Chapter 9: The Back Row of the School Bus
The school bus's engine hummed softly, sending a gentle vibration through the floor. Today, the entire basketball team and several class committee members were scheduled to attend a joint practice at an off-campus sports complex.
“Nayla! Come sit with me in the back!” Kevin called excitedly, waving from the aisle in the middle of the bus.
Nayla turned around with a polite smile. “Sorry, Vin. I already promised Maya I’d sit with her in the front row.”
“Huh? Why?” Kevin frowned.
“Give it a rest, Vin. I want to talk about the assignment with Nayla!” Maya cut in quickly, pulling Nayla toward the fourth seat from the front.
Kevin sighed in resignation and turned to Dimas, looking for somewhere to take refuge. “Dim, I’ll sit with you—”
“Sorry, Captain,” Dimas cut him off, quickly placing his large bag on the seat beside him. “I already reserved this seat for Aris. He’s going to teach me the trigonometry chapter during the ride.”
“What an excuse!” Kevin scoffed irritably.
“An objective fact,” Aris replied calmly as he stepped onto the bus, opening his notebook. “Find somewhere else, Vin.”
Kevin scanned the increasingly crowded bus interior. Only one row remained, all the way in the back corner. And there, beside the tightly closed window, Rey sat quietly, putting his earphones in.
Kevin hissed under his breath. “Why does it have to be next to him...”
With heavy, reluctant steps, Kevin walked to the back row. He shoved his bag aside roughly before dropping into the seat beside Rey.
Rey didn’t turn even slightly. He stared straight out the window, completely ignoring Kevin’s presence.
“I’m not sitting here because I want to, okay?” Kevin said, breaking the silence between them. “There weren’t any other empty seats.”
Rey slowly removed one earphone. “I didn’t ask, Kevin.”
“You’ve been so hostile toward me since yesterday!” Kevin complained, leaning toward him. “I already apologized for accusing you over the shoes!”
“And I already said you’re forgiven,” Rey replied flatly. “Do you want an official stamp too?”
“Don’t act so cold!” Kevin snapped. “You enjoyed watching me look like an idiot in front of everyone yesterday, didn’t you?”
“You’re the one who made yourself look ridiculous,” Rey shot back, looking Kevin straight in the eye. “Not me.”
Kevin leaned back against his seat, annoyed, and folded his arms tightly. The atmosphere between them suddenly became tense and silent. The only sounds were the roar of the bus engine and the students’ laughter from the rows up front.
Ten minutes passed without either of them saying a word. Kevin kept glancing at Rey from the corner of his eye. He noticed that Rey was holding a tightly sealed bottle of water but still hadn’t taken a sip.
“Why aren’t you drinking it? Afraid I’ll poison you again like I did in the cafeteria?” Kevin taunted, breaking the silence.
“The cap’s stuck,” Rey answered shortly without turning around.
Kevin raised an eyebrow, his confidence surging back. “You can’t even do that? Here!”
Kevin snatched the bottle from Rey’s hand and twisted it with one powerful jerk. The plastic cap popped open easily.
“There. That was so hard?” Kevin said proudly, holding the bottle back out to him.
Rey took the bottle and looked at Kevin for a moment. “Thanks.”
“I’m always reliable,” Kevin bragged, lightly patting his chest. “So don’t underestimate the basketball captain.”
“I only asked you to open a bottle. I didn’t ask you to save me from a natural disaster,” Rey retorted in his usual sarcastic tone before taking a slow drink of water.
Kevin chuckled bitterly. “You still needed my help.”
“Whatever,” Rey muttered, putting his earphone back in.
Suddenly, the bus slammed on the brakes while passing through an intersection. Rey’s body lurched forward on reflex. Before his head could hit the back of the seat in front of him, Kevin’s hand shot out and firmly caught Rey by the shoulder.
“What was that emergency stop for, sir?!” Kevin shouted toward the bus driver, his hand still gripping Rey’s shoulder tightly.
“Sorry, kid! A cat ran across the road!” the driver called from the front.
Rey blinked, looking at Kevin’s hand still resting on his shoulder. “Your hand.”
Kevin jerked in surprise and immediately pulled his hand back as if he’d just touched a hot iron. His face instantly flushed red. “I... I just reacted! If you’d hit your head and gotten even weirder, Mr. Gunawan would’ve blamed me!”
A faint, nearly imperceptible smile tugged at Rey’s lips as he gently rubbed his shoulder. “Nice reflexes, Captain.”
“Don’t get the wrong idea!” Kevin snapped quickly, turning toward the bus aisle to hide his sudden embarrassment. “I just didn’t want this to turn into an even bigger mess!”
“Yeah, sure,” Rey replied softly, resting his head against the window and closing his eyes, leaving Kevin to struggle with his suddenly erratic breathing.