Tripper

Part Two

Surreal.

Yeah. That’s what she’d call this moment.

If a moment was what this was. What else could it be? She, the girl who feared even taking her car for safety and emissions testing, had skipped out on her unyielding routine and blithely spent the last three hours with a complete stranger. It was definitely a moment. She was utterly hysterical and, at the same time, completely serene. Hysterical because she absolutely was not supposed to be spontaneous or blithe, serene because she felt entirely comfortable with the whole situation. The whole situation being that they were still hunkered down in the deserted poetry section of the bookstore. Her hot chocolate long gone, she sat with her legs curled under her as he enthusiastically read her excerpts of poetry from every volume he could reach.

She thought vaguely that had she been any other girl she probably would have been squealing inwardly at the fact that a boy had bought her hot chocolate and was currently reading her poetry. Deafening inward squeals. As it was, she was laughing uncontrollably. He hadn’t read a single poem all the way through. Instead, he would pick up one book, read a few lines, pick up another book and read another few lines, and follow that with a few lines from a third book. Somehow he had managed to jumble Edgar Allen Poe, Mark Doty, and Billy Collins’s work into one big messy poem about a doomed girl named Annabel Lee who goes to the gym to lift weights and then gives her mother a lanyard that she makes at camp.

With every encouraging snort of laughter, he looked up from his reading and grinned at her. Yet another reason she felt hysterical. She was hysterical because she wasn’t hysterical anymore about his smiles. No longer were they causing her to blush so wildly at their every occurrence. Rather, she considered herself desensitized to their effect. Instead of becoming brilliant splotches of color, her cheeks were more of an Easter egg pastel. That she could live with. She couldn’t explain the little flutters in her stomach though. Those didn’t make any sense at all. Who got flutters in her stomach when a dorky Ag Science major smiled at her? Especially one who drove a bus? The dork in question pulled a few more books off the shelves to join the others that were scattered on the floor around him.

“And now,” he sang out dramatically, flinging his arms wide, “I shall treat you to a medley of Frost, Wordsworth, and Tupac. Who knew Tupac wrote poetry? Did you?” She shrugged.

“I didn’t,” she admitted. “I don’t know anything about him.”

“Yet he has a poetry collection on this very shelf,” he shook his head and cleared his throat loudly, while she grimaced at the thought of his “medley.” Fortunately, before he was able to mangle “The Road Not Taken” and “Tintern Abbey” and mash them together with Tupac’s poetry, a loud ringing issued from his jeans pocket. He looked sorrowfully at her and pulled out his cell phone and checked the time.

“Sorry. No Tupac medley today,” he apologized, a humorous tilt to his mouth, despite the sad face he was trying to maintain. He stood up quickly. “We gotta head back and pick up the kids. Guess changing your life will have to wait until later.” Changing her life. Oh goodness. He really had no idea. Every single thing she had done today was wholly foreign and bizarre to her, but funnily enough, she now felt as though nothing else could surprise her. Almost as though she could welcome anything that came her way. Changed. Only a little. She wasn’t sorry to miss the medley though. That was the truth.

“No medley? Darn,” she fibbed, trying to hide her smirk. Smirking. That was new too. “Well, let’s not keep the children waiting.” Grasping her hands, he pulled her to her feet. While slipping on her coat, she saw him look around, totally dismayed by the wreckage surrounding them. He pulled his baseball cap off his head and ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand on end.

“We have—left a mess,” he said flatly, shoving his cap back on. She frowned immediately. We? She thought not.

“I think you’re a little confused,” she corrected him dryly. “You were reading the books, not me.” She took the opportunity to dig her finger into his ribs, giggling as he jumped back.

“Yes, but you didn’t stop me,” he argued, rubbing his side. “So, technically, your non-participation was a factor in this mess here.”

“Pretty sure you make your own choices,” she shot back, putting her hands on her hips and tilting her chin defiantly. “I thought you had students to pick up. Don’t make me report you.” His eyebrows shot up.

“I like the sass!” he exclaimed approvingly, giving her a thumbs-up. She dropped her eyes and shook her head, embarrassed. After he hastily stacked all the books next to the shelves, they picked their way through the aisles to the doors. “Tell you what—since you’re so cool—you stay here, and I’ll bring the bus to you. It’s freezing out there.”

