3 Retreat ; The Quest for Romance is on!

TWO WEEKS LATER

At long last, the awaited day of their retreat finally arrived. Alice woke up early, got ready and her parents drove her to the port. "Are you sure you'll be alright alone?" her mother asked.

"Yeah mom, I'll be fine. I'm ready for this!" She balled her fist to show her determination.

"Take care then and stay away from boys. Don't let anyone carelessly enter your room!" Her overprotective father said and Alice grinned as she gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you in two weeks, I'll miss you," Alice said before she boarded the ship.

Most of the students were already there, including Alice's friends. Alice made the move to not approach them right away since her father was still watching her. Once the ship was ready to leave, she went near the railings and she waved at her parents like all the other students as well.

"Okay everyone, you should head to your rooms to unpack your things then enjoy the day. Make the most of it, we'll start with our activities soon." Their teacher said.

"Hey, let's meet at my solo room," Alice told them as she emphasized the word 'solo'.

"Yeah yeah you don't have to rub it in. We'll go to your room later." Josh replied.

"Good," she smiled.

"Then, I'll see you losers later." She waves them off.

"Darn that girl." Josh cursed.

Alice immediately found her room, it was separated from the other rooms so her neighbors were either the teachers or strangers. "Whoa, this is heavenly." Her eyes widened as she stared at her room in awe.

There was a king-sized bed, the floor is carpeted, there's a huge television and a nice wooden cabinet. She checked out the bathroom and there was a bathtub! It was really perfect and first-class. On top of that the whole ambiance of the room is just her style.

It didn't take long until she heard knocks on her door. "This is just unfair, your room is just a million times better." Alex whined. "You sure are lucky." he adds.

"Nah, it just so happens that everybody else is unlucky." Alice said as she wore her jacket. "Anyway, let's go out. It's about time you guys man up." Alice grinned.

The boys just shrugged but they followed Alice anyways. "Where are we going anyway?" Josh grumpily asked.

"The arcade seems nice," Alice said as she placed her hands in her pockets. She was currently walking backwards since she was currently facing them.

"Hey, watch out!" The guys exclaim in chorus but it was too late since Alice accidentally bumped someone causing the both of them to fall onto the floor.

"Ouch, that hurt." The person whined.

"J-Jayne, it's you." Josh gasped as he helped her get up. Alice rolled her eyes at the other guys as she stood up by herself. She went near Josh and she slyly nudged his elbow signalling him to make a move.

"So Jayne, sorry about that, Alice was just a bit careless as always." Josh chuckled.

"What?" Alice groaned and Jayne giggled. A smile crept onto Josh's lips, he feels giddy to make her laugh.

"Ask for her number you idiot." Alice whispered. Josh slowly nodded as he smiled at Jayne again.

"If it's okay, may I ask for your number?" he shyly asked.

"But I already have your number Josh, I'll send a message to you later. Make sure to save it okay?" she grinned.

"See you!" then she left.

Once Jayne was out of sight Josh heaved a sigh of relief. "Not bad for a first move, right?" Alice beamed.

"I didn't even need your help." Josh scoffed.

Alice suddenly grinned smugly. "Really? Why do you think she already has your number? And do you think I'm that careless to just bump someone?" Alice asked.

"So you planned it?" the guys gasped.

"Actually no, I thought of the bump on the spot but the one about Josh's number is a different story." she said mysteriously. She then saw a familiar face enter the arcade which was only a few meters away from them. "Come on, let's go to the arcade" she grinned.

Once they were at the arcade she told the boys to do whatever they want, she just took out a pocketbook and she began reading. The guys, particularly Alex and Lance, noticed that Alice wasn't joining them on the fun so they decided to approach her. "Hey, you're not going to join us?" Alex asked but the female just shook her head.

"What are you reading?" Lance asked but Alice just placed the pocketbook back in her pocket. "Nothing, I'll just join you guys then." she said quickly.

"No! I was so close!" Someone whined across the room. All of them turned to see who it is, Lance's eyes widened in surprise.

"It's Sarah," he gasped. She faced them and gave them an embarrassed smile.

"Sorry, it's just that I want one of these badly." She pointed a SpongeBob Square pants stuff toy.

Alice immediately grinned. "So you're playing the crane game, huh? What a coincidence Lance was just playing with it a while ago, he actually got a plush toy" Alice lied as she pushed Lance towards Sarah.

"I'm jealous. I wish I was as good as him." Sarah sighed.

"Oh what another coincidence, Lance has nothing to do right now, what if he helps you?" Lance immediately gave Alice a panicked look; Alice in return gave a reassuring smile.

"Well, if it's okay with him." Sarah said shyly as she fiddled her fingers.

"Sure, I'll help," Lance said as he glanced back at his friends who were no longer behind him and he saw them heading to the other end of the arcade room. "Why did they leave me like this! I'm so nervous." He mentally cursed.

Lance wondered how he could get a stuffed toy for Sarah when he really didn't even try the crane game. "You really think I can do it?" He asked Sarah.

"Well, Alice did say that you got a plush toy right?��� She beamed and Lance resisted the urge to groan. If there's anyone to blame, it's definitely Alice.

After about five tries, he got the toy that Sarah wanted. "Sorry that I wasted a bunch of your tokens Sarah," Lance rubbed the back of his head. Sarah smiled and hugged him.

"Don't be silly, if it wasn't for you, I never would've got it. Thanks, Lance, here's something as my thanks." she placed something on his palm. "We should hang-out sometimes" she waved as she left.

Lance was left there in awe. "She hugged me. Sarah hugged me." He opened his palm and he saw a cute teddy bear keychain. He smiled to himself as he placed it in his pocket. "I guess I'm lucky, and did she just tell me that we should hang out?" Lance couldn't stop himself from smiling widely.

"Okay! I think Lance is done. Time to go guys." Alice told them.

"Let's go!" Alex said, the rest nodded and they exited the arcade room. Once they got out, Lance rejoined them.

"Look, Sarah gave me this keychain and she hugged me too!" he told them.

"Lucky guy, why didn't Jayne hug me?" Josh grumbled.

"Aaaw, that's so sweet your first move is done. It's a good thing Sarah also went here, I just saw her enter here when we saw Jayne a while ago." Alice said in relief.

"I don't know how you do it, but you're kind of good at this helping Alice." Gerald complimented.

"Of course, it just proves how great I am. So who wants to eat? I'm really hungry." Alice asked. Turns out all of them were already starving. "Well let's head to the restaurant!" Alice marched off and the rest followed.