Tenth Grade was Fun!

11. UGLY BUS RIDE

Ride is one of my favorite TØP songs and though I'm irritated for being separated from my lover—sleep—it makes me feel good like I always do whenever I listen to it.

But, let me tell you, it gets really ugly when you—in your sleepy state—dismiss your alarm instead of snoozing and you get late.

Taking one of the quickest showers of my life, I get dressed and run down, grab the toasts in my mom's hand, shove them into my mouth—yeah, my mouth is kinda elastic when it comes to eating—and run with my bag after packing it.

I see Ved getting in the bus after Maya.

Hurriedly getting in, I scan around the bus and guess what?

I had to stand.

Letting out a sigh, I walk and stand by Maya's seat that was in front of Ved's, holding on to the grab-handle after offering both of them a smile.

"How's that guy of yours?" I lean in and ask Maya, about the boy who she said she keeps staring at when he isn't looking and who apparently stared back when she wasn't looking and they both follow each other around the school campus whenever they are out of their classes.

"Same old, I look at him but somehow he catches me." She replied sulkily.

"Uh-huh. What if he's not 'catching' you but 'staring back' at you?" I wiggle my brows eliciting a chuckle from her.

"One can only hope tha—" She was cut off by the bus coming to a sudden halt, jerking me very harshly that the grab-handle slipped out of my hands and I went stumbling, falling on something.

"Well, hello there." Ved says, smirking down at me on his lap. Looks like a someone.

Our bus driver's profanities being directed towards the other vehicle's driver could be heard around the bus as I apologized to Ved.

"S— sorry, I just didn't—"

I stop abruptly as he hooks his arms around me, pulling me into a more comfortable posture towards him, brings his face dangerously close to mine and whispers, "I know you didn't mean for it to happen, but I'm not complaining."

He gives a kiss on my cheek before pulling away but does not let go of me.

What did he mean by 'not complaining'? And what's with the kiss?

I gesture at his hands around mine, telling him to let go, but he just rolls his eyes in response, pulls me even closer—if that was possible—and holds me tighter, making it impossible for me to squirm away.

I'm glad that this bus was full of talkative people for this moment because no one seems to notice that I was sitting on Ved's lap and I'm also pretty sure my face looks like a tomato from how lowkey embarrassed I feel right now.

All the way, I keep looking out of the window, occasionally peeking at the guy sitting beside Ved who slept like he was beaten up and I notice Ved rubbing circles on my arms absentmindedly now and then.

As the bus slows down while nearing our school, through the window, I see other route buses arriving and the one which parks near our bus was Nikhil's.

What scares me is the look the boy sitting beside one of the window seats keeps throwing at the boy whose lap I am sitting on.

I push myself away from Ved rather harshly and walk out of the bus—wondering how the boy beside Ved still hadn't woken up— but make sure to grab Maya and walk with her before one of the boys caught up to me.

I look over my shoulder to see Ved already walking towards his building but my eyes fall on Nikhil's, which never wavers from mine, and I speed up hastily, bidding Maya a quick goodbye.