That day, the students of the Lower Fifth and of the Upper Fifth were going on an excursion to the City of London together.

For our trip from St. Albert's to London, the school had rented a bus. A bus that was way too small to accommodate a total of sixty students and four teachers. To make do, almost all the seats and benches had been taken out so that there was standing room only during the entire three hours' drive to London, except for the teachers who had each gotten a seat. Even so, there was barely room enough for all the students. On the upside, it was virtually impossible to lose your balance and fall as you were held upright by the people standing next to you and pressing against you. On the downside, there was the almost intolerable heat inside the bus, and also the fact that the drive on the motorway took all of three boring hours.

After two hours of this I felt that I was just about ready to faint. Worse than the temperature and the crowded environment was the absence of anything interesting to be seen along the motorway. For more than an hour there had been nothing but fields and meadows with the occasional herd of cattle. Nothing but soil, grass and a few stupid cows.

Here came another herd. Even from a distance those cows looked exceptionally dull, I thought.
I focused on one of the animals with an angry glare, my lips forming the sound of a 'moo'.

The girl who was standing to my left cast me an incredulous look.

It was official now, I decided. I was officially losing my mind, right here on the bus.

Oh, what I would not have given for a diversion right now. Any kind of diversion. It did not have to be a plane executing an emergency landing in front of our bus on the motorway, or anything of that sort. Just some small event with the capacity to distract me from the ever-present sensations of boredom and heat.

Just then it happened. My wish came true, if not exactly in a manner that I would have anticipated.

As the bus drove through a curve, I briefly felt a light touch on the back of my skirt. About a minute later, I felt it again, but this time the sensation lingered for a second or two – a sensation not unlike that of a hand coming to rest there, if only for a moment.

Intrigued, I briefly rose on tiptoe, causing the hand – and it definitely was a hand – to slip under the hem of my skirt. A hand that had to belong to one of the other girls, to a girl who was standing behind me.

I unobtrusively adjusted my position to nestle up against the palm of the unknown girl's hand. Emboldened, the hand began to trace the shape of my rear, cupping and gently squeezing it.

As diversions went, this one was of the pleasant variety. As the girl's fingers proceeded to explore the territory, things were gradually getting more and more exciting. Especially when her finger tips began to stray further south, all the while gently pressing, probing, exploring.

My breath quickened and I started to chew on my lower lip. A couple of minutes passed like that.

"Your knickers are soaked," a familiar sounding voice informed me, whispering into my ear.

It took me a moment to identify that voice. It was the voice of Mallory Carmichael. Of course. I should have known it was her. Who else could it possibly have been?

I must have uttered some small sound then, or perhaps I made some small movement. Those finger tips paused.

"Would you like me to stop?" Mallory inquired sweetly.

I considered that. The thing was, I did not want her to stop. Not really. Not now.

Almost imperceptibly, I shook my head.

The finger tips resumed their prior activity. I concentrated on schooling the expression on my face and on trying not to make any telltale noise. Which was getting harder by the minute.

One of the finger tips had discovered a special spot and was now circling it. I caught my breath.

"Hold on, we are getting there," Mallory told me in a whisper.

Her finger tips continued to work their magic. Another minute or so passed.

One of the girls that were standing nearby was watching my face intently. The hint of a smile was playing on her lips. Did she suspect what was going on? If so, it could not be helped.

"Holla, here we go," Mallory announced.

Incredibly, she knew before I did. I clenched my thighs together, closed my eyes and shuddered.

A bit later, the bus stopped at a motorway service area, to allow teachers and students to step outside and stretch their legs.

Everybody got off the bus and walked around for a bit. Small groups of girls were standing together, chatting.

Mallory was standing by herself, fussing with her hair. When she saw me looking at her, she smiled. I walked over to her.

"Not that I am about to complain or anything, but why ..."

Mallory held up her right hand. "I know what you are going to ask, Hart. The answer is, I am not sure, really. But you were looking so utterly miserable and unhappy, like, ready to die of boredom and from the heat on the bus."

"So?"

"So I decided to cheer you up a bit. Though I never thought you'd get to the point where you actually ..." She broke off and smiled. "You did, though, didn't you?"

I nodded awkwardly. It was not a question I had ever been asked before, and I had no clue how you were supposed to respond to something like that.

"That's what I thought," Mallory said.

I cleared my throat.

"Do you often help out other people like that, on buses?" I asked her, in a belated attempt to make light of it.

"No, that was a first." Mallory grinned. "I like to surprise myself by doing things I never even considered doing before. Don't you do that yourself, sometimes? I think life would be pretty boring without that."

"I don't know. I guess I never thought about it that way."

"Maybe you ought to."

We were prevented from continuing our little discussion by the bus driver who called out for everybody to get back on the bus.

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A / N : Thank you for reading this chapter of TE 101. I appreciate it, and I would love to read your thoughts and reactions.