ELLY
   "Hey, Elly," I hear someone whisper. I wake up quickly and turn around, seeing Griffin leaning over the seat.
   "Hey. Is everything okay?" I ask quietly.
   "Yeah. I just wanted to check in on you since we haven't talked for a bit. How's everything going?" Griffin ruffles my hair a little bit, causing me to give him a small smile in return.
   "Good. Everyone is really nice," I tell him.
   "Yeah. You seem to like Chase and Noen."
   "Mhm. They're great." I look back at the two of them who are still asleep.
   "That's good that you're making friends. Do you need anything before I head to the back of the bus?"
   "Nope."
   "Okay. Well, text me if you do. See you later, kid." Griffin ruffles my hair again before heading off to the back of the bus. I get on my phone instead of falling asleep, putting my AirPods in and watching YouTube videos.
   "I'm so bored," someone says from the back of the bus. "How are half the people on here asleep?"
   "I don't know," someone else replies.
   "Who else is awake?" another person asks.
"Is she?" someone asks. A few seconds later, Anthony sends me a text. You awake?
Yes, I reply.
Wanna come back here?
Sure, I send. I get up and slide out of the seat, passing Chase, and make my way to the back of the bus. Anthony, Cash, Maverick, Jaden, and Griffin are all awake, talking together across a few rows of seats.
"Hey," I say as I sit down next to Griffin.
"Hey, kid." He slings an arm across my shoulder and pulls me against him.
"So Elly, we were talking about rooms. Do you know how we pick rooms?" Anthony asks from the seat in front of me.
"We draw for them? Four people to a room unless there are some leftover?" I ask. Anthony nods.
   "Yeah. We were figuring it out and three people would have to have their own room." Griffin ruffles my hair after he says it.
   "I hope I'm not stuck with you," I mumble.
   "Hey! That wasn't nice!" he whines as everyone else starts laughing.
   "But it was really funny," Jaden says from next to Anthony.
   "How long until we pick up Josh?" Maverick asks from the row across from me.
   "Like forty-five minutes or something," Griffin tells him. Maverick shrugs and leans on the seat in front of him, which Cash is in.
   "But I'm hungry now!" Anthony whines, pouting.
   "You act like I can speed the bus up," Griffin groans. I sigh and curl up, leaning against him. "You okay, bub?"
   "I'm cold. It's cold. Everything is cold," I tell him.
   "You think it's cold on here?" Anthony asks. I nod. He just shakes his head and gets back on his phone.
   "Sorry, kid, but I packed all my hoodies except this one. I'm not giving it up, either, so don't ask for it." I frown up at him, but he just ruffles my hair again. "I said I was sorry."
   "Here. You can have mine." Jaden slides it off and tosses it back to me. I smile and pull it on, tucking my legs up inside of it since it's rather large on me.
   "Thanks," I tell him. He smiles and nods, getting on his phone, too.
   I know I probably shouldn't have took it since he has a girlfriend, and you normally give your hoodies to your girlfriend, but I was cold. Like, really cold. I sigh and pull my phone out, plugging my AirPods back into my ears and getting on TikTok to watch some videos.