Long Vacation

The final examinations for the semester were over and Faith was packing her bags. She was ready to go back to Huckleberry, she needed a break from the university campus. She convinced Banji to give her two of his t-bands and she couldn't wait to show them to Sarah. She was also looking forward to the traveller's global competitions in June. Faith was at the west gate of campus trying to hail a cab. There were so many other students there trying to get a cab as well so it was taking some time. Faith chose the west gate because it was usually the least crowded but it seemed a lot of people had the same thought. Faith considered going to the south gate but that was going to be another long walk with her luggage. She figured she would get a cab eventually. She did but just as she was about to put her luggage in the trunk, she heard someone call her name from afar. When she turned, she saw Gwen running in her direction. Faith considered pretending she did not hear because it took too long to get her cab and any stalling could make the driver get another customer. Faith did not have the heart to do so. She put her luggage down and waited for Gwen to get to her as she watched the cab she hailed get loaded with someone else's luggage.

Gwen finally got to Faith and took a minute to catch her breath.

"What is it Gwen? You made me lose my cab." Faith was annoyed.

"Sorry, I just felt like I needed to talk to you now or I might never get the chance since we won't be roommates in September." Gwen explained.

"So what is the problem?"

"I have been doing a lot of thinking and I feel like Trisha and I were at fault. We weren't really nice to you from the beginning and so that made our relationship rocky. Trisha's personality could be easily misunderstood. She is just being protective of herself and I because we went through so much in the past. That might have come off as rude to you. So I want to apologize to you so we can start the next semester with no grudges."

Faith really did not care about the apology. She did not want to feel sorry for those two girls, She did not want to have anything to do with them the next semester and she sure did not want to play the sweet forgiving girl.

"Okay I get you. I'm sorry, but I have to run now." Faith said as she carried one of her suitcases and ran towards a taxi that had just stopped at the gate so she could claim it before anyone else did.

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The Huckleberry dormitory was noisier than it was in December. This was because there were travellers who stayed on their school campuses in December but were back for the long vacation. The travel dormitories were fun during the long vacations and so most students would not want to miss that. If the students weren't back for the fun, they were definitely back because while being away from the dormitories during the school period and winter vacation were still considered part of the 2-year compulsory stay at travel dorms, being away during the long vacations were not. So staying away from the dormitories during the long vacation could delay their break out from the dormitory system. Travellers in the dormitory system were not allowed to take spring and summer courses so the end of the winter semester in April was the beginning of their long vacation. So during the long vacations, the travel dormitories were at their fullest except if there were a couple of people who recently graduated from the dormitory system. So Huckleberry had seen an influx of travellers that spring with many universities across the country ending the winter semester.

A lot of yellow taxis and airport taxis - for those who schooled too far from the capital- pulled up to the Huckleberry dormitory. These taxis were normally driven by non-travellers. Non-travellers were aware of the existence of the Huckleberry dorm. It was physically visible to non-travellers on the outside unlike some other travel dormitories. However, the non-travellers saw the dormitory in disguise. Instead of seeing it for what it was, a modern four storey-building with thermo panes forming the outer body, they saw a gothic building. Non-travellers were not allowed inside the dormitory and when they looked in all they saw was fog beyond the gate and the gothic building, a fair distance from the gate. The fence wall was soundproof so the noise from inside the dorm was never heard on the outside. For centuries and centuries, there had been a lot of rumours about what went on in that building. A lot of people believed it was a secret youth club and membership was invite-only. There had been a lot of scary rumours about the club that the drivers were always quick to speed off after dropping passengers there.

Faith's taxi pulled up to Huckleberry and Faith dragged all her luggage into the compound. Faith had not seen the dormitory that lively since she first arrived. The very large compound seemed not so large with so many people playing, chatting, braiding hair and having so much fun outside. Some roommates of Faith spotted her and came to help her with her luggage. Faith's first goal was to find Sarah. Faith burst into room 5 right after those carrying her luggage did, "Sarah!" but Sarah was not there. Faith went to the cafeteria but Sarah was not there either. She did not recall seeing Sarah in the compound, if she was there, she would have definitely gone up to Faith. Faith did not expect to find Sarah in any of the other rooms so it was either Sarah was in one of the bathrooms or at the backyard. She went to the backyard and just like Faith expected, Sarah was sitting in front of the Huckleberry shrubs chatting with Peter and some friends from other rooms.

"Sarah" Faith called out to her friend. Sarah went in for a hug on seeing Faith.

"There is a lot we need to talk about, let's go." Sarah said dragging Faith back into the building. Faith turned back to wave at Peter and the other friends.

Room 5 was empty. It was just Faith and Sarah. The duo started to catch up on each other's lives in the past three to four months on Sarah's bed.

"Ooh guess who is a high school graduate now! I can't believe we will be going to Birchmount together in September. Maybe my campus life will get better then." Faith was excitedly hitting Sarah pushing her off the bed.

"Take it easy girl." Sarah got back up. "You have no idea how much I had to go through to get the authorities to change my university. I told you over the phone right?"

"Yes you did. Anyway you won't believe Gwen actually came to apologize to me as I was leaving campus." Faith told Sarah about her conversation with Gwen. Sarah concluded that Gwen was being hypocritical.

