Middle School Heroes

Chapter 39 - Going Home and Healthy Paranoia

Soon everyone quieted down again, and Skye began to stare out of the window, watching the scenery roll by. The motion of the bus was making her sleepy and she had almost drifted off when she felt a hand fall over hers. She sat up and looked at Brock, surprised.

"Sorry," he muttered, as he jerked his hand away from her. "I didn't mean to......"

Skye cut him off by frowning and reaching out to take his hand, lacing their fingers together. In her mind, she debated if she should have done it. She was pretty sure that in less than two hours, when they reached the school, he was going to resume his normal passive silence when it came to her. At the moment, though, she realized that she didn't care. She was nervous about going back to school, exhausted and completely confused about a lot of things that she appeared to have no control over. Sitting there with him, holding his hand, made her feel better, even if it was only until they were back at the school. She rested her head against the window, aware that he was looking at her, and just closed her eyes.

**********

Skye woke up and realized that she must have been asleep for a long time. Brock appeared to still be asleep, but when she shifted in her seat, he opened his eyes and spoke. "We're getting close to the school. About 15 minutes, I'd guess."

She nodded and stretched in her seat. "You sleep at all?"

"Yeah. I woke up a little before you did." He angled himself toward her, his hand still holding on to hers. He looked at her for moment, like he was trying to figure out how to say something, so she just waited quietly.

"Ya' know, there's a lot of stuff I'd like to say right now, but either I can't, or what I'd say sounds stupid in my head."

Skye shrugged. "You could start by telling me what happened last night with Principal Fury," she suggested.

"No. I really can't and I don't want to anyway. That's between me and him, and I'd appreciate it if you didn't mention it to anyone."

"I won't. I wouldn't know what to tell them anyway." She smiled slightly at him, "Thanks for helping me through my first kidnapping. I'm kind of hoping it's also my last, but I'm starting to wonder about this crazy world that we all live in."

"Tell me about it," he grinned at her. "I think we made a pretty good team, though. I didn't do much except try to keep you out of trouble."

"That's practically a full time job!"

"Well, you do have a point there," he sniggered at her.

She tried to look offended, but failed miserably because she was laughing too hard. "It's not my fault that I don't have the self-preservation to know when to keep my mouth shut. I'll blame my parents, since I don't know them anyway."

They turned down the long driveway that led to the school, and he suddenly looked at her very seriously. "You know, when we get back......"

"Yeah, yeah. I know. We go back to the way things were before. I've already figured that out."

"It's not what I want, ya' know."

She shrugged at him. "Kind of seems that way."

"I promise that I will explain it to you when I can, if I ever manage to catch you between boyfriends." He grinned at her.

"Boyfriends? You've got to be kidding me. The only person I'd even consider for that job isn't speaking to me anymore." She stopped and thought about it for a second, before she laughed to herself. Okay, so there might be two people I'd consider, but soon neither of them will be speaking to me anymore, so it's a fair comment.