Chapter 154
- Evan -
I looked over at James. "Why so blue?"
He didn't answer at first. The bus rumbled under us as it took the last turn before the coast came into frame. The sunlight flickered through the window, shining gold. James watched it like someone waiting for a verdict.
"My dad," he finally said. "He's making me go to military school once we graduate. Full commitment to ROTC if he gets his way.
I leaned back, stretching my legs out in the aisle. "You...don't want that?"
James rubbed the back of his neck. "I really want to study computers. Systems, engineering, software—that's what I am good at. But he thinks it's a waste. He says structure is everything; discipline is the only path. He doesn't get that coding has structure too." He huffed a quiet, bitter laugh. "Just a different kind."
I nudged him with my elbow. "You're brilliant at that stuff. You could hack the moon if you wanted to.
James didn't flinch, not even a small smile. Usually, a line like that would get me something. Since first joining Duke and me, he opened up, but now I feel he's going backwards.
He stared at the floor and whispered, as if confessing a crime. "I don't want my future decided for me."
The words hung there, vibrating with something sharp and vulnerable.
I didn't push—James never opened up unless a dam had already cracked. "You know," I said quietly, "this trip might help. Clear your head. Remind you who you are."
"Or make things worse when I get back," he muttered.
"Or," I corrected, "make you strong enough to fight for what you actually want."
James's eyes flicked up, almost hopeful, almost terrified. "You really think I could?"
"Yeah," I said. "I've seen you face worse."
He didn't ask what I meant. He didn't need to.
Behind us, Josh and Becky were talking about swimming plans, arguing softly over who would chicken out in the cold water. Kaysi laughed at something Micah said, the sound bright but tinged with that quiet caution she always carried now. Duke was giving Baby a lecture about "packing logically; once again, she had brought too much," which she ignored with an angelic smile.
The bus dipped into a curve; the ocean finally came into view—bright, open, endless.
James stared at it as if it might swallow him or save him.
"It's okay to want something different," I told him. "Even if he doesn't get it yet.'
James took a breath that shuddered like he was letting go of something heavy. "Yeah," he whispered. "Maybe."
James went back to staring out the window at the coastline that blurred past.
I could still feel the weight on him, but she relaxed a little. This was not something to shake off so easily.
Before I could say anything else, Becky turned in her seat, leaning over the aisle.
"You two look like someone stole your snacks," she said, squinting suspiciously. "What's going on?"
James stiffened. I answered for both of us.
"Future stuff," I said. "College. Families. Expectations. You know—terrifying adult nonsense."
Micah twisted around in hers. "So... all of us, basically."
Kaysi gave a slight shrug. "I still don't even know what I want to do yet. I barely know who I am, and suddenly everyone expects me to plan a future." She rubbed her thumb over her bracelet—the one hiding her sealed weapon. "What if I choose wrong? What if... I don't fit anywhere?"
Josh read out and squeezed her shoulder. "You will. And wherever you go, we go. We're not ditching you."
Kaysi didn't quite smile, but her eyes softened.
Becky leaned her chin on the seat back. "I want to go into physics and learn more of my powers...but part of me worries my body might give out again. My mom's still scared every time I leave the house." She whispered, "Sometimes I'm scared too."
Josh took her hand gently. "You're stronger than you think. And you won't be alone."
Micah crossed her arms, but her expression was far from tough. "I want to study to become a nurse in case we need more help during the mission, as well as help the orphanage. At times, I feel I'll fall behind and get stuck if I try." She stared at the floor. "I don't want to fall behind you guys. I don't want us drifting apart either."
"Same," James agreed.
Silence spread across the bus aisle—not uncomfortable, just real. Honest.
I swallowed. "I don't want to drift apart either."
Josh looked at each of us, brows furrowed in that older-brother way he got sometimes. "We've almost died together. We've saved each other. We've lived together at the shelter for a short time. We're not losing each other just because we graduate and move towards our futures."
"Yeah," Becky said, forcing a smile. "But to be real, people say that a lot. Then life just happens."
"Life always happens," Kaysi murmured. "That's what scares me."
Before any of us could spiral, Duke cleared his throat from two rows up.
"Kids."
We all turned.
Duke looked back in the rearview mirror, casual but serious—the kind of serious that meant he'd been listening and thinking.
"You're all worrying about losing each other," he said. "And you should—friendships fall apart when people stop choosing them."
That didn't help fit our faces, so he added. "But your relationship doesn't have to."
Baby peeked over the seat, looking back at us, grinning like she already knew where he was going.
Duke continued, "I know you're all young, but you've proven you operate best together. After this year, some of you will move out, go to college, start jobs... So I have a suggestion."
Josh raised an eyebrow. "Should I be worried?"
"No, this is a good one." Duke pointed straight at him and me. "You two—you've got a mansion. The place was given to Rosa for you and her, and now your brother Josh. It has plenty of space and rooms."
My eyebrows shot up. "Wait—"
Duke kept going, steamrolling any protest.
"Rosa practically raised half of you kids anyway. That house is practically a sanctuary. If she approves, as she probably will because your teachers have planted a little seed in her mind."
"Baby, you're in on this, too," I asked.
"I may have suggested Josh had said something in the past about losing your friends in the future. Although I thought it was half-hearted, she agreed with me that it would be nice to have you kids stay together. It was then that she made the joke about forgetting college dorms when she had a whole mansion she could rent out. You just need to ask..."
Duke added. Spare rooms, shared space with adult supervision when needed. Independence when not." He shrugged. "A home base. For all of you. A way to stay together."
Micah's mouth dropped. "Live...together? Like... all of us?"
"Co-housing," Baby chimed sweetly. "It's very trendy."
I huffed a soft laugh. "Rosa loves family and chaos much less than feeding people. Raising me after my mother and her sister died shaped her life. She never had a family of her own, but definitely saw us as family. It would be her dream to expand that."
Josh leaned back and nodded slowly. It actually...makes sense."
James looked relieved for the first time all morning. I'd... like that."
Kaysi looked out the window again—but this time her expression wasn't lost in thought. It was steady. It was anchored.
"Yeah," she whispered. "I'd like that too."
I looked around at all of them—the mismatched, broken, stubborn family we'd built without meaning to.
"Then it's settled," Duke said, sitting back with a satisfied nod. "You won't be drifting apart. Not on my watch."
The bus hit a bump, and half of us bounced in our seats, laughter breaking the tension like a snapped thread.
Outside, the ferry dock came into view—bright flags, sea air, sunlit glinting off the waves.
A new beginning.
A peaceful visit.
Just a vacation.
The bus rolled forward onto the ferry. Things had been looking up and hopeful. But quietness always came with a price, I felt. Small flutters in my chest of dread tangled together like always.
Whatever awaited us this time, we would face it as always; we had faith that nothing could break that, and sunlight