bitter | e.d

| thirty-one

I grin while raising an eyebrow. "you just carry muffins in your bag?"

"I stocked up on food at the rest stop. god knows what they're gonna be feeding us at this fucking campsite." he extends his hand with the muffin.

when I hesitate to take it, he says, "I'm not taking no for an answer."

I sigh and take the muffin. "I do like blueberry."

"thought so." he turns back around in his seat and zips up his bag again before turning his head to add, "try not to puke."

I don't bother clarifying to him again that I'm not sick—just having some internal moral issues. I tear open the plastic wrapper around the muffin and dig in, suddenly feeling how hungry I am. eating hasn't crossed my mind all day until now. I've been far too distracted.

I can feel jack looking at me. "you didn't tell me you weren't feeling good." he speaks, his voice laced with something similar to sadness. "I could've helped. you just looked like you didn't really wanna be bothered," he explains.

"no biggie, jack. I think I was just getting lightheaded from not eating all day." I take another bite of the muffin.

"I could've given you food, too. kel and I both loaded up on a lot of shit." his eyes glance to his bag for a beat. "you should've come with us. why didn't you get snacks at the rest stop?"

I swallow, shrugging my shoulders. "slipped my mind."

"yeah, you disappeared back there." again, he stares at me in thought and it makes me the slightest bit uncomfortable. it almost seems like he knows I'm not letting on to something.

a few more moments later, his mood shifts completely. his heavy stare goes away and is replaced by a more friendly demeanor.

"food is important." he jabs me with his elbow playfully, "hey, can I get a bite of that?"

I give him a weak grin, handing him the other half of my muffin. as much as I wanted to finish it, telling jack no still seemed scary. there wasn't any reason it should, he hasn't been anything but nice to me since we've started talking again.

I should really give him the benefit of the doubt.

___

the last rest stop was only a 15 minute one, so most of us just stayed on the bus besides those who had to go to the bathroom. some people spent the 15 minutes outside of the bus chatting and stretching their legs. I saw reese and julian outside talking with people. I decided it was best for me to stay inside.

ethan never acknowledged my existence. he didn't make any effort to talk to me or even look at me for the entire stop. it makes the fact that I spent the entire time thinking about him and sneaking glances at him even more pathetic.

I tell myself it's just because lana was breathing down his neck the entire 15 minutes to make myself feel better.

after that rest stop, we drove the final distance to the campsite.

as the buses come to a halt and begin parking behind this large wood cabin, everyone rushes eagerly to look out the windows and see the campground.

we're in the middle of a dense forest that seems to go on forever. besides the cabin in front of us, there aren't any other buildings in sight. just a lot of trees.

"we have officially arrived," the bus driver announces from the front. "before we get off the bus, let's go over a fe-" his words are drowned out by everyone clapping and cheering over him in celebration that we've arrived. kellan, in particular, shouts, "senior trip 2020!"