Break

Chapter Five

I rush out of the classroom right as the final bell signals the end of a long day. I can't stand another second in that classroom. I can't stand another second in school. As I speed-walk outside, toward the long line of yellow buses, I feel an arm drape around my shoulders. Looking up, I see Alice walking next to me.

"Hey there,"she says, giving me a slight nod.

The sun is hanging directly behind her head, giving her a bright halo composed of its rays. Her bright, blue hair appears to be glowing.

"Hi," I'm not sure how to react, or what to say. She seems to be far more outgoing than I am. I see my bus at the very front, giving me the perfect excuse to break off the conversation. "That's my bus at the front. I should probably go."

"Well, isn't that just grand?" A broad grin spreads across her face, "We have the same bus! Guess we won't have to be separated after all," her arm tightens around my shoulders as we walk onto the bus.

I tense up a bit at first, but soon relax into her grasp. I let my arm move up and rest on her shoulder. 

I tense up a bit at first, nervous about continuing our conversation; but the tenseness quickly surrenders to the excitement of talking to someone new.

The freshmen in the back of the bus are obnoxious. Pencils are flying like bullets in an action film; yelling and obscene jokes are their dramatic background music. We sit in the second row of seats, across the aisle from each other. She sits on the right, and I sit on the left. Her cold, grey eyes look deep into my brown ones.

I stutter a little, but give up before getting any real words out of my mouth. She laughs.

"You can talk to me," her smile is a bright, confident white. "I won't bite."

"What school did you go to before now? I don't think I have seen you around before," of course, school is the only thing I can think of to talk about.

"I lived in New York City, I was homeschooled. My mom got a new job, here in North Carolina, so we moved. It was a nice change; I like it a lot better here, so far.

"Really? You would rather be here than in New York City?" I say, surprised. My dream is to live in New York; I can't understand why she would rather be here.

"I never really had any friends there. I had some for a while, but my ex completely ruined that for me. This is like a fresh start for me," her eyes look sad, but her lips are still curved into a smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. What did he do?"

"SHE spread some cruel rumors about me. She was always a great liar. I'd rather not talk about that in detail. I'd much prefer to hear more about you," her smile returns to the same, flirtatious smile she wore during class.

I don't know what to say. Alice seems to be easy to talk to; very open and ready to listen. I find myself wanting to tell her everything. Would that be too much?

Instead of talking, I turn my head and look out the window at the trees and grass rolling by, leaving us in silence. Her smile falters and fails as I stand up to get off the bus. As I walk by, i hand her a folded piece of paper with  my number on it, and leave without a "goodbye."