Hollywood Hills and Suburban Thrills

As I walked toward The Academy Is…'s bus, my determination, confidence, and all around strength started to evaporate. And as the vacuum of pessimism began to fill me up, I saw the bus; big and red, white, and black, parked by a small fire hydrant, just as Alex had said.

I tried to gulp down my fear but it rose back up through my throat like vomit and I found myself fixed where I stood a mere fifty feet away from my destination.

All the lights on the bus were out except for one small speck that came from the back lounge, and I presumed that that was where Will was. Remorse settled at the bottom of my stomach and I had to fight the urge to turn and run.

Don't be a coward, Dani. A voice in my head commands and I couldn't help but cringe as I crossed my arms over my chest and squeezed them tight. And then, with a deep sigh that I had hoped would calm my raging nerves, I started walking toward the vehicle.

It was like walking to the execution block. My vision had tunneled and all I could see was the door of the bus now. My heart was beating so fast in my chest that I thought it would give out at any second. My arms were still crossed and my hands were in tight fists, my nails digging into my palms with added pressure due to my knuckles being pressed against my ribcage. My pulse was thumping in my ears now and I could barely hear myself think. It was drowning out my senses. And then, I was knocking on the door and the whole world seemed to drop into silence as I waited for someone to stir inside.

The light in the back lounge did not flicker and no other lights in the vehicle turned on either. I wondered if he would be able to hear me knocking from all the way back there, so I knocked again, harder.

Again nothing.

I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Will's number—I had memorized it the day he had given it to me—and I waited as the phone rang.

"Hello--…" His voice asks and I cut him off.

"Will, come outside and talk to me please. I'm sorry for what I did earlier you just…you caught me off gua--…" I was cut off by Will's voice.

"--…you got my voicemail. You know the drill."

I looked at the phone in defeat and flipped it shut as the automated voice explained how to leave messages. What else was there to do? If he won't answer his phone and he won't come out and talk to me, it's evident that he doesn't want anything to do with me at the moment.

But what if he doesn't want anything to do with me for the rest of eternity? A frightened voice suggests in my head and my nerves went bonkers. I looked around to see that the window in the back of the bus was open slightly, the light cast through the shades bright yellow.

I scurried over to it and stood on my tip toes, trying to look through. "Will?" I call out, hopping to try to see him inside. "Will, are you there?" I tried to jump higher, but the window was rather high up for such a shortie like me. So with a sigh, I walked to the side of the bus and pressed my hands and my forehead against it in aggravation. "Will, if you're there please say something." I start begging but not a sound was heard from inside the bus. "Will, I'm sorry, okay?" Still nothing was said on his part. "I don’t have any excuse for the way I reacted tonight." Now I was getting upset. "But you could've at least told me how you felt first. I mean you can't just go around kissing girls that have the idea of 'just friends' in their head. "That throws us way out of whack."

I half smiled as I remembered Alex saying how complicated girls are, but the smile was wiped clean when Will once again did not reply, but I did hear him huff. And that only made me feel guilty.

"I guess I should've told you how I felt." I murmured pathetically, pressing my head harder against the cold metal of the bus. "I should've told you that I've had a full-blown crush on you from day one—and that that little 'crush' has quickly developed into something more, though I don't exactly how big of a something it really is yet." I shook my head. "What I'm trying to say is that I really like you, Will. More than I've ever liked a guy before. You're sweet and honest and funny and even though you can be cocky sometimes, you're still one of the most genuine guys in my life." He didn't say anything this time and the rejection was starting to bloom in my heart like a storm cloud, blocking out any sunny rays of hope left in me. One little sparkle was left in me. "Can you ever forgive me?" My voice trembled as the emotion I was bottling up spilled over and tears began to form in my eyes again.

And then, footsteps were heard from behind me, walking quickly toward me. I whipped around on my heels to face whoever was coming forward, but before I could turn around fully, two hands were on my hips and my back was pressed against the bus instead of my forehead. And then, a familiar pair of lips were on mine again, kissing me softly and setting off fire works in every nerve ending of my body, and my eyes slid closed.

Will's arms slithered around me, separating me from the bus so that I was now pressed flush against his body instead. Not that I minded, of course. I smiled into the kiss as my arms wrapped themselves around Will's neck and my fingers tangled in his hair. His fingers her knotted in my hair too, causing Shawn's fedora—which I had long since forgotten was on my head—to fall ungracefully to the ground.

And then, just as quickly as this kiss had started, it was over. Will pulled away, and I could hear him breathing heavily just centimeters away from my face. My eyes peeled back slowly to see his brown eyes level with mine, sparkling and bright like they had been that first day back in Chicago.

"I'm going to go ahead and assume that I'm forgiven then." I say lightly, swishing my bangs out of my eyes.

"I don't know." Will drawls out with an evil grin. I narrowed my eyes at him and tightened my fist around a wad of his hair, making him wince, and then smile. "Did you really have to ask?"

I smiled and reached up on my tippy toes to press my lips to his again gently, and out of the shadows, cat calls, howls, and whistles erupted and Will and I ripped away from each other to look around, though he kept me close to him.

"It's about time, you two." Gabe sings as he walked into the light from the lamppost nearby.

"I agree with whore-face over there." Pete laughs as he too made it into the light and Gabe spluttered his disapproval.

"Shut up guys," Will mumbles half-heartedly, looking at me again with his nose pressed against my cheek. I blushed and looked down, but not before I caught sight of a very smug looking Alex Gaskarth.

I narrowed my eyes at him as a malicious smile spread across my face and his eyes shot wide open. I laughed aloud and everyone looked at me. I feigned confusion. "What?" I ask innocently.

"What's funny?" Pete asks, his eyes darting between Will and me.

"Your face." I answer before looking back to Alex. He had a toothy grin on his face and was fluttering his eyelashes rapidly, making kissy faces. "Shut up." I say and he laughed.

"I'm so confused!" Barakat yells dramatically to the sky, his hands out and palm up in front of him, causing everyone to laugh.

"Don't think too much Jack," I advise as I pulled myself out of Will's grasp. "I can smell the smoke seeping from your ears from over here." Everyone laughed again and I slid my hand into Will's lacing my fingers between his and started to pull him away. I had only gotten a couple steps, however, when I ran into Shawn Harris, who was looking at me intensely.

Confused for a moment, I remembered that his cherished fedora was laying in the dirt behind me, so I turned on my heels and scooped it up, brushing and blowing it off before placing it on top of his head. "Do I really have to apologize for that too?" I ask desperately when Shawn's hard eyes didn't lighten on mine.

Slowly, a smile spread across his face. "Of course not, love." He winked as he walked past my side, leaning in to whisper, "just don't let it happen again." And then he disappeared into the shadows as quickly as he had appeared from them.

"Come with me?" Will whispers in my ear and a shiver rolled down my spine.

"Anywhere," I reply, and then he pulled me away.