The Tunnel

Chapter 2

She used to one of those people that got along with anyone. She was the one everyone came to to solve problems. She thought of herself as the glue; whenever there was a petty little conflict in elementary school, she was the one who brought everyone back together again. She was able to bounce back and forth between everyone. But then everyone grew up, and the cliques became solid. If there was a problem within a group, it was solved easily, no outside assistance necessary. She didn’t have a characteristics of just one group, like the extra puzzle piece that is close to the shape you are looking for, but not exactly.  Amelia became an outsider.

 The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and Amelia continued trudging through the expanse of the day.  She let her vision go out of focus and muted out the teacher’s lectures. Everything they taught was meaningless, she couldn’t stand to hear it.

                Amelia continued out the day without saying a word. She didn’t mind the silence as much as the fact that no one cared to try and break it.   

The day finally over, Amelia climbed to three stairs leading into the bus. The bus driver gave her a brief smile and Amelia nodded in acknowledgement. She stopped for a moment to look onto the bus; the back was already filled up with the popular underclassmen. The guys were acting stupid and pushing each other into the aisles and over the seats. The girls already had their gossip circle set up and were divulging the daily scoop on what was said on twitter last night. The rare junior glared at the obnoxious freshmen realizing it wasn’t worth it to put them in their place. The more quiet kids took a bench in the middle of the bus. One smaller freshman pulled out a giant novel that was the size of his head. Another girl plugged her head buds into her phone and listened to her music, looking out the window. Amelia took her usual seat directly behind the driver. Here she could see everything going on in the bus using the driver’s mirror, but no one on the bus could see her. Like the freshman a few rows behind her, Amelia grabbed her head phones and tried to block out the sounds of the world she was in. The bus rolled to a start, pulling out of the school parking lot. It took a left and started heading towards its first stop in one the suburban neighborhoods. It was about a five minute drive before the first group of kids got off the bus. The same route every day.

Eventually, the bus rocked to a halt at Amelia’s stop. She shouldered her book bag and exited the big, yellow bus. Her hair caught in the gust of wind caused by the bus speeding away. She breathed a sigh of relief; she was home. There was no expectations when she was alone and she didn’t have to worry about doing the wrong thing or looking stupid.

 She entered the door of her apartment complex and walked over to the elevator. The reflective metal doors slide shut in front of her as Amelia pressed the circular button with the number three emblazed on it. Alone at last. The elevator dinged and opened reveling an ugly tan patterned wallpaper. She stepped out of the elevator and hung a right, walking towards apartment 3F. She slung her back pack off of one shoulder and dug out the keys to her apartment. She inserted the key into the lock and turned. SNAP. The stub of her key was stuck in the door knob with the door still locked.

She shook the handle desperately, putting her entire body weight against the door. “No, no, no,” she thought “Please, just let me get home!” It finally became evident that the door was not going to open.

“Damn it!” Amelia shouted. She kicked the door, falling to the ground. Her back to the wall and knees to her chest, Amelia let her tears flow freely. She was stuck here until one of her parents got home and that would not be for several hours.