Trial #9 {Challenge Accepted}

Day 14

Your character meets somebody new on the bus. His or her opinion about the person is changed by the end of the bus trip. How did this change occur?

***

What is the most mundane task you've ever done?

It differs for people. For some, it might be doing the same chores everyday, for others, it could be taking the daily commute. Mostly the latter, probably.

And today, I was going to do just that. Though boring would be the last adjective I'd be using to describe it. Especially if we're talking about going on a public bus. That feeling of exhilaration you get when you put your head out the window, or that coziness you feel when you make new friends, are all concrete reasons for me to not hate it.

Unless it's a school bus. That vehicle is basically a mini version of hell.

Today, I was going to the town library located uptown, because we didn't have any libraries here downtown. I woke up in the morning (on time, may I add, the last week was horrifying) and after having some breakfast, took my tote bag, and walked to the bus station.

Thankfully, I didn't have to wait much today. Within a minute of me reaching my destination, a bus had come rolling along leisurely, at its own pace. I got in, swiped my card, and took the nearest window seat, which was a few rows from the door. I opened the window as soon as I sat down, letting the wind wash over my face. Ah, heaven.

A few stops later, my temporarily free seat was taken by another passenger. Her golden brown hair was straight and reached her waist, with not a single kink in between. She wore a navy blue blazer with red borders at the lapels, over a white shirt. Beneath the blazer was a knee-length skirt of the same colour.

What was a private school student doing in a public bus? Doesn't she have her personal chauffeur to drive her to school or anything?

She took the seat next to mine and let out a sigh. Her phone started ringing the second after that, startling her. She took one look at her contact, and rolled her eyes.

What a snob.

She picked it up. “What do you want, Trevor….yes, I'm on the bus now...he won't know, there's a reason why I wanted Timothy to drive me to school today, I know he won't tell anyone...uh-huh….why don't you wait at that hallway between the Biology lab and the staircase….I'll be there in probably…” she looked at me and mouthed, “How long to Wellington Academy?”

“Uh..about ten minutes,” I whispered, albeit uncomfortably.

“Ten minutes,” she told this Trevor guy, who was on the other end of the call.

I lay my head onto the window to let some fresh air in, but the guy across was so loud but I couldn't help but eavesdrop on their conversation.

“Why are you doing this?” the guy asked her. “Uncle Vince is going to put you on house arrest if he knows, you know that right?”

“Oh please, you know that's not going to stop me,” she told him.

Oh goody, a snob and a delinquent?

“This isn't worth it,” he said, “he’s going to go ahead with his plans whether you want it or not. You being a delinquent isn't going to stop things". Plans?

That must've made her extremely angry, for the next thing she did was hiss into the phone. “Shut up, Trev. Just shut up,” she told him.

The absence of sound from the phone indicated that he had obeyed her order.

“I’m not doing this just for the sake of delinquency, you should know that the most,” she told him, “I’m tired of it, just tired of it. The dinner parties, business meetings and the entire society of rich people with their fake attitudes are driving me mad".

Her voice dropped to a whisper. “Do you know how it feels to see the disappointment in your parents’ eyes just because they had a daughter and not a son? Do you know how it feels when they don't talk to me just because I don't want to be like them? If they're neglecting my existence, then I'm going to do the same to them,” she told him, cutting the call.

And at that moment was when I realized how wrong I was about her. She wasn't a snob or a delinquent. Beneath the perfection she embodied, was a girl trying to escape a life that she didn't want. And right there, I felt extremely grateful for the life I had, which she was trying so hard to get a whiff of.

She turned to me. “Sorry for that,” she told me, smiling sheepishly, though I saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. “I’m Evie,” she told me, holding her hand out.

“Manny,” I tell her, accepting her handshake and smiling at her.

A couple of minutes later, I saw that I had reached my stop. I shot her a quick smile and got up, while she made some space for me to get out.

People tell you to never judge a book by its cover. But the thing is, all of us fit into some kind of stereotype, whether we know it or not. Evie was an exception from that theory of mine. And therefore, I felt a sense of regret as I got out, realizing that I didn't have the time to talk to her.

Little did I know, that wouldn't be the last time I was going to see her.

***

I had only come up with the idea of a crossover midway through the prompt, and since then, till the end of this piece, my mind was chanting "CROSSOVER!" over and over again.

Weird? I know.

I feel like I want to write more about these two together.

Anyways, Carrots, go!