In The Shadows

Chapter 1: The Chase

It was cold outside. The chilly breeze caught me off guard when I walked out of my front door. It was nice though. I like the cold and how it made me feel alive. Winter was coming and next month I'm sure it'll start snowing.

I walked to the bus stop. A few people were already there. Everyone had a jacket but me. My best friend Daren was there and when he saw me he waved. Raising his hand up high and flailing it like an idiot. I laughed and walked up to him. He was wearing favorite hoody which I always used to identify him in a crowd. I noticed he was wearing his green long sleeve under it. There was obviously an undershirt under that too. He looked pretty warm and here I am only wearing my Peirce the Veil t-shirt and jeans.

"You know your an idiot right?" I said in a tone almost too serious to be kidding.

"Yeah, I know but isn't that why we're friends?" he snickered and punched my shoulder.

"I guess, you do make my life interesting." I said with a slight laughter in my voice.

"So where's your jacket? It's freezing balls out here!" he said. I noticed his teeth were chattering and laughed to myself.

"I don't need it. It's not even that could out here. I don't know why your wearing so many layers."

"Again, it’s freezing BALLS out here!" he emphasized "balls" loud and clear. Everyone looked and we both laughed.

We saw the bus turning into our street. It wasn't a very big bus. It was old and faded and the yellow paint as chipping off on the sides. It roared down the street and screeched as it approached and arrived at the stop sign. The door opened and we went up the stairs sitting next to an exit in the middle section of the bus. Never sit in the front or back of a bus. The back either holds all the popular people or the bad kids that you don't want to mess with and the front is where all the losers and geeks sit. Daren and I sit in the middle to avoid being in one of those classes. We're just the average people, here in the middle.

It was loud on the bus. All I could hear was a buzz from all the people speaking at the same time. I dread this every morning. It takes 20 minutes to pick up all the kids and getting to school. there were still seven more stops. Feeling awkward I try to start another conversation with Daren.

"So how are you and Cassie doing?" I ask. I'm not actually interested but I ask anyway.

"Oh we're fine. We're fighting again but I hope this time it'll blow over, ya know?" He seemed like he didn't want to talk about it. Him and Cassie have been on and off for a while now.

Great, I always put myself in these awkward situations that make people hate me for always asking the wrong thing. I need to fix it.

"Soo... what did you do this weekend? I went to the park for a little bit and went to watch that new movie about time travel. It's really good, you should go watch it." I say it all in a bit of a rush. I wish i didn't make it so obvious that I was trying to change the subject.

" Well nothing really. I did go see that movie. It really was pretty great. I partied at Marcus' house on Saturday and that was crazy. I woke up with the worst hangover." He brought his hands to his head and let them slide down his face as if he had a head ache that wouldn't go away.

"That sounds pretty awesome," I smiled, “You should have called me. I was so bored this weekend. I need to drink. Maybe next weekend right?

"Yeah, of course."

The rest of the ride was silent. It just felt awkward the whole way and i blamed myself for it. I'm not much to talk to really. Especially while riding on something. I just shut my mouth and become mesmerized by the passing scenery. I spent the next 10 minutes looking out the bus's fogged windows.