Young Adults

CHAPTER 24

Levi burst through the school doors and into the late afternoon light, the sun already dipping low behind the row of buses lined up at the curb. The diesel engines growled, exhaust fumes curling in the cool air, and students shuffled toward their rides in loose clusters. His heart was hammering, a tight, unfamiliar thud that only grew louder as his eyes swept across bus after bus.

'Where is she?'

His boots pounded the pavement as he moved quickly down the sidewalk, eyes darting from window to window, getting more frantic by the second.

'There's no way I'll find her in time...'

And then—like the universe took pity on him—he saw her.

Her face. Lit by the blue hue of her phone screen in the back of bus 203.

A tiny, perfect flicker of light in the blur of bodies and steel.

She glanced to the side absently, until her eyes caught movement. 

Levi. 

He was squinting up through the dark-tinted window, trying to be sure it was her.

She froze.

He knew that look. Hurt.

The kind that burrowed deep and built walls faster than he could tear them down.

His pace quickened. "(Y/n)!"

A few teachers were directing traffic with sharp voices. "Ackerman! Back up, the buses are about to move!" one shouted.

But Levi didn't stop.

"Hey—Levi!" another tried, stepping forward.

Didn't matter.

He reached the bus and stopped just beneath her window, motioning with one hand for her to roll it down.

She didn't.

She just... stared at him.

Those eyes, guarded now, lips slightly parted like she wanted to say something but didn't trust herself to.

Then—

A blur of motion beside her.

Ymir leaned over, throwing a sharp middle finger down at Levi with all the grace of a freight train. "Back off, jackass," she mouthed, then grabbed (Y/n) by the wrist and tugged her to the inside seat.

"Wait—!" Levi barked, stepping forward, palm flattening against the side of the bus. "Dammit..."

But it was too late.

The door hissed shut. The buses jolted forward one by one, tires rolling slow at first, then steady, then gone.

"Fuck." Levi muttered, raking a hand through his hair and watching as the convoy turned the corner and disappeared from view.

He stood there for a moment longer, the sound of silence crashing louder than all the shouting and diesel engines before it.

He then checked his phone. 3:34 p.m.

Detention was at 3:45pm. 

11 minutes left.

He swore again under his breath, spun on his heel, and made for the east wing.

His jaw clenched, his fists tight.

He'd fix this. He had to.

Even if it meant waiting through an hour and a half of hell.