Wrinkling her nose, she scoffed at him. “What? It’s no big deal. Let’s go.” She started to open the door, but he grabbed her shoulders and steered her to the nearest empty armchair. Pushing her into it, he seized an abandoned magazine and shoved it into her hands.

“Here, you read that, and I’ll be right back,” he told her. She looked at the cover of the magazine and raised an eyebrow.

“The Jonas Brothers?” she inquired, amused. “Really?” He shrugged.

“My little sisters think they’re the hottest things on the planet,” he informed her, brandishing his finger at her. “Who am I to argue? Apparently they’re always right.”

“What a good brother,” she smiled. She’d always wanted an older brother. Instead she was blessed with two younger brothers who delighted in making her miserable in their own loving way every time she came home for the occasional weekend visit.

“I’m also a gentleman,” he boasted. “So stay here. I’ll be back.” She obediently flipped open the magazine and pretended to be engrossed in its contents. As soon as he was out the door, she tossed the magazine aside and slid down in her seat, trying to organize her scattered thoughts.

She let out a gusty sigh. Completely exhausted. That’s what she was right now. Utterly spent. Up until this point, she had somewhat managed to take everything relatively calmly as it came to her. Relative being a relative term. Unfortunately, without him and his quirks to distract her from herself, her imagination and nerves had zoomed into overdrive. She had no idea what to do.

What if he wanted to keep talking on the ride home? She felt as thought she had said everything and there was nothing left. But that was probably because she wasn’t used to talking at all. Suppose he wanted to see her again? Did he expect to see her again? Oh gosh. What if he asked for her number? She’d probably forget what it was. Did she want him to ask her for it? Suppose she did. Hypothetically speaking, of course. Because she didn’t necessarily want him to ask for her number. But suppose he did? Was it right to give it to someone she barely knew? Images of a dark dumpster and big rolls of bubble wrap crept into her thoughts.

She shook her head abruptly and blinked. Enough was enough. She knew she was being ridiculous and irrational, and it had to stop. She figured even the Jonas Brothers had to be better than trying to figure herself out. That was certainly a task for a different day. She picked up the magazine once more and began flipping through the glossy pages, carelessly scanning articles and sniffing the cologne samples. Glancing out the window, she noticed that it had started to snow again, and the flakes were falling thickly against the night sky. Where was he? They hadn’t parked that far away. He should’ve been back by now.

Her eyes widened in alarm. What if he had forgotten to come back for her? She’d be stuck in the city until she managed to find another ride back. If she could find a ride back. And where would she stay? She didn’t have any family or friends here, and she highly doubted that the bookstore would let her curl up on a couch overnight. She couldn’t sleep outside. Her coat wasn’t warm enough and she wasn’t wearing thermals. Her mother’s voice immediately filled her ears, scolding her for not layering on enough clothing. Just as she was about to give into the urge to simply burst into tears and cry the overwhelming day away, a loud honk alerted her to the arrival of the bus.

Ashamed to find that one fat tear had managed to leak out the corner of her eye, she hurriedly swiped it away with the end of her scarf. Taking a deep breath, she stood up and turned to see him hop off the bus and come inside. She waved at him feebly.

“Your chariot awaits, m’lady!” he said grandly, making a large sweeping motion with his arm. He paused and looked her with concern. “You okay?” Her emotions must have been pretty obvious. She tried to arrange her distraught features into something hopefully resembling calm.

“I’m fine,” she assured him. “I’m just really tired all of a sudden. It’s been a long day.” He nodded, satisfied with her answer. He pulled the door open, letting her go ahead of him.

“No kidding,” he agreed, following her up the steps of the bus. “Can’t wait to get home. Feels like I have been awake forever.” Buckling himself in, he revved the bus and headed back to the campus extension. As the bus approached the doors of the building, his cell phone rang again. This time, though, it wasn’t an alarm. Shifting into park, he flipped it open and pressed it to his ear. She watched him idly as he cheerfully answered whoever was on the other end. Suddenly his face fell and he mumbled a few more words before hanging up.

