𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬

sneaky-bastard-uva-kelly

The two girls in front of me, who i still didnt know the names of, seemed to be caught in a comfortable silence as we coasted along the small, 2 laned road to the next bus stop. I knew itd be a long while before we got to K-12, so i tried to find a way to entertain myself along the way. Thank god i thought to pack my tarot cards. I use them for divination sometimes, but mostly i use them to play card games like any normal deck of playing cards. The major arcana was separated from the minor arcana, the 4 suits in the minor arcana aligned with the 4 suits in playing cards, number cards had that value, face cards went like normal play card arrangements. 

But i think for now ill just look at my rock collection. 

Not my full rock collection, god no. I sent the rest of it in my suitcases to K-12 on a different bus, these i had with me now were just some of my favorites-- a perfectly formed crystal point in a geode i found in my backyard, the triangle hag stone i found and kept on a chain to see fairies, the heart shaped rock my dad found and gave me when i was 4, and a few others. 

I was looking at my hag stone, feeling the naturally smooth edges of it in my hands, the rest of my rocks zipped up with my backpack, as i felt a tap on my shoulder.

I turned around to see the short blonde girl from earlier now sitting next to me while i could hear her friends giggling in the back of the buss quietly. 

"Hey girl!" She said so casually, youd think weve been best friends since the 1st grade. "You know, you dont gotta sit on your own the whole ride staring at driveway gravel." 

"Uhh, yeah.. im just- i-i dont--" i stuttered as i heard her friends laughing a bit louder before going back silent, whick spoke more words than this basic blonde bitch probably knew how to spell. 

"Im Kelly," She said, a smirk still on her face, but i could hear her tone shifting, like she was trying to bait me in with the classic manipulative 'attention bombing to attention deficiency' tactic, a bait i fell for every time. "Whats your name?"

"Uh- Ry-Ryan." 

She chuckled dryly, "Alright, Ry-Ryan," she said mockingly, "me and my friends would looooveee to have you sit and talk with us. Cmon, kid, thats an offer i know you cant deny." 

She was right. Sitting with the popular girls was an offer i couldn't deny, and she knew that from experience with all the other poor sould stupid enough to fall for her tricks. I couldn't speak without stuttering, i knew, so i just shook my head in agreement as i put my rock back in my bag, walking to the back of the bus where she led me. 

Sitting in between Kelly and the wall, i got stuck with the wheel seat, of course. But that was the least of my problems. Kelly began to talk to her friend group as if i wasn't there, im pretty sure she was talking about me. But i tried to tune it out. 

"So, Ryan, what do ya do for fun out in the country?" Kelly said in a condescending tone as all her friends started at me with smirks on their faces, but all silent. 

"I have a creek in my backyard.." i said quietly, managing to keep my voice steady. "So thats pretty cool, i guess." 

"Ohh, how wonderful!" Kelly spoke to me as if i were a child, as if i didnt understand exactly what she was doing. "So, i guess you collect rocks n stuff, huh?" 

"Y-yeah.." shit. Stutter again. 

"Aww, cute.." she said in that natural superiority people like her have. Thankfully, pur little conversation ended before we could continue much more when her friend interrupted her.