Opia (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3 - Black and White

As Brie lay sprawled on the bus floor, Emma started to yell, "You can't..."

The boy looked at the little girl and glared, his face morphing into a threatening mask.

Emma's voice trailed off. She stood, clearly trying to decide whether to finish the sentence or not.

At the same time the driver jumped out of his seat. "What happened! Are you alright?" his voice boomed across the bus.

The hulk over her growled low in his throat like an angry animal.

Brie hoped Emma didn't say anything. If the woman on the floor of her vision was any indication of what the boy was capable of doing, she didn't want Emma to end up in the crosshairs of his anger. She realized if she didn't do something fast, Emma might feel compelled to answer the driver. Brie sent a pleading look at the girl, her lips puckered closed, and she shook her head in a silent 'no.' She prayed Emma would understand what she was trying to tell her.

But Brie wasn't willing to take that chance in case she didn't. "I fell! My foot got caught under the seat and I tripped," she shouted. "I'm okay."

The driver leaned over and grabbed her hand to help her up. "No, you're not. You need to go to the office; your lip is cut. You need ice and we have to fill out an injury report."

Brie sucked in a breath when his hand came in contact with hers. She let it out in relief when she didn't feel that telltale sting. "I'm okay," she repeated. Confident there were no skeletons lurking in the back of his mind, she gave the middle-age driver a shaky smile.

Most of the students were out of their seats crowding the aisle now, all of them staring at her. This was a nightmare. She fought back the tears. All she wanted was to blend into the woodwork on her first day. Instead, she was the focus of attention and she hadn't even made it into school yet. Needing an excuse not to look at them, she brushed off the dust on her backpack with the hand not covered in blood, and slung it over her shoulder.

"Okay, okay, move it along now. You're running out of time to get to class." the driver said. To Brie: "Wait for me outside. Once the bus is empty I'll take you to the office."

"I'm the office TA for first period; I can walk her over. I'll stay with her until you get there. She's kind of bleeding a lot," said a girl from the back of the bus.

"No, that's alright," Brie insisted, closing her eyes. "I know where it is." The last thing she wanted was another awkward conversation with a stranger. "I can make it on my own."

Two weeks ago, when she was still sixteen, she would have welcomed the idea of a new friend. But her life had changed drastically since then. Making friends was a bad idea now. She still hadn't come to terms with her new sight and the horrors that came along with it. Until she learned how to control it, if in fact she ever could, she would have to keep to herself.

The bus driver shook his head. "I can't have you faint in the halls on the way. The school nurse should take a look at you. Jordyn, walk her over, please." He waved a hand, "Come on now, off the bus everyone."

The students filed off the bus and Brie stood on the curb with her back to them, holding her lip so the blood wouldn't drip onto her parka.

A girl stepped in front of her. "Hi, I'm Jordyn. What's your name?"

"Um, Brie. You don't have to babysit me, really. I can get to the office on my own. "

"Don't be ridiculous. Like I said, I'm the TA; I have first period there."

Rather than do a face to face with the girl, Brie kicked the dust off her new Chuck T's, the ones her mother had given her for her birthday. Brie knew Jordyn was only trying to help, but in this case, the attention was unwanted. No, not unwanted, more like problematic.