Chapter 3

10 0 0
                                    

I stare out my window onto the streets below my apartment and take a sip of my coffee. The crazy couple in apartment three are screaming at each other on their lawn again, but they make the day interesting, so I chuckle to myself and continue to get ready for work. I pack up a small lunch, making sure to hit at least a couple food groups, and grab a quick bite of my scone before searching the apartment for my belt. When I spot it buried underneath some clothes by my bed, I am not surprised. "Time to do laundry," I think to myself.

Once I slide the belt into the loops of my slacks, I finish my scone and coffee. I snap up my newly prepared lunch and head out the door, making sure to lock it. The apartment is still, with most residents probably still in bed, so I quietly descend the steps to the bottom floor. The walk to the bus station goes uninterrupted and I'm grateful to have avoided Landon from apartment twenty-three. Usually in the mornings, he makes attempts to crack jokes, but usually they are inappropriate. He's simply an idiot. I gather that he's more than likely on his way to the preliminaries for the bot fights starting later today because Olympia's face covered his doorway. He must have hung up a flag for his favorite droid yesterday evening.

The station is filled with the traffic of excited soon-to-be spectators. I can hear a few people discussing the competitors this year, but I don't care, so I pull out my com and look through the feeds to pass time. The bus arrives and we all scramble to gain our position in the large metal contraption. There are plenty of seats still available in the early morning, so I plop down in the corner of one of the subcars, hopeful that I can ignore the endless stream of bodies flowing into the cars. I avert my eyes from the crowd and pull my comm out again. More mindless scrolling, and time wastes itself.

We hit a few more islands on our way to the ground, but it's mostly uneventful. People keep out of my way, and I keep out of theirs and the world goes round. That is, until a group of especially rowdy delinquents boards and roars about how excited they are for the fights. A few of them hype each other up by yelling into each other's mouths and bouncing up and down on their way through the bus.

They stop in my car and spread themselves in a circle, grabbing the railings to stay upright. One with a pink mohawk screams, "It's gonna be so sick!"

"If I don't see Phoenix get her brains splattered over the audience, I'm going to demand my money back dude! I swear!" another chimes in and they each cheer in agreement.

A third voice enters the conversation. "I wanna see my girl Olympia dominate like she did last year. Her spinning roundhouse kick makes me melt."

"If I had a bot like that, I wouldn't just make her fight, if you know what I mean." The men laugh like hyenas and I sigh, throwing my head onto the back of my chair. I close my eyes and picture my happy place. Snow falling, hot coco in hand, fire in the living room, blankets on the floor, a man-

I cough and open my eyes. "Now is not the time," I think to myself. However, my sudden fit has gained the attention of the rowdy crowd and suddenly they are all staring at me.

"Sorry," I mutter. Hoping they will easily dismiss me, I grip my purse closer to me and turn my gaze towards the floor.

"Hang on a minute." One of the men gets closer to me. From my perspective, I can see his black shoes plant themselves directly in front of me. "What the fuck is a droid doing in a seat?"

I furrow my brows in confusion and meet his eyes dead on. "The hell? What are you on?"

"Here we are, real goddamn people standing because we actually care about others and are leaving the seats open, and a droid has the guts to sit?! In front of us?!" His face reads fury and confidence. With his posse it's easy for him to feel like a god.

"I don't know what prescription you're on, but obviously it needs refilled. I'm not a droid you prick. Anyone with eyes could see that. Besides, if you were so goddamn good, you'd give the people on this bus some peace and quiet."

One of the other members places his hand on the prick's shoulders. "Dude, I think that's a fleshie. No droid's got skin problems." I try not to let the comment about my acne hurt my pride and remain seated to let the group sort out their own shit. The man steps away in defiant anger but as the guy in pink pulls the band to another car, he gets in a remark.

"Well, if you ain't a droid, you're a fucking whore. Your face was sucking my dick last night." My throat constricts and my heart drops. I had been putting on my mask of bravery but as it starts to fall, I can feel tears burn in my eyes. I jump to my feet.

"You have no right to say that to me!" I shriek at him. The others on the bus become curious about the scuffle in the car and start to gather. They all whisper, a few I can hear wonder if they should step in. When the delinquents hear the commotion, they take it as a queue to leave the situation for good, so they yank the prick away.

"Whatever Holly," he says before disappearing into the next car. My heart races and I slump back into my chair. I grab my hot face, trying to calm my breathing. Despite getting away without an injury, I still feel broken but I aim to get back on track for the day. The watch on my arm tells me that I start work in only an hour so I try to go back to my happy place. Before I have the chance to close my eyes, an elderly woman grabs my hand and smiles at me. It's such a small act, but it allows the fog in my brain to dissipate.

"You are not alone," she says to me. I allow a few tears to fall, and she pulls a tissue out of her small handbag. She says no words as she wipes the fiery crystals off of my face, but I appreciate the silence. Before I can even appreciate her kindness, my stop arrives at the ground. The woman gives me the tissue and I trudge onto the street. This is not exactly how I envisioned my morning going, especially considering Landon was nowhere to be seen. All things considered, I would rather have dealt with Landon's uncomfortable flirting efforts.

I gather myself and march away from the tarmac of the landing dock. The words "Whatever Holly" float around in my head and I wonder who Holly is. Pulling out my com, I search for 'Holly droid,' with thousands of results popping into my feed. There she is. A blue haired android labeled for use in the bedroom. With my face. There I am. 

Holly NXWhere stories live. Discover now