AS LONG AS WE'RE TOGETHER || Preath

2. Bus buddies

The following day, when I got down to the breakfast hall, where everyone got together before practice, I saw Christen smiling at me and waving her hand over her head to get my attention.

"Here, I got you uhm... orange juice, a toast, and an energy drink for the bus" she smiled, pointing at everything she had put on the table.
"How did you know?"
"I asked Allie."

I sat down beside her and ate my toast in silence, while she was talking about how much she was excited for the tournament ahead.

"Do you know what we're gonna do today?" she asked, while biting a piece of toast.
"Nah. They don't like us to know. They like the element of surprise" I shook my head.
"I know this is gonna come out as super clingy, so feel free to say no-"
"Press, it's fine. You can ask me anything you want."
"Could we like... be together for training? I'm just tired of feeling inappropriate when I'm talking to another person, and with you I feel really comfortable."
"Yeah, of course. Tell you what, we can be bus buddies if you want" I proposed, hoping she would say yes. 

I didn't know what had happened to me, but ever since the night before, I hadn't been able to stop thinking about her. The thought of our hands touching while we were pretending to be interested in the movie, or the weird, quick gazes we had thrown each other, kept me up all night, leaving me fully awake in my bed, trying to stop thinking about her. 

"That'd be great! Thanks."

After I finished my toast, I got up and walked up to Alex, who was chatting with Allie, to tell her that I wouldn't have sat with her that day.

"What? Why not?" she frowned a little.
"I'm sitting with Press. She feels kinda lonely, she doesn't know a lot of people here. I just wanna help her out."
"Do you have a thing for Chris? You also came back pretty late last night, did something happen?"
"What? Are you crazy? Of course not! She's just... alone right now, okay?" I exclaimed, perhaps a little too loud. "As I said, I'm just trying to make her feel more comfortable with us."
"Yeah, okay, you don't have to raise your voice, geez. Go with her, don't worry."

After breakfast I got up to my room to grab my things, and when I walked down and on the bus, I immediately recognized Christen's smile among everyone else's.

"Window?"
"No, go ahead."

She sat down and I followed her.

As the bus started moving, I started getting nervous. The feelings I had when I was around her were new to me, as I had never experienced having butterflies in my stomach before; I looked at her while she was replying a text, and she looked incredibly beautiful. Although, it might have been the light, hitting her face so gracefully to make her smile even wider than usual. 

I tried to shake off the feelings for a second: I couldn't afford to fall for a teammate, especially since we knew each other so little. It worked, but I knew I couldn't hold them off forever: they'd come back to hunt me again, and at the occurrence, I wouldn't have been able to stop them. 

"Uhm... do you wanna play cards?" she asked, seeing me so nervous and stiff.
"Yeah, sure."

I took the deck out of my pocket and we started playing, while everyone else was minding their own business and a loud chatter filled the space around us.

We didn't mind, though: we were just in our bubble, alone, playing cards together.

"Hey Tobs, can I talk to you for a second?" Kelley asked, so suddenly that my heart skipped a beat.
"Yeah, sure. I'll be right back."

I got up and Megan took my place beside Christen, while I took hers.

"What's going on?"
"What do you mean?"
"First, you run off to the movies instead of going with us, then you sit together at breakfast, and now you're bus buddies too? What, you're gonna practice together, too?"

She saw the look on my face and realized.

"Oh my god, you are! Do you have a thing for Press? Weren't you like in love with Alex two days ago?"
"First of all, keep it down. Second of all, I don't have a crush on Chris and I was never in love with Alex."
"Yeah, sure. C'mon, stop lying! We both know that you two had something weird going on, just like we both know that you've got an interest for Chris. It's not bad to admit it, you know?"
"Fine... but if I admit it, I'll feel like it's supposed to happen and our relationship will become too complicated. I want to be her friend, just that."
"And what about Alex? Was there something there?"
"It was an interest, nothing more. I never really had a crush on her."
"Alright, now we're talking! Anything else you wanna share with the class?"
"No. I should go, actually."

I went back to my seat, and acted like nothing was going on.

"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, fine. Where were we?"
"Playing cards."