No one else on the bus seemed to notice or care as Eleanor sank into her seat, feeling completely breathless, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she could actually hear its rapid beating. It felt like she’d just run a mile at top speed.
A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up to see Mike standing over her, scowling.
“Scoot over,” he said, jerking his chin at her. The bus seats on the left side where she was sitting could usually squeeze in two people, but Mike always seemed larger than the other teenagers on the bus and she wasn’t sure they would both fit. Eleanor scooted anyway.
Then she was breathless for an entirely different reason as folded his body into the seat beside her, trapping her against the window and he handed her book to her.He had such a presenceit almost seemed strange he could fit on the seat beside her. She took the book from him with nerveless fingers, hyper aware of the silence in the seats behind her, a strange counterpoint to the noisy chatter across the rest of the bus.
Mike leaned towards her, his voice low enough she doubted anyone else could hear it. “I’m going to hold your hand, okay?”
She couldn’t find her voice, so she just nodded her head, still clutching her book, staring at the back of the seat in front of her. She wanted to just curl into a ball and shut out the rest of the world, but when Mike’s fingers slipped through hers, his much larger hand cradling hers, suddenly she could breathe again. That simple touch made her feel less alone, less frightened.
“If they think you’re mine, they’ll leave you alone,” he murmured into her ear.
Eyes wide, she couldn’t stop herself from looking at him in shock. His? He didn’t care if they thought he was interested in a freshman? She’d thought he was just trying to make her feel better not… not makethemthink something. But Mike just smiled at her, his brown eyes warm and encouraging.
“Thank you,” she mouthed, too stunned to find her voice.
He leaned into her. “So, what’re you reading?”
They ended up talking the entire way to the bus stop where he got off with her and immediately recaptured her hand. Behind her, she could hear Ryan, laughing and joking with Kevin and Lawrence, as they followed along. For the first time, hearing them heading home on the same route as her didn’t make her feel tense or anxious. She felt completely safe.
Which kind of sucked.
“What’s with the scowl?” Mike asked, looking down at her with a frown. “Should we stop holding hands now?”
She suddenly realized he thought there was someone in the neighborhood she didn’t want witnessing their hand holding.
“No… it’s just…” Her voice trailed off, because after he’d saved her, she didn’t want to offend him.
“Just what?”
Eleanor couldn’t help but glance back over her shoulder. The terrible trio didn’t even notice, they were too busy doing their own thing, or at least pretending to. They hadn’t even glanced at her when Mike had stepped out of the bus seat and gestured for her to go in front of him, keeping his body between her and them.
“It makes me so mad they couldn’t just leave me alone,” she said finally. “Thank you for stepping in, but it just…”
“It sucks that I had to,” he finished for her when she struggled for a way to finish her sentence. Since he didn’t sound offended, Eleanor nodded. “That’s their problem, you get me? It does suck I had to step in, but that’s because they’re shitty and no other reason. If they weren’t little jerks, they would have taken your no as a no, and they should have.”
“So why didn’t you just tell them that?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking the question.
Mike raised his eyebrows at her. “Do you think that would have made much of a difference?”
She made a face, seeing his point. “Maybe for like, a day.”
“Yeah. They’re assholes. Eventually, hopefully, life will set them straight.”
“Karma’s a bitch.”
“Exactly.”
When he smiled down at her, his hand warm around hers, she had to remind herself he was just doing this to be nice. To protect her from the assholes. After all, she was just a freshman, and he was a senior.
But it still felt nice to hold his hand.
Chapter 1
It didn’t surprise Ellie that holding Michael’s hand brought up a whole host of memories. Although they’d both changed a lot since high school, somehow holding his hand still felt the same. Like he was cradling her fingers against his, there for support and strength, there to protect her.
The whole rest of her freshman year, he’d ridden the bus, and every day she’d sat next to him. They’d become friends. He didn’t have a girlfriend that entire year - and even though she’d had a huge crush on him, she’d still hoped it wasn’t her fault. She would have felt pretty guilty if he’d missed out on having a girlfriend just to protect the little freshman girl on his bus; but she’d always been too scared to ask. Scared, embarrassed, whatever. He hadn’t gone to prom, although she’d dreamed about him asking her, despite knowing it was a silly dream. When she’d asked if he was going, he’d just shaken his head, but his shoulders had stiffened in a way that made her think he was uncomfortable about the question, so she’d immediately changed the subject.
