Novel Square
Chapter 56: Are You Afraid?
The scenery along the way was not all that fascinating, but Scarlett still enjoyed the ride. Passing mountains and plains, she felt at peace. Alice had fallen asleep right after eating some snacks, so Scarlett got some moments of calm and quiet all to herself. Just as Scarlett got tired and nodded off silently, the train arrived at the small station in Manbuca.
Scarlett shook Alice awake gently, and the two hurriedly took their luggage and followed their teammates to the front. It was very cold at four o’clock in the morning. Scarlett tightly buttoned her thick down jacket but still felt cold deep in her bones.
No one bothered to talk in such weather along the way since opening their mouths meant expending energy.
The bus that was supposed to pick them all up had not arrived yet, so the group, with six people in it, waited inside the bus stop, blowing on their stiff fingers to warm them up. There were four men, plus Scarlett and Alice. Two of the men, Steve and Larry, looked pale from the intense cold. The wild wind was flapping their small figures ruthlessly, and they couldn’t see standstill. Scarlett was afraid that the aerial tormentors would whirl them aloft.
Before anybody could contract pneumonia, two flashing lights came from the darkness. A bus came into the station.
The head of their little group, a tall and strong man named Aaron, immediately stood up and walked towards the bus. After getting an affirmative answer from the driver, he ran over to ask everybody to get on the bus.
***
“Are you afraid?” Alice asked Scarlett right after she was seated on the bus.
“Afraid of what?” Scarlett did not understand what Alice’s question was referring to in precise terms.
“Aren’t you even a little bit afraid? We’re going to have to adapt to this environment… it won’t be easy. Honestly, when I got off the train, I had a moment of panic thinking about all the challenges we’re going to have to face while we’re here as teachers.” Alice whispered the last word right into Scarlett’s ear. Scarlett decided she wanted to rest a little bit.
“Don’t be afraid, and we’ll get used to it.” She murmured.
It seemed to Scarlett that Alice had been through a very peaceful and smooth journey so far in her life and had made her way to university without any setbacks or challenges. While Alice was like a delicate flower nurtured carefully, Scarlett was more like a rose on the cliff. No matter what difficulties were ahead of them, Scarlett knew she would be able to get through them all.
Scarlett didn’t sleep on the train, and as she comfortably rested on Alice’s shoulder, she fell asleep easily. By the time she woke up, she had caught an eyeful of snow outside the window.
“Look! SNOW!” Scarlett was surprised and approached the window to enjoy the visual feast of white.
“Don’t act like you haven’t seen snow before,” Alice said with a smile.
“Very few times in Irving, you know.” She breathed on the window and then drew the shape of a heart with her finger.
They got off the bus and transferred to a minibus at about noon, which could load up to 15 passengers. After getting on the bus, Alice started to feel uncomfortable. The stale smell in the air made her want to throw up.
Scarlett noticed that Alice’s face was turning pale. She peeled an orange and handed the orange peel to her. “Put it under your nose. It might make you feel better.” Alice nodded and took the orange peel from Scarlett. The refreshing fragrance really helped to soothe her nerves.
Most of the people on the bus were already acquainted with each other. They were talking about their own news, occasionally laughing out loud, and sometimes even bantering with one another like old friends. Alice was so annoyed by the loud noises, and her nausea was becoming intolerable with every second that went by.
After about 40 minutes, the driver said that the people who headed to Creek Village could get off here. The six-team members quickly got off the bus with all of their luggage.
As soon as Alice stepped down, she threw up violently on the side of the road. Scarlett took her by her arms and wiped her mouth clean with tissues.
“Thank you, Scarlett.”
“Don’t worry about it, and it’s all good. I can tell that that bus ride was a lot for you. I hope you feel better, though, now that it’s over.” Scarlett looked at the pitiful figure and handed a bottle of water to her.
They were not familiar with the route, and the person who had promised to pick them up had not come yet. They looked at each other and did not know what to do.
“Hey, everybody, come on. Gather around, let’s get acquainted. So, what made everyone want to come here?” Scarlett was the first to break the silence, and everybody joined the discussion to kill time.
When the receptionist arrived, he saw six youngsters squatting in a row at the side of the road, all with their heads and necks buried in their coats. They were all staring at the road quietly. As soon as they saw someone coming, they cried out with excitement.
“Hey, are you Jonas Underwood?” Aaron, the team leader, stood up and greeted the man coming towards them.
The man nodded and greeted back with excitement in his voice,
“You must be students from Irving! Welcome to our village, young ladies and gentlemen. It’s a great, great pleasure to meet you!” He then took turns to shake hands with everybody and said, “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting here. We were preparing a welcome party for you, and I just lost track of time. I’m so sorry!”
“No big deal, Mr. Underwood. We arrived just a few minutes ago. Thank you for receiving us!” Scarlett said as she shook hands with Jonas.Content property of NôvelDra/ma.Org.
“Okay, so I’ll take you to your residence first so all of you can set your suitcases down, okay? Follow me. Come, let me take your luggage for you.” Mr. Underwood offered a helping hand to the two girls.
Scarlett knew Alice probably did not have the strength to carry her own luggage, so she gave Alice’s suitcases to Mr. Underwood and said, “Alice probably needs some help. She threw up just now. But I’m fine with my luggage! Thank you, though, sir!”