--------------------- Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ---------------------

*Fast forward to the Day Of The Bonding Trip*

~ Aliyah's POV ~

Today is the morning of the bonding trip.

Once I woke up, I sat up stretching my arms and back while yawning. Since I've already packed my suitcase, the only thing I have to worry about is getting ready for the long flight. 

I got out of bed and while scratching my tummy and yawning at the same time, I made my way to my bathroom and started getting ready. I used a body scrub to exfoliate my skin. Once I was done, I brushed my teeth with charcoal and made my way to my walk-in closet. I selected an outfit that was cute but comfy and warm.

Aliyah's Outfit:

Once I finished dressing up, I started doing my skin care and very light make, just mascara, lip gloss and some highlighter. 

When I finished with my face, I went on by doing my hair. I decided to do a swoop bang with a fluffy bun.

By the time I was done, it was already time to lead the house. I quickly packed my breakfast to eat on the way, as the driver took my suitcase to the car. 

I entered the car when I was done packing my breakfast and we drove off to school.

--------------------- Drive Through, School ---------------------

Upon entering the school's drive through, the car came to a stop where I got out and the driver handed me my suitcase.

With my suitcase in my hand, I walked into the school leaving it in the front where everyone left theirs ready to get loaded into the bus. 

I took my rucksack off my suitcase, carrying it and making my way to my homeroom. 

Mind you it was like 5.45 AM since our flight was at 9.40 AM and we needed to be 3 hours early for departure since it was an international flight and the teachers wanted to make sure we don't miss it.

I reached homeroom and made my way to Nadia and Chloé. 

"Heyy," I greeted them.

"Yoo," Nadia Replied.

"Hii," Chloé answered giving back the same energy.

I pulled out my seat and sat down with them and we started chatting talking about the trip, what we think we'll do and stuff like that.

I pulled out my phone and on my lockscreen were 2 notifications and they both had to do with Cris. 

'cr7.jr started following you' on instagram.

'cris7.jr wants to add you' on snapchat.

I added him back on snapchat and sent a streak with Nadia and Chloé. I asked the both of them if they wanted to be part of my streak, they both agreed so we posed, I took the snap and sent it as a streak and mentioned them.

"Aliyah," Nadia spoke calling my name.

"Ye?" I reponded.

"I just realized something," She continued.

"What?" I asked.

"You're matching hoodies with Cris," Nadia said laughing out loud and Chloé soon joined her.

I turned to take a quick glance at Cris to see what she was talking about and I saw that he was wearing a an army green version of my hoodie and I quickly turned back. They laughed so loud it grabbed the attention of everyone else around us in the class. I quickly hid my head in my hands on the desk out of embarrassment.

~ Cris' POV ~

Cris' Outfit:

All of a sudden, I heard two girls laughing hella loud and looked over to the direction that the loud laughs were coming from. Over there I saw Nadia and Chloé laughing while Aliyah hid herself. 

While looking at their table, I quickly noticed that Aliyah had worn the same hoodie as mine, but in the colour grey.

"Yo Cris," Nawaf Spoke calling me.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"They're laughing because you and Aliyah are matching hoodies y'know?" Nawaf continued

"The connection between you two is now undeniable," Mekky said laughing and Nawaf giggled. They both earned glares from me.

"Besides, she's not my type." I said shrugging.

"She is your type. It's just that her personality isn't," Mekky argued back.

"Exactly!" I answered.

"So she is your type?" Nawaf asked.

"That's not what I meant, oh my days!" I gave up.

~ Aliyah's POV ~

"Stop laughing," I said while kicking their legs from under the table. They stopped laughing.

"Ouch!" They said in unison.

"You deserved it," I answered

"But she started it!" Chloé said pointing fingers at Nadia.

"Whatever, you still deserved it." I replied.

Ms Priya walked into the classroom interrupting our conversation.

"Good morning everyone!" She greeted with energy.

I thought to myself: 'How can she be this piped up at 6 in the fucking morning!?'

She continued to announce important things to do with the trip taking questions and answering them and finished by quickly taking attendance.

Once she finished, together as a homeroom group we went and met up with the other 5 homeroom groups in our grade. We all came together as the whole of grade 8.

I was sat with Chloé, Nadia, Janice, Katy and Carla. Me, Chloé and Nadia all had different friends from our different streams (teaching groups) since we weren't in the same class. We continued to talk, mostly about the trip, but also about what's been going on and how we're all doing.

After a few minutes, the head of year came in silencing us and demanding our attention.

"Good morning everyone!" She greeted.

