Plan B

And So it Begins

        I roll down every single window in the bus, needing some fresh air to prevent a panic attack. I lean against the front of the seat right behind the driver's seat, that way I can hear Ben sing along to the music over the roaring wind. I close my eyes and breath in the moist summer air.

        "Ruby, we're almost there, might wanna let Twiggy know that we're in her neighborhood." Ben says, gazing at me through the mirror again.

        "Okay, thanks, I'll let her know." I peer down at my phone and see that it is 8:32pm, right on time. I send twiggy a text. "Hey man, we're almost there, be ready." Very quickly, as if she was just sitting there waiting fro me to text her she texts back,

        "Ready, I'm outside waiting."

        Ben turns the corner onto her road, and sure enough, there was Twiggy sitting on her front porch with a duffle bag and her trunk from summer camp. I quickly jump out of my seat and run off of the bus and right into Twiggy's arms. She pulls away and looks me dead in the eyes

        "Let's do this." She smirks and grabs one end of her trunk, leaving me to grab the other. We shuffle onto the bus and throw her things into the very back seat. I could tell that Twiggy was so ready for this. Ever since the 6th grade she's always been super adventurous and ready to face the world on her own. She's viewing this as her chance to prove her toughness.

        "Hey, where to next?" Ben asks from the front.

        "Lana's!" I yell, loud enough for him to hear me.

        "Wait, shouldn't we have picked up Amelia first? I mean she is the one in trouble and all..." Ben inquires. I walk up to his seat on the bus and wrap my arms around his shoulders from behind.

        "Listen, Ben. It's going to take all 5 of us to get her out of her 2nd floor window, her mother is in the living room, preventing her use of the front door, aannndd, her older sister is in the basement, preventing her to escape out of the back door. So, we have to make like a human rope and help her escape from her window with the help of a tree, sound good?" He sighs,

        "I guess, where to again?"

        "Lana's," I state, dreading having to get her out of her house stealthily. I walk back down the bus to sit next to Twiggy, exhaling. "You know how mad her parents are gonna be? They're going to flip shit."

        "Yeah, it's gonna be crazy. I'm just glad we're in this together." Twiggy smiles at me.

        "Together." I say, as we intertwine our pinkies, it's our -somewhat of a- handshake. We both laugh and lean back into the bus seat. My phone vibrates with a text from Amelia.

        "Hey John walked over to my house, one less stop for you guys, who's all there?" I reply,

        "Tell John thanks, I made Ben drive so he'll appreciated that. I'm with Twiggy right now, we're heading over to Lan's."

        "Cool, see you soon."

        I locked my phone and sighed.

        "Nervous?" Twiggy asks.

        "A bit, I just... it's all our first times being on our own and it's- it's scary, you know?" I didn't necessarily expect Twiggy to agree with me, she's practically on her own all the time.

        "Yeah, I know."

        I look out of the bus windows at the small, yet thriving town passing. I'll miss it, although I'm secretly hoping that we won't be gone long enough to feel homesick. I wish that we could just all live together in a giant house with no parents and just take care of ourselves forever. Soon enough, we pull up to Lana's old and cozy home. I text her,

        "We're here." Twiggy and I get up from our seats and head to the front of the bus, I reach to turn down the volume of the music in fear that Lana's parents might hear us.

        "I'm in the storm shelter in the back, come around."

Right. Lana living up to her "the brains" title. She lives in an older house, and there is a storm shelter in the back yard that we may or may not have used to hot box in. 

        Twiggy and I hop off of the bus and walk around the side of Lana's house, crouching just below the windows. We walk around the corner of her house and into her backyard where the storm shelter was just in view. 

        "Move in." Twiggy says. I quicken up my pace and so does she, following closely behind me. I knock on the storm shelter door and Lana opens in up. Twiggy and I practically tackle Lana, embracing her in a group hug. We all giggle but quickly return to talking in hushed tones.

        "Ben is out front, out of  view of the living room windows though, need help with any bags?" I say, walking deeper into the shelter, inspecting the area. 

        "Uh yeah, if you could grab that backpack for me and, Twiggy, could you grab my art set?" Of course, classic Lana. She can't go anywhere without her sketch book and journals. Despite being very good at her school work, she's very inclined in the fine-arts.

        "Sure thing." I grabbed her back pack, Twiggy picked up her art set, and Lana grabbed her two large suitcases and we headed up the stairs. Stealthily, we walked out front, dodging the light-pouring windows. I signaled for Ben to open up the doors to the bus and we ran in, tossing Lana's bags into the front few seats along with everyone elses' luggage. 

        "3 down, 2 to go." Ben says, starting up the bus and pulling out of Lana's quaint neighborhood.

        "Onward, Wolfmann. To Amelia's!" I yell, very dramatically. I move to the back of the bus and sit myself down in the seat across from Twiggy and Lana.

        "Ready?" Twiggy asks me and Lana. 

        "Ready."