Square One

1

Melissa Lauren sat at the bus stop, clutching her suitcase in her gloved hands. She wore a huge parka, the hood pulled up around her face, only a few of her blond locks of hair escaping. Her nose and cheeks were pink from the cold, her knees banging against each other from the shivers, and her eyes welling with tears.

On the other side of the bench sat Carmen Kilroy, his suitcase sitting in the snow next to him. He wore a thick jacket with the collar turn up, and only a couple of the buttons done. His shoulder length dark hair was whisked around by the wind, his huge hands resting in his lap. He tapped one of his winter boots against the icy pavement, keeping his pale face blank.

The two were silent, except for the occasional sniffles from Melissa. Fat, February snow flakes fell slowly around them lazily, settling on the streets like a huge blanket. After a few minutes, Melissa shoved up the sleeve of her coat to see her watch.

She sighed, and turned towards Carmen. "The bus is late."

"Hmm."

She turned back forwards, and took a couple deep breaths trying to calm down. She could feel her anxiety pressing up under her skin, like it was trying to break free. 

"So where are you going?"

Carmen paused. He hadn't fully thought through where he was going. "Jersey City." 

Melissa tried to blink back tears. "Me too."

He looked at her. His eyes were a misty shade of blue. "Do you have family there?"

Melissa shook her head. "No."

"Friends?"

The tears were coming back, filling up faster. "No."

Sensing that he had upset her, Carmen turned back to the road.

"D-do you?" Melissa choked out.

"No."

"Why are you going?"

"Why are you?"

Melissa whipped away one of the tears that started running down her cheek.

Carmen sighed, and leaned back against the freezing bench. He rubbed his eyes, the crazy swirly fireworks exploding behind his eyelids. 

"I need to restart," He said, after a moment.

"Me too."

Carmen stopped rubbing his eyes, and looked over at her. "You trying to get away from something? Or is this just some whim?"

"I'm trying to get away."

She paused. For a moment, she considered telling him the story, from start to finish. Then she remembered that he was just some stranger sitting next to her at a bus stop, and she didn't want to go all Forest Gump on him.

"Everything," She replied. 

"Same."

Melissa felt an idea spark in the back of her brain.

"What's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just tell me."

He looked skeptical, but replied, "Carmen."

"Carmen. Ok." She was freaking out a bit, but in a good way. "Nice to meet you Carmen. I'm Melissa."

"Um, hi Melissa." He was looking at her like she was growing a third eyebrow.

"Ok, Carmen, this is going to sound weird since we just met and everything but..." Melissa took a breath. "We both want to restart, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Want to restart together?"

Carmen was silent.

"Ok, look, I know it sounds really crazy, but I know that I'm not in the best financial possition, and, not to assume anything, but I'm pretty sure you aren't either."

Carmen bit the inside of his cheek, not wanting to admit how right she was.

"We both want to go to Jersey City. You seem like a relatively normal person. We both don't have anyone else waiting for us there." She jumped up, her amber eyes were glowing. "And I think we could both use someone right now."

"This is one of the strangest propositions I have ever heard."

"I know, I know, I'm a stranger." She waved her hands around as if it was no big deal. "But, trust me, I'm a decent person. You could do a lot worse."

The bus started to turn the corner, about to reach the bus stop.

"The bus ride to Jersey City is 3 hours, right?" 

She nodded.

"Ok. We'll talk for that long, and if by the end of it, it turns out you aren't horrible..." He stood up, and looked down at her nervously excited face. "Then we'll restart together."

The bus stopped besides them.

"You've got a deal Carmen," She said, reaching out her hand.

Carmen grabbed it, and pulled her onto the bus.

---

Ah, new story!!!

I don't even have that much planned out, I just had a burst of courage and decided to publish this.

Not a great start, is it.

Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please vote, comment, all that jazz.

Sorry for any grammar/spelling mistakes.

XOX