My Cliche Love Story | ✓

Chapter 21

"Mom, that's completely unfair!" My arms find themselves crossing, and I jut one hip to the side. "Jake didn't do anything to deserve my car! Besides, he'll probably crash it into a tree. Do you really want to trust him with this?"

My mom's face is of complete composure. "It's just for the day, Alex. What harm could he do in less than 24 hours?"

"Yeah, what could go wrong, sis?" Jake smirks, knowing that his supporting side is winning the argument for him.

"Don't boast, young man," Mom replies sternly, and I stick my tongue out at my younger brother. She turns back, and unfortunately, her exasperation is still aimed at me. "It's perfectly fair for your brother to get the car for one day, Alex. Taking the bus one morning won't hurt your pride that much. Besides, I'm sure Dylan would be happy to take you to school," she adds, and I wince.

"Yeah, he'd love it," Jake smirks.

"Shut up," I mutter, flashing him a deadly glare. I sigh, giving up. I don't usually give up on these types of things; but I'm tired(it's still early in the morning), and I have other things to worry about. Like Katie. And Dylan. 

Ah, what a pair, am I right?

The rest of the morning is pretty chill, and I, frustrated, stalk past my beloved car, bidding her good day as I make my way down the street towards the bus stop.  

"You're not seriously taking the bus, are you?" 

I whip my head around to the familiar voice. That mushy part of me, the section of my brain that I'm still trying to get used to, is relieved to see him. The other half, the old me(and still current me, I guess), scowls internally and screams at me to run away, down to the end of the block and wait for the bus like a good little girl.

Of course, I stay. I can't really move my feet.

Dylan motions me over to him. "Come on, prom queen, I'll take you to school."

I shake my head. "No, it's fine. I promise."

"I don't drive that bad," he whines, and while he crosses his arms, he still smirks.

I snort unattractively. "Puh-lease." I've stepped closer, so it seems like we're having a civilized conversation to anyone looking. 

"Is that a challenge, Ms. Baker?" Dylan raises an eyebrow, and even though I know this is exactly what I wanted to avoid this morning, I can't step away. My old self can't let him win this. I've always come out on top, and that isn't going to change, not today.

But before I can reply, I can hear the distant rumble of the bus engine nearing our street. Thank God, a part of me sighs in relief.

How I wish I could just have one side of me. But that's not how this whole game works, is it?

I rush off to the end of the street, waving over my shoulder to my...what is Dylan to me? A friend? I guess. A boyfriend? 

Oh, whatever. Just get on the bus, Alex. 

The bus is conveniently empty, so I plop myself somewhere in the middle, but almost towards the back of the bus. I pull out my phone, check Twitter, tweet a few nonsense tweets, you know, all that good stuff.

It was all going fine, I swear, only a few people got on after that, so the bus is now halfway full, I'd say. My foot slips out into the aisle, and I don't move it, as we're in between stops. As a polite person, I move it out of the way when the people from the next stop come on. The two guys are past me, so my foot, by default moves back to its place.