Stephanie passed by and along with her a couple of other students who previously occupied the back seats. Ethan loitered around his spot, waiting for the bus to empty before he could get underway. The bus driver, a slightly overweight man, was aware of the boy's penchant to stick around until the coast cleared out, so he didn't bother him probably because he knew he'd leave after a short amount of time either way. Ethan's brief conversation with Stephanie left him wanting more and, in addition to that, also gave him a slightly overwhelming sensation. Confidence wasn't something Ethan exuded but it wasn't lacking either, yet in spite of all that, he still couldn't muster enough courage to at least talk to her again. He sought to understand what was the reason behind that. Maybe it was because she was very secretive. Maybe it was because he had the impression that she only talked to him to avoid coming off as rude. Or perhaps because he wasn't willing to disturb her any further, in fear of having his good intentions mistaken. The boy was clueless.

"Hey! Kid! Out of the bus, now!", a gravelly voice cut into Ethan's introspection, figuratively waking him up. He shifted his sight towards the source from where the voice came from to see Bob, the bus driver, visibly annoyed by the boy lingering around. What characterized Bob was probably his wheezing, most likely due to careless amounts of sugar intake obstructing his air passages. It was then that Ethan finally realized he stuck out for a tad too long, as he hauled himself up and made his way towards the small stairs leading out of the bus. Before taking off, he sarcastically performed a royal bow in front of the driver, then sneered "Yes, your highness!", further pissing him off. Just as he was about to descend down, he heard a soft, soothing voice, most likely Stephanie's, coming from somewhere near the bus. He couldn't help but let a smirk as he figured she actually waited for him, hurrying his pace in the process. What followed after that, however, was a nightmare in the shape of a stream of consecutive questions accompanied by a high-pitched unison shriek. "This is bad", Ethan grumbled inaudibly, already aware of what was happening. In any case, he couldn't help it - he had already revealed himself before Steph's friends, the 'talebearers', who made sure anything that happens in school, ranging from trivial to significant, falls into the ears of every single student and teacher alike. All he could do at that point was watch their reaction.

The first to have her jaw dropped was Paige, the bubbly, outgoing but especially nosy of the group, who was pointing at Ethan while suspiciously looking at Stephanie. When converted to a verbal medium, that spelled out disbelief with maybe a hint of disgust. Paige followed the same reasoning like the majority, so it goes without saying that she wasn't quite fond of the boy, and he was okay with that. Paige's companions swiftly followed after, gasping in horror and letting occasional mocking sounds. Ethan was used to dealing with such reactions, but Steph in the other hand was showing distinct signs of anxiety, which is what drove him to finally clear some things out. He shifted his gaze towards Paige, speaking in a quiet, reassuring manner.

"Oh for God's sake, chill out! She lend me a spare drawing to get me through Art Class.", he presented the Lion drawing to the girls, before veering his sight at an embarrassed Stephanie. "It's okay. You don't have to wait for me. You can go with them if you want."