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Oh god.
Clearing my throat, I gestured to the seat.
He didn’t look up.
His perfectly styled hair was the only part of his head I could see as he stared down at the iPod in his hands.
The engine of the bus roared to life, vibrating beneath my feet, and a huge dollop of panic set in.
I reached out and tapped his shoulder before quickly pulling my hand back.
Joh
"I need to sit down," I strangled out the words, mortified by the sounds of catcalling and insinuating comments coming from the rest of the lads.
For the last two nights, I had wrestled with my emotions over him, barely sleeping, and drowning in panic and self-doubt.
Now that I was faced with the unexpected prospect of spending several hours next to Joh
Seriously, my stomach was rolling and I was fairly certain that if I didn’t sit down soon, I was going to spew.
God…
With furrowed brows, Joh
"There's no other seat left on the bus and the driver's taking off now, so I need you to let me in –" I looked from him to the horde of people watching us, and then to the spare seat, "Can you just push in a seat, or move the bags so I can get in please?"
"Sorry," Joh
A barrage of laughter erupted from the boys in the back row.
Turning scarlet, I pointed to the stack of bags on the seat beside him and whispered, "I don’t have anywhere to sit."
"Shite, yeah, sorry," Joh
"For Christ's sake, Lynch, sit down back there!" Mr. Mulcahy barked from the front of the bus. "And buckle up!"
Embarrassed, I glanced back to Claire for help, but locked eyes on an enraged Bella.
Oh, fuck.
She's going to kill you, Sha Bella Wilkinson is going to kill you. If your father doesn’t get there first… Mortified, I made a dive for the seat, trying to squeeze past Joh The end result was not pretty. It involved a lot of flailing, tangled up limbs, and one of my knees co "Jesus fucking Christ," Joh I slapped a hand over my mouth, eyes wide. "I am so sorry!" "Go on, Joh "Fuck off, Luke," Joh He touched his nose twice, checking for blood, and when he was satisfied there wasn’t any, he let out what sounded like an aggravated growl. "I really didn’t mean to do that," I choked out, mortified, as I desperately tried and failed to disentangle myself from between his thighs. It wasn’t an easy feat with my schoolbag on my back. I had a whole day's worth of books in my bag, having been unable to go to my locker before being thrust onto this bus, and the weight strapped to my back was throwing me off balance. Holding onto the back of Joh "Watch it!" he barked as his eyes flashed with worry. "Stop moving." I didn’t blame him for looking worried. I was a liability. Shaking his head, Joh "I would have moved, you know," Joh I opened my mouth to respond, but all that came out was a puff of air. It was impossible to form words when I was completely wedged between his chest and the seat in front, my stupid schoolbag making it impossible for me to escape. "Are they going to ride or what?" someone called out. "Sure fucking looks like it," another snickered. "What the hell is going on back there?" Mr. Mulcahy roared at the top of his lungs. "Kavanagh! Lynch! Pack the canoodling in and take your seats!" Everyone on the bus erupted in whistles and laughter. Meanwhile, I died inside. "We're fucking trying!" Joh "How difficult is it to sit in a damn seat, Kavanagh?" the teacher demanded. "A great deal, apparently," Joh "Go left on three," he instructed. "One, two–" My eyes widened. "My left or your left?" "Jaysus." Muttering a string of curses under his breath, Joh He released my waist and I practically flopped into the window seat, face-flaming, body trembling. As soon as we were both sitting down, the bus began to move beneath our feet. "Thanks," I croaked out, as I pressed into my seat, shoulders slumping. "No problem," Joh "Ah, yep," I managed to respond, though my voice was both breathy and pitchy. "I'm really sorry about kneeing your nose." Slipping my bag off my shoulders, I pushed it to the floor and sagged backwards. Joh "What – no!" I balked, shaking my head. "Of course not. I truly didn’t mean to–" "Relax, Sha Yeah, he was certainly messing with me. My ability to breathe for one. My erratic heartbeat was another. Joh "I hate traveling on buses," he explained, when he finally settled into a position. He stretched his legs out, angling his left leg in such a way that it rested against my knee. When he didn’t move his leg, choosing to leave it there, while I forced myself not to shiver. It was clear that he wasn’t doing it on purpose. He was 6'3 and far too big for the tiny amount of space he'd been allocated. Still, though, it was too close. He was too close. There was far too much closeness. "You're on my side," I whispered, nudging his thigh with my knee, praying for a reprieve. It didn’t come. He didn’t move his leg. Instead, he cocked a brow and tossed back, "You're on my bus." My cheeks flushed bright red. Dropping my head, I concentrated on pulling at an invisible thread on my school jumper – the only school jumper currently on view in the whole bus.