“Is everything okay?” she asked tentatively, leaning forward. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned towards her, smiling tiredly.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” he assured her. He tapped his phone before shoving it back into his pocket. “It’s storming really badly in the canyon, though. Boss says we gotta wait for a couple hours before we can even think about trying to go back.”

Her shoulders slumped. “You’re kidding.” She had been so looking forward to changing into her warm comfortable sweats and crawling into bed.

“I wish,” he groaned, pulling his cap off again and running his fingers through his hair. Looking up, he pushed the button to open the bus doors. A couple students made their way onto the bus and shuffled to the back seats. Within the next five minutes, the rest of the students had piled on. He grimaced at her before standing up and addressing all the passengers.

“Hey guys,” he called out. “Look, I’m really sorry, but it’s storming in the canyon, so we’re stuck here for at least a few more hours.” A murmur of exhausted groans and complaints filled the air. She wanted nothing more than to join them, but knew that wouldn’t help matters. It would probably make him feel worse than he already did, despite it not being his fault at all. After all, most of them had been students here for at least two or three years, so they were familiar with the temperamental weather. Being stuck somewhere because of one of the unexpected storms was just a way of life. But being resigned to her fate didn’t stop her from heaving a miserable sigh with everyone else.

“I know, I know. It sucks,” he apologized again, holding up his hands helplessly. “I’ll drive the bus back into town, and you guys can split up and get dinner or do whatever. Is that cool?” Most of the students nodded submissively, so he sat back down and began driving back to the center of town. She took the opportunity to turn on her own phone and send a text to her roommate:

Waiting out the storm with a friend. See you in a while! :)

Turning it off, she slipped it back into her jeans pocket. She leaned back and quietly watched as the streetlights flashed past the windows. Now that she thought about it, she was absolutely famished. She hadn’t realized that being brave and chatty made a person really hungry. She wanted to go get dinner too, but wasn’t sure if he wanted to go eat, and she didn’t really feel like inviting herself along with the other passengers. Maybe she would just ask him if he wanted to go and grab a bite. What if he wasn’t hungry? She hated eating alone. That was the worst. She refused to do it. At that moment her stomach decided to let out the loudest grumble she had ever heard.

Oh good grief. She bet he heard it too. How could he have not? It had been loud enough to wake the dead. The sleeping at least. Sure enough, as the bus turned into the parking lot, he craned his neck to glance at her over his shoulder. He slowly raised an eyebrow and smirked at her. At which point, she lost control and her cheeks turned the deepest red they had been in the last hour or so. His smirk quickly turned into a smile of genuine delight as he turned to face the front. Oh great. Her hand involuntarily reached up to touch her hair, tugging her cap so it was secure. He was totally going to pat her head the next chance he had. As soon as he parked, he jumped out of seat and called out to the passengers once more.

“Hey folks—you’ve got at least two hours to go and hang out,” he paused for moment and got a mischievous twinkle in his eye. She suddenly felt very apprehensive. “I suggest you pair up. Grab a date and get some dinner. Maybe do a little Christmas shopping. That’s what this cutie and I were doing while you bums were all taking notes. I highly recommend it.” Her mouth dropped open and she stared at him, speechless. The passengers roared with appreciative laughter. He grinned and reached out, patting her head, while her cheeks burned brighter than ever. Snapping his fingers, he held up a clipboard and a pen.

“One other thing before I forget. There’s what, fifteen of you?—leave your name and number on this piece of paper as you get off. Soon as I get the okay to go, I’ll give you all a call. We’ll meet right back here.” As the students scribbled down their numbers, they broke off into little groups and disappeared into the rapidly falling snow, not before shooting little knowing smiles at her, not to mention a couple of winks from the other male students. She buried her face in her hands after they all left.

“How could you?” she wailed into her hands. Chokes of laughter were her only answer. “It was totally unnecessary. Oh my gosh, I’m so embarrassed!” She looked up to see him sprawled on the seats across from her, pounding the cushion with his hand, he was laughing so hard. Screwing her face into the fiercest glare she could muster, she aimed it directly at him. He immediately tried to stop, but failed hopelessly.

