8.

“Oh my god, of course it's starting to rain now!” Peter complained and I felt tiny droplets on my skin. Opening my pocket umbrella I always had with me, I shielded myself from the rain. “Well, sucks to be you,” I said with a mischievous grin. “Too bad you don't have an umbrella,” I continued, trying to get on his nerves. “Yea whatever, I don't care,” he murmured grumpily, looking away.

I snickered and looked through our group to find Jack – a now normal thing I did every 5 minutes or so, if I wasn't busy doing something else. I gave me some comfort, made me feel safe and secure for some reason, despite his awkward staring during breakfast.

“Is that the Science Museum?” Quinton asked in surprise. “Seems like it,” Julian replied.

“It's big, I guess,” I added, not that impressed by it like Quinton. “Obviously,” he commented. Just as I was about to talk back, our two teachers gestured us to come together.

“So,” Kyle began, “before we go in, some basic rules. You have to walk in groups of at least 3, so no adventuring on your own, got it?” Some students already formed their group, which I didn't, because I knew I would be in a group with my roommates. (Although I really wanted to be in a group with Jack)

“Hey! We're not finished!” Kyle yelled, making everyone's heads turn back to him. “In a case of an emergency, please call one of us, ok?” continued Taliyah, our second teacher who attended us. “We'll meet at the exit in 2 hours, so around 1:30pm,” she further explained.

“Have fun!”

“Whoa, this place is pretty big,” I noted after our class walked through a long hallway, following the entrance, into the first room – or hall. The ceiling was several meters high and the rooms were bigger than a house.

I took a look at the plan our teachers gave us and noticed the vast variety the museum was offering, reaching from engineering to space, what really was fascinating.

“Hey guys,” I started, still looking at the plan, “what do you want to see firs-” but stopped, because there were no guys to begin with. I looked around, but didn't see anyone of my friends, except Quinton and 2 girls of our class. It seemed like Peter and Julian just went on without us, having found their own group – like everybody else, judging off the fact that we were the last ones here.

I wasn't annoyed or angry for some reason, maybe because it was a nice change for once, walking with other people. The two girls, Yasmin and Shannon, were two of the few people I knew well except my current roommates. I never really felt the need to have many friends around me, I was happy with a hand full but good friends.

“So, I guess we are the last ones?” I stated, approaching them with Quinton. “Yeah, seems like it,” Yasmin, or Min for short, answered. “You don't mind having to group up with us, do you?” I asked them, because I just didn't want to force them, even if we knew each other well – and were the 4 people left.

“Of course not!” Min replied with a smile. “Not really,” Shannon, or Shan for short, added quickly after. “Cool, you want to see something first or do you just want to walk around?” I asked again, thinking whether I already asked enough.

“I think it's the best to start from here,” Shan suggested, looking around while doing so. “And maybe just walk around?” Min asked our newly formed group. “Sure,” I answered, starting to walk. The first room, or the room we were in at the time, was dedicated to the theme space; planets, spacecrafts, the history of... space technology? Something along these lines.

But the memory that stood out to me the most at the time, wasn't all the information about space, I realized at that moment, walking through a museum, with friends at your side, you don't really need that much to be content. You don't need something special to find happiness, you just have to be with people you like and cherish.

Only then, every moment will be something special on its own.

That's what I thought during that time. I don't even like museums, but when I was with people I had fun being with, everything felt warm, familiar, intimate; relaxing, like its the only thing you ever want in life.

And then I saw Jack.