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“Oh, I don’t think you want me to date myself again. If you pushed it out of your memory, then that’s a good thing!”
Erin’s eyebrows rose, wrinkling her beautifully tanned skin.
Julia compromised. “A long time.”
“And there’s still a spark in your eyes for it,” Erin said. “That’s impressive.”
The bus grew quiet as full tummies sat back down and sunk into slumber. They turned onto the highway and all bumps ceased–nothing but road noise and flashing cars out the foggy windows to distract the quietness.
“You and Keegan are really close,” Erin spoke after minutes of silence.
“We are. Sometimes it’s hard to make friends in this line of work. There’s so many lines and it takes me so much time to separate it all out. She’s been my constant.”
“I’m sure everyone-knows-everyone in a community as tight as Kleinton.”
“Exactly, and Keegan’s always been there. Joining work and friendship keeps things interesting.”
The bus jumped as a pothole covered in snow was hit by the driver. Erin’s hand instinctively went to Julia’s thigh, but she pretended not to notice. Julia glanced towards the back of the bus. Most students settled back into their seats–only a momentary oh, ah, and woah rolling down the aisles.
Erin’s eyes darted down to Julia’s leg, and she quickly removed her hand.
“She’s married, right?”
“She is. A very nice guy named Ben,” Julia answered, her focus still on the chatter in the back, and most certainly not on the warmth Erin left behind on her skin. “They have five munchkins themselves.”
“Has there ever been anything between the two of you?”
“Erin,” Julia gaped, looking around to see who could hear. “Never.”
“That was inappropriate,” she excused apologetically, her hand covering her mouth. “I’m sorry. Sometimes I just look at you and my lips are moving before my brain can really think it through.”
Julia just looked at her for a moment. She knew the feeling, all the words that constantly threatened to spew from her mouth anytime she was in her presence.
“When I said there was no one in my life,” she whispered, her lips just inches from Erin’s ear, “I told you the truth.”
“It just seemed like there was something there,” Erin paused, “at the last stop.”
If the bus was quiet before, it was a ghost town now, and Julia was growing more self-conscious by the second. And then it clicked. It was the moment that she held Keegan’s hand at the rest stop, a simple touch they’d done so many times before.
“Oh,” Julia tried to hide a smile. “Ms. Calanis, am I sensing a little jealousy?” Erin sat a little straighter as a slight flush of pink slowly crawled across the tops of her cheekbones.
“Well, I, I–” she stuttered, “no, I just–I guess I keep looking for an explanation.” Her gaze dropped and then she shook her shoulders in a literal attempt to brush the situation off. “Nevermind. Forget I said anything, please.”
Julia was shocked–her teeth unknowingly clenched even though her shoulders slumped in comfort anytime she was next to her.
“We were talking about you.”
“Huh?” Erin’s cheeks flushed even brighter than when they both were blindsided and stood in the same room at that faculty meeting.
“Keegan and I,” Julia clarified. “She says you make me smile.”
“Friends are supposed to make each other smile.”
“You do an extra good job,” whispered Julia, focus momentarily pulled towards the window.
“That sounds like a good thing,” Erin whispered back, her chin almost touching Julia’s shoulder as she leaned just slightly closer.
“It is,” she spoke the words gently and her entire body was engulfed in a wave of rolling goosebumps.
