"Are you about to kiss me?" Lizzie whispered.
"Do you want me to kiss you?" I asked, a small smile on my lips as we sat much too close for this to be anything else.
She exhaled out of her nose and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know if I like girl...
It's rather clear she lived alone by the way her parting was crooked in the back and the brunette hair dye sat on the skin around her scalp. Unlike yesterday, she had her glasses on top of her head that were moving gently with whatever tunes she was playing through her headphones this morning. I've noticed over the last three weeks that she was always spinning her rings around her fingers from the second she got onto the bus until we left the vehicle nine stops later. It was rare she would look my way the same time I was looking at hers but when our eyes did meet, I would catch a small smile out of the corner of my eye as we both dropped our attention to the polar opposite direction from each other. She had approximately three university outfits that were pretty much just variations of the others. Sports leggings, ankle-high white socks, short brown Uggs and always a different hoodie. Today it was a dark grey one with the letters, LA, printed on the front in a white font. Yesterday she was rocking a white, slightly makeup-stained one that had a band logo in a big font on the back. She wasn't like every other person on the bus. Yes, she wasn't as Irish as the rest of the Dublin crowd here but there was also an aura that danced around her with a golden band as if she was a whole-ass angel or something.
She didn't look at me this morning and I've been thinking about it all day. In and out of lectures, chatting with my one friend, grabbing a coffee afterwards and still, when I put my headphones back in to walk to the bus stop, I was trying my hardest to picture her eyes and if she had looked at me, I might have been able to see some sort of emotion or feeling that reflected back to me and gave me a small bit of reassurance that maybe the brief glances we had exchanged weren't just in my head, that there really was some unspoken connection between us.
I didn't know her name yet, but I knew she was studying at Trinity College because she always had the same TC tote bag on her shoulder and I knew she was around the age of 20-25 because when we would get off at the same bus stop at uni, we looked almost identical. Not in looks of course but in the way we dressed and our mannerisms, it was clear we were of the same age.
I have been living in Dublin for about a year for my master's degree in literature and there were a lot of people I had encountered in that time, but none of them had really stuck in my brain like she has. University was simply a secondary thought to me now, I still put effort into my studies, and I still had the same ambition to be a writer, but I subconsciously found myself diverting my attention slightly. My coursework was slowly turning into sketches of the back of her head or the way she sat slightly awkwardly in her bus seat.
I'm aware of how weird it sounds as a 21-year-old adult to be obsessing over a tiny little crush, but she had this hold on me I simply can't describe. I have to admit, I was slightly disappointed when I stepped on the heavily busy bus after uni and she wasn't there. Sitting down in my usual seat, the only seat free with room for me to put my bag down. Turning up my music, my eyes fell to the window, seeing if I could catch a glimpse of the outside world when someone lightly tapped my shoulder twice.
"Sorry, can I sit here?" she asked.
I turned my head to her and opened my mouth minimally like a fish, taking out my headphones and giving her something between a nod and a shake of my head. Say something Y/N, say something right now.
"Um- your- yes- yeah," I stuttered.
Smooth.
She nodded slowly, a subtle smile on her lips as she sat down. For the first time, the scent of vanilla and strawberries entered my nose as my jaw clenched, trying to fight back my own smile.
"I um- I like your hair today," I started again.
She furrowed her brows and turned to look back at me, taking out her headphones.
"You- your hair, I like your hair," I repeated.
"Thanks," she smiled slightly, a strong Californian accent slipping through, "did you say you like my hair ... today?"
"Nope," I smiled back, "I really don't know what you're talking about ... maybe you're crazy."
"Maybe," she smirked, her eyes falling back to the front of the bus, "maybe we're both crazy then."
"Why am I crazy?" I giggled.
"I don't know, you're the one who keeps staring at me every morning," she laughed, looking back at me, "it was a bit weird at first but ... I think I'm staring at you too."
"Really?" I asked, furrowing my brows.
She shrugged her shoulders, "I mentioned it to my friend, and he thought it was a bit weird too."
Boy friend.
"Boy friend," I verbalised.
God, what has gotten into you Y/N? I'm usually such a smooth flirter but today, it was all going tits up.
"You are peculiar," she smiled over at me.
I hummed and nodded slowly, "yeah I get that a lot."
She laughed out her nose and bit her cheek, an ever-present smirk on her lips that was a little too flirtatious for comfort. I so wanted to press her to see how far she would go but-
"Could you press that for me?" she asked.
"What?" I asked quickly.
"The uh- the bus button thing, to stop the bus," she laughed.
"Shit yeah of course," I exhaled, "sorry I don't know what's wrong with me."
She hummed once more and laughed harder under her breath.
"Y/N," I spurted.
"Most people would've said my name is first," she giggled, her cheeks blushing and her nose scrunching.
"Yeah ... I'm- yeah," I laughed back.
"You're not most people," she told me quietly, "I'm Elizabeth."
"I'm gonna call you Lizzie," I decided.
"Okay," she laughed out her nose, "I will see you tomorrow then Y/N."
"See you tomorrow Lizzie," I smiled back, slightly relieved that this literal torture was finally over.
"I like your hair too," she winked, getting up and leaving me on my own once more.
___
A/N - Hi again ... ;) Firstly, look at mother
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Secondly - welcome to story number 6! I had a bit of a break (it was literally a week) to plan and start writing this new story for you. I received a few negative messages and comments about my writing which stumped my confidence a little bit but then I realised that I am literally just a girl and channeled all that female rage into this next book :)) Uploads will be every few days at the start