She then continued to explain the rules of the bus, plane and the trip. What to do and what not.

"Alright, everyone! Now that we're clear with the rules, we'll start making our way to the bus according to our homeroom groups."

"Homeroom group 8A, start making your way to the bus," She ordered as all the students in 8A started making their way to the bus.

"Followed by homeroom group 8B, so on and so forth,"

Me, Nadia, Chloé, Cris, Nawaf, Mekky and the rest of the students in our homeroom group were the third to make it to the bus since we were in homeroom group 8C then homeroom group 8D, 8E and 8F followed.

By the time we reached the bus all our luggage had been loaded into the bus and at 6.40 AM we left the school campus and made our way to the airport.

--------------------- KKIA, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia ---------------------

When we got to King Khalid International Airport (KKIA) in Riyadh, everyone was excited for our school trip to Mauritius. First, we went to the check-in counters where the airline staff checked our passports and tickets. They gave us our boarding passes and tagged our luggage. Then, we went through security, putting our carry-on items in trays and walking through metal detectors. At passport control, officers checked our visas and stamped our passports. 

Since we had three hours until our flight departed, our head of year kindly gave us the chance to walk around the airport and explore the various shops. However, we had to tell our homeroom teacher where we were going and meet back at the seating area within an hour.

Me, Nadia and Chloé started by grabbing some coffee from the café and a quick meal, then we bought a few snacks and made our way to Bath & Body Works. 

In Bath & Body Works, we grabbed a few fragrance mists, bath sets, and body lotions. When we were at the checkout counter, I heard a familiar voice speaking behind me.

"I can't believe this is what you girls waste your time doing," Cris sighed.

"It's better than wasting time on your opinions," I argued back turning around to face Cris.

Shit. He was standing so close to me.

"If you said she's not your type, then why did you drag us in here?" Mekky asked as he and Nawaf walked into the store.

"What are yo-" Cris spoke as I cut him off.

"Wait. Who's not you're type?" I asked looking up at him as he towered over me.

"Never mind that," Cris replied while Nawaf and Mekky giggled.

"Oh, okay..?" I answered suspiciously.

"Yo Cris, talk to your girl later. We need to go it's almost time to head back." Nawaf spoke earning a laugh from Mekky and a glare from Cris.

"Fuck off Nawaf," I said as we continued to check out.

Cris, Nawaf and Mekky left the store and started heading back to the seating area. 

We finished checking out our things and left the store. Nawaf, Mekky and Cris hadn't made it that far we were almost right behind them. 

As we walked with our shopping bags behind them, I saw Cris looking back at me as I talked and laughed with Chloé and Nadia.

After a few minutes, we finally started approaching the seating area where all our luggage was. We waited together in the seating area, chatting about our trip. When it was time to board, we went to the gate, had our boarding passes scanned, and found our seats on the plane.

I came to the realisation that we were seated in the order; Cris, me then Chloé and in the middle aisle was; Mekky, Nawaf then Nadia. 

"On God, you guys switched tickets!" Nadia called.

"Yeah and?" Mekky spoke clearly trying to start a fight.

"Fuck you," Nadia fought flipping him off and he just shrugged.

"Why the hell am I seated next to you?" Cris looked at me with a disappointed face.

"I should be asking you the same thing," I replied.

"It should be an honour to be seated next to me. I'm the only one that has the right to be upset." Cris started.

"Why should I be honoured to be seated next to a dick?" I asked arguing back.

"What makes you think you're any better? You're an asshole," He insulted me back.

"And you're built like ass cheeks!" I fought back.

"Why are you guys fighting like a married couple?" Chloé Interrupted.

"Fuck off," I barked.

"Yo Mekky," Chloé called.

"Yeah?" Mekky answered

"Wanna swap seats?" Chloé asked.

"Nuh-uh. Those two barbarians next to you are hella noisy," Mekky replied laughing and earning a glare from me and Cris.

The flight attendants showed us safety procedures, and we enjoyed meals, snacks, and in-flight entertainment.

I put in my AirPods, deciding to listen to music for a bit. Once I got bored of doing so I used the in-flight entertainment and watched a movie. After a while, my eyes started to feel heavy and I began to persistently lean my head to my right closing my eyes and opening them back up. This continued for a few minutes until I finally gave in and decided to sleep.

↜-------------------------------------↝

A/N

Heyy!

This was such a long chapter omdss!!

Also I kind of have a case of writer's block, so I'm having trouble coming up with ideas so I'd love for you guys to share yours in the comments!

Mwah! <3

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