Little Miss Perfect - Kelly Aldrich

4

The bus drive was really low key for Paige. At first, she didn't really want to do anything, so she laid her head against the window and listened to music, before taking out her book to read a few chapters. After a while, the roads began to get really bumpy and trying to read while having bumpy roads did not make Paige's head feel good. She decided to call it quits while she was ahead, so she slid her book back into her bag as she laid her head against the window and just listened to her music, trying to ignore all the shouting and talking, as well as the pounding feeling she had in her head. Eventually she felt a nudge on her shoulder that sent her looking over to Allie who was staring her down. "Yes?" Paige asked, pulling an earbud out. "You've been so quiet." "I get carsick." Paige replied, wanting the conversation to end quicker. "It's weird that you're saying that." "Why?" "Because it looks like Kelly is going to puke. It's hilarious." Paige looks back from the front seat to see Kelly near the middle of the bus on the outside of the seat with Harry on the inside by the window, trying to calm her down. Kelly looked very pale, almost green and it actually made Paige feel bad for her. Puking in front of everyone would be so embarrassing for Kelly, and as much as Paige liked to see the high class humiliated, she had no reason to get back at Kelly right now. The two weren't fighting, in fact, they seemed to be fine with each other and so Paige didn't really want this to happen to her. Paige had no idea why she felt bad for Kelly, she never had in the past, perhaps her sister's kind words of telling her to "grow up" actually did sink into Paige's brain. Paige knew she had to do something. She went deeper into her bag to find another pair of headphones wrapped up. She undid the headphones before she stood up, alerting Allie. "What are you doing?" "Just move for a second." Allie, caught off guard, stood up so Paige could move past her and sat back down and watched as Paige began to make her way down to the back of the bus. As Paige got closer, Paige could hear Harry trying to help Kelly, but the way he was talking to her bugged Paige. "Do you have a bag you can just throw up in?" "No just....shut up Harry." She put her arms around her waist as Harry tried to help her. Paige approached them and bent down to Kelly's level, catching Harry off guard. "What are you doing Benedict?!" Kelly rose her head up as Paige held out the headphones. "Put these on and lay your head against the window. Switch spots with Harry and get water from time to time." Kelly stared at the headphones before she took them. "Thank you." Kelly stood up as Harry and her switched seats. Kelly plugged the headphones in her phone before she put her head against the window. Paige stood there for a moment, before Harry hit her leg causing her to break out from her zone. "Thanks Benedict. Now sit back down before you fall flat on your ass." Paige rose a finger up to Harry before she rolled her eyes and turned to walk back to Allie. She sat back down at the seat and Allie looked over at her, still confused about the whole situation. "What was that?" "I know what it's like to get carsick. It sucks. Plus in front of all these people, she would've been humiliated." "I thought you hated Kelly?" "It's not that I hate her, it's just that I hate everything she stands for. But right now, I don't despise her for anything. She hasn't done anything to me and I haven't done anything to her. So why would I start something just to probably have it end up backfiring in my face?" "You know, that's a really mature thing to say to Paige. I'm surprised." "I am too." Allie laughed as Paige put her head down on Allie's shoulder and turned her music back up. She was at peace with what she had done, even though all it did was confuse Kelly Aldrich. Why had her supposed enemy tried to help her? She was confused but ultimately, did not feel like puking on this bus. So, like Paige said, she plugged her headphones in and laid her head against the window. She ignored the other kids who tried talking to her and stared out the window, until she felt her eyes get heavy and she fell asleep. Eventually everyone started to deteriorate and fall asleep, teenagers only have so much energy before they crash. Paige looked back to see a lot of her classmates asleep. She sat there, and looked outside at all the trees in the forest as she felt a wave of exhaustion hit her like a brick. She leaned back onto Allie as she cuddled up onto her shoulder. She closed her eyes as she began to fall asleep.