Improbable

Two

I don't usually skip school, but after almost being eaten alive you get a real craving for fresh air. I head in the direction of the bus stop, aiming to grab the first one into town. A trip to the mall sounds like a good classic bunker destination, no?

It only takes ten minutes for the bus to arrive, which is pretty good in this lunchtime traffic. Who can blame people for going distances for food? I'd go to the end of the earth to order a good butter chicken and naan bread. Mmm, food.

Shaking my head I jump up onto the bus and swipe my card over the scanner. The green light pops up saying I've paid. I'm on my way.

I grab a window seat near the front, putting my leather satchel next to me so others don't get too comfortable. Despite the lunchtime rush, the bus is empty. Just me. The joy of headphones. I click on the Spotify app and put it on shuffle, it's not like I can afford Premium. Boyce Avenue starts to play, "Be Somebody". This is my jam. I love it when shuffle just gets me.

"My head feels tangled up like the headphones in my pocket," I mouth along to the song. Singing on the bus is disrespectful, so lip syncing, for me, is the best way to fight the urge to belt the lyrics out. Signs pass me by, as I watch them. Stop, give way, no exit. I wish life were as obvious as that, but I guess it'd be too simple.

A man sits on the corner that's decorated with four traffic lights. An intersection should be full of opportunities, but for some reason here, at this busy time, this intersection is empty other than this bus. As the bus comes to a stop, his eyes remain dull. He heaves himself off of the ground, taps on the glass door. The bus driver just ignores him. After about ten seconds the man edges back to the corner he's been occupying. Ten Seconds. It takes him ten seconds to give up. How long would it take me, more or less?

I sigh as the bus moves on and the man goes out of sight, like all the other signs the bus has followed and left. My eyes close as the song changes, Shawn Mendes, "Honest". Softly my head nods to the music. Trying to shake negativity out of my head.

It doesn't take long to reach the mall after that. The large concrete building towers over me, a permanent box full of a variation of things. Rumbles in my stomach attract me to the food court. The smells of the sushi, KFC, MacDonalds, and curry morphs the rumbling in my stomach to an aching in my heart. I need food. The food I got in the cafeteria wasn't enough, curse my neverending need for consuming food. I take the shortest line which has three people ahead of me. It's lunchtime so I totally understand other human beings desiring food, but I wish they'd just move faster. Yes, I'm a bit Hangry. I preoccupy myself for a few minutes looking at the menu. It's a curry fast food place called "Curry in a Hurry". Ironic. I'm gonna be honest and admit it didn't take me long to decide I wanted butter chicken and naan bread, but I pretend to be absorbed in the menu which is just making my stomach louder.

Once I finally get to order, I stand to the side and let the person behind me place theirs. I don't want to, I'd rather be full of food than let someone else interrupt the people serving up my butter chicken and naan. I tap my finger on the counter, eyes frantically searching the kitchen for my order.

"Butter chicken, please," the next guy has the audacity to say. I don't know why it's audacious, it just feels like it is, okay? I'm hungry for goodness' sake!" I turn to face my fellow hungry person and am met by the hollow smirk of Jared. Ugh.

"What?" I ask him.

"I'm hungry?" he replies.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" I quiz.

"Do I know you?" he looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"Probably not, but we go to the same school," I reply, trying to hide my slight embarrassment.

"Well then, you should be in school too," he seems done.

"Touche," I reply, then continue to tap my fingers on the counter. My focus completely returned to food. Betrayal occurs quickly as my stomach makes an enormous gurgling noise. My cheeks heat up as I clutch my stomach and stare at the ground.

"Someone's hungry," I hear a side comment and quickly turn my hanger to Jared. His lean body is in a white t-shirt and dark blue jeans, with grey vans holding his stinky-ass feet.

"If you don't wanna come face to the face with the incredible Hulk, I recommend zipping it, Easter Egg," I throw at him.

"Easter Egg?" he seems kinda confused, kinda amused.

"Sweet, attractive outside, makes me wanna drool. Inside, though, you're nothing but empty and full of darkness. With no cracks in the perfection you wrap yourself in, the darkness is just that much bigger," I reply.

Silence. I sneak a peek at him. His face is grim.

"Bullshit," he whispers. I don't press him though, I've said my piece and I didn't mean to hurt him. There's no reason to, he hasn't done anything terrible to me. Even if he had, it would be wrong to attack someone so cruelly.

"Order up," I hear the words like beautiful music to my ears. I reach up to touch my ears and make sure I'm not listening to my earphones. Nope, it really is truth. I do a mini fist pump before giving a nod of thanks to the worker. Grabbing my food, I practically run to out of the mall. Not before glimpsing Jared, he's looking at me with something in his eyes I don't recognise. Maybe I hit too much of a snag. Don't tell me no one ever told him he seems fake?

A/N: Yo! Boyce Avenue's song is up the top, listen to that and the Shawn Mendes song for more of the vibes. Are y'all having a good day? You seem to have come across my work whilst browsing through the Watpads. I feel like I'm on MTV cribs, "Welcome to my Watt-Pad." Anyway, what do you think so far? I'm gonna try and update a minimum of once a week, probably more though. Exams coming up so I'll be procrastinating here, somewhere else, or actually doing study, #helpme. Ever chapter should be a minimum of 600 words, I've made that my target, so look forward to more XD