The Nerd and the Bus that went on (COMPLETED)

The Nerd and the Bus that went on

It was around 6 o'clock when I finally left the campus and climbed up the bus that took me to my place. 

I climbed up the stairs, swiped my card at the scanner, and looked around for an empty seat where I could listen to my songs in peace. 

And then I saw her.

Long hair, bright eyes, the one person I look for everyday at my boring elective, English Literature.

Isabella was sitting on one of the seats in the middle, reading yet another book. It was her 7th book of the week. I would know because I counted each time she walked by my building, with her book tucked under her arm.

She must have been returning from another one of the book club meetings she went to.

I know. I probably look like a stalker for knowing all this about her. But what can I do when she walks by talking to her firends, avidly describing her weekend plans, filled with this book, and that.

She hardly looked up as I walked by her and sat on the seat across her.

Her ignorance wasn't really new to me, so I sighed and sat down, headphones tucked into my ears, stealing glances at her every now and then. I slowly drifted off, nodding my head as the bus rode clumsily.

* * *

It must have been at least two hours later, when the bus stopped.

I woke up groggily, to see that I was the only one on the bus. 

No. Isabella was there too. She was still reading her book, almost finished it by the looks of it.

Then I realized suddenly, that this wasn't my stop. In fact, this wasn't even my town. Not Isabella's either. And no. I didn't know this because of my err...stalkerish habits. I knew this because we go to the same university. And hence, we must stay in the same town.

Wait, 'hence'?! Who even uses the word hence anymore? Gosh, I'm such a nerd.

I sighed at my dorkiness and moved near Isabella, who was still immersed in her book, not even realizing we missed our stops.

"Hey, Isabella? I think we missed our stop. We should go front and ask the driver." I said. I tried to sound as cool as I could, but was sweating on the inside just by saying a sentence to her.

She looked up confused and I was scared for a moment if she would ask me who I was.

"Ohh, I- you're Simon right?" she asked as her eyes lit up in recognition. "We have our English lectures together, right?" she asked again, and I simply nodded, shocked that she even knew that.

"Yeah, you're right, this isn't our town. Let's go up front and ask." she said as she took in her surroundings warily. 

The bus driver up front was packing up everything, by the looks of it and jumped when he saw us. "Who are you two? I swear I didn't see anyone on the bus when I checked a minute ago." he frowned.

"Oh, we're just warlocks who made a portal in your bus. We missed our stop!! Why else would we be here?! What even is this place?" she asked frantically.

Hmmm... A frightened Isabella is sarcastic and snappy. I should keep that in mind.

"Look, kid. You should've paid attention instead of fiddling on that phone you teenagers have glued to your hand. The next bus is at 4 in the morning. You can catch it back to your town then. Leave me the heck alone!" he exclaimed and quite literally pushed us out of his bus.

"Geez, wonder what's gotten into Mr. Grumpy over there" I said and Isabella chortled.

We stepped onto the road and stood there awkwardly.

"What do we do now-"

"What should we-"

We looked at each other and burst out laughing. Which was kind of ironic, considering our situation. But then we realized the seriousness of the problem we were in and frantically tried to come up with ideas.

"Maybe I could phone my roommate to pick us up. But today's Friday, and she usually stays out partying all night!!" she groaned and sunk into one of the benches at the bus stop.

"I have someone we can call." And I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tried to call my best friend.

"Oh no! God, no! Oh for goodness sake, not now!!" I cried, trying my best not to curse in front of Isabella.

"What's wrong?"

"My phone's dead! Less than 2%! Wait, let me try to quickly make a cal-nope! Completely dead!" And I slumped into the bench next to her, groaning.

She patted my shoulder, and I couldn't help the jitters that started at her touch.

"What do we do now?! I have to study for the objectives test on Sunday and I still have four chapters left, Oh what am I going to do??!" I exclaimed.

Way to go to impress your crush, Simon! Just complain like a kid in front of her!

"You have a test on Sunday?"

"Yeah, its for a scholarship" I shrugged. She raised her eyebrows, impressed.

Good job, Simon. I gave myself an imaginary high-five.

"Well, maybe we could go to that cafe and see if anyone can tell us the name of this place." she suggested, pointing to the big tea cup shining from a little far away.

I nodded sulkily and followed her. 

It was awkwardly silent on the way, with equally awkward, forced smiles at each other, and I was grateful when we finally went inside the warm, cozy cafe.

We asked the nice lady at the counter, and she told us how far we were from our University.

So we both sat there at a booth, sipping on a single coffee each, because she didn't have any money, and I only had 10 dollars on me. First, it was awkward, our knees kept bumping under the small table, and we kept muttering apologies.

But then, we started to chat about our classes and stuff. I came to know that she was an arts major. She seemed quite impressed that I was majoring in Biophysical chemistry.

We spent the next few hours just talking randomly about anything and everything. I would crack my lame chemistry puns, and she surprisingly understood them, and would fall over laughing. Her laugh was the cutest thing ever.

The lovely lady gave us a free cupcake each, which we devoured gratefully. We chatted on, without feeling the time pass by. 

Finally, it was 4 in the morning, and we left the shop, after a huge thanks to the lady and a promise to come back soon.

The walk to the bus stop wasn't awkward like before. In fact, it was fun and we were talking all the way.

I was thrilled when she sat next to me on the almost empty bus, our arms brushing. She turned to me and shot me a beaming smile every now and then.

An hour later, her head drooped onto my shoulder, as she fell asleep.

I smiled,

Well, maybe. Just maybe. I have a chance with her after all.

                                                    THE END