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“This is NOT good-bye, OK? We’re definitely gonna see each other again!”
Juliana lingered on the last words Carmine had given her before she’d run off to finish packing. She loved the idea of spending time with her and her brother again, maybe even at their school this time around. She stared in the direction of Kieran’s home, wondering if he’d finish packing already or not.
“That about wraps up our trip. Let’s give our caretaker a huge ‘thank you’! “ Ms. Briar said, prompting the other students Juliana was with to let out a roaring ‘thank you’, one that Juliana hastily joined to avoid standing out at the last moment or seeming ungrateful for the opportunity to be here in Kitakami.
Afterwards the other Paldean students wandered off as they’d still be here for a while longer. Carmine had said her brother wasn’t feeling well to avoid any unwanted questions but Juliana knew that he was still upset about what happened with Ogrepon.
She clenched her fist by her sides, feeling distraught. She knew he was leaving soon. But how soon? Was he leaving early tomorrow morning? Was he leaving an hour from now?
She needed to apologize.
There was no way she was going home without apologizing. Her mom had always told her that apologies should be done as soon as possible and as sincere as possible. And with no guarantee when he was leaving she couldn’t take the chance that she’d be able to see him off in the morning.
No. She was going there now. She was going to talk to him, no matter what.
Setting off immediately, she climbed up the small hill to their house. She got up to the porch and was about to knock when she heard the voices on the other side of the door as Kieran’s grandfather Yukito opened the door.
“Whoa!” he exclaimed, startled by her presence in front of their door “ Ah, Juliana. Sorry about that, ya startled me. Here to talk to Kieran, I take it?”
She nodded, a bit too energetically at first, as she stepped aside for him. He gave a small sad smile before shaking his head.
“I really appreciate ya being his friend but he’s not feeling well at the moment. I doubt he wants to see anyone right now.” he said, looking more disappointed as he went. When he looked back at Juliana he could see the determination on her face, clear as day.
“I absolutely HAVE to talk to him before he leaves.” she said, her voice clear and brimming with urgency.
Yukito looked pensive for a second before he leaned over and made the motion for her to come closer. She did as he requested, coming close enough he could whisper to her.
“You didn’t hear it from me but, if ya go up to his window right up there and make a knocking sound like ‘Kon. Kon.’ he’ll open his window. His Yanma knocks that way. Just make sure he doesn’t see yer silhouette in the window.” came his whispered reply to her plea. His voice had changed from one of sadness to one with hope and a bit of mirth. He had a gentle smile but looking at his eyes you could see the spark of mischief still burning strong.
“Are you..suggesting I crawl in through his window?” She asked, hoping to get that last bit of clarification as that was what it sounded like he was suggesting. But uh….wasn't that a dangerous thing to suggest to a teen? “He’s not opening the door for any of us right now, this may be yer best option. Besides, I’ve seen that beast ya ride on, it should be able to get ya up to the window safely. If ya get caught by Hideko, well, I said nothing.” He continued, seemingly not concerned with the idea of a teenage girl climbing onto the room of his home. Or the fact that she would be sneaking into his grandson’s bedroom that way.
“Thank you! Don’t worry, my lips are sealed!” She gave a broad smile, enthusiastically whispering her reply as he gave her a thumbs up and started heading towards his workshop.
She reached around to her bag, pulling it from her shoulders enough that she could reach her pokeballs and grabbed her Miraidon’s ball. She was about to toss it when she stopped mid throw. Her Miraidon was pretty loud when released so should probably go down the hill a bit at least so he doesn’t alert Kieran’s grandmother. She was a happy and pleasant lady to be around, but seemed like the kind of woman who gave a mean scolding.
Once she was at the bottom of the hill she released her Miraidon who predictably let out a loud roar as he came out. The majority of the residents in the area were in their houses but a couple of people chatting near the community center jumped in surprise. She felt a bit guilty as she could’ve gone a bit further away from town but in her rush to apologize she hadn’t considered going anywhere further than the bottom of the hill. She yelled a quick apology as she mounted Miraidon who happily crouched for her to get on. She made a mental note to take him out later for a run.
With a firm grip she commanded her ride to take her up to the roof of siblings’ home, reminding him to be quiet as he landed on the roof near her target’s window. He landed as gently as possible, though only for a brief moment. She knew he was super heavy and recalled him as soon as she stepped onto the roofing herself.
