Renegade Path

“Sit down and face forward!” the bus driver yelled.

One of the teachers lurched down the aisle to scold Squire.

I smirked, happy to see him getting in trouble for once.

“Everything okay here?” the teacher asked. He raised an eyebrow and stared at where my hand was clamped around Juliet’s thigh.

She curled her fingers around mine. “We’re fine. Squire was bothering us. Thank you for having him take his seat.”

The teacher grunted and turned around.

Something tugged on the seat behind us. “You’re going to flip when you see Juliet’s bikini, Roman,” Vienna said. “She looks so hot in it.”

“She looks hot in everything,” I answered without turning around.

“Aww.” Vienna’s hand reached over and mussed the top of Juliet’s head.

“Quit it!” Juliet laughed and smacked her friend away.

A second later, Vienna tugged on my arm. “Can we switch places for a minute?”

I wanted to say no and keep Juliet all to myself. But I also didn’t want to be an asshole to Juliet’s friend. “Sure.”

When the bus driver seemed occupied with the road ahead, Vienna and I quickly swapped places. For some reason, she’d been sitting with Stubby and now I was stuck sitting next to him.

“Hey.” He nodded at me. After word spread about the coach trying to recruit me for the baseball team, Doug Winstead—and all his other jock buddies—had grudgingly begun to accept me. Not that I cared. But at least I wasn’t getting into fights in the hallways.

I perched on the edge of the seat, feeling like an intruder.

“If they give us the option, take the tour of the falls,” Stubby said. “You’ll be able to sneak off the trail with your girl for a few minutes alone.”

He said it in a matter-of-fact way, not a creepy wink-wink-nudge-nudge way. “Thanks.”

“The pool’s gross anyway. They talk about closing it every year.” He snorted. “But it gives the girls a chance to show off. You’ll see what I mean.”

I wasn’t interested in checking out any other girls, but I nodded anyway.

Vienna stayed with Juliet until the bus pulled into the oversized parking lot. As soon as it stopped, kids jumped out of their seats, eagerly pushing each other to be the first one off the bus. Stubby and I hung back.

“No point gettin’ crushed by these doofs,” he grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Got that right,” I muttered.

Juliet leaned over her seat and smiled down at me. “Hey, you.”

“Hey, yourself.”

Vienna popped up. “Sorry I hogged your girl.”

Stubby nudged me with his elbow. “It’s okay. Gave us some bro time.”

I hadn’t realized we were bros but didn’t want to seem like a dick, so I nodded and shrugged.

When the herd finally thinned, I jumped out of my seat. My swim trunks were under my jeans. All I’d brought with me was a towel one of the teachers had handed me before boarding the bus. My backpack and everything else, I’d left in our locker back at the school.

I hefted Juliet’s tote over my shoulder. “This is a day trip, right?” I joked.

Her forehead crinkled. “What?”

“What’s in here?”

“Oh!” she laughed. “Sunscreen, towels, change of clothes, extra shoes, bottles of water, and some sandwiches.”

Vienna had packed a similar-sized bag. As I glanced around, I realized most of the kids had brought stuff with them. Oops.

“Don’t worry.” Juliet linked her hand with mine. “I’ve got you covered, Roman,” she said so quietly, I almost didn’t hear her.

Shame prickled at me. Juliet didn’t seem to have a whole lot more than I did. I appreciated her thinking of me, but I hated taking advantage of her.

“Thanks,” I mumbled.

“Thank you for carrying all my stuff.” She nodded to her bag.

At least I could do something useful for her. “Anytime.”

Our classmates ran screaming toward the chain-link fence surrounding the pool. Teachers shouted orders to line up.

Vienna shook her head. “They’re like animals freed from the zoo.”

“Exactly,” Juliet agreed.

Stubby howled something unintelligible and darted across the parking lot, leaping on top of his baseball buddies.

Vienna played with her phone and handed it to me. “Get a pic of us, please?” She wrapped her arm around Juliet’s neck and smiled wide.

I snapped a few nice shots and returned her phone.

“Now you two.” She shoved Juliet toward me. “Over here, so I can get the mountains behind you.”

I hugged Juliet to my side for a few pictures. Then lifted her in the air. Her laughter rang out over the parking lot.

“Perfect!” Vienna yelped. She shoved her phone in her pocket. “Let’s go!”

Juliet and I lagged behind with another couple, Chloe and Jameson.

“We’re going to go on the waterfall tour and ditch the group, if you want to join us,” Chloe offered.

Juliet glanced up at me with hope dancing in her eyes.

“Whatever you want,” I answered.

Once inside, boys and girls split up to visit the separate locker rooms. Someone handed me a key for a locker. I shoved my jeans inside and followed the long, winding hallway back outside. After the darkened locker room, the brightness stabbed my eyes. I blinked and frowned until my eyes adjusted.