The Girl on the Bus (REWRITE/ON HOLD)

9

CHAPTER 9

BLAKE

"Why do you look so smug?" I ask Monty as we approach our lunch table.

The bastard hasn't stopped smirking since this morning. Something was up.

"I finally hit it" he half whispers.

"Hit what?" Wyatt asks as Brynn sneaks a fry off his plate.

"Elaine Harris" Monty says with a smirk.

"She was one of the hardest catches but damn if her head game was worth it" he adds

"Gross" Brynn says with her face scrunched up.

"What I can't help it. She was fucking hot. Best pussy I've had"

"Dude seriously." Wyatt says with a glare directed at him.

Monty looks to me with a shrug and digs into his burrito.

I roll my eyes at my best friend and I catch sight of Van walking through the cafeteria doors.

She glances around a little until her eyes land on mine and the most breathtaking smile I've ever seen curves up her face. I wave her over and she gives me a small nod as she gets in line.

"Speaking of babies" Wyatt says breaking the current reel my mind was on.

I just missed that whole conversation.

"Yeah because you were too busy making googly eyes at the yearbook editor" Wyatt says with a smirk.

Shit.

I ignore the tables questioning looks as I turn my attention to Wyatt.

"How did the topic of babies come up?" I ask

"Monty said that Elaine was gonna have his babies." Wyatt responds with an eye roll.

Brynn takes the time to speak up. "She's really pretty Blake. I'm glad you found someone"

I scoff. "Nothing is going on between us" I state matter of factly.

Yeah except that almost kiss at the park.

"What almost kiss?" Brynn asks.

Wyatt and Monty both had their attention turned to me now.

I really need to stop thinking out loud

"Uh nothing"

"Come on Blake! You have to tell us!" Brynn pouts.

"I'm serious it was nothing. We didn't do anything, the rain stopped us"

"But you want to right? Kiss her I mean?" Wyatt says.

"Can we please not talk about my dying love life." I groan as Van starts walking towards the table.

"Change of subject have you guys thought of a name yet?" I ask Brynn.

She glances at Wyatt with a loving smile before she speaks again.

"If it's a girl we were thinking Kendra. And if it's a boy we wanted to name him Thomas"

We all smile at them as Van takes a seat next to me.

"Everyone this is Vanessa, Van this is Monty, Wyatt and his girlfriend Brynn" I state smiling at her.

"Hi everyone" she mutters with a smile.

"This is her?" Monty says pointing at her. "No wonder you have blue balls, I would too if she was the result"

"Hey!" I snap at him with a glare.

He puts his hands up in defense and goes back to his burrito.

I turn to glance at her and see the blush on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry about him, all he thinks about is sex"

She flashes me a reassuring smile to which I wrap my arm around her waist.

"Fuck yes! I have to go! Elaine wants to meet behind the bleachers" Monty shrieks pocketing his phone and abruptly stands from the table, knocking over our drinks in the process.

Wyatt and I glare at his retreating form, while Brynn starts laughing. Van loops her arm through mine and when I glance at her, she has her head thrown back and her melodious laugh is surrounding me.

Her joy is short lived when she's interrupted by her cellphone. She pulls it out of her pocket and reads her screen.

I watch as her face instantly drops and her eyes begin to fill with tears.

"Van?"

She glances at me numbly and takes a shuddering breath.

"Hey what happened? Are you okay?" I ask twisting my body to face her.

"I-I need to go" she whispers, before grabbing her things and leaving the table.

I watch as she stumbles around trying to collect herself, as she leaves the cafeteria. As the doors shut behind her I stand and follow her. I haven't seen her like that before. Something was wrong.

I leave the cafeteria and jog down the halls looking for any sign of her. But she was gone. I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial her number.

I listen to the constant ringing before I'm sent to voicemail.

"Damnit" I curse as I pull up my messages.

Van? Where did you go?

What the hell happened?

A few minutes pass without a response and my nerves were beginning to skyrocket. This wasn't like her. I dial her number again, only to be sent straight to voicemail.

Did she turn her phone off?

I groan and rub my fingers through my hair when my phone pings.

VAN: just leave me alone Blake.

I was confused. She never ignored me, she always talked to me about stuff. Why was now any different?

The bell rings signaling the end of lunch and I race to my locker to grab my things but am stopped by my math teacher; Mr. Bird.

"Where do you think you're going?" He asks with a gruff voice.

"Um I was going to the bathroom" I lie

Mr Bird raises an eyebrow at me and crosses his arms over his chest.

"I find out you're skipping I'm calling your father" he states before walking into his classroom.

I mentally curse and groan in frustration. I wanted to see if Van was okay. But I couldn't risk my dad finding out I skipped a period.

I glance at the front doors to the school one last time, before hanging my head and turning on my heel to head to class.

I couldn't help but wonder if she'd be okay.