Bus Rides

II. Ethan

A/N: Thank you to every single one of you who read, voted and commented :-)

He tried not to look. But when the girl tripped and crashed, sending her bag flying right to the end of the bus, Ethan winced, despite himself. He told himself that it was pointless to get involved in whatever this girl was doing, the aura that she conveyed to everyone was literally screaming Hi guys, look at me, I'm the epitome of perfect! So Ethan had carefully steered away from the girl, only occasionally observing her from where he sat directly behind her.

But today she looked like a walking disaster, coming into the bus in such a state of disaster and dishevel. Her usually straight hair was plastered to her face with many strands coming loose from her messy ponytail. Her face was pale, and she was shivering. Of course she was shivering, Ethan thought. Heck, how long had she been running in the rain? One hour?

The girl was flustered, and on her pale face, a tinge of pink crept onto her cheeks. She hurriedly tried to scan the bus for her bag, which was now lodged under a row of seats at the last row of the bus. People were staring, and, with numerous warnings of various sorts blaring in his head and sub conscious, Ethan stood up from his seat and walked over to the girl.

Oh great, he thought once he stood up. Now people are staring at me, too. He didn't know why he stood up to help the girl either. Maybe it was because she looked truly helpless and desperate at this moment in time. Ethan guessed that most importantly, in this juncture, the girl's perfect facade had somewhat cracked and shattered. She was just a girl who needed help, and Ethan being Ethan, he couldn't just continue sitting so close to the girl and do nothing.

He walked over to the girl, and put an arm under the crook of her elbow, helping her get to the feet. Immediately the girl's gaze was on him, and for a split second Ethan wondered if she was going to slap his arm away and yell creep. Thank the stars she didn't. Instead, her eyes widened. Her voice was hoarse when she said, "Thanks."

Ethan looked away first, breaking the eye contact. Although the girl was helpless now, he still didn't want to be associated with her. They were too different, in numerous ways and Ethan knew that getting involved in this girl's life was not going to be a pleasant thing.

But still he helped the girl to her seat in front of his, and she stumbled once, when the bus made a shaky right turn. Ethan felt his arm grip the girl's elbow tighter, and the girl tense up at the sudden intensity. Once Ethan made sure the girl was not going to trip over her own feet and end up sprawled over the bus floor again, he made his way to the back of the bus and gently pried the girl's bag out from under the row of seats, and dropped it lightly beside the girl on his way back.

The girl was still watching him when Ethan sat back onto his seat. She blinked, then said, "Sorry for, um, you know, just now." She attempted a laugh but it came out as a series of coughs instead. "I really look like shit now, right?"

Ethan tried to look away but the girl's eyes were burning holes in his face. Somehow the way she looked at him, with her bright green eyes, startled him slightly into nodding. "Yeah. You did." He said quietly.

Now a smile managed to find its place on the girl's face. "Anyway, thanks so much for your help. It would have been much worse - trust me - if you didn't help me. My name's Lydia, by the way."

The girl turned back, and Ethan hated himself for how he made the girl's name linger in his mind. Lydia. Lydia. Now he finally had a name to match the pretty face that he had been quietly watching for the past five months that both of them had been riding the same bus.

And to be honest, the feeling felt quite good.