“Oh, come on,” he managed between snorts of laughter. “What would you have done today without me? We had fun, didn’t we?” Okay. Maybe she had a little fun. He had managed to entertain her whereas she probably would not have had a plan otherwise. She really couldn’t deny that, much as she currently wished she could.

“Yeah, I guess we did,” she muttered grudgingly. She could feel her stomach sloshing around. If she didn’t speak up soon, her stomach was going to speak for her. And most likely it would shout. It was the perfect time to change the subject anyway. “Are you hungry? I’m starving. There’s a Wendy’s over there.” His eyes lit up eagerly and he bolted upright.

“Does this mean you’re asking to be my dinner date?” he grinned teasingly, kicking her shoe lightly. She pulled her feet back and tucked them beneath her seat. Apparently, he didn’t want to change the subject. Well, obviously, there was no stopping him, and she was too hungry and too tired to even try. She rolled her eyes and stood up.

“Whatever. Let’s just go,” she said shortly, gesturing towards the door. He ignored her and went back to the driver’s seat, turning the key in the ignition and starting the engine. “What are you doing? It’s right over there. We can walk over.” He looked at her thoughtfully.

“You ever take a bus to the drive-thru?” he asked gravely. He was unbelievable. She could feel the smile that was threatening to curl the corners of her mouth, but pursed her lips tightly to prevent it. She was not going to give him the satisfaction. There was no way. But she couldn’t deny the curiosity she felt at his question.

She shook her head slowly, “What’s it like?” He smiled widely.

“I think you and I are about to find out,” he said happily. She sat down again, and thirty seconds later, they were pulling up to the lighted menu. He slid open the little window next to his seat and stuck his head out, squinting his eyes at the menu.

“Welcome to Wendy’s,” a voice crackled through the speaker. “Order whenever you’re ready.” Getting up, she went over to stand next to him so she could look at the menu over his shoulder. He clapped his hands together, his eyes gleaming in anticipation.

“I am ready to order,” he announced excitedly. He was ready? She’d just barely finished reading the first line of the menu. And that was just listing the wraps. She didn’t want a wrap. The crackly voice acknowledged him and began taking his order. “I’d like two of the bacon cheeseburgers, and that double-stack burger thing, and two things of fries, and the largest Dr. Pepper you’ve got.” That was a huge order. Not that it was surprising to her. She had younger teenage brothers. She knew they could eat like horses. Hopefully he wouldn’t mind that she could too.

The crackly voice repeated the order back to him. “Is there anything else with this order?”

He looked at her questioningly. “What’ll it be, Shy Girl?” he asked. She looked at him, confused.

“What do you mean? Tell him it’s a separate order,” she said. He shook his head, smiling, and leaned out the window again.

“We’re gonna need another minute,” he called out apologetically. He sat back and looked at her, an annoyingly cheerful tilt to the smile on his face. “What did you say you wanted to eat?” She wrinkled her forehead. Oh goodness. He thought he was paying for her. What on earth made him think that? They didn’t know each other. People who didn’t know each other didn’t pay for each other’s food. Not only did she have a debit card and know how to use it, she was perfectly capable of and willing to use it. She intended to use it.

“You’re not paying for my food,” she protested, leaning over him and attempting to stick her head out the window to call out her order. He nudged her back, closing the small window.

“As I understand it,” he mused quietly, “The guy—aka me—usually pays on a dinner date. Even if it’s at the Wendy’s drive-thru.” He smiled slightly. She couldn’t help it and blushed again. Oh gosh. This was a date. As unexpected and impromptu as it happened to be. She thought she should feel affronted. Slightly upset. She took a quick inventory of her feelings. A little frustration maybe, but not any annoyance or fear. Well. That was interesting. Maybe she could let him think it was a date. She wasn’t entirely opposed to or repulsed by the idea. Still, a little more protesting was in order. It was only polite.

“Really,” she insisted, trying to tug him out of his seat, so she could lean out the window again. “It’s not a big deal. I can really—” He very politely pushed her back again. And glanced down at her feet. That was odd. Who cared about her feet?

