i hated the back of the bus. it was stuffy and crowded and every other girl asked to touch my hair - or didn't - and no matter how far i pushed my earphones in, i could still hear everyone's unnecessary screaming and obnoxious laughter. the smell of week-old gym shirts and dust burnt my nostrils.
normally, i'd just walk home, or ma would pick me up, but today it was cold and ma was ma, and hence my place in a stained bus-seat with my empty backpack by my side as i hoped with every fibre in my being that nobody would sit next to me. the bus was already filling up, a few people shuffling closer to the windows and pushing their bags to the edge of their seats. people continued walking down the aisle and finding places beside friends or strangers. it seemed that most people had their set spots on the bus. the seat that was theirs, but not really theirs. i was sure the one i was sitting in belonged to someone, when a chubby asian girl with greasy hair scraped back into a ponytail glared at me and settled to sit in the seat behind me.
(she smelled of cigarette smoke and coffee as she passed.)
i started to wonder if dropping to the floor and crawling underneath everybody's legs to the exit would be worth it, and i decided it wasn't when i remembered we ran out of laundry detergent last week, and these were my only clean pants. i sighed, sitting up and craning my neck to see how many more people could possibly be boarding this shit hole of a bus,
when i saw him.
narrow eyes, hands in pockets, lips pursed and shoulders tensed, though a red tinge sat on his cheeks. he had a green ribbon tied around his wrist but it had ridden up and sat on his forearm, sweater sleeves pushed up. i felt myself pulling my bag closer to me as to make space when he strolled closer, pretending to turn my attention to the dirty window i sat by. my fingertips ran over my knee and the glass vibrated infront of my eyes as the bus sat still, my heart doing the opposite and jumping around my chest.
"hey, it's the football-or-basketball-player-who-doesn't-really-play-football-or-basketball!" he sang, expression folding into one of peaches and cream. he plonked himself down beside me and i dropped my bag to my feet, mumbling,
"jacob." i pulled my earphones out, though the music didn't stop.
he laughed his autumn-sun laugh, "i know. how are you? i mean, y'know, since i saw you this morning first period. i'd assume you're still fine, unless something earth-shattering happened during break, but i wouldn't know, which is why i asked-"
"i'm good," i told him, a grin tugging at the corners of my mouth as i watched his words spill over his lips before he could stop them. "nothing earth-shattering. how about you?"
he simply nodded his head.
the bus started and everyone standing in the aisle launched forward, some losing their books and pens under seats.
(he snorted and i twiddled my thumbs.)
"so, where do you get off? the bus, i mean." he asked after some time. i still couldn't figure out what his accent was, deciding it was somewhere between english and something else as i noticed a light freckle by his mouth.
"the park near the corner store," i said, "it takes seven minutes to walk to my house from there, and only three if you're on a bike."
he giggled, resting his chin in his palm, "specific."
"you asked."
"i know. hey, i have a question"
i quirked an eyebrow, watching his lips curl into an apricot smirk. "yes?"
