ELLY
"Everybody sit down! The bus is stopping!" Jaden shouts out. The few people who were standing sit down in their seats and a few seconds later the bus comes to a stop.
"Time to go meet Joe," Chase whispers to me with a laugh.
Noen rolls his eyes. "And Jason. Let's go." The three of us get up and follow everyone else off the bus. We get out on a driveway, where two boys are rolling their suitcases down.
"Hey everyone," one of the twins call out.
"Jason!" Sam calls back, giving him a high five. He goes around, followed by who I guess is Joe, greeting everyone and slowly making their ways to the bus.
Eventually, they make it over to where Chase and Noen are standing by me. By this time, Jaden and Anthony have started to put their two suitcases in the underneath compartment.
"Hey, I'm Jason."
"Elly. I'm Griffin's sister," I tell him. I see a look of realization cross over his face.
"That makes sense now. It's good to meet you," he says and moves past me to Noen and Chase. The other one, Joe, comes up to me.
"Hey," he says. "I'm Joe."
"I'm Elly. It's nice to meet you." I give him a small smile, and he nods.
"Griffin's sister, right?" I nod again. "Cool. Nice to have you on tour." And he moves on to Chase and Noen. I sigh in relief and get back on the bus. Somehow, it's only Jaden on here.
"Hey," he says to me. "Come sit over here. I've missed talking to you."
"I wasn't gone for that long." I smile and sit down across from him, keeping my knees in the aisle. He turns to face me.
"I know, but I missed you. How were Noen and Chase?" Jaden asks.
"Good."
"I just noticed that you were talking with them for a while," he says.
"Well, we're friends, but I wanted to get to know them better." I shrug. "They're really nice."
"I'm really nice. You could've came over here and gotten to know me better." He cracks a grin.
"Is somebody jealous that I wasn't sitting by him?" I tease. He gives a little frown.
"Maybe," he mumbles.
"Oh, you were?" I tease again.
"Yeah. Why?" Jaden asks.
"I was just joking," I tell him, and his shoulders visibly relax.
"Oh. Okay." He nods. "That's cool."
"What's the matter? You seem upset." I nudge his foot from the short distance across the aisle, but he only gives a weak smile in response.
"I just thought that maybe you would've sat by me on the bus." He shrugs and looks at me with his big, blue eyes.
"I say with them at lunch, so we kind of just ended up together. It's not a big deal," I reassure him. Why am I reassuring him? I think to myself.
"I just thought that we were getting closer," he says, then scoots forward on his seat so that our knees are touching and our faces are only a half a foot away. "So I thought you might've sat by me."
"It's not like you weren't sitting by anyone. You were sitting with your friends," I tell him, but he frowns.
"But I like you, and I thought you liked me and might've wanted to sit by me." He slides one of his hands into mine and pulls it closer to him.
"Jaden, what's this about?" I ask him again. "I get that you wanted me to sit with you because we are friends, but why? You were sitting with your other friends, and I was sitting with mine. What's the big deal?"
"I like you, okay?" he whispers to me, leaning in closer. His curls brush against my forehead, and his breath touches my noise. "I really like you. As in, more than a friend."
Chase and Noen said he would try to do this. I sigh. "Jaden, you have a girlfriend."
"If I didn't have a girlfriend, could you like me back?" Jaden whispers, drawing even closer to me. Our lips are almost touching. "Do you like me back, Elly?"
All of a sudden, shouts come from outside of the bus and I hear footsteps coming up. I draw away quickly and start to walk towards the front of the bus where I sat earlier. Chase and Noen are the first ones back on, and I get in my seat right before they get in theirs.
"So, you met Joe. How'd you feel? Butterflies?" Chase whispers to me. Noen just shakes his head with a smile on his lips.
"I feel okay. He was nice, but only as a friend. Butterflies? No," I tell him. Chase grumbles and gives a small pout.
"Darn. I was sure that would work," he says quietly.
"Sure what would work?" Griffin asks as he sits down behind us.
"Nothing," Chase replies to him. I'm about to turn around and say something to Griffin, but I make eye contact with Jaden. He looks annoyed, hurt, even. I turn back around, already having forgotten what I was going to say to Griffin.
I see a text light up on my phone and look down at it. It's from Jaden. Do you like me back?
You have a girlfriend, I reply and put my phone away.