The other teens on the bus were noisy, talking to each other, ignoring or unaware of the drama taking place in the back. The bus driver was either too far away to care or just didn’t care period. Everyone was used to the terrible trio harassing whoever was unlucky enough to sit closest to them. Everyone was used to the back of the bus being loud. If Ryan pushed her into the seat and made her kiss him - or worse - she didn’t know if any of them would help, even if she started screaming.

Maybe if she started screaming someone would intervene, but then what? The terrible trio all lived in her neighborhood. They knew where she lived. Even if Ryan got kicked off the bus, it wouldn’t make anything better. It would probably only make things worse, especially since then both Kevin and Lawrence would be pissed at her, and she would still have her last class in the farthest room from the bus pick-up.

All she wanted was her book back... but it wasn’t worth whatever Ryan was leading up to.

“Forget it, keep the book,” she said loudly, too loud in her attempt at sounding strong. She turned back towards the front, but Ryan grabbed her arm as she turned, setting her off balance. His fingers dug in, hurting her, and making her voice shrill with the fear she couldn’t hide. “Let me go!”

“Let her go.”

The deep, low tone was almost like a growl, and Eleanor whipped her head around to see Mike unfolding himself from the back seat, a pissed-off expression on his face. He grabbed the book Lawrence was still holding high in front of him. The bus lurched along the road, and Ryan’s grip released as he stumbled back into his seat.

No one else on the bus seemed to notice or care as Eleanor sank into her seat, feeling completely breathless, her heart pounding so hard in her chest she could actually hear its rapid beating. It felt like she’d just run a mile at top speed.

A shadow loomed over her, and she looked up to see Mike standing over her, scowling.

“Scoot over,” he said, jerking his chin at her. The bus seats on the left side where she was sitting could usually squeeze in two people, but Mike always seemed larger than the other teenagers on the bus and she wasn’t sure they would both fit. Eleanor scooted anyway.

Then she was breathless for an entirely different reason as folded his body into the seat beside her, trapping her against the window and he handed her book to her. He had such a presence it almost seemed strange he could fit on the seat beside her. She took the book from him with nerveless fingers, hyper aware of the silence in the seats behind her, a strange counterpoint to the noisy chatter across the rest of the bus.