They talked for hours more about Faith's campus life than Sarah's school life. Sarah never told Faith how she was treated at school. Faith told Sarah about Banji and Keisha, about the t-bands and travel clubs and about the rumours that spread about her on campus. Sarah offered Faith some emotional support. Sarah had heard of t-bands. She knew travellers who left the dorm were given some. Sarah could not wait to wear the t-bands Faith got from Banji to find some travel clubs in the capital. They also talked about the June global traveller's competitions and how Sarah had already made a deal with her over watcher to get her to the city where the games would take place. The games weren't happening in Cher, they were not even going to be held in the Salem continent. The games were to be hosted by one of the countries in Tupot. The travel dorm authorities were responsible for getting participants to the host city but other travellers like Sarah had to rely on their over watchers if they wanted to attend. Faith and Sarah heard some friends walking past their room say that they started serving dinner in the cafeteria so they made their way there.

The cafeteria had 15 long tables each with 2 benches of the same length as the tables at the sides. Each table could fit 20 people, 10 on each side. Food was served in serving trays with compartments. Sarah and Faith joined one of the lines to get their food and took a seat at table 9. That was when one of the boys from table 6 shouted amidst the noise in the cafeteria.

"Hey Faith! I have a friend from Mulberry who goes to Birchmount. Apparently you have quite a name there. You're popular with the boys I hear. Very different from your image as a basketball prodigy in the travel world. How about you show..."

"Hey mister! That kind of attitude would not be accepted here. This is a safe zone for all travellers. The last thing you would do is try to shame someone in a way that could lead to bullying. Come to my office immediately after your meal." Madam Eunice who was now at the head table in the cafeteria shut him up. The change in the atmosphere at the cafeteria was very obvious because the silent whispers that followed were in sharp contrast to the noisy chatter before the incident.

Faith kept her head bowed for the rest of the meal. She was scared Huckleberry would turn into a similar environment as Birchmount university. She was worried that it would become a hostile environment for her.

"Don't worry about it, Faith. He will be punished by the office and no one would worry you again or they'd face the same." Sarah assured Faith on their way back to room 5. Faith had nothing to worry about because nobody else mentioned the incident ever again. That night while the room 5 roommates were sharing their experiences and stories from school, there was a knock on the door. A voice asked to see Faith. So Faith stepped out of the room. It was John from room 11. He came to apologize.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier at the cafeteria. I didn't think of how much harm my speech could potentially cause."

Faith accepted his apology and went back into the room. The room 5 roommates chose Peter to tell them a bedtime story. He told a classic bedtime story from Germania. One that the roommates had heard way too many times that a lot of them started to tuck themselves in their beds when Peter was one sentence into the story. Abena whose bed was closest to the light switch, turned of the light.

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One Saturday, Faith and Sarah decided it was time to use the t-bands. They wore the t-bands and went into town. They first walked around for a while hoping to find a travel club. When they didn't, they gave up and went to a nearby mall. They were in a clothing store checking out themselves in a mirror when a man's reflection appeared behind theirs. The girls were startled.

"Oh don't worry. It is just me. A fellow traveller." He whispered. "I saw you were wearing t-bands so I came to introduce myself. Can we be friends?" The stranger asked.

Faith dragged Sarah to the side to discuss her concerns. "I don't know about this. He seems creepy.

"But maybe he knows where we could find a travel club." Sarah replied. So they asked him.

"Oh a travel club? This is the capital, there are way too many of them. But you won't find any in this area. You have to go downtown. I am actually on my way to one do you want to follow?"

The girls agreed to go with him. He reminded them of the dress code which Faith had already told Sarah about, so they were ready.

They had to take a cab to get there. When they were near the travel club, they became invisible. Sarah felt feverish and told Faith. Faith explained that it was normal for first timers. They entered the travel club through a door in a library downtown. The door was at the back of the library and had the sign "Emergency door" and in a golden glow, had the words "Travel Club."

When they went inside, the first thing that Faith noticed was how different it was from the travel club in Birchmount. There were a lot of people who were not following the dress code and it did not seem to matter. The club was much more packed and there was more variety of food and drink. What surprised Faith the most was that there was a quiet floor and there was a TV room on that floor. Sarah loved the music and decided to stay on the dance floor. Faith went down to the TV room. She was watching a TV series she heard people talk about at school but she never watched. There were a couple of other people there too.

Meanwhile Sarah ran into some of the people at Southeastern who bullied her.

"Oh Sarah you know how to dance? said a girl wearing a side high tail hairstyle. She was backed by others.

"Oh wow. Where did you get that dress from? The dumpster?" One of the boys in the group asked.

Sarah tried to stay away from them and started to walk towards the quiet floor.

"Oh are you running away?" the girl called out to her as the group followed Sarah.

At that moment someone pulled Sarah's hand. She turned to look and it was...

"Madam Eunice?"

It was Madam Eunice. She was at the travel club and now Faith and Sarah were in trouble for breaking the rules.

They were in Madam Eunice's office. They were in trouble but Faith and Sarah could not get over the fact that Madam Eunice went to travel clubs too.

"You know you are not supposed to have t-bands right? Where did you get them from?"

Faith told Madam Eunice that she got them from a friend at the university. Madam Eunice was furious that they broke the rules and so there were consequences for them.

They were not going to receive any allowance for the next month since they were at the dormitory and had all the basic necessities.

The girls didn't react much on hearing that but there was another punishment for Faith. She was not allowed to participate in the global games happening the next month. It devastated her.

"What?" Faith reacted. She practiced so much with the team and the global games was something she looked forward to since December. She begged Madam Eunice but Madam did not budge.

Faith cried so much when they got back to the room. All the roommates tried to console her. Sarah told Faith to ask Guy for help. That was a light bulb moment for Faith.