Return of the Royals: The House of Hale Book 1

Chapter 2- The Never Ending Bus Ride

The bus was crowded and noisy as usual, but I managed to find an empty seat towards the back and settled into it. I tossed my backpack on the floor and leaned my head against the chilly window, ignoring the condensation from the rain that soaked into my hair.

Suddenly, the rapid beeping of my ringtone sounded from my jeans pocket. The screen flashed black for a moment as I turned it on, but then went to my home screen, lucky for Caleb.

I scrolled through my inbox, which was full of birthday wishes from my friends, stopping on a video that my best friend Savannah had sent me. 

The video was from two summers ago, when we had spent a week at her parents' cabin near Lake Michigan. I smiled as I watched the two of us jump off their dock together, holding hands and screaming in excitement.

For what must have been the hundredth time that morning, I wished I could talk to Savannah, but her parents had restricted her phone usage to emergencies only again. 

This time, it had been for starting a food fight in the school cafeteria, but in all fairness, Savannah had only been trying to protest the school's use of "mystery meat" in the sloppy Joes. She hadn't meant to throw the plateful of brown clumpy goop at the principal. It had just slipped...

Needless to say, Savannah's parents had been furious. In fact, I couldn't help wondering how she had convinced them to let her send me the video but wasn't too surprised they had given in. Savannah could be very persuasive when she needed to be. I'd seen her work her magic on her parents more than once.

With her big blue eyes, pouty lips, and uncanny ability to tell people just what they wanted to hear; Savannah was a force to be reckoned with when she wanted to be. 

I was still lost in thought about the sloppy joe incident when the bus lurched to a stop so it could pick up Jake and Josh Taylor, a pair of troublesome 11-year-old boys who live ten miles down the road from our house. 

The Twin Terrors, as well all called them, had a habit of conspiring with my brother Caleb to terrorize everyone on the bus with their pranks. Having been a routine victim of their tricks over the years, I knew to sit as far from them as possible. 

 Already feeling short-fused, I was in no mood to deal with the twin's antics and threw on my headphones while doing my best to give off an unwelcoming impression as they climbed onto the bus; their eyes roving excitingly over all their potential victims.

I sighed with relief when they found Caleb and squished into the same seat as him near the front of the bus, but then I saw the three of them smile at each other, with a look on their faces that said they were clearly up to no good. 

I was safe for the time being from whatever they were planning though, and I felt my eyelids droop as I stared out of the window at the never-ending rows of freshly planted crops. 

Sometime later, I felt a heavy weight suddenly settle onto my outstretched legs. 

With my eyes still closed, I struggled to push the heavy bulk off and then, realizing it was Caleb by his obnoxious laugh, shoved with all my force.

Deb, our no-nonsense bus driver, looked back at me through the rearview mirror. Her plump, round face pulled into a menacing scowl. "Knock it off back there or you'll find yourself parked right next to me, Hale."

Caleb fell next to me onto the seat with an oomph and threw his backpack on the floor next to mine, causing my new jewelry box to tumble out of my half-open backpack. 

I picked the small box up and held it gingerly in my lap, tracing the smooth exterior of the box with my finger.

"I know something you don't..." Caleb taunted as he chomped a piece of bubblegum right next to my ear.