Bus Boy

Bus Stop

"Mary Anne! Hurry you'll miss the bus!" Jennifer yells up the stairs to her daughter. Mary Anne sat in front of the mirror. She fiddled with the foundation brush. "Here I come!" She yelled back. She did not move though. She sat there.

What if he doesn't like me..?

She moved her hair out her face. She had a giant curly ponytail in her hair. It often fell into her face because of how big it was. She added more make up on than usual today. She usually only put on foundation to cover up her minor blemishes, and sometimes even mascara, but today she had on lip stick, foundation, mascara plus a wing, contour for her eyebrows, and a bit of blush. She ran down the stairs, hiding her face from her mom.

"Mary Anne!" Her mom yelled at her. "Where are you going without a kiss?" Her lips curled into a smirk, as she knew her daughter always tried to avoid them.

"Mama!" Mary Anne turned slowly. Jennifer's eyes opened up a bit more. "Mary Anne... why do you have so much make up on? Your brown skin is beautiful the way it is!" Jennifer's Spanish accent started to come out. Mary Anne was mixed with African American, and Mexican. Her mother came here to the what she calls "Americas" when she was twenty seven. That's when she met Mary Anne's father who was at the time thirty two. They fell in love almost instantly and two years later, Mary Anne was born. Over the years they fell apart. They're still married, and they still live in the same home, but its quite obvious that the love they had before is not there at all anymore. Mary Anne knew that they were only together for her sake. She heard her father telling one woman that as soon as she (Mary Anne), was to go off to college, him and her mother were planning to divorce for good. They do not hate each other completely, but the love that they had was just gone.

"Mama, I know that I look good the way I am, but I just want a little more... I love you mama." And with that Mary Anne ran to the bus stop, and waited. She made good timing too. As soon as she arrived, the bus was coming down the street. She sighed as a wave of anxiousness came over her. She turned back to her house to see her mother still standing in the door. She waved, and turned back around to enter the bus.

She spotted him as soon as she got into the bus. She usually sat across or behind him. Today, she sat right next to him in the empty spot. He did not show any sign of attention to her. She filled with an automatic sadness. He looked around the bus, and then back at his shoes. He had mud brown hair, and brown skin. You could not tell from just looking at him, but he had a slight dimple in his right cheek.

Fustrated, Mary Anne moved her seat. That did nothing, as he kept looking at his shoes. He did not smell like anything. Mary Anne always thought he would smell like wonders, but to her surprise he smelled like the air he was surrounded in. She was not going to go to school today. She was going to follow this guy and see where he was going. Why did he look so depressed, and most importantly why did he always look past her.

About a hour later, he still did not move from looking at his shoes. She stared at him the entire time, not noticing her surroundings at all. Until finally he got up. He walked off the bus, and she followed. He walked into an alley, and she did not follow. She waited. She heard a scream... she heard him scream. He screamed out in agony, and she ran his way. He was not there. She turned around and seen a new bus waiting. He was entering the bus. She ran towards the bus right before it was closing.

"Ma'am, you caught this bus right on time didn't you" The bus driver chuckled. She rolled her eyes and showed her bus pass before looking for a seat. She looked on the bus which was nearly empty and saw him sitting by himself again. She found him looking at his shoes again. She marched over to him angrily.

"What is wrong with you!" She said in almost a yell, but it was still a whisper.

The only other passenger was an old lady who was sleep, and she woke up and just stared at Mary Anne in a weird way. She turned towards the window, and whispered "Not yo business Shirleen, let the crazy folks be crazy."

The boy looked up from his shoes in a confused way.

"Do not look at me like I am crazy Mr.! I followed you all day, and you go into an alley to scream, and then I run to you to see if you're okay, and somehow you pull some magic jujitsu stuff and make me feel crazy!? Oh no I am not the crazy one here! You're the crazy one here!" Mary Anne realized what she said... "Oh.. I mean... I did not follow you all day.. we just happened to be going to the same place, but i hea-" She was cut off.

"You... you can see me?" He said abruptly. His dark eyes began to sparkle.

"What?" She said irritated.

"You can see me! Yes! Yes!" He sat up happy as can be.

"Why wouldn't I be able to see you sir?" She said backing away.

"Baby sit down, you've been talking to ya self this whole bus ride." The old lady said irritated as well.

"I am not talking to myself... You see him don't you?" Mary Anne said scared now.

The boy stood up and smiled, "Please, help me!" He said happy and scared at the same time. He disappeared into thin air.

Mary Anne started coughing, and wheezing.
She pulled out her inhaler before fainting.

She woke up in her room, surrounded by her mother and father... and bus boy...