Saffron’s POV –
‘’Excuse me, are you going to get onto the bus or are you going to wait around in the rain all day.’’ I could just about make out what the lady was saying to me through the music blasting out of my earphones. I apologised to her for being in her way and explained that this wasn’t my bus and that I’d have to wait for the next one. Not exactly what you want on a Saturday evening to be honest, especially in the winter, to be waiting around in the freezing cold and rain for a bloody bus. Unfortunately both of my parents were at some meeting or something tonight, so getting a lift wasn’t an option.
My name is Saffron Anderson, I’m 17 and I have lived in Clifton for as long as I can remember the nice side of the tracks though, I would hate for people to think I was from the scummy council estate on the other side of town. Sadly though to get home I would have to get the bus through that area, great. To be honest with you, I am pretty much a typical teenager, give or take a few things. I enjoy the simple things in life such as spending time with my friends and listening to music, all the old decent blues stuff such as Cash and Robert Johnson. I hate nothing more than all the shitty chart stuff you get these days. I also play guitar and sing a bit, not that I ever play to anyone, I’m far too scared that they’d think I’m not all that and then laugh at me.
I’m not one of those rich, stuck up and snobby girls though that gets everything they want. Even though my parents have a lot of money, I don’t like to ask them for it, I prefer to work for it myself and have some independence. What’s the use of using my family’s money if I can’t learn to support myself? I choose to buy things with my own money that I earn myself. I have shifts every Saturday in the local book shop, I don’t earn too much, only about £40 every week, but still it’s better than nothing. That leads me back to where I am now.
Today has been a normal Saturday for me. I went to work this morning, my shift was only five hours, 9 am – 2pm. And after that I just popped out for coffee with my best friend Brooke for a few hours. Nothing particularly special, just a little catch up. To be honest I couldn’t be more relieved to be going home just before it gets dark. I hate nothing more than having to travel past the council estate when it’s getting dark. I always feel uneasy, as if something bad is going to happen to me. You never know what can happen around those kinds of areas. They’re full of immoral and irresponsible people, and all they seem to care about is getting drunk and high all the time. I don’t want to come across as a judgemental person, but I don’t understand the thrill in wasting your life on those kinds of things, when you could actually be achieving something worthwhile like settling down with a family and having a good, well-paying job.
It seemed like I had been waiting for literally forever now. Last time I checked my phone the time was 18:34 and now it’s 18:59. Finally the bus pulled up and I hopped on, freezing cold and dripping wet. I kinda felt sorry for anyone on the bus who had to look at me right now because my appearance isn’t going to be the best it’s safe to say. I probably look like a drowned rat right now.
I went straight to the back of bus, as I normal do, to avoid everyone on it. I really wasn’t feeling sociable. All I wanted to do was to get home, dry off, grab a cup of coffee and listen to music for the rest of the evening or mess about on my guitar.
About ten or fifteen minutes into the journey I started to feel a lot more anxious and a little bit more nervous as I realised we were approaching the roughest part of the estate, I pleaded that the bus didn’t stop at the next few stops and that no one got on the bus but unfortunately at the next bus stop we got to the bus pulled in. I noticed how full the bus was and that there were literally only three spare spaces left and just to my luck one of them was next to me. To my surprise the person that got onto the bus wasn’t actually intimidating at all. The guy that got on looked about the same age as myself, he was of medium height. Kind of skinny with brown messy hair and blue eyes. He was dressed in a Harrington jacket and black skinny jeans, with some bright red sneakers that made me laugh to myself. They didn’t seem to go with what he was wearing, but they certainly stood out.
As he started walking down the bus he accidentally bumped into a pushchair and mumbled sorry to the woman. The poor guy looked slightly embarrassed and started giggling to himself a bit. I was probably over analysing him while he was walking to a seat on the bus, but he didn’t strike me as the kind of guy from this area at all. He probably lived in the nicer parts like myself and just had to visit here during the day.
‘’Uhm, excuse me. This seat isn’t taken is it?’’ I was interrupted from my thoughts as the guy started speaking to me. ‘’Uh… well if you’re asking if it’s free, then I guess it is. There isn’t anyone sitting here and I’m not saving it for anyone, so yeah if you want to you can sit here.’’ I started stuttering and it probably became obvious to the guy that I was a little nervous. You see, talking to people I don’t know really isn’t my thing. It makes me feel kinda uneasy. He smiled a little smile at me, thanking me and took a seat next to me, putting his earphones back in.
