The Girl on the Bus (REWRITE/ON HOLD)

1

CHAPTER 1

-Blake-

"Yo Willis!" My best mate shouts walking up to me with yet another girl on his arm.

I roll my eyes as they approach. Monty has a different girl with him every week, and it seemed like every week they became even more desperate than the last.

Today was a girl that had her fiery red hair tied up so tight it was giving her a face lift. Her green eyes were squinty and covered in black eyeshadow. She had a bubblegum pink color painted all over her lips and a black bralette that she paired with high waisted jean shorts and a pair of high black heels. Overall she looked like a really bad prep cosplay.

"You going to Wyatt's party tonight? It's gonna be kickass" Monty says.

Any other time I would have said yes. Going to one of Wyatt Truman's parties was basically a regular thing, it included getting so drunk I didn't know my own name and trying a few new things that Wyatt got his hands on. With his dad being a pharmaceutical rep, he always had a new drug to try at one of his parties.

"Nah man, I think I'm just going to go home and study."

Monty groans and slaps his hand on my back.

"You are such a fucking nerd Blake. What happened to the old you? The one that wasn't afraid to let loose and party! You're so boring now."

"I'm so sorry that I don't want to be stuck in Troy for the rest of my life. I want to do something."

"You do! You're the best football player this school has had in a long time man. You could be so big if you got your nose out of the books and partied."

"How exactly is that going to help me make it 'big'?" I ask as we get to my yellow 1969 camaro rs.

"Showing your face at places will help with your popularity." He says in a duh tone.

I roll my eyes at him as I turn the key in my ignition. My car sputters before blowing out a cloud of smoke from under the hood.

"Shit" I mumble laying my head against the seat.

"Ouch. Anyway, I have to get Brittany here home, but I'll see you tonight man!" Monty says before walking away.

"Damn Georgia. I thought you'd make it til college" I mumble to myself as I collect my things and start making my way towards the bus.

I pull my phone out and dial my mechanics number.

"Ralph's car shop, this is Ralph"

"Hey Ralph it's Blake."

"Blake! It's good to hear from you man! I just got those custom rims you ordered in!"

"That's great Ralph but I need to hold off on that. Georgia just stalled on me"

"Again?"

"Yeah again."

"I'll see if I can get Ronny over there to tow her and I'll check her out."

"Thanks Ralph"

"You know it's not a problem Blake. I'll call you when I figure out what's wrong"

We say our goodbyes and I hang up as I step onto the bus. I scan the rows for a empty seat and only find a few.

"Blake? Oh my god come sit here!" A blonde from the cheer squad says moving her backpack out of the way.

"Uh no thanks Teresa"

"My name is Lily" she says with a scoff.

I make my way to the back and see a open seat next to a beautiful brunette girl with headphones in her ears. Her attention was on a book she was reading.

I tap her shoulder to get her attention.

She removes one earbud and looks at me with the most intense brown eyes shining behind the rims of her glasses.

For the first time in my life I was speechless.

"Uh- is- is this seat taken? Can I sit here?"

She tilts her head to the side briefly and nods her head before returning the earbud to her ear.

I take a seat next to her and squeeze my 6'1 frame in the tiny seat before pulling out my textbook.

Halfway through quadratic equations I see the brown eyed beauty glance at my textbook as a small smile teased her plump lips.

My mind raced with ideas of what she could possibly be thinking about.

**

When it was finally the two of us left I had packed my stuff up and had talked myself into speaking with her. Usually I would have already spoken to her and made out with her, but for some reason she was different. I got butterflies in my stomach just looking at her.

I haven't felt this way since I asked my first girlfriend out in third grade - Tracey Fisher- I thought I had a type, blonde hair and small eyes. Tracey was the exception with her strawberry blonde hair, blue almond shaped eyes, and a nose the size of Alaska. But this girl. This girl was so different she had short brown hair and big brown doe eyes. She was intriguing and I found myself unwillingly drawn to her.

The brown eyed beauty got my attention by poking my shoulder.

"Can you get up so I can get off?" She asks in a sweet voice.

I bet she tasted like candy.

Wait what?

"Uh Yeah sorry" I respond grabbing my bag and standing.

She mumbles a thanks to me as she slides past me.

"Thanks Mary" She tells the bus driver.

"No problem sweetie, you have a good weekend"

"You too" she replies with a smile.

The bus driver turns her attention to me.

"This is the last stop"

I nod and swing my bag over my shoulder before thanking her and getting off.

I watch the mysterious girl dig in her backpack for something and attempt to put her headphones in her jacket pocket. They fall out and land on the sidewalk as she removes a set of keys from her bag.

I pick up her headphones and tap her on the shoulder. She jumps and lets out a small shriek as she turns and faces me.

"You scared me"

"I'm sorry" I tell her stifling a laugh.

"You dropped these"

I extend my hand out with her headphones and she reaches out to grab them, brushing her fingers against mine gently. A shock traveled up my spine at the touch and I'm pretty sure I blacked out for a second.

"Thanks" She says to me with a smile.

"I'm Blake"

"I know who you are. Blake Willis hotshot jock all the girls fawn over. Quarterback of the football team and captain of the basketball team, you were also spring fling king and homecoming king as well as president of the debate team and mathletes"

My jaw drops to the ground.

"Everyone knows who you are" she adds with a slight blush creeping onto her cheeks.

I was speechless. I couldn't produce words so I just stared at her.

She offers a little wave and turns on her heel which snaps me out of my trance.

"Wait I didn't get your name!" I call after her.

"It's Van" she shouts over her shoulder as she continues to walk away from me with her books clutched tightly to her chest.

A smile makes its way onto my face as I watch her turn the corner. She really was something else.

"Van" I repeat to myself.

I had only just met the girl and I already was in deep, I loved the way her name sounded coming out of my mouth and I couldn't help but remember the way she said my name.

I was in trouble.