Skin + Bones

♪ Real Friends (Leowi NGO Remix) - Camila Cabello♪

Cecilia went to school the next day. She took the bus, went to all her classes, completed her work. She had to admit there was a sense of pride she felt at accomplishing this feat. Although she had a lot of catching up to do, she tried to focus on the positive. It continued like this for the next week or two.

However, she hadn't seen Jimin. She hadn't seen him at the bus stop. She hadn't seen him at school. Although she had thought she caught his black bowl cut in the crowd a couple of times, she was never able to find out. He had been online a couple times, she had noticed - more like checked - and as much as she didn't want to admit it, she was concerned. He talked about wanting to see her and then was a no-show for a whole week and a half.

On one foggy morning, she had been walking to the bus stop, the same group of kids standing there. She had never spoken to any of them and they didn't acknowledge her either. She was kind of thankful for this, seeing as she wasn't the most comfortable with social interactions. As usual, the bus arrived on time, she paid her fare and took a seat, placing her backpack on the empty seat beside her. It wasn't a particularly busy route in the morning, so she didn't have to worry about taking a needed seat. The afternoon was a different story.

Unlike usual though, the bus was ready to start moving again when Cecilia heard the whoosh of the breaks, seeing the doors open. And there he was, panting, likely from running to the stop. He hopped on, hand gripping the yellow rail for support as he tapped his bus card while the vehicle was set into motion again.

Out of instinct, Cecilia pulled up the hood of her sweater, slouching down and turning towards the window, hoping he wouldn't notice her.

Of course, she never had any luck. The scuffing of sneakers against the bus floor stopped right beside her. They backtracked a bit as she clutched onto her sleeves tighter.

“Hey cutie,” Jimin giggled, hooking a finger into her hood and pulling it back to reveal her face. Her cheeks were pink, the same as that other morning. It wasn't from the cold this time - nor last time - she was simply blushing.

Cecilia was met with a toothy grin, his eyes matching the smile. His hair was slightly damp, and sticking to his forehead. With his hand so close to her face she could smell his cologne. Her eyes drifted over his fingers up to his face again. She was frozen. He pulled his hand back, successfully tugging her hood down as he did so.

The butterflies in her stomach were unleashed once again.

“Mind if I sit here?” He asked, his body swaying slightly with the movements of the bus, his other arm reached up to hold onto the yellow rail above. All she could do was nod as she pulled her bag into her lap. As he sat, she felt his thigh brush against hers. It wasn't just brushing against it, their thighs were squished together. Cecilia wanted to move over, afraid she was taking up most of his seat, but she was met with the cold metal side of the bus. Instead, she pulled her legs closer together, practically curling in on herself as she hugged her backpack.

“Sorry I haven't been taking the bus, I was getting a drive to school,” He apologized, as if she had asked. He smiled kindly at her.

“That's okay,” Cecilia responded quietly her voice trailing off in confusion, “Why are you apologizing?”

“Well, I said I would see you that day and I never showed up. It was kind of rude,” Jimin explained.

“It's okay, I didn't really notice,” She shrugged but immediately regretted the words tumbling from her lips. His smile fell, he looked disappointed. It was only a split second before he was able to hide the expression again.

“I didn't mean it like that!” She exclaimed, holding her hands up, “I'm sorry, I- uh, I did notice, I just mean, like, it's- you're here now, it's okay,”

She stumbled over her words and Jimin couldn't help but think how cute it was. He reached one of his hands up and tangled his fingers with hers, stopping her rambling apology. He let their hands drop to rest a top both of their legs.

Cecilia sat frozen, unsure of what to do. The last male she had held hands with was her dad when she was 12. It wasn't uncomfortable, per say, but she was nervous. What if someone who knew Jimin got on the bus? What if they saw him holding hands with her? Did he do it just to shut her up?

“Do you wanna eat lunch with me?” He beamed, eyes hopeful as he turned towards her.

“Uh, I don't know,”

“Why not? Are there other people that you usually eat lunch with?” He asked, curious.

“Um, no, I usually don't go in the cafeteria during lunch,”

“So what do you do?”

Cecilia didn't want to admit that she'd spend lunch in the classroom with her favourite teacher. He was kind of a strict teacher, but seemed to have a soft spot for her. They got on well, they talked about music, books, and life. He would rip into other kids for being late or forgetting their work, but he never seemed to do that to her. Maybe he could see she was struggling and wanted to help her. Either way, she enjoyed lunch periods with him.

