"Steve Levine, the mirror shows your sinful side and your wet toes."- Heart of a Lion // The Griswolds
The siren is wailing down the street, and I'm third wheeling with Diana and Guad. I can't tell which is worse.
Alice and Perry look pale from where they sit, but when do they not?
Bob and I are both sitting along the aisle across from each other.
I send him a shy smile from my side.
His grin back makes my stomach do they freaky outy thing. Shut up.
I'm watching the sky scrapers crawl past us when I feel a tug at my fingers. A familiar feeling enters my gut and creeps up to my heart. No, Janis, you're not 12.
Bob is clenching my hand from across the gap. Although I don't look at him, I'm sure he's smiling. He always seems to be.
Well, Janis, you finally managed to get one, I think, although the voice in my head sounds like my father's. But I'm sure any guy I'd even consider dating would feel his wrath. To him I'll always be 9. But that can only be because his life stopped before I could grow any older.
I try to think about hand holding to keep my mind off my dead father. It's not like he cared enough about us to tell us about HEXA anyways. How much can I trust him now that I know the truth? Hand holding, hand holding, Janis.
One of Bob's fingers rubs my palm and I don't know how to react but to bite my lip to keep myself from smiling.
Are you serious right-
In a split second, Bob's hand seems to yank me across the aisle and causes my head to slam on his seat as I fall to the floor.
The bus has taken a sharp turn, I soon find out.
Moaning on the floor and desperately trying to avoid catching attention, I attempt to pull myself up. Bob laughs and apologizes: "Sorry, Jan-Jan."
"That's alright. I-"
"Shut up, Janis, there are more important things afoot," snaps Alice from the window seat. I furrow my brow, more confused than offended.
"In fact, you could say the baseball game is afoot," jokes Perry, trying to mimic Sherlock Holmes.
"It really is a blessing you don't make puns more often," I tell him.
His green eyes harden but I can read from his face he isn't really hurt. I think the only time I actually hurt his feelings was when I told him I didn't like Alice and him together.
But at least I'm not the one with the sister who has a "you're next" note.
I grip the shaking seats to keep myself from falling over again.
"So he wants to take us all out on a really big date?" Asks Bob. What? I think. I follow his eyes and see the packet of baseball tickets signed by Ashton.
He scratches his newly shaved chin (courtesy of the hotel).
My sister and Perry glance awkwardly to each other, as if they're the parents telling children troubling news.
"He must have left them in my backpack and they slipped through the folds of my book when I put it in," explains Alice. She glances to Perry's shaking hands and hums lowly.
"Are we sure they're even from Ashton?" Bob questions. "HEXA had plenty opportunity to put them in there at the hotel."
"Oh." The thought hadn't occurred to me yet. "What choice do we have though? What if he's in trouble in San Diego?"
YOU ARE READING
The Guadeloupe Squadeloupe
ChickLitWhat would you do if you ended up in a plane crash in the wild terrain of South America? What would you do if a killer and mad genius was tracking you down as you tried to get back home? What would you do if you were a member of The Guadeloupe Squad...
