Bus Stops

Chapter One

"Have a good time Karmin. Pay attention in class. You have a tendency to wander off in your head mijita." Karmin's father said, smiling under a big, black, bushy mustache.

"Thanks, papi. I'll keep that in mind." Karmin replied back, laughing a little. Mr. Vazquez had just dropped Karmin off near the bus stop that would take her downtown soon for her class.

"Bueno. Adios mija. I'll see you at home later then." He said, kissing his daughter's forehead before getting in his car, and driving away to work.

Karmin stared at the back of the car, only looking away when she couldn't see it anymore. She started to walk toward the bus stop, putting on her earphones and tugging on her backpack strap. She sang along quietly to Xo by The Eden Project, then to Somebody Else by The 1975, next to Idfc by Blackbear, and finally to Next To You by Ally Hills before she noticed a ginger ponytail walking not to far ahead from her. She smiled to herself as she thought about the girl. She looks cute. She dresses cute. I bet her names even cute. Karmin thought to herself as she studied the unfamiliar girl.

"Shoot!" She heard the girl yell out as the pile of various cookbooks she was carrying fell out of her hands. "Ughh, I should have gotten the bigger bag."

"You know, if you stack it so the biggest one is on the bottom and the smallest one is on top, it'd be easier to carry." Karmin told the girl once she was close enough to see that the girl's face.

"What?" The girl asked, looking over her shoulder at Karmen. Once the unfamiliar girl's brown eyes met Karmin's hazel ones, the girl blushed. Hard. "Oh! Umm... right. Sorry- I mean! Thank you. For... the advice." The girl said to Karmin. I bet she thinks I'm cute. Karmin told herself.

"Your welcome." Karmin said. "I'm Karmin, by the way. Karmin Vazquez." Karmin introduced herself, holding her hand out to the cute girl.

The girl smiled and, picking herself off the floor, grabbed Karmin's hand and shook it. "Nice to meet you Karmin. I'm Luve. Meredith Luve."

Oh god, this girl is cute. Like, really cute. Meredith thought to herself. She was currently shaking a girl's hand which she had just met, but had a GIANT crush on already. For some odd reason, she couldn't get the girl's name out of her head. Karmin Vazquez. Karmin. Even though she had a crush on Karmin, she had had crushes on girls before but their name never stayed in her head for so long before.

"So, where you headed to, Meredith?" God, she said her name so perfectly.

"Umm, downtown. I have a cooking class there today." GOD! Why was she being so awkward around this girl?

Karmin smiled at her. "Really? I'm headed downtown too. I have a sign language class." Karmin told Meredith. Meredith smiled wide when she heard that she'd have a chance to talk to Karmin longer than just a short walk to the bus stop. She quickly bit her lip to try to hide her smile.

"Sign language?" Meredith asked, intrigued by the reason Karmin was going downtown. "Are you afraid that you will suddenly go deaf?" Meredith asked, causing Karmin to laugh.

"No. I'm going because my brother's deaf and I don't know how to communicate with him other than making awkward facial expressions." Karmin said, making a weird face that Meredith could only associate with constipation.

"Okay, now I feel bad for your brother for having to see your face." Meredith laughed.

"Yeah, me too." Karmin said.

Both girls stopped in front of the bus stop. "Wanna sit on the bench?" Karmin asked, biting her lip.

"Sure." Meredith replied.

They had only been sitting down for about two minutes before the bus pulled up in front of them. They both stood up and followed each other into the bus.