Which is now.
The boys all left onto the Blackbus, leaving the two smaller busses on either end of the school. The larger bus u-turned and drove off.
Evan, Richard and Sharon got off the roof and met people in the quad.
"Where is everyone?" Evan asked looking around.
"So... they couldn't find me?" Richard wheezed.
"Well they didn't come for you." Evan reminded him.
The dust settled and the odd brick fell for a while after. The quad was baron, only holding a knocked over carrotshack.
"evan." They heard faintly.
"EVAN!" The voice got louder and it came closer. It was Morgan shouting for her friend.
"Morgan!" Evan laughed as she arrived at the quad, "You're okay!"
"They took Lilly!" She got out through her panting.
"No." Evans face dropped.
"They took her on that bus and left." She panicked.
Evan looked over to Richard who said,
"Emergency meeting!"
On their way they passed the exclusion room that was still intact and saw both Rowan and Matt laying on the hard floor.
Richard opened a door to a meeting room. Inside was Sharon, Mr Carrotborne and Ms Bandana.
"No Mr Principle?" Richard asked sitting down.
"No, he had to do something." Ms Bandana explained brilliantly.
"Well then... where do we start?" Richard asked.
"Ok I know you only talk yo adults but do you just have meetings with teachers now?" Evan asked.
"Yea... I'm the king of the school." Richard laughed.
"More importantly!" Evan yelled, "What are we doing about Lilly!?"
"We are going to go after her." Sharon said.
"Just as soon as we have a heading." Mr Carrotborne added, "...and after I find all my five hundred, twenty five thousand, six hundred caaaaaaarroooots."
"We need to find out who they are and why they attacked us." Ms Bandana said.
"I know who they are, they're Boys On Tour! That choir I was in ages ago!"
"So we can assume they're appearance is your fault?" Ms Bandana asked.
"No." Evan sighed, "But I know whos. And I think he can help."
Everyone looked at Evan as he made his way to the middle of the room. "I know you all remember... Rowan Aboat."
The whole room groaned.
"You're right!" Richard wiggled his finger, "It was because he came back, that the busses attacked. Looking for him presumably."
"Im not sure." Evan said, "But if we work with him we c-"
"No!" Mr Carrotborne yelled.
"I'll be dammed if I have to see that boy for another second!" Ms Bandana yelled.
"I'm sorry Evan. But we have to do this alone." Sharon told him.
"We'll find Lilly." Richard told himself.
"But you don't know these guys, they're mental! I don't know what they want with Lilly but it can't be good!" Evan yelled.
"Oh piss of Stark." Carrotborne scoffed.
And Evan huffed off leaving the jerks to their circle.
He held his head in his hands. Conflicted and confused he stayed outside the exclusion room for ten minutes. The breeze went down his neck from the bus sized hole in the wall. He didn't want to work with Rowan, but he unlocked the door and entered.
"Rowan." Evan said, seeing his former friend.
"Ah, Mr Stark." Rowan laughed, seeming very pleased to see him. "And what do I owe the pleasure of your presence."
"Stop it Rowan, you even talk like them now.
"The Boys On Tour attacked us and they took Lilly." Evan explained, "And I wouldn't be here if I had another choice. But you know them."
"What are you suggesting?" Rowan grinned getting onto chair.
"Ugh!" Evan sighed, "Rowan tell me. Why do they want Lilly?"
"I couldn't tell ya." Rowan said putting his legs up on nother chair.
"Rowan!?"
"Well she's your girlfriend isn't she, that's leverage." Rowan said.
"She's not my... and why would they want me?"
"I might know."
"Well what?" Evan asked impatiently.
"She has a very valuable... bus pass."
"How? She's got a normal one." Evan insisted.
"She was given another." Rowan quietly said.
"...how?" Evan grumbled.
"Well... I snuck it in her bag. Yesterday, when I was cuffed." Rowan explained.
"Don't recon this early, or late. What time is it even?"
"No that was planned out." Rowan defended me.
"Then why the fuck would you do that?!" Evan yelled.
"I was hiding it!" Rowan explained. "And now you have motive to join me." He laughed.
"Rowan I hate you." Evan told.
"We're going to need more people. Not Richard now, I think he hates me... We'll gather the rest of the sardine squad... do you know where Micheal is? Because he's not at the academy. Ah I miss Micheal."
"Micheal? Micheal Shmichael?" Evan asked and Rowan nodded, "He might have a lesson in Knewher Frid-"
"Oh! You can invite Luke and Morgan." Rowan suggested.
