Journals [FreenBecky]

Chapter 8

Freen waited patiently for Becky to board the bus the next day. Sleep hadn't come easy the night before. She was restless with the idea of Becky being something more. The possibilities of what could come of her confession excited her. She didn't know what to expect. She desperately wanted to talk it through with her.

Becky had slipped away from detention yesterday. She'd gotten lost in the crowd before Freen could talk to her. Then she missed the bus, but Freen was starting to think she'd done it purposely. She knew all about Becky 's habit of avoiding problems by literally avoiding them. Freen wanted to explain that she wasn't a problem. There was nothing awkward going on and there was no tension. Freen wanted to clear up her position before Becky had the chance to assume anything.

Nameless faces continued to pass by her. When she saw Becky's flushed cheeks, she grinned. She had her head down, staring down at the floor instead of what was in front of her. She gripped her book bag's straps and chewed on her bottom lip. Becky was sort of hoping Freen had missed the bus today. She wasn't ready to talk about it. She wasn't in the mood to be shut down and rejected.

"Becbec!" Freen squealed when Becky got in earshot. For the first time in her life, it was a voice Becky dreaded hearing.

Becky sighed and lifted her head. She offered Freen a meek smile as she continued to make her way down the aisle. She was planning on occupying the seat next to Irin, but Freen grabbed Becky's wrist and pulled her to sit right beside her. "Sit by me," Freen pleaded.

Although she didn't necessarily want to, she knew she was going to. Becky would end up doing anything for Freen, and it annoyed her. So she slid off her book bag and plopped down next to Freen, prepared to get it over with. She was expecting awkwardness and a bit of hostility. Why wasn't she speaking? Becky turned to face Freen and saw her staring back at her with a tender expression. It made her uncomfortable. She was having trouble reading her. She had absolutely no idea what to expect of the face to face confrontation.

"Hi..." Becky mumbled, sufficiently making things awkward.

"Hey," Freen smiled. "Are you okay this morning?"

"I guess..." she shrugged. Was she trying to soften the blow by making small talk first? Maybe that was it, keep the small talk going.

"Okay. Well, just don't feel weird about what you told me yesterday. I actually wanted to-" Freen began, but Becky interrupted her, sensing where the conversation was headed.

"I don't. But guess what little Emily did this morning," Becky prompted with a small smile.

Even in the relative darkness of the bus, Becky's smile was bright enough to make Freen pause. Instead of wanting to say what she needed to say, she wanted to hear Becky's little story. So she went along with it. As long as Becky wasn't feeling bad about her confession, Freen assumed all was well.

"What did she do?" Freen asked.

"She put hand soap on her toothbrush... Like instead of toothpaste," Becky laughed lightly.

Actually, that was what Becky did this morning. It was a mistake she'd made in her sleepy haze. How she could've gotten those two mixed up, she didn't know. But she felt like it was a more socially acceptable thing for her sister to have done than her. Then she wondered why out of all things, she'd decided to share that with Freen. But whatever, keep the small talk going.

"Wow," Freen smiled.

"You should've seen her face," Becky forced another laugh. It was a dumb thing to be talking about, but it was keeping them preoccupied.

"That's so cute," Freen said, smiling to herself at how quirky all of the Armstrongs were. She was casually going along with Becky's story, she didn't want to abruptly bombard her with questions. She was waiting until the right moment.