Serendipity

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My mother greeted me with her usual judgmental, grumpy tone when I made my way to the kitchen. “Delilah, are you really going to wear that on your first day back to school? You look like a druggy or a hippie or God forbid, both.” I looked down and laughed aloud. I was wearing my black and white checkered pajama pants and a black tank top, along with a black headband around my forehead with bracelets covering my left wrist. My curly brown hair falling down to my waist probably didn’t help either. I thought it looked perfectly fine, but my mother found it to be the absolute worst possible outfit in the world. I wore a variety of clothes because I didn't have a prefence to any syle or fabric or look. Ever since I let myself decide, I was free of anything. My mother, however, would rather me be prancing around in too little skirts and too tight shirts in assorted colors of pink waving pom poms and shouting cheers. So not me.

“Obviously,” I replied shortly. I was in no mood to even pretend to be slightly interested in her opinion. Even her voice annoyed me. “I’ll just be heading to school.”

I quickly grabbed an apple off the counter and ran outside to the bus stop. I was around 10 minutes early, so I sat down beside the stop sign, tossing the apple in-between my hands.

I scrummaged through my messenger bag for my camera, and I found it right under my container full of chicken salad. I groaned at my mother’s carelessness of placing food above my antique Leica M camera. She’s never understood photography. She only ever cared to listen if it was her being photographed.

I heard the bus before I saw it because of the crappy engine and I couldn’t help but smile at the familiar sound. I packed up my bags after snapping a quick picture of the approaching bus.

“Morning Ernie,” I said to the plump bus driver as I traded him my apple for his muffin. We fist bumped and I chuckled under my breath as I sat is my usual seat behind his. We trade breakfast every morning because my mother wants me to be on some health diet and his wife loves to bake him fatty foods and sweets, even though he’s trying to be healthier.

“So how’s the old mom, eh?” he asked as we drove off. His voice was colored with his Canadian background. “Still giving you a rough time?”

I snorted and rolled my eyes melodramatically as I said, “That’s an understatement.”

My mother has been frustrated with me ever since I decided to quit being her precious little cheerleader right before school let out. It destroyed our relationship and it nearly just destroyed her in general. She always wanted me to be a girly girl like she was in high school, but I didn’t plan on changing who I was to make her happy. I think I’m just fine the way I am.

I continues to think about it and dozed off to a far away place. I didn’t even hear the bus doors open until it was too late.

“Ahhh, well look who’s sporting her poodle hair,” a deep, teasing voice said from over me. I was startled by the sudden spiral back to reality and gasped when I looked at him. I saw his light brown eyes reflecting my glare back at me. He was obviously in a good mood because his normally scruffy, bedhead-like hair was actually combed and a huge smile was in the place where his smirk usually was.

“Don’t do that you insensitive asshole,” I said, showing my agitation plainly. “Go away.”

“As you wish, princess.” His sarcasm dripped from his words.

As always, he sat in the seat directly across from mine and hummed the same old song under his breath. I shook my head and looked in front of me, only to see that Ernie was shaking his head, in the same way I was, at us with the same smile as usual. This happened everyday, for the most part. Nathaniel would show up on the bus, and after he squeezed his big head through the bus doors, he’d comment to me about something. Usually the comments were about my “poodle” hair, but only when I was wearing it curly.