Once Upon a Bus | ✓

Author's Note: So somehow, writing about people who meet on buses has become my annual Christmas story thing? Enjoy! :) This takes place 12 years after 'Bus Boy' and 'Bus Girl' so Kaila is about 16-17 years old here!

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Sawyer Kentworth had decided to take the same bus as me today morning.

Again.

I let out an irritated sigh as I recognized the mop of messy blonde curls amidst the large crowd of people that were entering the bus. A bulky, greasy-haired man grumbled irritably as the old woman in front of him fumbled slowly through her tatty old purse for her Oyster card. Behind him, a woman with thin neon-pink lips gossiped animatedly on the phone about Patricia-Who-Got-Pregnant-With-Tyler's-Baby-Yes-Again.

It was on extremely busy mornings like these that I always wondered why I even bothered to take the bus to school. I preferred walking, really. And now that Sawyer Kentworth had decided to take the bus, it seemed to give me all the more reason to resume my more peaceful routine of using my own legs as a mode of transportation.

'Will you hurry up!' the greasy-haired man bellowed at the poor lady at the front who, upon hearing him shout, dropped her tatty purse, startled. The people behind them on the queue collectively groaned and I mentally cringed at the scene. Well, was no one going to help the old lady then? I would've, if I hadn't been wedged between two odorous men who seemed to show no sign of budging up a little.

'I'll help, ma'am.' Ah, Sawyer Kentworth. Of course I'd momentarily forgotten he was there. I watched as his tall frame squeezed through the irritable queue of people and I watched him as he picked up her purse and handed it back to her with that oh-so winning smile of his.

'Thank you, love,' she whispered to him, finally finding her Oyster card and pressing it against the machine.

'It's no problem.'

I noticed a gaggle of Year 7 girls at the back of the bus titter and sigh dramatically. Christ.

Once everyone was finally packed into the bus, I noticed Sawyer's blue eyes sweep past the crowd of people as though he was searching for someone, and upon meeting my gaze he froze. He gave me a half-smile, and much to my embarrassment, he waved. He waved at me! I turned away quickly.

And no, I wasn't trying to be rude. I just felt a little strange-awkward. Bianca, my best friend, would've handled the situation better. She always did. People always wondered how we'd become friends in the first place. Outgoing, sociable Bianca paired up with quiet, moody Kaila? No one would've guessed. I wished she was here right now, laughing and giggling and making the situation a lot less awkward than I'd done by straight-up ignoring Sawyer who, after all, was really just trying to be friendly.

As the bus began to move I began to think about what Bianca had told me a couple of months ago. It wasn't something I'd given much thought-after all, it was a piece of information which wasn't of much use to me anyway-but nowadays, seeing Sawyer on the bus every day,  made me play that conversation back over and over in my mind...

It was during the last week of Year 11, before we broke up for study leave and the stressful exam weeks to come, and Bianca and I were pouring through our school yearbooks which were full of signatures and sweet little messages from all of our classmates; the usual goodbyes and best-of-lucks and I-will-always-remember-yous. I was flipping past a page when Bianca suddenly gasped, and I looked up at her.

'What's wrong?' I asked, frowning.

'Did Sawyer Kentworth sign your yearbook?'

I quirked an eyebrow up at her. 'I don't remember.' I flipped through some more pages in my yearbook and shook my head. 'I don't think so. Why? Does it matter?'