Pursued

III

The ride to school by bus really isn't that long, but the combination of having nothing to do, no one to talk to, and being forced to listen to the great things the people around me did over summer - it felt like an eternity.

So I pretend to have a conversation with an imaginary character.

Oh, what did I do this summer? I mostly binged Orange is the New Black and reread a handful of books. Nothing special. I'm trying to save up for a car, but there's no work for a 15 year old.

My nonexistent conversation comes to a halt as my ears can't help but hear the chatting taking place a few seats behind me.

"-bought me a cherry red Ferrari!"

Like clockwork, Jennifer Buren announces a bit too loudly where she spent her summer and what extravagant birthday gift she received.

Everyone knows who she is, in our ever-expanding suburban town, her house is the biggest. Her parents co-own some airline company or something, why they choose to live here is beyond me.

While she may have a bit of a bragging problem, she's not your typical family fortune heiress. She's actually rather nice, which makes it really hard to dislike her and all the nice things that are simply handed to her.

"But my dad says I can't drive it until I get my license. Not even to school. So I'm stuck on the bus until I can pass that stupid written exam." I can tell she's picking the volume of her words carefully, not low enough for only the person next to her to hear, but not too loud that the whole bus must endure her bragging. Just anybody within a 5 person radius.

What, the family chauffeur is taking vaca in Barbados, can't be here to drive her royal highness to high school? I mock inwardly.

I lied, sometimes she can be a bit of a pain in the ass.

I pull my phone out of my sweatshirt pocket and swipe in the unlock pattern. First, I notice that I've only been on the bus for 6 minutes. Second, I open up my texting app and find Kaylin's name (conveniently at the top, with my mom and a wrong number). I decide to send her a quick message.

Where are you? There's no way you'd miss the first day of school!

I lock the screen, but within seconds it lights up again with Kaylin's name in my notifications, along with a little preview of the message.

Sry! I'll explain @ school!

She's never listened when I try to explain that no one speaks in short text anymore. She backfires that's all the more reason to use it.

We round the last corner in our trip, and I see the old, ugly red brick building that is our high school. They try to put up pricey posters and statues of our mascot - a cougar. Why they don't just spend the money fixing the school, I'll never know.

As we pull in to the bus roundabout, I hear the first bell go off, announcing to the school and surrounding vicinity that the first passing period has started and first classes will start shortly (5 minutes to be exact).

I stand up as soon as the bus comes to a stop. I walk swiftly and nod a thank you to the driver on my way out, even if she did shout at me earlier.

I walk through the main entrance of the school into the harshly lighted hallway. My first class should be on the second floor. Luckily, my locker is in the same spot it was the previous year, as it will be the year after and the next, unless I file a formal complaint. I wish it was closer to Kaylin's, but she's just down the hallway. I opt to skip putting my new set of school books in my locker and walk to her locker, she owes me an explanation after all.

As I twist my way around the student body gathering steadily throughout the hall, I spot a head of chin-length blonde hair.

"Kaylin!" I shout. It's only been a week since I've seen her, but I'm excited nonetheless.

She turns around and spots me instantly, arms stacked high with books. She tries to smile, but she's using her chin to balance her advanced chemistry book on top of her set of precalculus books, instead it comes out as a lopsided, toothy grin that almost resembles a snarl.

"Want some help?" I ask only as a courtesy, my hands are already on their way to her aid. I pick up one book and set in in her locker, then another.

"Thanks Amelie. You showed up right on time, I was about to drop them all." She brushes her short bangs out of her eyes and continues. "I'm so sorry I left you all alone on the bus this morning. I really needed to finish my summer homework this morning.. I fell asleep last night and-"

"Kaylin," I cut her off, "it's okay. I just needed to make sure you weren't in bed all warm and cozy sleeping the morning away. Or I would have gotten right off that bus and joined you." We both laugh.

I continue, "Anyways, come over after school? We can go through first day horrors, eat popcorn, and watch Gossip Girl reruns. You already missed some Jennifer action on the bus this morning."

She nods at this, looking stressed before the day has even begun. "I'd love to, I may have to bring some homework though, I'm not sure."

I lean up against the lockers, "don't stress too much, we've got 9 months til next summer." I pause, "I'll catch you in third period, I want to get a decent seat in English, I've got Mrs. Hera and you know how much she mumbles."

We smile at each other and I make my way to class, backpack particularly heavy on account of I have 9 books stuffed strategically into it.

When I arrive, only 4 people are seated. Conveniently located among them is Jennifer Buren, the girl I can never get away from.

~

A.N.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Good or bad, I love feedback!

I was concerned about adding too much fluff into my chapters, but as I was proofreading I noticed the chapter could stand to be a bit longer, more descriptive, fluffier etc.

What do you think?