What Happens At The End Of The Lilac Bus?

The day before the SAT, Lewis Sutton, the most popular boy in class, volunteered to help everyone verify their test centers and organize two charter buses for everyone. Just before departure, he suddenly stopped me. "Finley, I just realized your test center is Easthaven. Both buses are headed to Westbrook." Everyone thought it was no big deal. "Just take a cab. We can't risk missing the exam for you." When I asked Lewis for the transportation list, Cerys Moore stepped in front of me. She lowered her voice to insist, "Lewis is already exhausted from coordinating logistics for the whole class. Why are you kicking up such a big fuss over nothing? "If you're this petty now, you're going to give him a harder time in college. "I'm warning you, either don't apply to Northbridge University or Blackwell University, or intentionally skip one of your exam subjects, so you won't end up attending the same school as us. Otherwise, our engagement is over." Too fed up to argue, I simply hailed a cab and headed to my test center alone. When I arrived at the Easthaven test center in the nick of time, our homeroom teacher, Mrs. Leah Williamson, was standing outside, sweating profusely from anxiety. "Why did both buses go to Westbrook? The entire class is supposed to take the exam in Easthaven!"

After deciding to leave Azurea and follow Clara Miller to Northwood City, I was cast out by my parents. "That girl is an orphan–what can she possibly give you? If you choose a life of hardship now, you’ll spend the rest of your life suffering! Once you walk out that door, don’t bother coming back!" I left anyway. For five years, I watched Clara rise step by step, becoming one of Northwood City’s most respected psychologists. Just as she had promised, she gave me a home. As the New Year approached, I planned to take her back to Azurea to reconcile with my parents. However, just before boarding the plane, she abandoned me again–this time for a depressed patient threatening to take his own life. She let go of my hand, her eyes full of pain. "Julian Vance… he’s just like I used to be–alone, with no one to rely on. If I don’t go, he’ll jump. I’m sorry. Just this once. I’ll catch the next flight and meet you there." Then she turned and ran toward the exit without hesitation. I stood there, staring at the two plane tickets in my hand. She had saved everyone who needed redemption. Everyone… except me. Slowly, I tore up her ticket. Then I walked alone toward the security gate and turned off my phone. What Clara did not know was this: Some journeys home, once missed, are gone forever.

My mate, Luther Evans, had spent 20 thousand dollars on two first-class tickets for the Moonlight Express to Vespera Coast. Just as we were about to board, he pulled me aside and gave my seat to my foster sister, Zoey Turner. He explained, "There's only one empty seat left on the train, and Zoey's son has never seen the ocean before. This is the perfect chance. Kids can't be separated from their mothers, so I'll take them first and get them settled, then come back for you." I nodded and stepped off the train, watching it disappear into the distance. Once they reached the beach, a friend asked Luther why I hadn't come along. He was busy inflating a pool float for Zoey, answering casually without looking up. "The Moonlight Express runs every three days. Avery Smith can just buy her own ticket and come later. I'll pick up some gifts to make it up to her. She's really understanding and won't stay mad at me." A bitter smile tugged at the corners of my mouth. The whole family had always favored Zoey, and now even my own mate was no different. Since nobody wanted to see me anyway, I decided I would leave in three days.

To celebrate my first New Year after reconnecting with my biological family, everyone dragged me into signing up for a Tranvego tour. The moment we got off the plane, my parents completely changed. They just stood there while my brother tore up my passport. Then they shoved me into a bus headed for Draconville. The whole way, I begged them to take me back. Because I realized the place that the bus was going was the very same home I had spent ten years trying to escape. And the so-called big bosses they kept talking about? One was my foster father, the director of the compound. One was my foster mother, the head of the transplant center. One was my foster brother, the chief of the landfill district. They were famous for protecting their own. But under the excuse of "loving" me, they locked me up and tried to force me to become one of them. I had fought so hard to get away from them. I never thought I'd be sent back again!

Everyone in this town knows that when a family gives a daughter away in marriage, the parents always have a grand bridal carriage custom-built for her, adorned with thousands of pearls. Every single pearl on that carriage must be personally harvested by her mother and father—the more pearls, the more cherished the daughter is, and the more her future husband will value her. My own bridal carriage was finished six years ago. But nineteen times now, my wedding date has been set, and each time, my younger foster sister, Lena Bennett, has found some excuse to stop it. This time, on the very morning of my wedding, she locked me in my room again. By the time I smashed through the window and stumbled into the banquet hall, bruised and bleeding, the ceremony was already underway. Lena was sitting in my carriage, led by my brother, Ryan Bennett, toward my fiancé, Nathan Sinclair. My parents stood by the side with tears in their eyes, pleading with Nathan to treat their daughter well. The moment my best friend, Megan Hayes, saw me, she blocked the entrance and pinned me down. "Yes," she confessed, "this whole bride-swap plan—we all came up with it together. Lena is seriously ill. Everyone just wants to grant her dying wish. Try to be understanding." Ryan hurried over and warned me, "Mom and Dad said that if you just behave this one time, not only will they give you ten times more wedding gifts later, but they'll also finally treat you and Lena exactly the same from now on. If not, don't expect to stay in our family estate." I clenched my fists and refused to let a single tear fall in front of them. What they don't know was that over the years, my adoptive parents, Daniel and Susan Ward, had already quietly prepared wedding gifts worth hundreds of thousands for me. So, whatever love and belonging my biological family promised? I don't want it anymore.

On a packed bus heading toward a college, bodies were pressed together so tightly it was hard to move. I deliberately leaned against a delicate, sweet-looking freshman. She was wearing a short plaid skirt. I hitched the fabric up and pressed myself against her curvy hip. What caught me off guard was her underwear. There was a small hole worn into the fabric, as if she were already overcome. Just as I was about to lose control, I pulled back at the last second. However, she held me there tightly and said, “Mister, don’t stop. Keep going.”