Brewed to Perfection

Part 7

I check the weather app on my phone every single night, praying that there's no torrential rain for the following morning. Last night, just before I went to bed it said it was likely to rain. Because of this I didn't sleep very well, knowing I had to get on the school bus in the morning.

I tossed and turned most of the night, with my dreams full of potential scenarios I could experience. Most people love drifting off to sleep. They get a chance to unwind and dream a little. Even in my dreams, I'm unloved. In my dreams I'm exactly who I am in real life.

I don't get a chance to explore possibilities. When I dream, it's realistic. I'm not on a beach in Bali, with Dylan O'Brien handing me a fruity cocktail with a wink. In my dreams I don't get to escape my real life, I'm on a depressing bus, with a bunch of arseholes.

When I woke up this morning, I mentally prepared myself for getting on the school bus. Even as I left my house, I psyched myself up walking to the bus stop. It was only when the bus actually arrived did the bile rise in my throat. But like normal, I swallowed it down and repeated to myself that this whole chapter of my life would be over and soon I'd be at university; laughing about how I used to be petrified getting on a bus.

But I wasn't at university with my cool friends just yet, so getting on the bus was still awful.

After I flashed my bus pass at the driver, I made my way to the standing area which wasn't really that far from the doors of the bus. Still, like normal I managed to dodge Archie's classic attempt to floor me. Apparently breaking my nose a month ago wasn't good enough. A nose was futile when he really wanted to break all of me. I wish I could just tell him there was no point, I was already broken.

Archie scoffed as I stepped over his foot, and muttered something under his breath. The thing about Archie is that like the others, he was extremely privileged. Unlike the rest of them, Archie's accent was another level of posh, it was so ridiculous, I couldn't actually understand what he was saying half the time. So even though I knew he had just said something, I had no idea what it was. So at least that was a bonus.

Craig Trenton, another ass who enjoyed making my life miserable, was on the bus today. I know this because after Archie's unintelligible comment in his posh accent, Craig had replied in his ratty little voice "oooo burn, Maeve" from somewhere farther back on the bus. I guessed Archie had said something offensive but was it really a 'burn' if I couldn't see or feel the flame?

Craig was like me, not in personality. Definitely not in that way, but the fact he also only got on the bus from time to time. But he was predictable like the rest of them.

There were four of them, mainly.

Archie, the one with clown feet who was responsible for my broken nose. Craig, who I genuinely believed just liked feeling like he was part of a group, so normally laughed and watched while i was being harassed. It's hard to be annoyed at someone who hasn't really done anything, but that's also why I am annoyed. He does nothing, he never did anything when he knew how much I needed someone to stop them. He was just as bad as the rest.

Then there was Klaus Penwright. Judging by his name, he was just as pretentious and stuck up. Klaus was an idiot, so luckily I never had any classes with him. Academically, he was probably on par with a 7 year old. And most of the time his actions sounded like something a 7 year old would do. His 'thing' was throwing. Anything he could throw at me, he would.

I've had gum that he spat out of his mouth and thrown into my hair before, he threw food from his lunchbox at my face. I had a piece of ham slapped onto my face before. One time in assembly he sat behind me, just so he could out pencil shavings down the collar of my shirt