I slowly stepped onto the bus, my backpack dragging down my shoulders with the weight of three separate textbooks.

“Ow,” I groaned, dropping my bag onto my seat and rolling my shoulders. Braden walked by and shoved me into the window, then turned around and threw JJ into my seat as well.

“Leave Kayla alone,” Lukas said, shoving Braden to the ground. “And, while you’re at it, leave JJ alone too.”

“Why should-”

“Braden, listen up!” Danny shouted. Danny waved Lukas to his seat before speaking. “You will leave JJ, Kayla, and Lukas alone, or I won’t hesitate to have you suspended, or even expelled. Do you understand me?”

Braden got to his feet and nodded, his fists clenched tightly.

“Good,” Danny sighed. “Now go sit down.”

Danny turned and sat back down in the driver’s seat, and Braden stomped back to his seat.

“Are you okay?” I asked, pushing JJ off of me. He nodded and went to stand up, but I grabbed his wrist.

“Kayla, my seat’s back-”

“If you go back there, Braden will torment you,” I said softly. “Stay up here.”

JJ pulled his wrist out of my grasp and went back to his seat anyways.

Lukas sat down in the seat across from mine, and JJ reclaimed his spot right next to me.

“Hey, we should do something tomorrow!” JJ suggested. Lukas shook his head.

“Sorry, I have to watch my sister,” Lukas said. JJ nodded before talking.

“Could we hang at your house, then?” he asked. Lukas shook his head violently, his shaggy hair falling in front of his eyes when he stopped. “Well, we do all live in the same area, right?”

“JJ, Lukas already said no,” I answered. JJ looked at me with sad puppy-dog eyes.

“Okay,” he muttered, deflating like a balloon from the circus. I rolled my eyes.

“If you want to, we could play Overcooked at my house?” I suggested. JJ nodded, suddenly brightening. “Lukas, would it be okay to bring your sister to my place?”

Lukas mulled over my question for a moment before nodding.

“Is there any chance that you have a few books for her to borrow?”

“Lukas, I pretty much live in a library,” I laughed. “I have plenty of books for her to borrow.”

“If she wanted to, would she be able to play-”

“Lukas, chill,” JJ chuckled. “I’m sure that Kayla has everything under control. You’re a fantastic brother. A little fun won’t hurt you or your sister.”

Lukas sighed and smiled.

“What time should we come over?” he asked. I felt myself grinning as I opened my phone and held it out to Lukas, who took it and entered his contact information.

“Hey, shouldn’t I give you my info too?” JJ whined.

“When was the last time you changed your phone?”

JJ shook his head and said, “Never.”

“I still have your number memorized,” I mumbled, re-entering all of JJ’s old info. The second I created a group chat for us, JJ had sent us four memes.

“If you spam me, I will not talk to you,” Lukas threatened. I nodded.

“Me either,” I agreed. Braden, Ryan, and Mitchell walked by us, and Mitchell shoulder-checked both Lukas and JJ, who simply sat still and took it.

“Braden, you may want to tell your friends what I told you,” Danny said. Braden sighed and led his friends off of the bus, beginning to tell of Danny’s threat.

I guess they’re going to Braden’s house now.

“I love Danny, have I said that yet?” Lukas wondered. Danny laughed, reached an arm behind the back of the driver’s seat, and patted Lukas’s knee.

“Yeah, Danny is indeed the greatest person to ever exist,” JJ agreed. Danny just looked at JJ through the mirror.

“You don’t get special treatment,” I giggled. “Hey, Lukas, what’s your sister’s name? Favorite book series?”

“Her name is Theodora,” Lukas answered. “She’s really into the manga series Hana-Kimi. Pretty sure that’s her favorite right now.”

I nodded, thinking back to the bookshelf full of only manga. I made a mental note to look up a recipe for honey lemon slices, as well as buy some chocolate and almonds.

Lukas got off next, followed quickly by JJ. I got off the bus before Danny had to pull me out of a stupor, already looking up a honey lemon recipe on my phone.