Half an hour later we were on the road, with boys in the back cabin doing God knows what and me in the driver’s cabin, thinking to myself and thanking God that even though I didn’t have a license for driving a bus I almost knew how to do it. Joe started his job as a bus driver when he turned legal. He knew how to drive even before reaching that age but no one could offer him a job because he was underage. He had taken me to places on his bus before. Sometimes he would explain how things worked. I had never tried it until now but he had given me the idea and it looked like it was working.

Tears started forming in my eyes at the thought of my brother. I still couldn’t believe he was in a come. How many people actually fell out of a coma? Could Joe be one of them? I couldn’t afford losing him. He was all I had.

Suddenly, without a single warning the door burst open and in came Niall singing an unfamiliar song in a loud voice making me jump in my seat and therefore losing the control of the steering wheel. It all lasted for a few seconds and then I gripped the steering wheel again making the bus go its straight way but the movement sent Niall stumbling forward. He sat in the passenger’s seat and closed his eyes trying to calm his breathing.

I kept myself from screaming my lungs out. I had to remind myself I had to act like a boy but still what I said next came out as a bit squeaky.

“What the hell... man?” I added the last part to make up for my high pitched voice. All the signs of tears were gone from my face now, at least this had one advantage for one of us.

“I’m sorry mate, didn’t mean to scare you.” He finally opened his eyes. “I just brought you some snack. I figured you could use some since it’s been you’ve been driving for so long and we still have a long time ahead of us till lunch.”

I noticed the bags in his hands and couldn’t help but smile. He called the one hour of driving “so long” and it was already 11 a.m. so by a long time till lunch he must have meant two or three hours but still it was really nice of him.

“Well, you know, there’s something called knocking…” I teased him.

“Yeah I might wanna try that next time!” He exclaimed and opened one of the bags of chips and placed it near the gear so that we both had access to it.

“Don’t ya feel hot?” He said with a mouth full of chips as he eyed me in my long sleeved shirt.
I pulled my sleeves even lower self consciously. I wasn’t exactly a hairy type of person and even though I hadn’t shaved for a week I couldn’t pass as a boy.

“Nah, it’s just… it’s just that I burn quite easily so I have to cover up myself most of the times.” I said awkwardly. Nice job Jessie, nice job! And what excuse are you gonna give for nights? Allergic to moonlight?

Niall didn’t seem to notice my uneasiness though. Took another fistful of chips and shoved it in his mouth as he lowered in his seat and put his feet on the dashboard and nodded at me.

“So… You’re Irish…” I said out of nowhere just to break the silence.
He laughed and nodded.

“What about you? Are you a New Yorker?” He asked and opened another bag of chips as he had finished the first one all on his own.

“Yep! I live there with my twin br… sister, Jessie!”

“You have a twin sister?” He exclaimed and looked me up and down, analyzing me for the first time. “The female version of you must be hot.”

“Yeah she’s so damn hot!” I said with a smirk on my face. If I was going to be Joe for two months I might as well have some fun by messing with these boys.
My smile widened as I thought of something mischievously.

“Man, I miss Norah already!” I faked a sigh.

“Who’s Norah?” He asked curiously.

“My girlfriend.” I replied, keeping my eyes on the road and trying to keep myself from giggling.

“Oh, you have a… a girlfriend?” He stopped shoving stuff down his throat for the first time while we were talking.

“Yeah, she’s my everything! Don’t you?” I was worried I was being obvious and blowing my cover but one look at Niall’s face and I realized that’s not the case.

“I can’t seem to find the right girl! And even when I find someone who I like, I just can’t seem to keep them around.” He said as he shook his head and went back to eating. Oh, so he was an emotional eater too? Like his supposedly normal routine was not enough!
“Why not?”

“I don’t know. They get a little close to me and I freak out.”

“So you’re afraid of commitments!” I huffed out.

“You sound just like my ex, but yeah I guess I am.” And with that he opened a box of cookies.

“Hey, you gonna skip lunch?” I asked. There was no way he could have lunch with eating all these crap an hour before it.

“No!” He exclaimed as if it was an obvious matter and that somehow I have offended his beliefs or something. The boys was a piece of work!

“Anyways… it’s not just about commitments.” He went back to our previous subject.

“What is it then?” Was I really giving a guy dating tips?

“That’s the thing! I don’t know what the problem was. I mean I always let her make the plans…”

“Which is not a good move.” I said casually.

“How can it not be a good move?” He asked in that adorable Irish accent of his.

“As much as a girl doesn’t show it, she wants her man to take the lead sometimes. If you don’t do that she thinks you’re spineless!” I explained.

Niall nodded slowly and then turned his head and looked at me in a weird way with furrowed eyebrows.

“And we never really fought.” He continued.

“That’s not possible. Maybe every time something came up you just avoided confrontations which girls do not appreciate.” I looked at him suspiciously.

“Maybe…” He said and continued in a surprised tone. “How do you know all these stuff? It’s like you’re onside their head or something.”

“Oh buddy! These all come from a man in a long-term relationship. You get to know the small tricks and details after a while.” I usually sucked at lying. What had happened to me? Since when had I become such a skilled liar?

He nodded again, respect evident in his eyes. The poor kid really thought I had a girlfriend and I was in a successful relationship. Well the truth was I had never dated anyone. I guess I didn’t have the time. Joe and I were always too busy taking care of ourselves that we didn’t have time for any of this.

Needles to say Niall finished all the snacks that were meant to be mine. We spent some more time talking. He told me about how they got started as a band, what had happened in the three years, the concerts they’d had, Liam’s ex-girlfriend Danielle, Louis’ and Zayn’s current girlfriends Eleanor and Perrie. Me on the other hand, tried to give as small details as possible, I couldn’t risk blowing my cover and getting exposed. He kept going on and on until he was cut off by Louis’ shout from the other cabin.

“Guys! Lunch is ready!” There was this funny ring he gave to his voice.

I pulled over and Niall jumped from his seat all ready and eager as if he hadn’t had anything for a whole week. I laughed and followed him to the boys’ cabin. It was the first one I was seeing there. It was really nice and had a friendly air to it.

All the boys were there, Zayn and Liam lying on their bunk beds, Louis sitting on the couch and Niall standing next to me. Right when I thought I couldn’t find Harry he came out of a small room which I suppose was the bathroom and that’s when I started screaming my lungs out.

The little fucker was stark naked.

Notes

Let me know what you think guys!