“I stay in the classroom, I eat lunch with Mr. Mayes,”

“Oh… why?” He seemed confused.

“He's nice to me. We talk about stuff. I don't like the cafeteria, it's too crowded,”

“Oh okay, that makes sense,” Jimin nodded, not pushing the matter further, “Are you taking the bus home too?”

The bus pulled up to the road outside the school, someone had already pulled the cord, alerting the driver to stop.

“Yeah,” She answered, beginning to stand. Jimin let go of her hand, standing as well. They stood near the door waiting for it to open, the other kids waiting as well.

“Wanna wait for me at the bus stop so we can ride together? The bus gets pretty boring on my own,” He smiled. Of course he smiled, how could she say no to that beautiful smile. Cecilia was beginning to feel drunk off his attention. She felt warm and fuzzy, and even more so as they stepped off the bus and he grabbed her hand again.

“Sure,” She had shrugged, but her head snapped towards his face, as he appeared so nonchalant. As if being seen holding hands with her was no big deal. As if he didn't care if people saw or what they said.

“What class do you have first? I'll walk you there,” He tilted his head to smile at her. Again.

How could she say no?

People didn't stare like she expected them to. A couple people said hello to Jimin on the way, but that was it. Their walk to the classroom was mostly peaceful. Jimin did most of the talking of course. They had passed a couple trophy shelves, as he pointed out which sports he had participated in, about the teams and stories of games. Cecilia listened intently, confused yet enjoying the fact that this kind boy wanted to share such things with her. The warmth of his hand in hers continued to make her heart flutter the whole time. He stopped them at the classroom and ruffled her hair as he had the other morning. He smiled as she complained, giggling as he jogged away before she could possibly get revenge.

The day passed quickly, as she focused on her work in classes. She ate lunch with Mr. Mayes as usual, and before she knew it the day was over. Jimin was at the bus stop before her- but so were about 20 other students. Cecilia hated riding the bus after school, but she usually had no other choice. Jimin immediately smiled upon seeing her.

Does he ever stop smiling? She wondered.

Cecilia walked just a bit faster to reach him, seeing the bus approaching.

They didn't make it on the bus before all the seats were taken. Cecilia cringed, hating having people bumping into her left and right, especially on a moving vehicle.

“How was class today?” Jimin asked as they filed on, moving towards the back. He stopped and reached up to grab the rail, keeping himself steady. Unfortunately, where they were standing, there were no rails for Cecilia to hold onto. People were crowding into the bus, pushing her back towards Jimin.

“Uh,” Her eyes widened.

“Here,” He giggled, wrapping his free arm around her body, hand landing on her stomach.

She immediately tensed. She sucked her stomach in. Her back was pressed against his chest as he held her steady when the bus kicked into motion.

“So, how was class?” He asked again, as if their close proximity didn't bother him in the slightest.

“It was okay,” She muttered, her head turned slightly so he could hear her, “What about you?”

“I mean, it was class. I was just wondering cause I know you don't like going,”

“Oh,” She responded, her body still tense. She became more and more aware of his arm holding her, the placement of his hand, splayed flat against her belly. She could feel the panic rising in her, she wanted to peel his hand off. Not because she didn't want him touching her, no, she enjoyed that bit. However, it was simply for the fact she didn't enjoy people touching her, and certainly not in the spot she was most insecure about.

She tried to see out the windows, to gauge how much of a walk it would be if she got off the bus now. It was still too far and the bus still too crowded. Suddenly the vehicle stopped and five or six people squeezed their way off.

“Come,” Jimin said, finally taking his hand off of her and grabbing her hand instead. She was much more comfortable with that. He led her towards two free seats and she was immediately thankful.

The rest of the bus ride was in silence, but he was still holding her hand. Their stop finally came, by that point the bus was almost empty.

“I have to go pick up my sister,” Cecilia announced.

“I'm sorry,” Jimin blurted out, “You were uncomfortable, I should have asked,”

She knew he was referring to holding her on the bus.

“Um, I guess it's okay, I know you weren't trying to be pushy or anything,”

“I just-” He stopped them, where the pathway parted, “I guess I'll see you tomorrow?”

His smile was different this time. Strained almost, as if it was fake. There was something he wasn't saying but Cecilia didn't want to push him.

Once again, he ruffled her hair, turning and walking away, calling out a goodbye over his shoulder.