“Hi!” I called out, dropping onto the bench with enough force to make it rattle. The impact sent Varun lurching sideways, his textbook sliding across his lap. Who even studies at a bus stop?

He shot me his patented death-glare, fingers tightening around the edges of his textbook. “What are you doing here?”

I whipped out my phone and waved it in front of my face. “Why aren’t you responding to my texts?” I demanded instead. I’d been pinging him all morning asking about his plans for the day.

Rolling his eyes so hard they might get stuck that way, he attempted to scoot away. “I didn’t see it,” he muttered, flipping a page with more force than necessary.

I narrowed my eyes and scooted closer. “I may not be a genius, but I know when someone’s ignoring me. You respond faster than lightning when I ask about tutoring sessions or course material.”

“If you've figured out I'm ignoring you, why are you still here pestering me?” he asked, huffing.

“Because we are going to the same place at the same time using the same mode of transportation,”  I said, grinning.

He finally looked up at me. “What?”
“I’m going to take the bus to the hospital and since–”

“Why are you taking the bus?” he cut in, genuine bewilderment breaking through his nonchalant facade.

“Because my private jet is in the garage,” I said, huffing.

He rolled his eyes and shifted on the bench once again. “Very funny.”

“I know, right,” I crossed a leg over the other and looked around. It was just the two of us at the stop. “Soooo…” I sang. “This is my first time taking a public bus, what are the rules? I tried looking it up online but couldn’t find anything.”

"It's pretty basic," he said, pushing his glasses up his nose. "First, give the driver a serious nod—shows respect. Then, pick a seat that just feels right. And, most importantly, don't talk. Like, at all. Especially not to me."

I nodded solemnly. I could do that. I was about to ask about proper bus decorum when I caught the corners of his lips twitching. "Wait... you're joking?" My jaw dropped.

A small smile flickered across his face, vanishing as quickly as it appeared.
"That's the bus," he muttered, stuffing his book in his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

As the bus stopped, a man in head-to-toe khaki stepped down. "Wait! Take a picture of me with the bus," I said, thrusting my phone at Varun before rushing to stand beside Khaki Man, throwing up a peace sign.

"What are you doing?" Varun hissed.

"I have to commemorate my first bus ride," I said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Khaki Man looked startled at first, but then smiled awkwardly beside me. Varun took the pictures with the enthusiasm I had when I was forced to watch Saksham’s cricket match. I showed Khaki Man a few poses, and suddenly we were having an impromptu photoshoot—until a loud honk made us all jump.
The driver shot us a look that could curdle milk. "We're getting late," my new BFF said, brushing past me to board.

"You're impossible, you know that?" Varun scolded, returning my phone.

"You're impossible, you know that?" I mimicked under my breath, following him onto the bus.

As we were walking through the narrow aisle of the bus, I nearly hit a man’s head with my purse. I really should have brought a smaller bag. “Sorry! My bad!”

"It's okay," the man said, with a small smile. Somehow, Varun looked more offended than the guy I'd almost given a concussion.
“Please just…” Varun pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please just find a seat.”

“Where should we sit? Is there an order of where we should sit?”

“Over there,” Varun said quietly, nodding toward some empty seats. I followed him, trying not to knock anyone else out with my bag. The bus lurched forward, and I grabbed the nearest thing to steady myself—which happened to be Varun's arm. He tensed but didn't pull away.

I plopped down beside him before he could protest. “This is so fun,” I said, nudging his shoulder with mine.

“What’s fun about this?” he asked, huffing. “Dirty seats, they are always late, the-”

“Has anyone ever told you you'd make an excellent Yelp reviewer?” I interrupted his long list of grievances. "Five stars for commitment to complaining."

The conductor—my photo buddy from earlier—made his way to us. He flashed me a wide smile and I returned it with even a bigger one. Varun held up some kind of card, which the conductor nodded at before turning expectantly to me.

“You take card?” I asked as I fished out my wallet. The conductor shook his head, so I pulled out a note—only to watch his eyes widen comically.

“That's... that's far too much,” he stammered, hands raised as if warding off the money. Before I could ask what constituted the right amount of money, Varun handed the man the payment.

“Pay me back tomorrow,” he demanded.

“And next time you want to travel like the common folk, carry a denomination that’s appropriate.”

Feeling like a petulant child, I crossed my arms over my chest and pouted as I leaned back on the seat.

The bus hit a bump and suddenly I was falling sideways, right into Varun. I scrambled back so quickly I nearly gave myself whiplash. After that, I sat ramrod straight.

“Stop sulking,” he said after a few minutes of my perfect posture performance. “You look weird.”

“Sorry we can’t all constantly radiate joy like you do,” I shot back, but snuck a glance at him from the corner of my eye.

He just shook his head, which was peak Varun communication. Determined to ignore him, I pulled up my phone and scrolled through the pictures he'd taken earlier. “Hey, these are actually good,” I said, trying to sound casual and not too impressed because I was still technically annoyed with him. “I look cute.”

"I just captured what was there," he said quietly.

My jaw dropped for the second time that day. “Did... did you just give me a compliment?” I pressed my hand to his forehead. “Are you feeling okay? Good thing we are going to the hospital, you can get yourself tested.”

“Sanjana?”

“Yes?” I batted my eyelashes innocently.”

“Shut up,” he ordered, but I caught that telltale twitch at the corner of his mouth—the one that meant he was fighting back a smile.

I laughed and settled back in my seat. For the rest of the journey, I stayed quiet, but it was a comfortable sort of quiet.