Next to me, Noelle looked like she was holding back a grin.

“Oh, you know, team spirit,” I lied.

“I see! Would you like to sit with me on the bus?”

“I think I’m going to sit with Noelle,” I said. “But maybe we can sit together on the way back?”

Amelia’s smile crumbled. “Oh. Yes, that’s fine with me.”

“Cool,” I said and watched as she turned around and got on the bus.

A small nudge from Noelle got me moving as well. Together, we found two free seats in the back while Amelia sat down next to Elina in the front, adamantly avoiding my gaze when I passed her.

Noelle let me take the window seat before she sat down next to me. While I had to stifle a yawn, she seemed wide awake, incessantly moving around and bobbing her leg until I put a hand on her knee.

“Sorry.”

“It’ll be fine,” I assured her. “You trained so much for this.”

Noelle didn’t look convinced as she looked over her shoulder at Mrs. Whitworth, who was coming along since it was the first away game of the season and was sitting next to Miss Pepperman, who had dressed all in blue to match the occasion.

The bus was almost completely full now and the bus driver was about to close the doors when a silver mop of hair poked inside.

“Apologies for being late,” Jasper told the driver, his eyes raking over the rows of seats until they found us. Seth was close behind him as he strode down the aisle, both wearing matching grins.

“What are you doing here?” Noelle asked, a broad smile on her face when Jasper and Seth squeezed into the row behind us.

“What’s a fan club with only one member?” Seth said, ruffling my hair.

Noelle raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you guys interested in basketball?”

“We aren’t,” Jasper snorted. “We just thought it would be fun to cheer you on, Daniels. Plus, who else is going to hold back Evelyn when she tries to storm onto the court again?”

“That’s not going to happen,” I objected. “She gave me her word to be careful.”

Jasper shook his head. “Noelle doesn’t know the word careful.”

I silently disagreed, the memory of her gentle fingertips from the other night still on my skin, but didn’t say anything.

“Shut up, Frenchie,” Noelle said without any heat. “Believe it or not, I’d prefer to sleep in my own room instead of in the infirmary.”

“Me too,” I threw in.

Seth chuckled. Then, he said, “Hey, Eve, did you see the new update on The Chitter Chatter?”

“The one about you two?”

A few days ago, The Watcher had posted an entry about Seth and Jasper being together. I had read it several times, so I could recite it by memory by now:

Seven Hills’ golden boy and that one tech nerd are apparently now a thing. It’s not like we didn’t all know that Jasper was going to find a new boy toy soon, looking at his dating history and the fact that there’s always someone desperate enough to try to throw themselves at him, but I think no one expected that someone to be Seth Williams. But don’t worry, @everyone that just had their hopes of getting a piece of the infamous Jasper Des Lauriers crushed: I’m sure he’ll be on the market again soon. After all, no one ever manages to keep Jasper’s interest for long.