Pushed to be Perfect

Chapter 4: Bus Encounter

Dexter left 5 minutes before the bus arrived. By the time the bus arrived, my legs were sore as hell from standing, and so was my back. The blue bus drove in front of the bus stop and halted in front of me. 

I got on the bus, but realized something.

"Shit."

I had no money. 

The passengers waiting to board the bus looked at me while they waited, and so did the bus driver.

"Awkward!!" ran through my head.

"Girl, get off the bus if you can't pay. Don't hold the line." the bus driver snarled.

"Uhm- well, yeah uh, sorry about that." I muttered, as I embarrassingly made my way to get off the bus. Suddenly, someone grabbed my hand which made me stop and look around.

A guy in a hood, roughly 5'8(I'm 4'11), grabbed my hand and took out his other hand out of his pocket. 

I flinched, because usually when my uncle does that he hits us.

The stranger lifted off his hood and looked at me weird. But that's not what caught my eye. 

He was dashing.

He had light, but thunderous brown eyes. Dark brown hair and a jawline sharper than a cliff. He was sucking on a lollipop, which I assumed it was because of the stick hanging out of this mouth. He looked around my age, in ninth or tenth grade, even though he was tall and had details so refined he would have had a girlfriend at this point. 

He probably did. But if he did, why was he holding my hand?

"Uhh, hi? Can I help you?" I stuttered, not being able to take my gaze away from those piercing, but beautiful brown eyes.

He looked down at him holding my hand, smirked, and swiftly let go. He looked at my uniform, which he held a gaze on for quite a while, then turned towards the driver, and swiped his card, looking at the driver dead in the eye. 

"Get on." he said, still looking away, and proceeded to head back to his seat on the bus.

He had dimples. He was cute.

I just stood there in awe, wondering how something like that could happen to such a shabby girl like me. 

"Well, get a move on with it, won't ya? There are people waiting!" the bus driver said as he looked at me, almost growling at that point.

I made my way onto the bus, and scanned around for the boy. 

Shit, I didn't even ask for his name. 

But there I saw him, sitting at the back of the bus, hood back up, looking out the window. Looking at him made me almost forget my back pain, until someone bumped into me, making me snap back to reality. 

I groaned, crumpling on the floor next to where there was an empty seat with a boy taking up the window seat. He looked down at me, and grabbed me, practically saving my life. There was a person who would've stepped on my hand - and as someone who's hand has been stepped on before(I wonder who stepped on it..), I would like to say that that shit HURTS.

After I adjusted myself on the seat, he looked at me. Not like a glance. Bro full on SCANNED me, top to bottom. 

And then he said.

"You're beautiful."

I stopped, as if I was possessed. No one had called me that for the last 9 years, and it echoed inside of me. But it brought out something worse. Memories, of my mother, were flashing through my eyes that I had used so many years of self healing to stash away and never come back to were unveiling in my head right before me and everything was swirling, I felt nothing.

"Hey, hey, are you okay?" a little voice caught me before I fell into a daze. I made eye contact with the boy that called me pretty.

He had blue eyes, with a tint of grey and green. He also had a defined jawline and had dark brown hair the exact same shade as the cute boy who'd helped me before. 

I mean, not to mention, this guy was SUPER cute too.

"Uh- I'm uh okay..just uh..a little sleepy...Thanks for calling me pretty..you are too.."

He smiled and laughed, which made me shake somewhat of a smile on my lips too. 

This guy was insanely cute as well...

"Where are you headed to?" he asked. "Never mind, I shouldn't ask, I can already tell you're going to Bretwood High."

"How did you-"

"Your uniform," he replied, cutting me off and smiling.

"Oh."

He too, had probably noticed my tattered up uniform. 

"I'm heading there as well." he said, looking down at my face which was probably pale at the moment.

"Oh, cool!" I said, relieved to have found someone willing to talk to me on the first day.

"So..are you commuting alone?" I asked, trying to break the silence.

He looked down as if he was guilty of something, and just responded, 

"Yeah."

We were silent for the rest of the ride.