The Colour of Words

3.

Tuesday. I stood at the bus stop in the freezing cold, bored out of my mind. My hands were thrust deep into my pockets and I wasn't going to take any chances checking my phone in case my fingers fell off. Tally, standing next to me, was busy chattering away non-stop, but I wasn't really listening. To be honest, I never did. She only needed a little nod or 'Oh?' from time to time and she'd be perfectly happy. Same with Fenny. They were alike in that way. Strange.

Eventually, the bus pulled up, and we climbed aboard, thankful for the warmth. As I made my way up the steep stairs to the back of the bus, I could feel everyone's eyes boring into me. It was like that every day.

Me and Tally always got the same bus in the mornings; the one just before all the roads got busy, so we wouldn't have to wait for years. Not that that helped: buses never seem to be on time. Ever.

There were loads of other regulars on that bus as well: the fish-eyed woman, so named because that's what she looked like, the young-ish blonde woman who never smiled ( but then again, I don't think anyone did), the group of college students, with their long, greasy hair and aroma of cigarettes, and of course, the man himself: Big Baldy, the guy so huge he took up two seats.

Then there were all the other school kids, fighting, yelling, swearing, chucking food around and generally being really annoying.

We always sat at the back, and as I picked my way through the mess of bags and half eaten sandwiches, sweet wrappers and empty bottles, I could see the girls waving frantically from their perches at the rear. They got on earlier than us, so they always saved our seats. Something was exciting them I could tell. They were always very in-your-face, but this time they seemed to be so frantic, I wouldn't have been too surprised if they'd have exploded.

As we drew nearer, me in the lead and Tally following like the little sheep she was, their excitement grew, until I was standing right in front of them. Then they burst.

'Hilda!'

I froze.

'Hilda?' That was me.

'Hilda?' That was Tally.

'Hilda!' Them again.

My lips seemed to be stuck together, but I managed with the sheer force of willpower to tear them apart and say, trying to act normal whilst my insides were turning to custard, 'Yea, what about her?'

My reply was greeted with a series of murmurs and sly nodding and winking, followed by a snappy, 'So you do know her!?'

I was stuck. Literally. So I decided to go simple.

'What?'

They didn't reply, which was a relief, but just carried on with their nodding. And staring at me. In retaliation, I was about to open my mouth and try to form some sort of words that might make me seem normal, when the bus lurched forward suddenly, and I fell backwards into Tallly, who promptly fell into the lap of a startled Grandma who happened to be sitting behind us.

It was the perfect diversion.

With the Grandma looking daggers in our direction, we took our seats next to the girls and their sign language.

'So what about Hilda?' I asked lightly, trying to stop my voice raising to a pitch that only dogs could hear.

This sentence was promptly followed by giggles and 'shhhs' directed at the giggler.

'Well,' one of them began, but was interrupted by Tally, who was gazing fixedly out of the window at the scenery we were passing.

'Ohh! A sheep!'

She shut up once I had dug her in the ribs with my (admittedly quite sharp) elbow, and the girls carried on.

'Well, you know you know her...?' I nodded, and waited for them to elaborate.

'Well, how?'

'How what?' I asked, my heart fluttering, although I already knew the answer.

'How do you know her?' Another cut in.

I was about to open my mouth to answer, or attempt to, when...

'Hi guys! Mind if I join you?' I heard an over familiar voice close to my ear say in our direction. A voice that instantly made my blood freeze. I didn't even need to turn my head to know who it was. Eight years of hearing that voice laughing at you every day and you wouldn't need to either. No sir.

Tally turned round expectantly.

'Oh!' She turned back quickly, and I felt her hot breath on my ear. I knew what was going to come next.

'It's her! It's that girl! It's Hilda!'