My Romance Life System

The confrontation was over, and a quiet moment settled over his small group, but Kofi knew there was one last thing to do, and he looked at the plastic grocery bag he was still holding, because it had the things Yuna had left behind in the supermarket.

'I have to give this to her, I can't just keep it.'

His eyes looked through the students who were waiting to get on the buses, and he searched the crowd for one person. It was not difficult to find her, because she was standing alone at the very end of the line for the second bus, and she was far away from everyone else, and her headphones were on, so she was in her own world.

"I'll be right back," he said to his friends, and started walking before Nina could ask him a question.

Nina watched him go, her arms crossed over her chest, 'Where is he going now? What is with him today?' and Thea also watched him, her eyes following him as he walked toward the girl from the frozen food aisle. She felt a small, quiet curiosity.

He walked up behind Yuna and tapped her on the shoulder.

She jumped and spun around. She pulled her headphones down around her neck when she saw that it was him.

"What now?"

He held the plastic grocery bag out to her. "You forgot this."

She looked at the bag, then looked at his face. "I did not forget it, I abandoned it, so there is a difference."

"Well, the ice cream is melted, but the tea and the crackers are still good."

She let out a long sigh and snatched the bag from his hand. "Fine, are we done here?"

"One more thing," he said, not giving her a chance to walk away. "So, the trip is seven days long, I was thinking, if you are up for it, you could hang out with us."

The question was in the air now. She just stared at him.

"No."

The answer was final.

"Why would I want to do that," she continued, her voice now a low monotone. "Your group is a collection of social anomalies, because you are a new delinquent, and she is the school's official sad story," she said, and tilted her head toward Thea, "and she," she glanced over at Nina, "is a traitor to her own kind, so it does not look appealing."

She did not wait for an answer, she just turned her back on him, and put her headphones back on, so she was once again in her own world.

He just stood there for a moment.

'Well, that was a complete failure.'

He turned and walked back to his friends. Nina was waiting for him, her eyes narrowed.

"What was that about?"

"Just giving her back her stuff, what, are you jealous?"

Her face went hot, her brain short-circuiting for a second, 'Jealous? Me? Of that gloomy library gremlin? No way!' She immediately tried to deflect, crossing her arms and letting out a scoff that was a little too loud, "Jealous? Don't be an idiot, why would I be jealous? Let's just get on the bus before all the good seats are taken."

She turned and pushed past him toward the open door of the first bus without waiting for a reply, Jake and Ruby, who had been awkwardly standing there during the whole exchange, quickly followed her.

Kofi watched her go, a small, knowing smirk on his face, 'She's so easy to read,' and turned to Thea, who was just standing there, a silent observer to the whole mess, "Come on."

Ms. Lail was standing by the bus door with a clipboard, checking off names as students boarded, "Alright, find a seat, everyone, we want to be on the road in five minutes."

Nina had already claimed a window seat about halfway down the bus, and threw her bag onto the aisle seat next to her, a clear sign that it was reserved, so Jake and Ruby found a spot together just behind her, their shoulders bumping as they sat down.

Kofi led Thea down the aisle, gesturing to the two empty seats across from Nina. Thea slid into the window seat, and Kofi took the one on the aisle.

The bus pulled away from the curb with a lurch, the chaos of the schoolyard shrinking in the rearview mirror, and Kofi settled into his seat, the low rumble of the engine a welcome sound that seemed to wash away the morning's tension. Nina leaned across the aisle from her seat, her sunglasses now perched on her head, a teasing smirk on her face, "So, that was dramatic."

"You think?" he answered, his voice flat.

"I don't know," she continued, her gaze shifting to the window Thea was staring out of, "a public showdown with the queen bee, a mysterious rejection from the library gremlin, you're having a very eventful morning, Dameire."

He just shook his head, 'She's never going to let that go,' and he reached into his bag, pulled out the package of chocolate biscuits he had bought yesterday, and opened it. He held one out to Thea, "Want one?"

She turned from the window, her eyes looking at the biscuit for a second before she gave a small, hesitant nod, taking it from him with her fingertips, and he offered the package across the aisle to Nina, who took two without asking.

Nina looked past Kofi to Thea, who was nibbling on the edge of the biscuit like a small mouse, "So, are you excited about the mountains, Thea? I heard there's a place where you can see eagles sometimes."

Thea's eyes widened just a little at the mention of eagles, her chewing paused for a moment, and then she looked back down at the biscuit in her hand and gave a small, almost imperceptible shrug.

'Okay, that's more than a no, that's progress,' Nina thought, popping a whole biscuit into her mouth, and she looked at Kofi, "You better have folded your clothes properly, because I am not helping you unpack a giant ball of wrinkles when we get there."

"I used a system," he said, which was not a lie.

"Was the system called 'shove and pray'?" she countered, and he just looked at her with a deadpan expression that made her laugh.

The bus left the town behind, the landscape changing from rows of gray buildings to the green, rolling hills of the countryside, and Thea's gaze was now fixed on the window, her eyes following the trees as they flew past. Kofi took out his phone and his headphones, plugging them in, and after a moment, he held one of the white earbuds out to her again, a silent offer.

She looked at the earbud, then at him, and she took it without hesitation this time, placing it in her ear.

Nina watched the quiet exchange, a small, unreadable smile on her face, 'He's such a complete idiot, but he's a good idiot,' and she leaned back in her own seat, content to just watch the scenery and listen to the quiet murmur of Jake and Ruby's conversation from the seat behind her.

They drove for another hour like that, a strange little bubble of quiet in the middle of the loud, chaotic bus, and the world outside became wilder, the hills turning into the dark, forested slopes of the mountains. Thea was pressed against the window now, her breath fogging the glass just a little, her eyes wide with a look of quiet awe. She had never seen anything like it.

Kofi was not listening to his music, he was just watching her watch the world, and he felt a strange, protective warmth settle in his chest.

'She looks… happy.'

It was not a big, smiling kind of happy, but it was a quiet, peaceful kind of happy, and for now, that felt like a bigger victory than anything else.

The hours on the bus began to blur together, the green hills turning into steeper, pine-covered slopes, and the initial energy of the trip settled into a quiet, travel-worn lull. Jake and Ruby were talking in low voices behind them, their conversation about lost cities having moved on to the merits of different historical documentaries, and Nina had grown tired of the view, so she pulled out her phone and started playing a brightly-colored puzzle game with a determined focus.

The bus finally pulled into a large, noisy service station for a lunch break, the hiss of the air brakes a welcome sound, and Ms. Lail stood up at the front, "Alright, everyone, we have forty-five minutes, so get some food, stretch your legs, and please be back on the bus on time."

The students spilled out into the crowded lot, a chaotic rush toward the restrooms and the fast-food counters, and Nina immediately took charge of their small group, "Okay, the burger line is a disaster, so we are going to the sandwich place, because it is more efficient, now follow me."