As I Watch

*A WEEK AGO*

Allison's POV:

I slowly made my way onto the bus and sat down. I slid close to the window and leaned agains it. I watched as the world quickly passed me by. I noticed him every time he got off the bus. He was a very handsome guy. Tall, muscular and very attractive. When we reached the fifth stop, he stood up and made his way to the front. I watched him. Once he reached the steps, he turned and gave me a quick smile. I could immediately feel my cheeks turn red. He knew I had been watching him. How embarrassing. I folded my arms across my body and tried to forget about him.

Tom's POV:

I saw her get onto the bus. She had beautiful long hair that was a golden brown color. She only sat a few seats in front of me. I kept looking at the back of her head, hoping she would turn around and look at me. She didn't. I think she is beautiful. But she doesn't seem to notice me much. It was my stop, so I stood up and slowly walked passed her, hoping she would look up. Luckily, she did, and before I exited the bus, I gave her a smile. Once off, I took a deep breathe. Just looking at her makes me nervous. I knew that her stop was number seven, so I quickly made my way to it, hoping to see her get off.

Allison's POV:

It was finally my stop. It had been a very long day. All I wanted to do was go home and take a long nap. I made my way off the bus and took a breath of fresh air. I looked around for a bit, just to take it all in, then walked up the street and around the corner to my small house. I'm a single 21 year old trying to provide for myself and my parents don't talk to me much. We have had some...difficulties. I unlocked my front door and set my purse down on the table adjacent to it. I walked through the entry way, turned right and immediately crashed on my couch. Then, I lazily dozed off.

Tom's POV:

I waited a few blocks down for the bus to arrive. Once I saw it stop, I waited to see her get off. She stood there for a minute. Looking like she was thinking. Thinking about something important. I slowly started to walk towards her as I saw her begin to take her first step. I quickly caught up to her, but not close enough for her to see. I followed her to her house, and I waited around the corner, until she entered the small tan building. I sauntered around the corner, stopping in front of the window of her living room. I saw her make her way to the couch and lay down. From that point on, all I did was watch.

Allison's POV:

As I slowly came to, the sky had gotten darker. My house was only lit by the moonlight leaking through the window. I looked around for a minute, gathering my senses. I stood up and walked over to the wall to turn on the light. I rifled through my purse to find my cell phone. I had two missed calls. One of which, was from my mother. I had not talked to my mom in a long time. After I had had a pregnancy scare, my mom and dad kicked me out. After about a month or two I had realized that I wasn't pregnant, but by then my boyfriend had left me because he "wasn't ready for children" and my parents hated me. I think the reason this was such a shock to my parents, was because it wasn't "me". In high school I had a 4.0 GPA, I was on the track team, and I was a student body officer. I had worked so hard to be perfect. Everything I did was to impress people. To show them that I was strong. To show them that I was worth caring about.

Being popular was always something that was important to me. But it wasn't just having the title of the most popular girl in school or anything like that. It was knowing that people looked up to me, that people wanted to be like me. That they actually admired me. Now, I live alone, work full time at The Melrose Hotel, and am behind on almost all of my bills. I'm trying to make a life for myself, but ever since my parents kicked me out, nothing has been going right for me. I have lost three jobs since I started living alone. I can't afford to lose any more, either. I guess I was one of those people who peaked in high school, because now everything seems so wrong. Things were difficult then too, but not like they are now. The only things I had to worry about were my grades, what college I was going to, and if I made all of the teams that I tried out for. Now, I worry if I will have enough money to keep my house or if I will have to find a nice and cozy cardboard box to live in. I can't afford many things. Between my bills and food, I never have enough money. I don't know if I can do it anymore. I work as hard as I can at everything, but sometimes it feels like it never pays off. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but for some reason I can't seem to turn it around.

Tom's POV:

I saw her wake up from her nap. She turned on the light, and then I could see her every move. I watched as she riffled through her bag. She picked up her phone, then seemed discouraged. I wondered what was wrong. I only wanted to help her. That's all I ever want to do for her, is make sure she's alright. She always seems so sad and tired. I know she works really hard. I can see it in her eyes. Whenever I see her get on the bus, she always looks beat. She has bags under her eyes and you can tell by the way she frowns that she has been plastering a fake smile to her face all day. You can tell she's fed up. I can see it in her movement. She's always so forceful and blunt with things. I wonder what happened, that made her this way.

She is beautiful though. Even though she never seems to be happy, I can tell that she has a happy soul. She seems like a pleasant person to be around, but that she's not happy with the life she has. You can tell that she wants to -- and could -- do better.

I saw her make her way back onto the couch. She sat right in the middle of it. She was looking at her phone, just staring at it. She hit a button and put it up to her ear. As she waited, she moved her left hand up to her forehead and hid behind it.

She stood up and started talking. She wrapped her left arm around her body as she engaged in the conversation, seemingly annoyed.

Allison's POV:

I sat on the couch and looked at the word MOM on my phone. I hit send and put the phone up to my ear. As I waited for her to pick up, I put my hand onto my forehead, regretting my decision to call her back already. Once she answered I immediately stood up, nervous and afraid. "Hi mom. Sorry I missed your call."

"It's okay, I was just calling to see how you were doing." My moms voice seemed irritated.

"Ah, I'm good. I've been working really hard." I paced around my living room.

"Oh, so you're working now? Good to hear. I was thinking you were never going to get a job again." I could hear the criticism in her voice.

I waited to reply for a second, astonished that she would say that. "Yeah, I've had this job for about  five months now. It's going good."

"Well, that's good to hear, I guess. I thought you would be ruining your life like usual. But it looks as if you've started to make good decisions, finally."

I almost hung up on her, but I controlled my anger. "Did you only call me to criticize me?" I questioned harshly.

Now, she waited for a minute. She took a deep breath, thinking over what she was going to say. "Honey, I just want to make sure you're making the right decisions."

"Mom." I looked in the circular mirror that hung adjacent to my window. "I made a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. I'm sure you have made horribly stupid mistakes to. But I would never, ever, hold it against you for the rest of your life." A tear started to fall down my cheek. "And I am amazed that you would do such a thing to your own daughter." I hung up the phone and threw it at the mirror. It cracked, sending pieces of glass flying to the floor. I took, yet, another deep breath to calm myself and made my way into my bedroom.

Tom's POV:

She paced around her living room. Walking back and forth, she seemed on edge. She stopped all of a sudden and looked at the wall, I think. I'm not exactly sure what she was doing, but she said only a few words before the phone was thrown against it and she was out of the room. I was sitting on the side of the street, making it look like I had been watching the stars all night. But once she left her living room, I scrambled to my feet and crossed the street to find the new room that she had entered. I cautiously walked around the side of her house, making sure nobody saw me. I walked down, towards the backyard of her small home and found a window with a light shining through. I stood back, and gazed at her. She was standing in her closet.

As I peered through the window, she straightened up her room a little bit, clearing clothing off of her bed and straightening up the floor. I saw her leave for a minute, but only five minutes later she was in the room again. I watched as she easily pulled off her shirt, exposing her black bra. Her torso so fit and lean. She threw her shirt onto a pile she had made with the other clothes from the floor. Her long, beautiful hair brushed her back. She started to unbutton her pants, and I couldn't help but watch. I could feel a tightening in my own, as I continued to stare. She turned down her bed and turned off the lights. Before I saw her silhouette settle on the matress, I could see her remove her bra. I took a deep breath and gulped. I wanted her so badly, but I have a feeling she will never be mine. Unless I make her.