"We're not hanging out here Row-"
"Hey! Corey will be there too. So that leaves Annie, we can come back for Annie I dunno where she lives."
"Me neither." Evan said, "But Rowan. This isn't going to be fun okay? We're not going to have a cross country whimsical adventure. I'm going to save Lilly, and you can never come back to the academy."
"Christ!" Rowan laid down on the floor again, "Why's everyone so insistent I don't come back?"
"It's probably because that stunt you pulled." Matt said from under a desk. His back was against the wall and he was chewing some nicotine chewing gum.
"Holy shit, you're in this scene." Rowan laughed, "And what did I say about exposition?"
"Shut up Rowan I hate you too." He groaned, "And Liana lives south that way." The curly haired boy added.
"We know... it's Annie we don't know." Rowan sighed.
"Were you even listening?" Evan asked.
"Look at him he's probably high." Rowan laughed.
"That's nicotine, you don't get high off nicotine." Evan said very unamused.
"He's small so it's more effective." Rowan argued.
"Yes, but you don't get high off nicotine." Evan repeated. "I'm so gonna regret this. But come on already. We have a bus to steal."
Once Rowan left the room he saw the old snackshack inside a cupboard, used before the carrotshack took its place. He looked at Evan with a big grin.
Outside Bill and Bruce were patrolling the academys grounds as the green fences had been knocked down and ran over. Some teachers were helping to clean up and students were leaving. Everyone was so busy, they didn't notice the snackshack slowly wheeling its way through the grounds.
Rowan and Evan were inside the stall, crouched and walking very uncomfortably.
"There's no funny line to say here, this is just stupid." Evan said.
"Indeed. Yet it's impeccable how often a stupid plan ends out working." Rowan laughed. "We do need to make a quick stop first. C'mon, to music." And the boys, inside the snackshack, shuffled their way to the music room.
"Why are we here?" Evan asked, "Oh come on, are you just picking up instruments?"
"No no." Rowan laughed going through the cupboards in the back room. "We're here for this!" He pulled out his blue band outfit. It was one he wore while performing in his old band, Rats In Autumn. It was fully blue, and designed like a pirate or an admirals costume. Big lapels and flares, with a striped t-shirt beneath.
"I hate you." Evan said rushing himself and his dressed up former friend back to their disguise.
They made their way to the car park and saw the Busstepper. The biggest bus the academy had. It could have been considered a coach, it was a good size.
"Why, aren't we in luck!" Rowan laughed as they got closer to it, seeing out from a small slit between the stand and the fabric covering them up.
"It's not luck, they have to have a coach. It's a part of being classed as an academy I think." Evan told.
They parked the snackshack outside the door of the bus and Rowan, with great force, smashed the window next to it and climbed in.
"Great plan and all, but you're gonna tell me you can hot wire a bus right?" Evan asked, climbing into the Busstepper.
"Aha, don't you worry mate, busses are my specialty." Rowan chuckled the most uncool line in history as he broke open the control panels and started fiddling with the wires.
"Can you even drive? You're fourteen, wait when was your birthday again?" Evan asked but interrupted himself, "It doesn't matter! You still can't drive!"
Rowan spun his head around with a large cheesy grin and said,
"Watch me."
Evan looked outside the back to the quad and the academy, he saw some people looking over. He ducked down quickly and peeked back up and they had definitely noticed, not only him, but the old, unused snackshack placed beside the bus.
"Rowan..." He said slowly just as the bus' lights flashed on.
"HA!" Rowan laughed starting the engine with a paperclip.
"Rowan, we've been spotted." Evan warned the boy, but he didn't seem bothered.
Back in the quad Richard was alerted.
"They're in the Busstepper!" Bill told the king.
He took out binoculars from Bruces bumbag and saw Evan inside the bus.
"You mad tosser, we can't have you doing that." Richard mumbled, "Get the brothers. We'll stop them." He added.
But at this point the Busstepper started moving.
"STOP THEM!" He yelled and Bill and Bruce, along with their four siblings (each) (also all called Bill and Bruce respectively) ran towards the Busstepper as it rotated its way out of the car park.
"ROWAN GO!" Evan yelled running to the front of the Busstepper.
"Alright calm ya knickers." He laughed.
"Rowan they're right behind us!"
"Okay, okay, christ Evan I'm going." Rowan said as he sped up and crashed onto the road. He shifted gear or something and sped off down out of Seaborne and then Spring Valley.
"Okay let's just get this over with." Evan said plopping himself in the front seat.
