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She pulled her attention to the front of the bus, the tops of trees highlighted by the sun creeping from its hiding spot beneath the growing hills. At that hour, there were no other cars to rustle snow across the empty roads.
“Ms?” Erin asked again, seeking clarification.
“Ms.” Julia stated.
She looked down at her hands in her lap. Her right hand was sheltering her left, her thumb grazing over her tan line. That damn habit.
Erin reached over and placed her hand on Julia’s rubbing fingers, ceasing all movement as fast as a pause button on a remote. It was a brief few breaths and then she pulled her hand back, turning her gaze towards the window. That swift little motion, that momentary touch, caused Julia’s heart to grow Grinch style. Oh boy, was she in trouble.
They didn’t say anything else on the ride to the rest stop. Erin didn’t ask what that meant, what that meant for them both, if it meant anything at all. Julia didn’t explain why she still rubbed the ghost of that ring, even with the change of her title, even without pictures lining her walls, even without another person to use as an excuse.
The bus driver flipped his blinker and students stood with more excitement than they had earlier, a bright yellow McDonald’s sign hovering over the skyline. That’s all it took to truly make a teenager happy. Not a field trip. Not expensive Broadway tickets. Not a once-in-a-lifetime moment in the theater world. No, none of that. All it took was a neon Micky D sign.
“Okay, okay!” Julia stood, motioning them to take their seats as she spoke, and they did so without hesitation. “We’re stopping for no more than twenty-five minutes. During that time you may grab a snack, use the restroom, or stay on the bus. At exactly 7:00, we will all be back on this bus and ready to go. Give me a thumbs up if you understand.”
Jacket covered arms flung into the air, a thumbs up in every row. Julia took the walkie talkie from a pocket within her bag. It beeped obnoxiously as she flipped the dial to the ‘on’ position. Her voice sounded gravely over the sound waves as she gave them the same instructions to the other leaders. The door swung open and as icy air filled the bus, students crowded off.
“I’m going to get another coffee from Dunkin,” Erin said, grabbing her wallet from inside her bag. “Do you want anything?”
Julia held up her travel cup and jostled the liquid inside. If she drank another sip of coffee, her kidneys would float to New York City and then all the way back home.
“No, thank you,” she said with a smile. “I’m going to go in and use the bathroom and count heads.”
They both went their separate ways, careful to not brush against the other as they exited at the same time. Once inside, Julia surveyed her surroundings as students flooded the lines, some towards desperate greasy breakfast sandwiches as others gravitated towards the caffeinated drinks their parents wouldn’t let them normally drink. Faculty waited in line for bagels and elaborate cream topped coffees. Everyone was so alive.
“Hey there.” Keegan brushed her elbow, a donut in her hand.
“How can you eat all that junk and still look like you haven’t popped out five gorgeous babies?” Julia laughed.
“Good genes,” she replied, a mouth full of jelly filling. She never was the graceful type. “How’s it going on your bus?”
“Blissfully uneventful. You?”
“Well, Tobin Tulley decided it was a good idea to take a picture of Clara Roen sleeping, so I had to diffuse World War IIII,” she paused, taking a sip of her dark iced drink, “but other than that, just peachy.”
“World War IIII, huh? It was going to be so bad we’d skip an entire world war?”
Julia chuckled as she caught Clara and Tobin holding hands by the door, sharing a muffin. To be that age again, to love so recklessly and forgivingly.
“You realize it is freezing outside?” Julia motioned to the ice swirling in her plastic cup. “They make drinks to thaw you out, too.”
“Cold like my soul,” Keegan deadpanned, sipping the creamy coffee through a straw.
Julia looked over at the coffee line. Erin stood with her hands in her jacket, her weight shifted on one hip. For once she wasn’t wearing those signature heels and her height blended in with the students around her.
She looked at the menu above her, just one other teacher standing in her way of sweet caffeine. Erin’s eyes dropped from the sign and scanned the room full of bustling students fumbling with money. Her eyes caught Julia’s immediately, as if she was the only one there, as if there was a yellow brick road always leading them home.
Julia watched as Erin flashed her that smile, completely disarming any glimmer of conscious thought she had moments ago. Oh, how she could dissolve before that smile, how she could melt right through even the smallest crack in the tile she stood on. She couldn’t help but smile back before turning her attention back to Keegan, who was looking right at her.
“Oh.” Keegan’s mouth was between agape and a smile, her eyebrows raised.
“What?” Julia played dumb, turning her back to where Erin stood across the black and white tiled room.
“Oh, honey,” she groaned, shaking her head with a grin that you could see even past the coffee cup she held in front of her face.
“Stop that,” Julia mumbled through gritted teeth.
“Stop what?” Keegan smirked, loving every moment more as it passed. “What am I doing, Julia?”
