The Way Down

We stepped down from the bus steps, this time calmly, planting my feet solidly on the ground. The three of us emerged into the chilly air that was slowly getting warmer as the sun shone over the bus terminal. I turned to Dan and Shae,

“Is there actually anything to eat here? We don’t have much time until the buses will be leaving, maybe like forty minutes,” I said, rubbing my growling stomach.

“I think there’s a food stand inside, let’s hurry, though,” Shae said as she lightly held my wrist, pulling me along behind her, Dan walking beside me. We all fell into a silent unison as we walked, enjoying the crisp morning air. I was definitely a morning person. Especially in those quiet moments when no one else is awake, and it’s just me, a cup of tea, small birds chirping, and the sun rise. A lot of mornings on tour I would open the window next to the dining table and catch up on my reading while I stuck my toes outside, the wind whipping around them as we drove to our next destination. I was a sucker for fantasy novels, and anything with adventure and camaraderie was up my alley. Maybe that’s why I loved this lifestyle so much. Traveling with my closest friends, exploring new places, and visiting familiar ones. There was so much to discover. New sights, new smells. Watching movies on a small portable TV while everyone crowded into one bunk to watch, trying new foods in every town we visited, listening to all the ridiculous things people said when they came back drunk at the end of a good night. It wasn’t for everyone, but I was really glad for how I was spending my time.

We approached the food stand inside the terminal, though it wasn’t much of an actual restaurant. The dining area consisted of two tables positioned near the ordering window, where a girl in a hat stood under a red awning. After placing our orders we sat in the cold, iron seats nearby and waited. I pulled my feet up onto the chair, my knees against my chest. Dan and Shae were chatting idly as I scanned the area, my eyes settling on something that stood out to me in particular.

I drew in a sharp breath and lowered my head immediately, cringing as my eyes closed.

“What’s wrong?” Shae leaned over to me.

“If I tell you, you can’t look okay?” every second that passed I sunk lower into the chair, trying to be as discreet as possible.

“Look at what?” she snorted, getting really close to my face and searching the terminal.

“There’s this guy…” I twiddled my fingers, “But don’t look, okay?”

“A guy? You have a guy that will get you nervous like this? You?” She asked, incredulous. I glanced over just as Dan looked up as well.

“Oh hey, it’s your knight in shining armor!” He laughed loudly, catching the attention of none other than the one I was trying to avoid.

“Oh no,” I whined as Shae sat up straight, looking between me and him in a cringingly obvious way.

“Your what?? Who is that guy? What did I miss?!” She shouted. I groaned and looked up, only to see the friends with him looking between us in the same confused way. I buried my face in my knees in an attempt to hide the blush that spread across my face.

“He just helped me out a little is all,” I muttered, muffled in my legs. Glancing up again I saw his friends walking over. My heart leapt into my throat and suddenly I felt a wave of panic. I was still too embarrassed to face this ridiculously attractive guy head on, I hadn’t had any time to recover from the humiliating events that took place only twenty minutes ago.

As his friends approached I noticed that he left a decent amount of distance between them, standing roughly seven or eight feet back with his hands in his jackets pockets, looking anywhere but at me.

There were four of them aside from him, all with tattoos except for one, and looking to be in their mid twenties. If I was being honest they were all very handsome, a strange amount of attractiveness from one group of friends, but for some reason he stood out from the rest. Maybe it was the way he saved me earlier, the firm grip he had that somehow was still gentle, wrapping his arm around me and holding me off the ground so that I wasn’t hurt. I would be lying if I said it didn’t get my heart racing. It’s not everyday I’m saved by a mysterious bearded man. But then again I could just chalk that up to the fear from falling out of the bus, right? Or possibly just the nerves that come with awkwardly falling into the arms of some stranger? Either way, it was vexing for me. I wasn’t accustomed to feeling this nervous around anyone. But, I was positive of one thing: I was very self conscious around him. And I was very ready to blame it on how mortified I was when I fell off the bus.

“Hey! Are you guys going on the tour?” one of them jogged ahead of the rest, flashing a friendly smile and waving as he approached. He was shorter than the rest, with a boyish face that was only made to look younger by his large ears and goofy grin.

‘Yeah, man, what’s up,” Dan returned the amiable atmosphere, latching hands with him in a casual handshake.

