• |DREAMS TO REALITY| • [SCHOOLBUSGRAVEYARD X READER]

CHAPTER 39 - Opening Up

At school, the group was excited to celebrate their new accomplishment. On the way, Tyler and the others couldn't help but notice the tension between Y/N, Aiden, and Ashlyn. Each of them kept their distance from each other, feeling gloomy and nervous. Y/N was slightly lagging behind, walking slowly to maintain her distance from the other two.

"You three are getting on my nerves," Tyler said, crossing his arms and turning his head to address the awkward behavior between them. "How are we supposed to 'celebrate' when you're ruining the good mood with awkwardness?"

"Oh, you know, a lot of things happened last night, so what can you expect?" Y/N spoke with sarcasm, hinting as if it wasn't known to them.

Taylor nervously interrupted, "...What Tyler means is that you three seem abit tense-" she stated, carefully choosing her words. "There's about ten minutes before class starts, how you guys talk it out and we'll go grab some snacks?"

The rest of the group quickly departed, leaving the three musketeers alone by the stairway. They felt awkward and unsure. Y/N just wanted to disappear at that moment, not wanting to be involved in the conversation. Aiden and Ashlyn were staring at each other, while Y/N stood by the stairway, leaning on the rail and glancing between Ashlyn's green eyes and Aiden's red eyes. Y/N could feel the tension in the air and briefly looked away with a neutral expression. As she stood there, she looked back at the duo and contemplated what to do.

"Should I initiate the conversation? It would be even more awkward if I didn't. But what should I talk about? Maybe about that night? Or how I'm feeling-" Before Y/N could continue thinking, Aiden unintentionally interrupted her thoughts without realizing it.

"...Are you sure you should've come to school with your head injured like that?" Aiden asked Ashlyn, sounding concerned.

"What about you? You're limping." She said to the blonde.

Y/N tilted her head slightly, pondering why Aiden chose to ignore logic in his current situation. He acted recklessly by jumping off a high wall, injuring himself in the process. It was one of the dumbest moves he could have made, if not the worst. The self-proclaimed tough guy believed he was invincible, but now he was dealing with a sprained ankle, showing that he was not immune to the consequences of his actions. Y/N knew that even though he was trying to act unaffected, he was clearly limping.

"Yeah but, it's kinda my own fault haha."

"I'm glad you know that." Y/N, who was watching the scene jumped in, straightening herself as she took a step down the last step. "I mean, jumping down was your best choice for getting down. We literally had a rope, Aiden, a rope! You're lucky that you handled the fall well. If not, you probably would have broken your legs."

"Yeah. I should have used the rope." He nervously laughed and then asked, "What about you?"

"Oh, well... I wouldn't say I'm completely okay, but I'm feeling better after taking some pain relievers. So, I...guess I've been doing better."

Ashlyn observed the two individuals for a moment before feeling a headache coming on, prompting her to want to end the conversation. "Maybe we should talk later, my head's throbbing," she said as she began to turn away.

"We'll talk later then-" As Y/N started to walk past him, Aiden reached out his hand and grabbed her wrist with a steady grip. The girl was startled by his unexpected touch, her eyes widening. It wasn't rough, but rather soft yet firm. He quickly loosened his grip slightly, trying not to make her uncomfortable but still maintaining his hold.

He suddenly called out, "Ah- Wait!" as he noticed two girls staring at him. He quickly looked away with an unreadable expression.