The next day, Sarah reluctantly woke up and started getting ready for school. She brushed her teeth, contemplated changing her outfit one too many times, and made her lunch. She grabbed her bag and went out the door, trudging towards the bus stop. Taking out her phone, she glanced at the time. 8:02. The bus usually arrived at 8:20. She had at least fifteen minutes to herself, so she decided to spend that time checking her Elmore Plus account.
Clicking on the icon and going to her profile, she wasn't surprised to see that she had no notifications. She looked at her recent posts, which was mostly just pictures of herself and and her family. Those got a few likes here and there, but nothing special. She wondered what the other students would post that would gain an abundance of likes and comments. Terri would probably blog about some new hygiene hack or something like that, while Penny would post something with her and Gumball. She checked the time again. 8:19. The bus should be here any second. Before she turned off her phone, she decided to check out Gumball and Darwin's profile. Unfortunately, as soon as she clicked, a message popped up.
You have been blocked from this profile. She sighed heavily after reading and turned off her phone, just in time for the bus to stop right in front of her. The doors opened, revealing a cheerful Rocky driving the bus. He greeted her happily.
"Heya, Sarah! Hop on." He said cheerfully. Sarah put on a small smile and got on the bus. She was deciding where to sit when she heard Penny's voice calling her.
"Sarah, come sit over here!" Penny exclaimed. She was near the back of the bus, where rarely anyone sat. She waved her over and coaxed her into sitting next to her. Sarah smiled.
"Hey, Penny. How have you been?" She asked.
"I've been doing good. I had to miss cheer practice though. My little sister was sick so I had to leave school early to take care of her." Penny explained.
"So that's why I didn't see you in chemistry." She spoke.
"Yep. Speaking of chemistry, me and Gumball were partners in chemistry the other day. You should've heard what we were talking about! Sometimes I forget we have so much in common that--"
Sarah blocked out whatever "cute" thing she was going to say about Gumball. She gritted her teeth, trying to make it look like she was listening. She really didn't like it when she talked about Gumball, especially since she wasn't exactly over him or Darwin. She knew he was into Penny, of course, but she always wanted a strong connection between her and Gumball. Their conversation was cut short when the bus stopped, and all the students exited the bus. She got up to leave, but not before Penny said something.
"I'll see you at lunch." Penny giggled.
"Y-yeah." Sarah replied sheeply before heading off the bus and into the school.
Making her way to her locker, she passed by Gumball and Darwin talking. As she walked passed them, she squeaked out a small "hey," making the two boys glance at her. However, as soon as they saw her, they frowned and put on a face of fear, and quickly turned away. That added another weight of guilt to Sarah's shoulders as she finally reached her locker and gathered her books for her class. Remembering what Mr. Small said, she made a small promise to herself to never repeat any creepy actions to Gumball or Darwin. But, looking back at the boys with sudden lovestruck and infatuation, she would find that keeping the promise would be harder than she thought.