Eden and Bea (LGBT+)

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A gentle breeze kissed my skin, as I continued to sit outside in the warmth of the day. As I looked around the main grounds, I found that some of the trees were starting to become coloured with amber leaves. I supposed as much could be anticipated, given that we were nearing autumn. Additionally, it would soon be pumpkin spice season- I also had that to look forward to, but that was besides the point! 

Admittedly, I was completely and entirely upset by the Mr. King situation. He hadn't understood at all. He had just done all of this for some sort of twisted purpose! How could he expect for Eden and I to get along? We hadn't for the past twelve years. Was there really any chance that was going to change because of some little camping trip? 

I doubted it. Nevertheless, I knew that I couldn't argue with him. I didn't want to land myself in detention or something similarly awful. So, I had to face facts. I was about to go on a school camping trip with a girl, who I hadn't spoken to in months, and who I was convinced disliked me to the highest degree. 

Axel would probably say that I was being over-dramatic, but I knew myself better than that. 

The final bell rang, signalling that it was time for me to take the dreaded bus home. 

Even with all the money that I assumed Eden had, she still had to get the same bus as me. 

It was tragic, but it was something I had simply come to terms with by now. 

Not wanting to miss the bus, I swiftly stood up from where I had been sat outside and walked to the bus stop. 

Eventually, I reached the green bus and observed Eden stood in front of me. 

"Oh, no!" I heard her say with true disappointment behind her words, as I hopped onto the bus behind her. 

At first, I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but then I realised- she had spilled a caramel frappe all over her bag. 

In an attempt to not laugh in front of her, I quickly handed the bus fare to the rather unamused bus driver, who I assumed, at some point or another, was going to have to clean up after her. 

Eden arguably may have been intelligent, but careful she was not. 

She sighed as she swept some of the liquid off her bag and onto the floor and then quickly made her way down the bus and stumbled into a seat opposite me. 

Not wanting to pay me any attention, she quickly grabbed her phone out of her bag to check it hadn't been damaged. Priorities, people, priorities. 

I knew that if she was going to simply ignore me, then two could play at that game. 

Returning my attention to the scenery outside of the bus window, I smiled as I watched the wind sweep through the red, green and amber leaves of the trees that passed by. 

They became a blur of colour and suitably distracted me from my thoughts. 

At least they were able to, for a short while, before the bus came to its first stop- Eden's stop. 

"Make sure you don't slip on your way out," I said. Even my own audacity surprised me. 

Eden gave me a sugary smile, before she turned and left the bus, being careful to walk around the caramel frappe pool that she had created. 

The bus soon set off again, but no sooner than I could observe a pigeon swoop down to take Eden's caramel frappe container right out of her hands. 

It really was not, in any way, shape, or form, her lucky day. 

Then again, I hadn't had much luck either, especially as far as the upcoming school trip was concerned. 

The bus continued to move on, as pigeons and sparrows fluttered past my window. I wished that I could exist like them sometimes, without a care in the world. 

Well, I assumed they didn't have to care about very much, anyway. At least they didn't have to partake in a school trip with the one person they didn't get on with. 

I felt a presence beside me and turned to find, with some relief, that Owen had sat down beside me. 

"Hey," he greeted me, with a friendly smile. His expression shifted to one of interest, as his eyes settled on the caramel frappe on the floor of the bus. Well, the spillage had moved around a lot in the time that it had been there for, due to the driver's speeding, but it was still definitely noticeable. "Let me guess- Eden and her overpriced coffee?" he asked me. 

He already knew it. 

"Actually, it was a frappe, this time," I told him. 

He scoffed. 

"Should've guessed as much," he said. "So, what did you do, Bea? Did you knock it out of her hands?" he asked me. 

I gasped then. Now, he was the one that had the audacity! 

"You know that I would never do that," I told him, "I did tell her to make sure she didn't slip, though." 

"Classic," Owen replied, as his smirk deepened and created a small indentation in his right cheek. "Anyway, I honestly don't think that this trip will be that bad. Maybe you two will find out you have loads in common." 

I gave him a look that said 'are you insane?'. 

"Don't make me laugh," I replied, making sure my expression was perfectly composed. 

"That's my main job, though. After all, I am the class clown," he reminded me. 

It was true, too. 

Owen had such a great light of optimism and energy to him that it had made me want to be friends with him and his brother, the second that I had set eyes on them. 

"There's so many cool things that we'll be able to do!" he went on to say, "Like climbing...abseiling, you name it, we'll be able to do it."