“Ma’am,” his tone was immediately all business, “I’m going to have to ask you to take your seat, please.” She furrowed her brow in confusion.

“Ma’am?” she blurted. “Sit down? Why?”

“Well, as you can see, you are standing forward of the white line,” he explained patiently. Her eyes widened as she looked down. The edge of her shoe and the tip of her shoelace just happened to be poking right over the white line painted at the front of the bus. She forgot all about being polite.

“The white line?!” she spluttered in bewildered amazement. “Seriously? We’re parked!” He shook his head apologetically.

“Can’t have it. Safety hazard,” he said, shrugging his shoulders. “So why don’t you have a seat, and you can tell me what you want to eat from there?” Her mouth dropped open, and, unable to argue, she silently walked backwards until she felt a seat hit the backs of her knees. Sinking into it, she glared at him as fiercely as she could manage. He only smiled in satisfaction.

“I’m very, very hungry,” she warned him, folding her arms and raising her eyebrows at him.

“Hit me, Shy Girl,” he challenged, his eyes twinkling at her. “Mr. Drive-thru is waiting.”

“Fine,” she countered, narrowing her eyes. “I want two six-piece chicken nuggets, a hamburger, a large fries, a large Frosty…and three things of honey mustard.” He blinked.

“Told you I was hungry,” she said calmly. She pointed past him and tossed his words back at him, “Mr. Drive-thru is waiting.” Sitting back, she smiled as he turned and relayed her order out the window. He pulled up to the window and started passing her the bags of food and the cup-holder with his drink and her Frosty. After shoving the change into his jacket pocket, he threw the bus into gear and headed back to where they had previously parked.

Pulling the key out of the ignition, he came over and sat down next to her, pulling his bag of food onto his lap. “Cheers!” he said, knocking one of his foil-wrapped hamburger against hers. They sat side-by-side for a few minutes, quietly munching on their burgers. She watched the flurries of snowflakes float down, backlit by the golden light of the streetlamps.

“You know what this makes me want to do?” she asked, gesturing vaguely at the window with a limp French fry.

“What?” he mumbled thickly through a mouthful of burger. She snickered and nudged him playfully in the ribs with her elbow. Sure enough, he was still ticklish. He twitched and leaned away from her.

“Hey!” he protested, slurping his drink noisily.

“Shouldn’t talk with your mouth full,” she said primly. He rolled his eyes at her and took another big bite. “Anyway, I was just gonna say the snow makes me want to watch a Christmas movie.” Popping a chicken nugget into her mouth, she watched him, puzzled, as he bolted to his feet and started digging around in the backpack hanging from the back of the driver’s seat. What was his problem? It was just an off-handed comment. She shrugged. Whatever. Scooping up some of her Frosty with a couple of her fries, she tilted her head back and dropped them into her mouth.

Suddenly he was back from his rummaging and two DVDs were shoved abruptly under her nose. “Home Alone or Elf?” She craned her neck painfully to look up at him.

“What?” she asked, blinking in confusion. He shook them impatiently under her nose. She leaned back to avoid their hitting her face.

“Home Alone or Elf?” he repeated a little more slowly. “Which one do you want to watch?” He actually had movies on this bus? She couldn’t understand why. How was he supposed to watch them? She didn’t see a television hooked up anywhere.

He must have seen her confusion, because he whipped out a small, portable DVD player from behind his back, “Ta-DA!” He plopped back down beside her. She lifted an eyebrow.

“Well, I don’t usually have company when I drive down here,” he defended himself. “I watch movies because there’s nothing else to do. So what’s it gonna be?” He waggled the DVDs in front of her face.

“They’re both so good,” she complained cheerfully, tossing another chicken nugget into her mouth, “but I think I want to see Home Alone. Only if you want to though. They’re your movies.” He grinned and inserted the DVD, turning up the volume.

“My movies are your movies,” he said gallantly. She laughed, and they fell silent as the movie began, finishing their food. Basking in the comfortable haze that is the result of fast food settling in one’s stomach, it wasn’t until they were fifteen minutes into the movie that she noticed that he had gathered up all of their trash and discarded it in the small garbage can at the front of the bus. It wasn’t until five minutes later that she realized she was happily sipping his Dr. Pepper while he helped himself to the rest of her Frosty. It wasn’t until six-and-a-half minutes after that, that she realized they had slid down in their seats and were leaning comfortably against each other, the little DVD player propped up on their knees between them.

