16 - Elizabeth
Elizabeth
The bus was already running when we reached the parking lot, and I instantly choked on the thick cloud of exhaust that it released.
It was the same bus we rode in for the last away game.
It still had the same peeling company logo and the same dent on the back panel.
The front bumper now added to the rattle when it idled for too long, and this when the old engine had already stalled on us once before.
We started filing in, but didn’t get very far. Dylan stopped at the bottom of the steps and stared up at the hunk of metal.
“You can’t tell me it’s a good idea to take this death trap across state lines,” he said.
Lucas patted the side panel, and the bus wheezed in response. “What do you mean? She’s a classic.”
“She’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” Dylan scoffed.
Coach Harris slapped him upside the head. “It’s three hours to Fitchburg. You can get on, or you can start pushing.”
The door opened with a hydraulic groan, and Dylan’s eyebrows shot up. But he didn’t say another word. He just stepped in, and the rest of the guys followed.
Malik stepped in and the suspension visibly sagged.
He pretended to lose balance, earning a few good laughs, but it was something else that had my attention.
As my eyes moved down the row of seats, I saw an empty one halfway down and right next to Ethan.
He sat next to the window with one arm casually resting along the top of the seat.
To me, it looked as though he were deliberately saving the seat for someone.
But he pretended this was all just how he was sitting.
He didn’t look at me or wave like you’d expect from someone who had kept a place for you. So I wondered if it might’ve been for someone else, but as I reached his row, he looked up and gave me the deadliest puppy eyes I had ever seen.
“Are you saving this?” I asked, trying to sound nonchalant about it.
His steady and very intentional gaze held mine for a second too long.
“Yes.” One word that was so simple and yet so powerful. “For you.”
His answer was so direct it made my stomach flip hard enough to make me grip the seat as I slid in.
Before I could fully settle, the bus lurched forward.
Ethan grabbed my hips and guided me in. If he could pretend he was just lazing on the seat when I got on the bus, I could pretend his touch didn’t send the most insane shock through my body.
The result was me dropping into the seat beside him, my shoulder still hitting his, and our thighs pressing together because there was no physical way for them not to.
And then we hit a bump in the road… The whole bus launched into the air and slammed back down with a bone-rattling crash.
“Oh, we’re most definitely dying on this bus today,” Dylan announced from his seat in the back.
Laughter exploded through the aisle, but that was the last thing on my mind.
The impact tipped me sideways, and I grabbed onto the first solid thing my hands could find, which was Ethan’s rock-hard chest. His hand instantly came up, and he caught me by the waist before I could hit the armrest. His touch was firm and warm and, sadly, automatic.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice low next to my ear.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said, even though my pulse had already kicked into a sprint.
The road only got worse from that point onward.
Every bump in the road had us sliding into each other.
My knee knocked his, and my shoulder brushed against his chest. In one sharp turn, I practically landed on his lap before I could catch myself.
He never moved away or showed any sign that he was uncomfortable.
After the first few bumpy miles passed beneath the wheels, the guys dissolved into chaos.
Music blasted from a boombox that somehow always made it on board.
Guys started humming along, but then Malik took the lead and turned it into a full-blown sing-along.
Cam attempted harmony but failed miserably, and Dylan went pale as a sheet.
He ran to the front of the bus, fell to his knees next to the tiny trash can, and had the worst bout of motion sickness that I had ever seen.
When he regained his composure a few minutes later, he picked up the bin and made his way back.
“If I die,” Dylan moaned. “Tell my mom I fought bravely.”
Everyone, including Ethan, laughed. He acted as though the world were ending and he didn’t stand a chance in hell. Not like the full-grown man who was just a little nauseous. It was insane how a minor discomfort could become the end of the world in the eyes of a man.
I turned my attention back to Ethan to see if he was still enjoying himself, but his entire demeanor had shifted. I could feel the tension radiating from his body. His jaw was tight, and his leg had an unintentional bounce. The game was weighing on him, and from the look of things, it was heavy.
I slipped my hand into the small gap between his, hoping that the subtle gesture would provide him with some comfort. He took it in his and squeezed, but he said nothing. Simply let go when he was done.
“It’s going to be okay,” I murmured.
He gave me a tight smile, and I knew he was having a hard time believing it. I didn’t know what else to do, though. It wasn’t like I could change the guys into what he needed them to be. Or help them understand the stuff they were struggling with.
I looked down at my watch, and just as I saw that an hour and a half had passed, the bus turned off the road. Confused, I looked out of the window and saw a sun-bleached gas station with a relatively busy parking lot.
“We’re going to be here for ten minutes,” Coach Harris announced. “You can stretch your legs and do what you’ve got to do, but please be back on time. We have a game to catch.”
I stood up carefully, pulling my hand away from Ethan. “I need to go to the bathroom.”
He pulled a face but stood up as well. “I’ll go get us some snacks for the rest of the drive.”
I smiled at him, and we got off the bus along with a few other students. I rushed to the bathroom, but not because I needed to use it. I just needed some air, some time away from Ethan so I could get my thoughts away from the desire-filled fantasies they had become.
I splashed some water on my face and looked up into the cruel, unforgiving mirror. The bright light did nothing to help disguise the messy, unwashed floor behind me. Or to conceal the writing on the walls. So I just braced my hands on the sink and stared at my reflection in the cracked mirror.
Could I survive another hour of sitting next to him? Or was I going to combust due to the close proximity? I didn’t see myself doing either. My best bet was just to grab my things and hitchhike the rest of the way.
“What you need to do, Elizabeth, is put on your big girl panties and get it over with.”
So I took a deep, controlled breath, squared my shoulders and walked back outside. If there was one thing I could do, it was resist my urges and desires, no matter how strong the pull toward Ethan was.
The door slammed shut behind me and I strolled to the front of the gas station.
Then I stopped dead in my tracks. The parking lot had emptied, and the poor excuse of a bus that brought us to that halfway mark was nowhere to be seen.
The long stretch of asphalt where it had been standing mere minutes ago was empty.
No toxic fumes to choke on and no rattle from the struggling engine.
Just me and the spot that stupid bus used to occupy.
At first, my brain refused to accept it, so I started looking around. I checked to the left and the right. No one occupied the individual pumps, and the road showed no vehicles—bus or other. There was absolutely nothing in sight. No peeling logo, no dented rear panel, not even a slight wheeze.
They had to have moved it, right? They couldn’t just have left us here. It was probably Lucas’s idea of a prank. Just as the thought made me smile, the convenience store doors swung open. Ethan froze mid-step and followed my gaze.
“No,” he breathed.
He walked forward a little, as if the bus would appear if he looked out from a different angle. Then he looked down the highway, and finally he spun in a full circle.
“No, no, no—”
He ran his fingers through his hair and pulled at the edges. It was as if his entire world came crashing down at that moment, and there was nothing I could do about it.
“They wouldn’t just leave,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. “They must’ve—”
“They left!” he snapped. “Do you see them anywhere? No, they’re gone. They left without us, Elizabeth.”
The words settled between us like a thick, unbreakable cloud.
“There must be an explanation,” I muttered as my heart started pounding. “An emergency or something. They’ll notice any second now. Someone will look for one of us and figure out we’re not there.”
He looked down the road as if he could will the bus to come back with that move alone. Two cars flew by, but the bus remained a distant memory. The silence between us stretched, and the reality of the situation sank in. It was a slow, suffocating process.
They had gone, leaving us stranded.