“We are, too, thought we’d introduce ourselves before the tour starts. I’m Alex, by the way,” he was a very friendly person with a boyish nature. He had disheveled chestnut hair and stubble along his jaw. He wore a sleeveless black shirt, and black jeans, with drum sticks sticking out of his back pocket. “This is Kevin, Josh, and Neil,” he said pointing at the different boys. “And that anti-social guy over there is Jeremy. He’s slow to warm to people, but he’s nice once you get to know him,” he smiled directly at me as he said this and I cocked my head to the side, my brows furrowed. Why did it seem like that was directed at me?

All but Jeremy approached to shake hands with us. Kevin had a quirky smirk plastered on his face and a hat that he wore backwards, with blue eyes and short brown hair. He was muscular in build, and seemed like the big brother type. Josh had a gentle face with blonde hair that was almost ginger, though not nearly as auburn colored as Shae, with light freckles and weathered tan skin. He was the odd one out, not having any tattoos that I could see, where as all the other boys had vibrant sleeves. He had a soft handshake, and seemed like a calm, comforting person. Niel
had a sturdy build with dirty blonde hair that was even more disheveled than Alex’s, pushed up almost in a faux-hawk, but not quite that coordinated. He seemed to have the most tattoos out of the group, as well as decent sized gauges and a more serious countenance than the others. He had a firm handshake, and was inviting enough, but had little to say while Alex and Kevin did all the talking.

“We’re looking forward to spending the next six months on the road with you guys. What bus are you in?” They were talking to all of us, but Dan answered most of their questions, him being the most talkative and social of our group.

“We’re in bus five, you guys can drop by any time,”

“Yeah, man, we’ll be sure to do that!” Alex had a toothy grin as he bounced around while he talked. He seemed like Dan, who was always excited to make new friends.

“Order six!” The girl in the window called and I shot up, ready to escape. I was terrible in social situations, usually depending on Dan and Shae to get me through them because they knew just how shy and awkward I could be. I trotted off away from the guys, though I could still hear them conversing, with the occasional laugh and chuckle. I took my time getting the food, gathering condiments we likely wouldn’t use, going at an intentionally slow pace. I was hoping by the time I went back they would be pretty much done with their conversation.

When I turned back around I was surprised to make eye contact with Jeremy for the first time since his friends had wandered over. He looked up at me through long lashes, with an almost blank expression. We held each other’s gaze for a few seconds, dragging on forever it seemed, before I shifted my gaze, staring down at our to-go order as I returned. I peeked up at his friends shyly and nodded at them as Dan and Shae stood.

“Well, we better be getting back, but it’s nice to meet you guys, we’ll see you around for sure,” Dan shook their hands once again as we departed, and I was quick to turn and begin walking back to our bus. Shae ran up, tugging on the back of my hoodie.

“What the hell was that?” she squealed. Shae was easily the biggest helpless romantic I had ever known. Her thoughts always went to love and matters of the heart first.

“Don’t ask questions, just keep moving,” I grunted, fast walking through the lobby, legging it to the bus. As we got farther away I slowed my pace and dared to glance back over my shoulder. As I did, I made eye contact with Jeremy, who was still staring in our direction as the other guys faced away. My chest leapt into my throat and I immediately faced forward again, turning red all the way to my ears.

“I have never seen you this nervous around a boy,” Shae looked at me with wide, hopeful eyes.

“Look, it’s because…” I looked around, leaning in closer to her as I said quietly, “I fell off the bus a few minutes ago and he caught me, and I’m just really embarrassed right now, okay?”

“Oh my godddd!” She shrieked, jumping up and down. I grabbed on to her arms, trying to calm her down.

“Shhh! What if he hears you yelling like that?! He’ll know it’s about him,” I whimpered, looking down.

“You have no idea how exciting this is,” she was tapping both me and Dan’s arms as she wiggled around enthusiastically.

“Can we just please forget it ever happened?” I moped at her. She didn’t respond, just continued to dance all the way back.

“Come to think of it, the rest of the people on our bus will be there when we get back. You think you can handle this level of social activity all in one day?” Dan teased.

“I think that would be a happy distraction for me right now,” I sighed as we opened the bus door, ascending the steps into the vehicle. There was excited talking as we approached, but as soon as we entered, the room hushed down immediately. There were three more people in there, all sitting on the couch, two boys and a girl. They introduced themselves as Natalia, Gabriel (Gabe for short), and Matthew.

Notes