3 Simple Steps

THREE: They're More Fun than Blowing Air out of Your Mouth

                I stood with Castel outside of my house, waiting for the school bus to pick us up. Just because he had appeared, that didn’t mean that I was off the hook to not go to school. That meant another day of Hell.

Luckily for me, no one was home on weekdays to notice that Cas had appeared—which made me realize how pointless it had been for me to try and yell “HELP” when I had seen Cas. If he had been a mass murderer, I’d have been dead by now.

For some reason, I remembered that Cas had mentioned driving, and I peeked into the driveway. Sure enough, there was a brand new red Honda parked next to my mom's worn-down Previa. If Cas hadn’t offered to take us to school driving, then I wasn’t going to ask him.

I shivered in my coat and entertained myself by breathing out from my mouth, and watching as the air turned into white vapor in the cold December morning.

“Having fun?” Cas mused after a few puffs of air from me.

“If you must know, yes. I am. It’s not like you’re any fun, anyways.”

“Make out sessions,” Cas blurted.

I scrunched up my face in annoyance. “What?”

“I can assure you that those are very fun with me. Want to try? They’re more fun than blowing air out of your mouth.” I snorted, and he ruffled my hair, “I’m a good kisser.”

“Em, no thanks.” Well, he was definitely cocky. Crossing my arms, I leaned out to look down the driveway. No bus yet.

“Well, if you’re ever in desperate need of a make out session, you know where to find me. I’ll never be more than twenty feet away from you,” he said, laughing at my disgusted expression.

Five minutes later, Cas nudged me and pointed to a growing yellow smudge in the distance: the bus was coming. How would people react to Cas? Would Genesus still make my life a living hell? Who was I kidding? Of course she was. Cas wouldn’t change that. Would Adriana and Maribel act as if Cas hung out with us on a regular basis? I was about to find out.

***

Adriana popped her gum and stared at me incredulously. “You seriously made a friend overnight?" She asked, flipping her brown hair over one shoulder.

Adriana was a sharp one. Cas looked at me uneasily, and I returned his look. Maribel, my other good friend, popped her pink headphones out of her ears and looked between Adriana, Castel, and I. Her hazel-green eyes narrowed in suspicion, and it wasn't long before the question I'd been dreading came out of her mouth: "What's going on?" She tucked her headphones and iPod into her backpack and stared at Cas intently.

At last, Maribel’s face softened, and she patted Adriana's shoulder, whispering something to her that made her posture loosen up. After one last funny look at Cas, Adriana placed her black and white checkered backpack on the floor and made room for us.

                "Sorry, Cas. You escaped my memory for a while. Moving away for three summers does that, huh? Welcome back,” Adriana said lazily, “You really changed, Cas.”

             Cas scrunched up his nose, but I could tell he was glad Maribel's memory had been changed at the last second. No words could describe how glad I was to not have to explain to my two best friends Cas' appearance. Still…I already felt guilt twisting my stomach horribly.

                The girl from next to us leaned across the aisle and smiled at Cas. Her blonde hair was piled into a messy bun at the top of her head. Her clothes: red carpet worthy. One of Genesus’ piranhas.