Love Song by Jaz Johnson Page B

complained as she rushed them down the side of the entrance to the park towards the bus stop as the bus was pulling up. “Wait!” she shouted, and the doors to the bus stopped in the middle of their closing to reopen.
    There were a collective group of groans from the people on the bus as Marceline and Song squeezed in, drenched from the rain. Marceline thanked the driver as they inched back behind the safety line, Song gripping onto Marceline’s shirt so not to be separated.
    “Sorry,” Marceline pleaded in forgiveness. “There weren’t even any clouds. I didn’t think it was actually going to start pouring. I didn’t look at the weather.”
    Song placed her hand over Marceline’s thudding chest as a sign of forgiveness, her other hand tucking a few wild, wet strands behind her ear. She gasped at the sudden jerking motion of the bus as it took off, almost stumbling backwards.
    But Marceline’s arm jutted out to wrap around her waist and pull her back against her. Song’s arms clutched around Marceline’s torso, her heart now beating just as fast, if not faster, from the near tumble. Marceline chuckled, Song pouting as she tightened her grip, not being tall, or coordinated enough to balance herself against the moving bus and hold onto the railings provided.
    “You’re not gonna fall,” Marceline said with a roll of her eyes.
    Song continued to look around skeptically, her body shifting with every movement the bus made.
    “So,” Marceline huffed, shaking her wet hair from her face and smiling down at Song. “You like it? Not that scary, right?”
    Song gave a weak shrug, not wanting to admit that Marceline was right so quickly.
    “You’d probably hate the rollercoasters, though. Which is why I didn’t take you on one.”
    Song looked up at Marceline, making and snake like motion up and down with her arm to verify what she thought she was talking about. Marceline nodded.
    “Yeah, the like, trains in the sky.”
    Song’s eyes widened, her face seeming to pale as she shook her head, making Marceline laugh.
    “I know. That’s why we didn’t go. Can’t have the mute girl screaming. Might freak some people out.”
    Song rolled her eyes, wobbling some as the bus shook.
    “Besides,” Marceline added, tilting her neck forward to speak towards Song’s ear. “If anyone’s going to be the first to hear you do anything, I want it to be me.”
    Song felt herself blush at the hidden meaning of the words, the back of her hand whacking against Marceline’s side in embarrassment, and making her laugh again. They’d yet to do much with one another, most likely out of a common lack of experience and shyness. But Marceline hadn’t been shy about flustering Song. In fact, it was one of her favorite pass times.
    “Fucking disgusting,” came the grumble of an old man sitting a seat or two away from them.
    Song’s face fell, but she didn’t turn around to look at the man. She’d heard it. Marceline heard, and she was shooting daggers into him, looking over Song’s head. Three other people were making similar expression as the man as they eyed them, some talking amongst themselves about their opinions. Marceline frowned, glaring towards the lot of them, but looked back to Song when she felt her grip on her torso tighten in discomfort.
    She was already paranoid as it was about what her family would think about her and how she felt about Marceline. She almost hadn’t realized that other people might pose the same threat. She hid her face against Marceline’s chest, and Marceline wrapped one of her arms around her waist to comfort her in response, choosing not to say anything to the man despite her better judgement.
     
     
                  Closing the front door behind her, Marceline could see that Song was still feeling the sting of that man’s words. She rubbed the outer side of her arms as she stood idly in the living room, already having taken her wet shoes off. Marceline did the same before