Tammie and I were both feeling a little nervous about Amelia and Nathan sitting in front of us the next morning for similar reasons. They sat down as normal. I tried to look as apologetic as I could but I was too freaked about having my hair down to concentrate on doing a good job. Gran had insisted upon me holding up my end of our stupid deal. Tammie opened her mouth to start saying sorry to Amelia but I had to interrupt.
"I'm sorry, just everyone hold that thought for a sec. Amelia do you have a lend of a hair band or clip or something I can put my hair up with? Please say you do, Tammie is refusing to help me."
"Don't give her anything!" shouted Tammie. "Sorry," she lowered her voice. "But just don't do it!"
"What on earth is going on?" asked Amelia.
"My Gran found out about us ditching yesterday and in exchange for not ratting me out to my Dad, she's made a deal with me. Her silence if I wear my hair down for the rest of the week. I know, she's insane. She even checked my bag and pockets this morning and confiscated everything I was sneaking into school," I was nearly in tears by the end.
Amelia glanced at Nathan and burst into laughter. "I can't wait to meet your Gran," she sniggered. "How cool is she?"
"No, Amelia. Insane. Insane is the word to describe her. So can you help me out?"
She shook her head. "Even if I wanted to, which I don't by the way, I don't have anything with me. Sorry!"
"Are you done? Can I say my bit now? Is that okay with you?" Tammie asked me snottily. I nodded, feeling a little bit desperate with the need to plait my hair back.
Tammie launched into a long spiel of an apology that Amelia took gracefully. They did all the girly squealing that went along with making friends again. They were so intent on their conversation that it felt like Nathan and I were alone together.
He leaned forward just as I opened my mouth to try and apologise to him. "Oh, wait," I said. "I just need to say something really quick before you go."
He stayed quiet while I spoke. "I have to say sorry about yesterday. I was in bad form all round and snapped at everyone within viewing distance. I was a total bitch and took it out on you too so, sorry." I took a deep breath and winced, not sure if he'd tell me to get lost or not.
He shook his head suddenly, putting his hand on my knee in a completely absent minded way. "No, I was about to say sorry to you," he insisted. I tried to ignore his hand and leaned forward to focus on his words.
"My sister told me you thought I was taking Dawn's side or something but I wasn't, I swear. I was just trying to calm everyone down. Obviously laughing in the middle of it wasn't the best move but you looked so cute when you were all outraged at me that I couldn't help it." He smiled at me so charmingly that I couldn't help myself but to grin back, extremely pleased.
He tugged on my loose hair a little with his other hand. "Obviously I think you're cuter when you're not thinking about physically harming me." I tried not to laugh at that but failed miserably.
He leaned a little closer and whispered to me. "By the way, you shouldn't worry about your hair. It suits you like that."
I imagined myself melting into my seat because that's literally how I felt. He glanced at my mouth and I was convinced he was about to kiss me right there on the bus.
"Oh, get a room already!" scoffed Tammie, abruptly ruining the moment.
We both pulled backwards automatically. He looked at his hand on my knee with the kind of horror that could have been explained had his hand been suddenly amputated. He didn't even bother with a mumbled excuse; he got up and hurried down to the back of the bus.
