Breathe

Chapter 9 - Waving Through a Window

 After we finished breakfast, we raced to the bus stop, which was on the other side of the forest. Hastily—but carefully—we sprinted over while out of sight and made it to the stop before the first bus arrived.

Once it stopped, we went on the bus. Since it was early in the morning, there were few people on the bus—maybe nine or ten—who were busy fiddling with their own things to bother and look at us. We scattered and took our seats among the crowd.

Choosing an empty seat with a window, I sat on the bus seat and felt the hard cushion press against me. Yet it was still better than the seats in Lower Libentina, which could hardly be called comfortable with the beams being pressed against you and the tattering and tears that exposed yellow cushions.

After everyone was situated, the bus began to move forward and slowly accelerated to a steady, somewhat slow pace. As it drove down the street, I watched as the city began to wake up.

The lights were turning off and sounds were turning on. Signs were turning, and shops were opening. People were emerging from their cookie-cutter houses and walking out to their cars, reared its engines and backed up to join the clutter on the streets. Soon, the street was filled with cars lined up imperfectly on cracked concrete, and the song of the morning began to play again.

"One stop until Middle Libentina High School," I heard the bus driver announce. Looking up, I noticed that the bus had began to bustle and there were people sitting all around me. Scooting the center, I clung to the seat in front of me as the bus rolled to a stop. In front of me, I saw the driver once again take his intercom and say, "Middle Libentina High School."

That was my cue to leave. Standing up, I collected my belongings and followed the pack out the doors. After I went down the grey stairs, my eyes fell on a familiar building: Middle Libentina High School.

Its doors were opened. Its windows were being opened by tired, yet smiling faces. Around the school, there were fragments of broken glass and a pile of planks of wood. But in front of the school, there were students standing around, talking with pained yet thankful smiles.

I felt a tug on my blazer and glanced to see Esmae looking at me and dragging me towards the door. "Let's hurry," she said, "we have to go to the attendant's office."

"Why?"

"Because you and Phil haven't been at school for a while, so you need to go clear things up."

I sighed. "Do I have to?"

She rolled her eyes. "C'mon, Al, it's not that bad. You just have to explain stuff and then they'll let you back in." Her eyes darted away and she grimaced. "Well... kinda."

"Kinda?"

She looked back. "You do that and take a test." Before I could say anything, she sputtered, "But it's really not that bad. Honest. It's actually really common for people to not go to school for a long time 'cause of all the stuff that's going on. I know of a girl who left for like a month. Everyone thought she was dead. Turns out, her dad was dead."

"That's a rather morbid example."

She laughed. "Sorry, first thing that I thought of. But really, we should go before the line gets really long... or before the bell rings." Looking back, she yelled at the other two, "Dani, Phil, let's go!"

Soon, I found myself surrounded by the trio and getting dragged through the halls. As we sped walked—but practically ran—I couldn't help but notice the slightly discolored floors and holes in the wall that seemed to lead to oblivion. They abnormalities were generally unpopulated, as if people were purposely ignoring them, and left a bad taste in my mouth.

Eventually, we reached the attendant's office. Esmae left go of my sleeve and slightly pushed me forward. "Go," was all she said.

I looked back at her with a confused look. "What am I supposed to say?"

"I dunno, make up a sob story or something," Dani interluded, "make it believable though. They'll believe some stupid shit, but it has to be believable shit."

"Dani!" Esmae chided with a disapproving look. Turning her attention to me, she said, "But she is right. They'll believe anything that seems kinda believable."

"But what's believable?" Phil asked.

"Saying that someone in your family died... or something." She looked at me, and then stammered, "Maybe you should say that you were kidnapped and almost killed. That sounds kinda believable. Really, anything would work."

"I'll make something up later," I said. Turning to Phil, I stated, "Let's go."

With a salute to the other two, he said, "Wish us luck!" and we opened the door and walked in.

~.:.~~.:.~~.:.~

10/03/17: I'm back from hiatus! It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, here's the ninth chapter—after two weeks, I have finally written something that I'm kinda proud of. Isn't that great? But yeah, here you go!

Thanks for reading! If you liked it, please vote, comment—everything and anything helps. Thanks for reading, and I hope you continue!