hey, stranger.

chapter one: him.

He's always on the bus.

He sits in the same place at the same time on the same bus every single day.

Today was no exception. I stepped into the bus at my usual time, greeted and payed the driver and looked around for a seat. The bus was unusually full today, the only available seat was at the back, next to him.

I approached him, unsure of whether I should greet him before sitting or not, but ultimately decided against it as the bus lurched forward before I could sit. I took my seat before I could fall from the sudden movement.

It felt strange sitting next to him. For the past year he'd been showing up on the same bus and sitting in the same place. He always wore the same black hoodie with blue ripped jeans and sneakers. There was nothing new about him but I didn't dare question it because it's not like I was any different.

My life is boring.

It's as simple as that. I wake up every morning at the same time and get dressed before leaving to live my boring, mundane life. If anything, the most exciting part is when I get onto the bus and see him sitting there.

He seems about my age, maybe older? Younger? At this point I have no idea.

The bus stopped several times before it was time for me to get off. That's when everything changed.

"She's so young, why does she work so hard? " I heard him say to himself just as I was about to leave.

"Excuse me? " I say, turning around and face him. For some reason he looked shocked. "Were you talking about me? "

"Did she just hear me? " he asked, for the first time I saw him stand up, he towered over me as he stood. "This can't be possible. " he rushed out of the bus.

I stood, staring at his retreating figure. "What a weirdo. " I bowed to the driver and left, already forgetting about him as my workplace came into sight. I heaved a sigh and pushed the doors open to the building, I could feel the amount of work I had to do weigh me down as I walked further into the building.

College girl has to pay her bills somehow.

Let me introduce myself properly before I get to the sad and sappy stuff.

My name is (Y/N). I'm super hot, rich and everything in the world revolves around me because I'm the most perfect person to ever exist.

I can see you cringing already.

Think of everything I just said but the exact opposite, that's really me.

I'm an English major at a local college in my city and I'm not necessarily poor, I just don't have enough money. College has been really demanding and not having a family to help support you is shitty but that's life, what are we supposed to do?

I've been working part time at two different jobs. One is an assistant editor at a publishing firm (really fun) and another is an assistant for a producer at an entertainment company (really horrible).

It might sound fancy but the latter jobs sucks, in case you haven't noticed already. My boss is a complete and utter jerk that doesn't know what words like; kind, gentle, nice and humane means.

Unfortunately, that's currently where I am at right now. My boss only needs me to work on weekends because that's when he's apparently at his 'busiest'. I say he just stays at the company 'till late to avoid his wife. Did I mention he's horrible?

I grudgingly walked to his office, the other employees gave me sympathetic waves as they all knew what our boss was like. At least they didn't have to constantly be by his side, attending to every small thing he needs.