"Why? You have something better to do?" Rowan asked slyly.
"Actually yes, I was in the middle of a plot line with Richard being the king and not being in trouble for having pictures of teachers." Evan told but Rowan didn't really care.
"Thrilling. Well now you've got another plot line." He said. "And find something to cover the window would you?"
The Blackbus pulled into a service station just off of Ainmeat (1,597,155 inches south of The Living Pool). The baggage compartment opened and Lilly was greeted by the two goons that had taken her.
"You'll need this." Aance said handing her a clothes bag.
"The lord will be waiting for you inside." L'ndy told her before closing the compartment.
Inside the bag was a big hoodie with the Boys On Tour logo on the back. On the front was stitched 'Stark'. She put on the smelly hoodie and opened the compartment door to the outside. Standing up for the first time in a few hours Lilly stretched and got used to the bright evening lights of the service station.
L'ndy came out from the bus and gestured Lilly over to a Petit Cuisinier, a small chain fast food establishment inside the service station.
"I'm so angry!" The formally dressed choir boy huffed entering the building.
"Calm down college boy." Aance laughed, "That's just college boy." He told Lilly.
She went inside and saw Geoffrey raise a glass at her appearing. She sat opposite him, very tense.
"I trust you enjoy Petit Cuisinier?" Geoffrey asked showing Lilly the food he had on the table in front of them. The small square table couldn't be seen past the plates and trays holding chicken wings, french fries, a few english breakfasts with sausage, bacon, eggs, mash, and cheese, birthday cake, muffins, a steak, a salad and roasted lamb.
Lilly looked at the food in front of her very hungrily. She hadn't eaten for a day maybe, if it had been a day ngl I dunno it might have just been a few hours which is more likely but fuck it. She took a bit from some toast lad. She looked around to notice that the Petit Cuisinier had no workers. Only the boys from the choir around tables eating as much as they could.
"You don't know what this is, do you?" Geoffrey asked holding up the bus pass. He waved it back a fourth for a laugh.
"It's a bus pass." Lilly answered, not knowing its significance.
"This is an infinite bus pass." Geoffrey told in his very posh accent, "One of a few dozen in the world. With bus passes like this our choir travel to and from each another. For you see, it has no expiration on closer inspection, only a date of origin. A pass like this would grant access to not only busses, not only counties. But coaches, trains, ferrys, ships, plains, any car you wish to hitchhike." He laughed, "Now you see, we can't have a possession that powerful be handed around like it's worthless."
"And what do you want with it?" Lilly asked very cautiously.
"Well we were given them with a price. We asked to travel anywhere to sing. Now we must travel everywhere to sing. It's the curse of infinite bus pass. We are cursed boys Ms Stark." He stood up staring at the pass. "Compelled by the song. Now we're consumed by it."
Geoffrey walked over to the window where a monkey was sitting eating a chicken leg. Lilly controlled her breathing as to not panic. He pet the monkey and hummed 'I Wanna Be Like You' pitch perfectly.
Lilly saw, behind the counter, a hand that was sticking out. It seemed lifeless and send a horrid shiver down the girls spine. Her breathing sped up.
She took a knife from off the table and hid it in the sleeve of her oversized hoodie. Scared and not in power she felt she had to do something.
"Although." Geoffrey said looking out the window to the Blackbus, "There is one way we can stop the curse. All the infinite passes, they require a holder, a collective to be under. We would be fine, had that traitor not run off with a hand full!" He turned back to Lilly and walked towards her, "And now thanks to you, we have the final pass." He laughed gesturing gratitude.
"Then can I go?" Lilly asked hearing her heart speeding.
"Well Ms Stark, why would you do that?" He giggled evilly, "When you're leading the traitors right to us!" He said in her face and she shot up.
With the knife she stabbed the deranged teenager in the shoulder and screamed at what she did. Geoffrey fell down to the floor and the monkey came to sit on his head. Lilly made a run for it but,
"STOP THE PRISONER!" Geoffrey shouted to his choir, who caught Lilly and held her arms behind her back.
Geoffrey got up and the fat boy from the choir came over and sung a healing song at his wound, it quickly and magically healed and covered itself up. The choir lord stood up and over Lilly.
"See!" Geoffrey yelled, "With all the bus passes we obtain a power many can only wish for. We are not among the common folk, therefore we cannot return to them. Too long have I sang a poor song. Too long have I suffered, and been booed at. You best start believing in choirs Ms Stark. YOU'RE IN ON!"