She thought vaguely that there was something wrong with this picture. That she should probably jump up and run out of the bus at full speed. That’s what self-conscious people did. What frightened people did. They always ran and hid. She always ran and hid. And she was tired of it. So tired of it. She didn’t feel like running right now. Or hiding, for that matter. She was full of food, and she was warm—well, her right side was anyway—and comfortable. Sneaking a glance at him out of the corner of her eye, she studied him thoughtfully. He didn’t seem afraid. He hadn’t known her any longer than she had known him, yet he was perfectly content to be around her.

Interesting. Maybe she could do that. Strike up conversations and then just end up having fun with the other person. Maybe he was afraid to do stuff like that, but he just didn’t let it show, because he knew it would end up just fine. Well, she was going to try that one of these days. Forget how shy she was and force herself to be a human being.

Almost as though the boy in the movie had read her thoughts, Kevin McCallister cried out, startling her, “Hey, I’m not afraid anymore! I said, I’m not afraid anymore!” She let out a choking laugh and stared at the screen in wonder. The irony of the child’s declaration was incredible. She felt her movie partner gently nudge her arm with his. Looking up, she caught his eye. He smiled crookedly at her.

“You okay?”

She smiled to herself. “I’m great, thanks. I’m glad you had this movie.”

“It’s a good one,” he nodded. He paused for a second, looking at her with the same thoughtful manner she had just used moments ago. She tilted her head to the side, silently encouraging him to say whatever he was thinking.

“What?” she asked curiously when he didn’t speak up. He didn’t answer her, but instead handed her the DVD player to hold and got up again, heading back to the driver’s seat. She took the opportunity to stretch and was just settling back into her seat when he returned, holding a plastic bag in his hand. Sitting down again, he took the movie from her, and held the bag out. She took it from him gingerly and wrinkled her forehead.

“What is it?”

He smiled bashfully at her, “It’s for you. It’s why I took so long to get you when you were at the bookstore.” Oh, so this was the reason for his secret disappearance. This was all very mysterious. But she was terribly excited and curious, so she wasted no time in untying the bag. Tossing it aside, she found a little stuffed reindeer grinning up at her, a “PRESS ME” button on its hoof. She couldn’t help herself. She let out a shriek of delight. Clutching it tightly in her arms, she looked up at him wide-eyed and silent, feeling inexplicably and deliriously happy.

“Merry Christmas,” he chuckled, obviously pleased with himself. Still unable to formulate words that she could possibly thank him with, she settled for giving him the brightest smile she could manage. Which turned out to be the easiest thing ever. It wasn’t hard to smile when she had just been given the best Christmas present ever. No, she wasn’t smiling at him. That wasn’t the right way to describe it. She was beaming. Uncontrollably. And—oh gosh. What? What was happening? She leaned forward slightly and peered at his face. And the tips of his ears. And then his face once more. Sucking in a breath, she reached out and knocked his baseball cap off his head. Suddenly she could speak again.

“I can’t believe it!” she gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. Giggles were bubbling out of her again. “You’re blushing! You! You’re blushing! All those times—you made me—now—you—!” Flustered, he snatched his cap and shoved back it onto his head. Pushing PLAY, he propped the movie back on their knees. She found herself settling comfortably against his side once more, her arms tenderly cuddling the little stuffed reindeer. Still, she couldn’t help the laughter that was still exploding from her.

“Be quiet and watch the movie,” he ordered gruffly, pointing at the screen, his cheeks still tinged with pink.

So she did.

The End

A/N: Oh my. This is why I can never, ever write a true-blue multi-chaptered story. Because "Part 2 is coming soon" means forever. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it. Home Alone, Elf, and Wendy's certainly do not belong to me. If you liked this, you might also enjoy my other bus-centered stories: a multi-chaptered one called Shuttle, and a little drabble called Bus. Check 'em out!

Read and review!!