Amo?

The bus conductor gave them a weird look too as he handed over the tickets. "Maybe the fifth person's invisible," Liam joked, trying to lighten the mood, but I couldn't shake the weird vibe.

They all found their seats and settled in. The girl in the big pink straw hat giggled with her friends, and the boy leaned back, looking around the bus with a smirk. I couldn't help but watch them, wondering about their story.

Before the bus could start moving, a girl came running, shouting, "Wait for me!" She looked a bit like Amour, but I couldn't be sure! The Scottish boy said, "You're late, Amo!" I misheard it as "Amour" and jumped up from my seat, shouting, "Amour?!"

Liam quickly said, "Hey, what's wrong? Bro, sit down. He said 'Amo,' not 'Amour!'"

The Scottish boy shot me a glare and said rudely, "Keep your ears away from my girlfriend, old man!"

I quickly replied, "Apologize! I misheard something!"

"What misheard? You Irish guys always act like that!" he said. That lit a fire in me. "Oh, hello! You're in Ireland, and you're criticizing the people here? Don't cross your limit, young boy!" I shot back. No one messes with my patriotism!

"What Ireland? Ireland is part of our country only!" he said, sounding all cocky. Liam was trying to calm me down, saying, "Calm down, bro." But I was seeing red! I grabbed the Scottish boy's collar and pulled him closer, ready to throw a punch. My fist was practically itching to connect! Just as I was about to let loose, his girlfriend, named Amo, rushed over, grabbing my hand.

She had tears in her eyes, and I couldn't believe it—she looked just like Amour! "Please! Leave him! I apologize for him! Please forgive him!" she cried. Her voice was so soft, and those tears reminded me of the last time I saw Amour, all sad and fading away. It felt like someone was squeezing my heart.

I froze for a second, my anger fading away like a balloon losing air. Here was this girl, looking all scared and upset, and it made me think of how Amour had looked when she disappeared. I couldn't just keep being mad. I let go of the Scottish boy's collar and stepped back, feeling all mixed up inside. What was happening? Why did she have to look so much like Amour?

I said, "This is the first and last time I'm letting you go! If you ever speak bad about Ireland again, I swear I'll remove your country from the map!" With that, I plopped back down in my seat, staring out the window and feeling all lost in my thoughts.

The grannies behind us were whispering something about my behavior, and I could swear I remembered everyone's expressions even while I was arguing. The three girls in front were quiet, but the one in the big pink hat suddenly took it off and locked eyes with me. She looked like she wanted to say something, maybe like, "I look...?" but I couldn't quite catch it. Whatever!

Liam was sitting next to me, acting like an old man munching on popcorn, just enjoying the drama of the moment. As for Amo, well, I couldn't focus on her with all the chaos. The grannies were still trying to say something, but they were too quiet for me to hear.

Then, the bus conductor came up to us, but everyone just ignored him, which was kinda silly. But honestly, I couldn't shake my obsession with Amo's looks. How could she look so much like Amour? I turned to Liam and blurted out, "Hey, did you notice how much she looks like Amour?"

Liam just laughed and said to Amo, "You know, my friend here dreams about a ghostly girl who looks just like you!"

"Are you mad?!" I shouted at Liam, embarrassed. But Amo just smiled, not bothered at all. Then the girl in the pink hat pointed at me and said, "That's kinda weird! I had a dream about a guy who looks just like you! He was my dream man!"

She blushed, and I suddenly remembered her saying earlier, during the whole fight with the Scottish boy, that I looked "handsome and cute when angry!" I felt my cheeks heat up a little at that, but then I thought, what on earth was going on here? Dreams, ghosts, and now this girl thinking I was cute? This day just kept getting weirder and weirder!

I really wanted to ask Amo about why she looked so much like Amour, and that girl with the pink hat about her strange dream. But after the fight with that Scottish boy, I didn't feel like breaking the silence. Before I could say anything, though, the pink hat girl leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "My name is Veanne, Veanne Frank," and then, without a second thought, she slipped a piece of paper into my hand and whispered again, "That's my address! Come see me sometime, please!" She got back to her seat, and I was left sitting there, stunned.

I nudged Liam and whispered, "Did you see that?" but there was no response. I looked over and realized the guy had fallen asleep! The sun was already starting to set, and I couldn't believe we had been traveling for four hours straight. Where on earth were we going? Liam had said it wasn't far!

WHERE ARE WE GOING?