

"No, probably to it." I heard Jarren mumble.

"Fine, we'll fill our group up with other people," I told them. It didn't matter to me.

"What's going on y'all?" Mason asked, doing the guy handshake thing with Aaden and Jarren. He then kissed Mallory's cheek and mine before sitting down. "So what did my douchebag brother want?" he asked, referring to Carson.

"To flirt with Jillie," Mallory answered.

"Again?" Mason asked.

"He was not flirting," I responded. Jarren snorted, shaking his head, causing his black hair to fall into his blue eyes.

"You know if you were Bambi, Jillie, and Carson was the hunter, you'd be dead in two seconds because that's how naïve you are," he told me. I rolled my eyes at him as the bell rang.

I said bye to my friends and went to Math. It was the only class I didn't have any of them in, but Carson was in it. I took my seat in the back and pulled out my homework from the night before. As the bell rang, signaling the beginning of class, I couldn't wait for the last period so the break could begin.