Tragedy on Public Transport
"I am a woman. I am a smart, strong independent woman who needs no man." Kamita squinted at herself in the mirror, and then threw a pose for dramatic effect. "Hear me roar!"
"Grrrrrr?" laughed Sheeny behind Kami. She peered questioningly up from her seat. "What the fuck are you doing Kamita?" pronouncing the name with relish. She loved Kami's full name.
"Sheen, don't call me Kamita!" Kami wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Only Grandma Rose calls me that and she's a nasty old hoe".
Kami didn't tell her why she was convincing herself that she "needed no man". Well, the fact was... Kami had the teensiest little crush... on Paul. But there was no chance, she thought, since she's not the typical girl mysterious boys go after. She wasn't even that geeky, so the whole nerd-jock thing wouldn't even apply. He wasn't very open and a bit aloof, although he was friendly and Kami wondered what type of girl he was interested in...
Joe flicked his heart-shaped sunglasses onto his head and belted in song "That's right girl! You don't need a man to make you happy, you get off being free. You don't need a ring around you finger, to make you feel complete, so let me break it down- Hey! Shit, that fucking hurts!"
"That's what you get idiot" growled Corrine, mock furiously, "when you sing PCD in the morning. I don't like skanks when I'm starving and tired."
Kami sighed, and then giggled, looking at her friends. They were really the reason she got up every day?
Paul laughed as he sauntered over to their bench on the bus, catching the end of their conversation. 'Looks like someone's in a bad mood", tipping his head over to Corrine.
Jarrett bounced in behind him and grinned "Hey kids, remember me?"
I frowned sternly "Oh yeah, the mad teen delinquent who rubbed his ass all over my face!"
Jarrett laughed triumphantly "I knew I made an impression!"
"Yah, with your ass on my face!"
Sheeny smiled shyly at Paul and said "They'll be like this for ages you know. Hi, I'm Sheeny" and she shifted over on the bench so there was room for him to sit.
Paul sat down and gave her a look of thanks that somehow made her blush and replied "I know, forgive Jarrett. He was born like it. I'm Paul" and he reached out his hand to shake hers.
Sheeny was shocked. Not because nobody under the age of twenty shook hands, but because when she reached out to grip his warm large hand, her heart seemed to lurch a little in nervousness and when he let go she missed the warmth instantly. How did someone who she had just met have this effect on her? True, she was usually nervous when she meet new people, especially cute boys but... this was different. Then she noticed that underneath his eyes - beautiful chocolate eyes - stay focused Sheeny! - there were dark circles.
She swallowed and said "Is something wrong? You look a little pale. And tired."
Paul started a little and replied "Oh, It's just stress I guess. I didn't sleep much last night, and I had this big ass English project to make up and my little sister was crying for a while so I had to help her fall asleep. And my boss just fired me, cause he's an insane bastard, and now I'm out of a job, but I really need the money." He blinked confusedly a little. "Wow. I can't believe I'm unloading this on you. Sorry"
Smiling sympathetically she said eagerly "Don't worry. We all have days like those. And trust me, I don't mind. You can continue talking about it... if you don't mind..." She trailed off hesitatingly. She couldn't believe that Paul was opening up to her. She was surprised but really eager to learn more.
Sheeny cleared her throat a little, took a sip of her drink and waited for him to continue.
Paul said slowly, "Well, my mom's... unwell. So I'm pretty much Sylvie's slave for awhile. You know, cooking, washing." He flashed a charming grin, "And as much as I love my bratty kid sister, it's tough, you know?"
She nodded, not sure what to say. Should she make murmuring, comforting noises, like in the books? Give him a hug- wait was that to forward? Give advice – but maybe he didn't want advice, just somebody to listen to him? God, she was horrible at this. Then she panicked a little, worrying that since she was thinking so hard of the appropriate thing to do, there would be an awkward silence and he'd move on, thinking she was a little creeper. Then she chuckled a little, at something that Joe had said about awkward silences the day before.
"What are you thinking about?" Paul interrupted her thoughts
"Gay babies" she blurted out. Then she clapped her hands to her mouth, eyes wide with horror.
Joe frowned, concerned. "Corrine. Yo, you okay? You look like shit." He's worried about her, since she always puts up a strong front, but in reality, was hurting inside over things that had happened to her. And she had been unusually quiet lately.
"I'm okay", Corrine smiled reassuringly. "Just fucked up, as usual." She reached over into her bag and pulled out her Indigo drinking bottle. She liked the design on it.
"You're not." He told her, hugging her firmly. "All of us love you. We don't want anything to ever happen to you. Do you hear me Corrine? We need you."
Corrine smiled sadly, and let herself enjoy the hug. What could it hurt? It would all be over soon, they would all find out, and they'd leave her. She'd be alone. Again.
"Joe?" she asked softly
"Hm?"
"Don't ever leave me. Promise, alright?"
"I'll always be here."
Lynda watched the scenery flicker past the bus. Bored, she turned around to Kim, "Kim? You still mad? I'm sorry okay."
Kim sghed, "Lyn whatever. I don't really want to talk you right now. Maybe later. I'm thinking about something."
Lyn nodded. "Kay Kimmy, whatever you want." And turned to face the rest of the bus with a sigh of disappointment.
Scrutinising the passengers, as usual, she watched the apparently oh-so-hilarious conversation between Paul, a member of the football team and an asian girl. She appeared to be apologising profusely, wringing her hands –wow, Lynda didn't even know that people really wrung their hands- while he was spitting out incoherent words inbetween fits of laughter.
As her stop neared, Lynda pulled the string, and got up. Walking to the front of the bus, she stumbled and fell onto the girl with the neon blue hair.
"Shit! Damn I'm sorry-" Then she realised that the girl wasn't even paying attention to her, her head resting on the wall of the bus. "Hey! Are you listening to me?" demanded Lynda. She nudged the girl, and then suddenly, horribly, she instinctively knew what was wrong.
She backed away, terrified. "Fuck." She whispered, "She's dead"
AUTHOR NOTE: Hey you guys, so I would love a review, even if its' critiscm because then i could know what to fix. question: did you like the light cheerier chapter before, or this darker one here?