Timebound(on Hold)

Chapter 3

I stood outside my front door and onto the porch, waiting for the bus. I went and sat on the white coloured swing with a creeper hanging from the armrest to pass my time. Swaying slowly I let my legs swing with the rhythm of the swing. My head was throbbing with pain and I feel extremely irritated with all of this going on in my life. I always preferred sitting there and relaxing than sit in my dear little home and face my even dearer aunt. (Sarcasm strikes again). Even though it was the winter season, the sun was out and shinning brightly making the day somewhat pleasant. The dew on the moneyplant acted as a natural mirror and reflected the sunlight.I did not feel the usual chill air which used to creep up on me everytime I stood out in the open at this time of the month. Thankfully, the sun was something good that happened during the morning course of events.

Suddenly I heard a loud horn at a distance which brought me out of my thoughts. And there was my bus, its worn out yellow colour gleaming in the sun giving it a rusty look. It was a single decked bus with the slogan "Horn please, children inside" painted in bold red colour at the back. It stopped infront of my main gate and the doors slid open, I stepped inside and greeted the driver, Mr Anderson. Let me tell you that Mr Anderson is one of the sweetest person I have ever met and talking to him always makes you feel nice. He shifted to my city two years ago and since then he has been my bus driver. Before that he used to live near the countryside and this can be interpreted through his speech.

"Howdy fella?" The old man raised his peach customary hat and gave me his heart warming smile.

And I found my lips rising in a smile  on seeing him."Hello to you too, Mr Anderson. How are you today."

"All good. Care to ride on my magnificent countryside horse" I chuckled.

"Sure. Why not."

"Let's go. Heeha"

I shook my head on his innocent, childish behavior. I climbed inside, the doors closing behind me and made my way towards the seats. The bus started with a jerk and I almost maintained my balance before I was about to be tossed on the ground. I looked around at the students who were either sitting and chatting or studying for their tests. I scanned the crowd until I spotted Nic sitting at the last, long seat which was covered in a tattered gray cloth by the window. As soon as our eyes met, a smile appeared on her face, she waved and then gestured me to come sit with her. I waved back at her trying to put on a smile as convincing as possible but my eyes said otherwise. I started making my way towards her, dodging people's belongings and muttering an apology as I stepped onto somebody's foot.

Nicole or as I like to call her Nic is my best friend. Besides fluffy, she is also one of the reasons why I am still surviving this cruel world which mostly consists of my uncle and aunt and some other people about whom I don't usually talk. She is the only person who understands me and has supported me after my parent's death. One thing that you should know about her is that she loves to ramble and you would never get bored although it can get on your nerves sometimes.

"Hey pal, so you got greeted by the old countryman." she said imitating Mr Anderson's voice. I let out a chuckle but when she looked at my face carefully all humour drained out and I met with a serious expression.

"Care to enlighten me what happened to your face exactly."

I looked down, not having the courage to look at her face.
"Ummm...... Well, I fell down the stairs." I lied and bit my chewing on lip to stop myself from crying.

She narrowed her eyes resulting her brows to get furrowed suspiciously, Her tanned forehead creasing and her mouth set in a straight line.
"Since when did you started lying to me? You always chew your lower lip when you lie. Are you telling it me easily or should I get it out from you the hard way." I realized what I was doing and immediately released my lip. She folded her arms over her chest and her blue eyes staring right into my soul digging the deepest secrets hidden under layers of lies and scars.