Maintaining her balance wasn't too difficult, and the height wasn't scary. What did terrify her was the idea that someone would walk up that hill and see her just casually pressed up against the wall near the window like some burglar breaking in. How would she even begin to explain what she was doing up there? She silently prayed Kieran was in his room so she wouldn't have to make up any excuses for being on their roof.
Shimmying over to the window she leaned over just enough that she could knock on the window. Two knocks, just like Yukito had specified. Now she just had to wait. And wait…. Five minutes rolled on by with no response, then ten…
Why was he taking so long? Should she knock again?
< One more time… Pleeaasseee open the window this time! >
She knocked on the window again, this time hearing some rustling from inside. Had he heard it? She held her breath as she heard the latch move and sound of the window rolling over to the other side on the track. Yes! Now to just get in.
“Huh? Could've sworn I heard Yan-yan out here…Ugh.” came Kieran’s voice from inside the room. The confusion in his voice was clear as he stared at the area in front of his open window, devoid of the pokemon who knocked for entry. He let out a groan as he started closing the window again.
< Oh no! He's closing it! I'll just have to go for it! >
“Wa-wait!” Juliana cried out, quickly stopping the window from closing.
“WAAAHHH” Kieran screamed, very obviously startled by the presence of a human by his second floor window. He moved backwards in surprise, tripping over the duffel bag he was packing on the floor and collapsing into a heap on top of it. Another thing for Juliana to apologize for.
She crawled in through the window, tossing her shoes off as she stepped inside. Immediately she knelt by his side, a concerned look on her face.
“I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! Are you okay?! You didn't hit your head did you? Ohhh I didn't mean to..” She rambled as he sat there, splayed over his duffel bag, arms covering his face. If she had looked any closer she would've seen the red tinge to his cheeks of embarrassment.
“I'm fine.” He managed to say, though honestly his back hurt from where he smacked into the floor. Luckily he hadn't hit his head as he was able to slow his descent enough by reaching out and grabbing the blankets from the bed nearby but he'd still hit his back.
Finally he moved his arms out of the way, a small look of annoyance on his face.
“What were ya doin up there?! What if ya fell?!” He complained, sitting up straight. He started rubbing his shoulder to ease some of the pain in the area. He froze when he finally looked directly at her.
She was crying.
“Ah..Um…” He started trying to say something, but words refused to form. What was she even crying for? He wasn't seriously hurt or anything, she just startled him, that's all. Yeah, the way he reacted to her being outside his window was super lame and he had gotten hurt but it wasn't worth crying over.
“I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!” She muttered, trying to scrub the tears from her cheeks. She flinched when his hand brushed against her cheek to wipe the tears.
“H-hey, come on… I was just.. startled, that's all. No reason ta cry over it.” He tried to console her, after all it felt like overkill to cry this much over him tripping over a bag…uncool like. He was hoping that she would calm down if he helped wipe her tears.
He was not expecting her to launch herself at him, embracing him in a tight hug. Her hands reaching up to cling to his back.
“WH-WHOA!” He cried out as he quickly put an arm behind himself to avoid falling over. She tightened her grip, burying her head in his shoulder as her body shook with sobs. He could feel his shoulder getting wet as he wasn't wearing his jacket, only the blue polo of his school uniform.
“Juliana…Look…I'm fine, okay?” He said, an embarrassed tone sneaking in. He'd never been hugged by anyone outside his family so this was a new experience for him. He really didn't want to admit that despite the fact she was crying into his shoulder and he felt bad about it that he was secretly enjoying the feeling of her tightly clinging to him. He reached up with his free hand and patted her back lightly.
He could feel her shaking her head against his shoulder. Finally she spoke, her voice tiny and small against his clavicle.
“No, you're not!..You…You were gonna leave…without saying anything!..I'm sorry…for lying to you…I wanted…to surprise you…and it all went bad..” she continued quietly between small sniffles. Her body still trembled against him but her grip on his back started to loosen.
He sat there frozen, unsure of what to do at this point. He hadn't expected an apology about what happened, he thought he didn't deserve it. That he was too weak and pitiable and that was why both her and his sister had left him out. But it wasn't that case at all? She was trying to surprise him? What did she mean by that?
“I..understand… if you don't wanna.. be friends with me anymore…But I wanted to apologize at least!” she continued, her grip fully coming undone. She released him, sitting back on her folded legs. She stared down at the floor, wiping her cheeks with both hands. After a bit of silence between them with the only sound being her quiet sniffles, she started slowly getting up.
