"Okay, class! Grab your stuff," Mr. Feller says, clapping his hands at the students gathered outside the school's door. The sun has yet to greet Sunset City by enlightening the green land. A week earlier, the principal had announced a field trip to a nearby college where we would get to live the college experience and talk to professors to consider certain majors. "The bus is here!" Mr. Feller yells.
"I forgot my water bottle," I tell Harvey, rummaging through my weightless bag.
He opens his bag and hands me one. "Your mother packed me two."
I take the water and stare at him. "She did, huh?"
He nods, shrugging afterward. "I'm starting to think she likes me more. Don't you agree?"
I take a sip from the water. "I plead the fifth."
"What does that mean?" Harvey asks.
"Never mind," I say, waving him off.
"Theo, come on! Tell me—"
"Theo!"
Oscar catches up next to me as the line we have formed enters the bus slowly just as the second bus arrives. He has a blue hoodie while Harvey has a green one, ironically somewhat matching their eye colors.
Oscar looks at Harvey for a quick second before focusing back on me. "Hey, Harvey."
Harvey just smiles at him.
"Want to keep me company the whole ride?" he asks me, nudging my shoulder. "I brought chocolate chips cookies Al and my mother made last night, and one with a little too much chocolate was made for you."
There's a warmth that accompanies me after his words that help me forget about the cold morning. "I already have planned to sit with someone else," I say. Next to me, Harvey grins. "But don't you dare touch that cookie or Al will hear my complaints."
Mrs. Mills is at the entrance of the bus, marking who is present on her list as the students get in one by one. She has red gloves as she holds the clipboard and pen. "Name?" she asks me.
I open my bag once again and pull out a box of Ritz. "Now you know me?"
"Get in, stranger. You're sitting with me," she tells me, pointing her black pen inside. "It's warmer inside."
I smile at her and head inside, leaving the two boys behind.
"Harvey—"
"Harvey Cohen," Harvey reminds her.
"Right." She marks him present. "And Oscar—"
"Ashmore, ma'am. Oscar Ashmore."
She marks him present and puts the clipboard down. "The rest of you head to the other bus. Mr. Feller has your list."
The other half of the class joins Mr. Feller while Harvey and Oscar stare at Mrs. Mills.
"So it's full already?" Harvey asks.
"I can head to the other bus if this one is too packed," Oscar offers, ready to join the rest by gripping his bag to his chest.
"Nonsense," Mrs. Mills says, pushing the two inside the bus. "There's enough space for you two."
I wave at them from the front seat as the two head to the back where the right seat is all abandoned.
Oscar stands next to the seat. "You can go first."
"You go," Harvey says, putting his bag on the compartment attached to the room above his seat. "I'll be asleep most of the ride, anyway. I don't want the sun to hit me directly."
"Let it hit me then." Oscar goes ahead and sits next to the window. "I won't mind getting a tan."
"You do need one," Harvey adds for no reason, pulling his earphones out of the pockets in his hoodie.
Oscar scoffs with a grin. "I hope you're being sarcastic."
"I am." With that, Harvey puts on his music, leans his head back, and closes his eyes.
𖠇
"I doubt they're going to talk," I tell Mrs. Mills, peeking behind to see Harvey snoring with saliva dripping on the side of his mouth and Oscar staring out the window. "What if they get in a fight?"
"For you?" Mrs. Mill chuckles. "Someone needs to humble you down, Narcissus."
"Narcissus?" I am confused. "The hunter that fell in love with his own reflection?"
"I'm glad you've read your Greek mythology," Mrs. Mills says. "I've taught you well." She takes a glance at my bag. "But you're not sitting here because I like you, so go ahead and open that box of Ritz before I send you to the other bus."
I laugh and head down to open the box, letting her grab one first.
Just as she's about to take a bite, the bus comes to a sudden stop that jerks everyone forward.
Harvey slams his head on the back of the seat in front of him, waking him up immediately. "What the fuck?" he swears, wiping the saliva with his sleeve.
"Sorry, everyone!" the bus driver says through the intercom. "A bunny was crossing the road."
There's a sigh of relief inside the bus.
"You're good?" Oscar says to Harvey. "Your head, I mean."
Harvey rubs his forehead and nods. "Yeah, yeah." Just like that, he lays his head back to attempt to fall back asleep again.
"You're mad," Oscar says.
"I normally would be," Harvey replies, snuggling in his spot, "but I do have a soft spot for bunnies, so I'll let this one slip away."
"No," Oscar says. "I mean that you hate me."
Harvey opens his eyes this time. "Who said that?"
"No one needs to snitch for me to know, Harvey," Oscar clarifies. "It's quite obvious."
"Apparently not since it's not true." Harvey's tiredness has gone away as he takes his earphones off. "I don't hate you, but I don't like you either."
"I appreciate your honesty," Oscar admits. "I also don't like you. Hated you before, actually."
Harvey raises his eyebrows. "Unlike you, I'm not appreciating your honesty."
"What? It's true," Oscar does not mind confessing. "And it's also true that you have a crush on Theo, which is why you don't like me."
"I don't like you because you hurt him once, and I wouldn't doubt you doing it a second time," Harvey spits out, now that honesty—or bluntness to be exact—was a must.
"And you didn't?" Oscar shakes his head. "You forced him to date you just to frustrate Genesis and the girls."
Harvey remains silent.
"Besides, you broke up with the three with no explanation, so what can assure me that you won't do the same with Theo?" Oscar asks him.
"You don't know shit about my relationship with the girls. You have no idea of what I was going through during that time." Harvey grips a fist in his right hand, hiding it from Oscar's view. "And no, I wouldn't do the same to Theo."
The two just stare at each other for some time before looking down.
"You're right, Harvey."
"About you being an asshole?"
"You never said that."
"I just did."
"About not knowing the shit others are going through."
Harvey gets quiet, not knowing how to reply. During that silence, he finds himself saying something he should've said years back when he heard the news: "I am sorry about Gwen. I knew her."
Oscar tilts his head to the side, invested in Harvey's words. "You did?"
"I had her in most of my classes." Harvey recalls her blond curls next to him in class, almost white under the sunlight. "She was somewhat of a Theo, helping me pass my classes. Very kind."
Oscar smiles. "Yeah. She was."
"Anyway, I wanted to say sorry for your loss," Harvey proceeds. "I know you two were dating when she passed away."
"Thank you, Harvey," Oscar says, offering Harvey a glint of a smile. "I appreciate it."
"You're welcome," Harvey says. He faces the other way as he tries to drift back to sleep. However, before he starts drooling and snoring again, he has one more thing to say. "Do you still hate me?"
"I'm trying to, but you're making it really hard for me to do so right now," Oscar tells him, resting his knees on the back of the seat in front of him.
But Harvey has a more important question: "Does that mean I'll get a chocolate chip cookie too once I wake up?"
Oscar laughs, rubbing his nose with his thumb. "We can eat the one with too much chocolate. Just don't tell Theo about it."
"Deal." Harvey laughs and shakes his head. "I guess you're not so bad, Oscar."
"Goodnight, Harvey," says Oscar.
"Goodnight, asshole," says Harvey, soon asleep.
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A\N: I know! I FINALLY uploaded, but I hope it was worth the wait. College has really kept me busy, however, I will try to post chapters whenever I can! :)
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