Mind Games

Introductions

September 4th 2013:
First day of sophomore year

     WAKE ME UP! WAKE ME UP INSIDE! CAN'T WAKE UP! 

Lacey's alarm blared as the sun began to creep into her window.

      It started out as a normal day: Lacey refused to get out of bed, couldn't find anything to wear (laundry was not her strong suit), avoided the awkward conversation that is her mom's daily pep talk....you know the usual life of your every day 15 year old. 

      Lacey couldn't say that she had the best sleeping habits for someone her age. If she goes to bed by 2 am, it must have been a long day. You know, she always wondered what would happen if she didn't set 6 alarms to wake up during the day. Lacey couldn't quite put my finger on it and that irritated her. She use to always having the answer come to her in an instant, but today her mind felt so foggy.

     Well at least she made it to the bus....things could have been bad if she missed the first day back. Lacey swiped her trans pass and greeted the driver still in her thoughtful state. She held onto her book bag's straps firmly as she kept thinking. Lacey couldn't shake off this feeling, but she could't let it ruin her day. As she placed her right headphone in her ear, she decided to drown out the thoughts with music and took her seat.

   Lacey looked out the bus window, observing her childhood neighborhood for what felt like the billionth time in her life. The streets were covered in their fair share of pot holes. Stop signs and poles were covered in graffiti and posters of missing pets. Houses in desperate need of repairing seemed to look like they were on their last leg. She couldn't help but sigh at the world around her. That's when she suddenly felt movement in the seat to her right.

     Curious, Lacey inched her head in its direction to see a boy with semi-long brunette hair covered in a black beanie and metal rimmed glasses. He wore her school's uniform of black khakis and a polo with a black hoodie covering the shirt's logo. She guessed that he was pretty tall since his knees touched the seat in front of him so easily. He seemed to be engulfed in his phone with his skull-candy headphones blasting what sounded like rock.

   Lacey whispered to herself, "Curiouser and curiouser." She then noticed that the bus is driving underneath a tunnel.

"Oh my stop should be next, better get up." Lacey pulled the nearby cord to signal the driver to stop at the next exit, then she looked at the boy next to her. "I should probably ask him to move."
 

   The boy looked at his phone not noticing that he is being stared at by her, 

He must really like music, Lacey thought to herself as she tapped the boy's left shoulder lightly. "Excuse me?" she said.

      The boy felt something touching his shoulder and turns his head searching for the source. He finally realizes that Lacey was sitting next to him and takes out one of his headphones.

"Yes?" he said concerningly.

"Sorry to interrupt, but I need to get off at the next stop."

      The boy looked outside the bus' window to see the tunnel surrounding them.

"Oh yea that's right my stop is next...." he looked at Lacey, "I keep forgetting that the school relocated near the center of the city."

"Yea its the first year in the new building. I wonder what it's going to look like," Lacey responded.

"You haven't seen it yet?"

"No....I haven't really gotten the chance to go out much," she looked down nervously hoping that he won't ask her for details why.

"Well I'll assure you that it's much bigger than the shoe box they had us in last year."

     She looked up at him and laughed lightly, "Great we won't be packed in like a preschooler's crayon box this year."

He laughed, "Exactly!"

"Hey what year-" The bus AI interrupted her before she could speak, "We are approaching the end of the tunnel. In approximately two minutes we will be at the new Marina high school entrance stop. Students and faculty please get ready to depart and have a great day!"

     He looked around, "Let's get ready to get off." He proceeded to grab his black and green skull bookbag and stood up. He seemed to be slouching a little in order so that his head won't hit the top of the bus.

      Lacey stared in awe at his height as she dwarfed in comparison, "Whoa."

     He looked at her observing the awed face staring at him and blushed, "What?"

"You are a giant!" she responded and started to grab her panda book bag and stood next to him, holding on to a nearby rail so she wouldn't fall down as the bus moves.

"I-I'm not that b-big." The bus suddenly jolted upwards from hitting a bump on the street. The impact caused his head to hit the roof briefly, "Ow." He held onto one of the poles and rubs the back of his head with his free hand.

"I think you may want to let the bus know that.....Are you okay?" Lacey inquired.

"I'll be okay....this isn't the first time that's happened."

The bus AI started to speak again, "Now arriving at Marina High school. Please exit the bus safely and in an orderly fashion. Thank you for riding with us!"

     The bus comes to a halt as it's front and back doors open for those to exit. The mysterious boy allowed Lacey to exit first and soon followed behind. He stopped slouching as soon as he felt as though he was safe from the bus' roof and stretched to his full height of 7' 3". Lacey was still in dumbfounded by his height, but she had to stop herself from staring again.

"So how long have you been coming to Marina?" she questioned.

"Since fifth grade, how about you?" he replied.

"Same, but why haven't I seen you before?"

"We were always in different classes."

"That makes sense......hey well this year maybe we will be in some classes together. You are in my grade and the classes have minimized into smaller groups."

     He started to hesitate and rub his neck nervously, "Yea....maybe..."

"I never got your name.....or should I just call you Mr. Giant?"

     He started to laugh lightly, "My name is Cameron Matthews, how about you miss?"

     She bowed formally, "My name is Lacey Rivers, nice to meet you Cameron."

     Cameron awkwardly bowed back, "Nice to meet you as well Lacey."

     Lacey couldn't help but smile, "Well let's go inside we don't want to be late on the first day!" She started to gesture towards the school.

"S-sure let's go." Cameron smiled lightly and returned the gesture towards the school with his arms, "Ladies first."

     Lacey chuckled and began to walk into the school's main gate. Cameron began to blush lightly and he followed her once more.

"First day here we come!" she started to cheer.....suddenly, today didn't feel so bad.