“I'm sorry….I'll..I'll leave now.” She said as she stood up, avoiding eye contact with him completely. Had she taken his silence the wrong way? He was at a loss for words as he watched her turn away and start moving towards his still open window. His body felt cold where her touch had been just minutes ago while a fiery longing for her to come back sprouted up instead.
He scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over that damned duffel bag again as he did. He reached out and grabbed her left arm, briefly noticing how her wrist felt tiny in his hand. He could feel the abrupt stop of her movement as she turned to look at him. He could clearly see her face now, and could see the sincerity in her eyes. She still looked sad but now it was like a quiet resignation. She had already come to the conclusion he didn't want to be her friend, hadn't she?
He quickly closed the gap between them, hugging her just as tightly as she had before. He could hear the small gasp she made as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him.
He could feel his own body shaking with nervous energy. He'd never hugged someone outside of his family before and even that was sparingly done. Combine that with the fact that he was hugging Juliana, the girl who was so incredibly special to him, who shined and sparkled like a gem in the sun, added to his nervousness. His first real friend, one he'd made without Carmine’s help. Without standing behind his sister, without her being friends with them first.
“Do-don’t..Don’t leave... Please” he pleaded, his voice a quiet mumble. With his head on her shoulder he could whisper and she’d be able to hear him. There was so much more he wanted to say but the words bubbled up and tangled with each other in a lump in his throat. The most he could do was cling to her desperately as his own tears started to spill out.
She had apologized, she had tried to explain how things turned out the way they did and here he was, unable to form a single sentence. He felt pathetic and small all over again. She was so much stronger than he was- mentally, emotionally and her strength in battles. He wanted to be just like her, even now as he clung to her in a sobbing mess.
His head shot up when he felt her arms reach around his back in a gentler embrace than before. A comforting, warm feeling shot through his spine and it felt like everywhere her hands touched had been blessed with the delicate warm rays of the sun. Feeling such comfort it wasn’t long until his tears ran dry. Sensing his much calmer state she spoke up.
“Do you..maybe want to sit and talk for a bit?”
He could understand why she asked, they were awkwardly standing in the middle of his room and if either of them moved a couple steps to the side they’d risk tripping over the stupid bag. Despite that, he really didn’t want to let go. He clung to her tighter for a bit before finally relenting and letting her go. His cheeks were red from crying and absolutely not because he was now embarrassed at having clung to her like a child.
Without making eye contact he sat down on his bed, patting the area next to him for her to sit there. She did as he wordlessly asked, though sitting a bit closer than he expected her to. They sat there in silence for a bit, neither quite comfortable enough to be the one to start up the conversation they knew needed to happen. Finally, he broke the silence.
“Y-you um..You said..it was a..surprise?” he managed to squeak out from the words still stuck in his throat. He leaned forward, his forearms resting on his thighs as his hands fidgeted in front of him nervously. He glanced over in her direction, though not daring to lift his head up to meet her eyes. He could see she was fidgeting slightly as well as she was rubbing her fingers together gently in circles.
“Mm” she started, nodding her head, a movement he caught from his peripheral vision. “So.. um..”
She took a deep breath and held it for a second before exhaling.
“At the festival, Carmine and I ran into Ogrepon by those long stairs leading away from the shrine. Believe it or not, I was actually super excited to tell you right away.” she paused when she noticed he lifted his head to look at her.
“You..You were? You wanted to tell me?” he blurted out, watching as she nodded in response. Just hearing those words felt like the weight on his shoulders got considerably lighter.
“Carmine told me to hold off because it was already dark. She said if I told you then you would’ve gone to climb the mountain and it’s dangerous to do that at night. I…I really didn’t want you to get hurt so I kept quiet. I’m sorry.” she continued, looking away from him, opting instead to stare at the floor.
“Ogrepon dropped her mask and the tera shard was damaged so we showed your grandpa and he said he could fix it. I told Carmine later than when it was fixed it’d be super neat to have you give the mask back to Ogrepon but…” she trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence for fear of sounding like she was accusing him.
“But I took it and made a mess of everything.” he finished for her, knowing full well what he’d done was unacceptable even if he was mad and feeling left out. She remained quiet, still staring at the floor before she sat upright and immediately turned to him. Her palms firmly planted on the bed for support as she leaned towards him prompting him to lean back to keep the space between them a reasonable one.
