Reddit Stories 2019

The Match Bus

"It's the Match Bus! The Match Bus!"

The jingle played nonstop. K - that was her name, just K - couldn't get it out of her head. Late at night, "it's the Match Bus!" Middle of the day, "the Match Bus!" In the middle of a client meeting, "take a ride on the Match Bus!" It was catchy, grating, and the sole reason she avoided signing up for so long.

And the reason she signed up now.

She tried to meet people the way her parents did. The websites didn't work. The apps were worse. She even went to bars. There was a romance to meeting someone in person, seeing her face, and knowing - instantly knowing - that she was the one. It was the sort of idealized romance they still showed in movies.

There was never a match. K wanted something long term. Longer than the night at least. But the girls she met either didn't want the same, or didn't want it with her. Out of options and with the tune stuck in her head, she finally filled out the form.

"It's the match bus! The match bus!" The jingle played as she boarded. Hopefully it was just for boarding.

Five hours and a state away, she decided it was not.

Maybe she should have stuck it out with R. Unhappy together was better than unhappy alone, right? It's not like her life in California turned out like she thought it would.

The Match Bus gimmick was simple. Board the bus, find a seat. If you see someone you like, sit next to them. If you're both into it, get off at the next stop. If you're not, keep riding. A chance meeting with someone could be your soulmate. Or close enough to it.

The bus was empty when she boarded. Nervous, K found a seat near the back, sitting next to a window so she could watch LA disappear behind the mountains. The seats around her filled as they left city. All of them, except the one right next to her. It remained empty. Abandoned.

Perhaps in the next city.

Vegas was the same. Empty by the time they entered the city, except for K. Full by the time they left, except the seat by K. So was every stop in Utah. After Denver, K lost faith. Maybe she wasn't meant to find happiness. She even pushed herself to branch out, lowering her standards every time the mile markers ticked over to 0. She tried switching seats, starting the conversation, getting the others to talk about themselves. Everything she was supposed to do.

Nothing.

It was late at night in Nebraska - maybe Iowa? - when K decided to get off. She suffered enough under the judgmental eye of the driver. The town didn't have a name. Four buildings probably didn't count as a town anyways. Another Match Bus (It's the Match Bus!) left the station heading the other way. It would be at least a day before she could get a ride home then. That was fine. After more than a day of sitting on the worn seats of the bus (The Match Bus!), K was glad to have a chance to stretch her legs.

"Oh my god," a familiar voice said.

K turned, a mixture of dread and excitement filling her. The girl across the way, standing where the westbound bus (Take a ride on the Match Bus!) departed, wore fuzzy boots, jeans, and many layers. A shocked smile spread over her face. It had been too long since she'd seen that

R.

She looked older. A decade older. Not too surprising, K realized, since it had been... It had been longer.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was on the uh..."

"The Match Bus?"

"The Match Bus," K sang before she could stop herself. K blushed. R laughed. K's blush deepened.

"Me too. Thought I found someone in Chicago. We wanted different things, so I left." R was quiet for a moment. "Guess I do that a lot, huh?"

In the middle of an empty station, unprompted by anything but the cold and awkward silence, the jingle blared over the speakers. K and R both groaned. Then laughed. Then silence. It was the uncomfortable silence of a thousand questions and no idea how to ask any of them.

"I hate that damn song," R finally said.

"Me too."

More silence. R's face was lit red by the neon sign of the diner across the way. She always looked good in red. K bit her lip, trying to find the power to push through the doubt.

"Do you want to grab a coffee? Catch up?" R took her hand. K almost withdrew it, suddenly remembering the last time she saw R. At a different bus stop, in a different nowhere town, leaving her. Leaving their life together. Abandoning everything to move to Chicago.

Then she looked in R's eyes. Her beautiful blue eyes, wet with regret. The same eyes that looked at her almost fifteen years ago and swelled with tears when K said she wouldn't go with her.

K looped her fingers around R's again for the first time in too long, melting the anger and sadness of the reunion and leaving only her with warmth and joy and... and love.

"Yeah," K said. R's hand was warm and K was starting to see why she had so many layers. She'd need to fix her wardrobe when they got to Chicago. "I'd love to."