“I really wanted to surprise you, but even if that didn’t work I was still gonna tell you that day! I didn’t mean to make you feel left out and I certainly wasn’t picking Carmine over you!” she declared, a bit of that confidence he admired shining through.
“I mean..don’t get me wrong, I do like hanging out with Carmine but I’m your friend first.” she finished, moving back to a neutral position. Her fingers started fidgeting again.
“Honestly…I was really hoping that Ogrepon would pick you as her trainer….I thought that would be so cool for you to catch the pokemon of your dreams..I really wanted to see that..” her voice started dipping away from the confident tone she’d had moments ago and he could see her eyes tearing up as she went. With a soft sniffle, the tears built up in her eyes slid down her cheek.
“But she picked me…I’m so sorry..I didn’t want her to pick me..I promise I wasn’t trying to take her!” she continued, her tears falling more often until her face was no longer visible behind her hands trying to wipe the tears.
“Pl-please stop crying..You’ll make me cry too.” he said as he looked at her through blurry vision as his own tears fell.
“You’re already crying!” she pointed out, with a small sniffle.
“B-be-because th-this wasn’t yo-your fault and you’re still apologizing to me for it! I should be apologizing! I was being a jerk! I thought ya wanted to be friends with my sister more than me!” he rambled, his words getting stuck on his tongue as he said them at first through sniffles. He reached up to wipe his tears with the back of his hand before continuing. “I thought you were trying to leave me out on purpose. I never even considered any other meanings. I’m sorry. I really made a mess of things.”
Another moment of silence passed between them. His eyes darted around in his field of view where he tried to focus on anything to relieve this nervous pressure that had built up. He stared at the floor, at his opened bag with the pile of knocked over socks from when he tripped over it, finally landing on his hands fidgeting in front of him as he awaited her response. He said he was sorry, that was what you did when you fought with a friend, right? Would she still want to be his friend? She apologized to him, more than once too, so that had to mean she still wanted to be friends…right?
He flinched when a green pokeball came into his field of vision. A friend ball. Wait…didn’t she catch Ogrepon in a friend ball? He looked up at her quizically, the confusion obvious on his face.
“I think you should take her.” she said, pushing the ball closer to him. There was no doubt who was in that ball anymore. He stared at the ball for a bit, longer than would be normal as she pushed it even closer to him. Finally, he gripped the ball and before she let go he pushed it back towards her.
“She picked you. Not me. I don’t think she’d be happy if I took her.” he said, staring at the ball now being held by the both of them. He released his grip on the ball and watched until she put it away again. He gave a small smile as she did. His hand returned to his lap where he began nervously tapping his finger against his other hand.
“Um…Juliana…Can…Can we..” he nervously started when the door to his room swung open almost violently.
“KIKI! I’ve been calling you downstairs, did you finish packing yet?!” Carmine yelled out as she came into the room, freezing in place when her eyes landed on Juliana.
“Juliana?! What are you doi- wait, how long have you been here?! I’ve been downstairs for the last hour and never saw you come in!” She exclaimed, now fully walking into Kieran’s room to stand near Juliana. Her eyes drifted between the two of them before she noticed the breeze coming in from the open window. She looked over at the wide open window before looking back at the two. She pointed at the window, a slightly angry look on her face.
“Don’t TELL me you came in through the window. You DIDN’T, RIGHT?!” she placed her hands on her hips and leaned over to stare directly at Juliana’s face who started leaning backwards to keep the space. Juliana was looking in every direction but Carmine’s face, making her look even more suspicious.
“SIISSS! Knock it off!” Kieran cried out, putting an arm out in front of Juliana as if shielding her from harm. “I’ll be down in a bit, can you just go ahead?!”
“Hmmm.” she leaned back, staring down at them both with a suspicious look in her eyes. With a sigh she waved as she moved to the door before stopping to turn to look at them over her shoulder.
“Don’t take too long making up, our plane leaves soon and we have to get on the bus in about 40 minutes. And by the looks of it you’re still not done packing. So…hurry it up.” She finished her warning and left, closing the door behind her. Kieran gave a small groan as she did, frustrated with her as usual.
“Um..I can leave if you need me to..” Juliana’s voice cut through his frustration as she started getting up.
“NO!” He shouted, immediately grabbing her arm to stop her. Startled, she flinched and sat back down. He let go of her as quickly as he had grabbed her, hands now raised in front of in an unsure position.
“So-sorry.. No, I.. Aww man..” He struggled to get his words out properly before resigning himself in a slump.
“So..it uh, kinda sounded like you were going to ask me something before your sister came in? Or am I wrong?” she asked, her tone the light and airy vocals she normally had when speaking with him. Hearing her voice without sadness made his heart feel warm but he still needed that last bit of confirmation. He steeled himself, taking a deep breath before he turned to face her head on.
“Can we still be friends?!” he blurted out, having wanted to say it more eloquently or at least not yelling it out. To his surprise, Juliana gave a soft laugh. Aww man, was this some new way of rejecting people?
“Silly, we never stopped.” she finally managed after her laughter died down, a calm but happy smile on her face. He could’ve sworn his heart skipped a couple beats there.
“KIKI COME ON, WE GOTTA GO” came Carmine’s voice from downstairs. It hadn’t been 40 minutes yet, but they did still have to get to the bus station and that was a bit of a walk.
“Ahh oh geez! I didn’t finish packing aww mann” he started panicking, dropping to the floor and quickly shoving the last bits of clothing into the duffel bag and zipping it up. He stopped for a second and looked back at Juliana.
“Do you maybe.. wanna walk with us to the bus stop?” he asked hopefully, a feeling of wanting to extend their time together as much as possible blooming in his chest. Her face lit up in response with a wide smile.
“Yes, please! Lemme get my shoes back on” she exclaimed, jumping up from the bed and grabbing the shoes she’d left on the floor. It was obvious Carmine figured out where she’d come in from with the shoes haphazardly dropped right in front of the open window.
“Uhh take em down with you, gramma doesn’t like shoes in the house.” he warned, lifting the duffel bag and standing up. She nodded, taking the shoes in hand and following him downstairs. Carmine was standing by the entrance with her luggage, her foot tapping in annoyance.
“There you are! Come on, we don’t want to miss the bus!” she yelled as she saw the two coming down the stairs. Kieran’s grandmother, Hideko, was standing nearby looked visibly confused when she saw Juliana walking behind her grandson. She was pretty sure she hadn’t seen her come in…Sneaky…Well, her grandson seemed to be much happier than he was yesterday so she was willing to overlook it this one time.
“Alright, already. Bye gramma, we’ll see you next break we get.” Kieran said as he started walking towards the door before he paused and turned back to give his grandmother a hug. She returned the hug, albeit a bit surprised at first. He hadn’t given anyone hugs for quite a long time.
Carmine did the same after Kieran let go and moved out of the way. Kieran motioned for Juliana to head outside as he slipped on his shoes to go out himself. She put her shoes on near Kieran and they both headed out while Carmine was still talking to her grandmother.
He hoisted the duffel bag over his shoulder and started making his way down the hill once he was sure Juliana was by his side. They had walked about halfway down the hill in comfortable silence when Juliana’s voice broke it.
“Your sister’s not gonna be mad we left without her, is she?” she asked, looking back towards his house. He shrugged.
“She was nagging me to get going, so if we miss the bus it’ll be her fault now.” he gave a soft huff as he walked, not bothering to look back to see if Carmine was coming or not. He was, however, keeping Juliana in his field of vision. He was happy that they were still friends and could still stay in touch.
Stay in touch.
Wait. How was he supposed to do that? He didn’t have a rotom phone! Sure, his sister did but he couldn’t just go up to her every time he wanted to talk to Juliana. Crap, he hadn’t thought that far. He stopped walking as his thoughts became a mess of anxiety over how to fix this.
“Hm? Something wrong, Kieran?” Juliana asked when she noticed he stopped walking, coming back over to him and leaning over to the side to see his face.
“Whoa!” He jumped back in surprise, hands raising above his shoulders on either side though quickly lowering them to grab the duffel bag falling off his shoulder from the sudden movement. Once the bag was securely returned to his shoulder, he glanced back at Juliana who stood happily waiting for him.
“Hey uh…” he started before pausing. He was about to ask for her home address so he could send her a letter but what if she was in a dorm like he was? So then, he should ask for her dorm address right? “I’d…like to keep in touch..but…I don’t have a rotom phone.” he finished, staring at the ground as they walked.
“Oh! Good point. Well, I can give you my dorm address since that’s where I’m at most of the time. You guys have school computers, right? I can give you my email too. Lemme just grab my notepad” she excitedly rattled off, slipping her bag from her shoulders and rooting around in the main section for a notepad. Once she got one she then looked for a pen in the small pouch on the front. With those in hand, she scribbled away on the pad before tearing the paper off and handing it to him.
Despite the fact that they were walking and she was writing on a small notepad while balancing her bag in her hands her handwriting was neat and legible. He stared at the email provided, wondering why he’d never thought about that before. Though, it’d be a waste to not get to see more of this handwriting. His cheeks felt warm at the thought of seeing his name written in her style.
They had made it to the area near the community center when they heard angry footsteps and looked back to see Carmine making a mad dash in their direction. Oh boy, here we go again.
When she caught up with them she immediately stuck her hand on top of Kieran’s head in a small smack.
“How DARE you leave me behind to walk with your girlfriend?!” she shouted at him, almost ignoring the fact that Juliana was still standing right there. Juliana, whose face now flushed a bright red, the same color on Kieran’s face as well.
“G-g-gir-girlfriend?! SIS” he hissed, dropping his voice to a whisper to say “Why would you say that?! She’s not my…She’s not!”
“Oh? My bad.” Carmine replied nonchalantly, looking at Juliana who was nervously staring at the ground, still flushed. Carmine turned back to her brother, “You sure? She DID sneak into your room”
“Urrgh, shut up sis! It’s not like that!” he complained in return.
“Watch your tone!” Carmine yelled back, watching as her brother slumped in resignation again.
The remainder of their walk was calm and peaceful. Kieran had settled back into a pace where he was walking next to Juliana and Carmine had walked a bit further ahead having longer legs than them both. Juliana could see the bus stop in the distance and knew their time together was nearing its end. Not wanting to end things on an awkward note she blurted out the first thing she could think of.
“Do you think you’re gonna be as tall as Carmine someday?”
“Huh? Oh..Uh…Maybe? Granpa always said that mom and dad were both pretty tall so..I guess so?” he replied, taking all the self control he could muster to not ask if she thought taller guys were cool.
When they arrived at the bus stop, Ms. Briar and Carmine were already waiting for them.
“The bus should be here any minute now, so might want to say what you gotta say now. I technicaalllyyy already said my whole spiel to Juli earlier as I wasn’t expecting her to walk us to the bus stop. But, again, this won’t be the last time we see each other! I’ve got your number, so expect me to text you. Don’t you leave me on read, you hear?!” Carmine smiled, her tone more playful towards the end. Juliana nodded before hugging Carmine, who surprised, awkwardly returned the hug.
When Juliana let go and turned towards Kieran he felt his mind go blank. He had to say something, especially now that he could see the bus in the distance.
“Send me an email when you get back to school, okay? And if you’re ever in Paldea, let me know!” Juliana beat him to it, a smile on her face that held a bit of sadness as well. He straightened up and nodded in response before taking a deep breath. The bus was almost here.
“Please, take good care of Ogrepon!... and…I’m gonna get stronger, just you wait! Next time I see you, I’ll be a force to be reckoned with!” he said, a passion in his voice that hadn’t been there before. His face however was smiling at the thought of battling her again in the future. Before she could respond, the loud roar of the bus’ engine drew their attention as it halted to a stop in front of them.
The door opened and Carmine immediately got on after Ms. Briar, both waving bye as they got on. Kieran turned to get on as well when a small tug on his wrist caught his attention. He turned back to see Juliana just as pulled him into another tight hug. Man, he was getting a lot of those from her. He was starting to get used to the feeling and was letting his guard down around her.
“I’m looking forward to that battle then.” she whispered in his ear, causing a shudder to pass over his spine. To his complete and utter surprise he suddenly felt something soft on his cheek. It took a couple of seconds for him to register that she had kissed him, his face immediately turning red when it clicked.
Juliana let go, a smile on her face as she turned him around and pushed him towards the bus. He started walking forward, dazed, getting one foot on the stairs on the bus before he managed to look back at her. She waved and with a smile he returned the wave before fully getting on and seated next to his sister.
He just knew his sister was going to tease him about this the whole way back. She already had a wide grin on her face that she was trying to hide with her hand.
When the bus started moving, he watched until he couldn’t see Juliana anymore. As he turned back in his seat he saw the smug look on Carmine’s face and immediately buried his reddened face into the duffel bag on his lap.
He’d really need to work hard now.