1A/N:
Hiya guys! It's Heron here! This is my first story on FictionPress, but not actually my first-they're FanFics.
Anyways, it's still one of my first, it's a little…. Strange? I don't know…. A friend helped me beta this so let's all thank her ;)
Nonetheless, Enjoy!
Bus 14 - Prologue
He watched her stare out the window, tired blue eyes glazed over, drifting in her own world and her face remained neutral and unreadable and an earphone in an ear. He waited, knowing that in about three minutes she would snap out of her reverie and pack the unfinished homework that sat on her lap into her bag. Two minutes later, she would swing her bag over her left shoulder and murmur a quick thanks to the bus driver, who would in turn, give her a warm smile, and step off the bus. She always waited for everyone else to get off before pausing at the bus stop and turning right.
Then she walked away.
He saw her around school sometimes, she was in two of his classes. To put it simply, she was weird. Strange. Intriguing. Infuriating. A lot of things. She wasn't the quiet and lonely friendless type- she has her own circle of friends. But when she was alone, she just seemed to drift and wander in her own mind. Sometimes she looked sad, often her face was neutral but there were times when she nibbled her bottom lip anxiously when she watched others with a look of amusement.
With her friends, she resembled a ball of light. She smiled at them warmly and often tried to include the friends her other friends excluded. She seemed like a sweet and kind girl, or a quiet polite one, or even the sociable girl with her own circle of friends. Except there were people that talked of how she swore like a sailor and quite sarcastic, and the fact that she was a very close friend to the school troublemaker didn't exactly stop the words.
Her friends were the peculiar type. They were dubbed weird, strange and it wasn't abnormal for people to give them 'are-you-mental?' looks. They didn't care, though, they had accepted a long time ago that they were different and fit in with the others.
With others she was indifferent, always listening and smiling. She smiled and treated people nicely, just enough so that she would be quickly forgotten amongst the others.
She blended in well, only hanging out with girls, having not made any male friends after the year got over the 'cooties' thing. She stayed around the middle, the average. Not much of the daring kind, she swam in tepid waters and rarely got into any trouble. He noticed she stayed in the comfort of her friends often, but had that look of wishing for solitude.
She was one of the top 5 students in the class. Most of the teachers took a liking to her, though they often glanced at her close friends with disappointment. She would laugh at her friends, but still helped with their schoolwork when they asked.
But there were times, he noticed, when she looked like she'd rather be somewhere else. He saw her look at most people with a look of disdain, and sometimes even looked at her own friends, annoyed. She didn't let them see, and they didn't notice. He saw her stare mockingly at people and mocked them with her friends almost jokingly. They couldn't decipher the truth she weaved in her false.
There were also times when she would smile sadly at her friends- or just stare sorrowfully around. He saw her watch the elementary school children almost wistfully, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips.
There were even times when she'd speak in a joking tone but have a sad or uncertain look in her eyes, which would search her friends face with a hint of hopefulness before falling downcast.
Her friends laughed and joked with her, but he wondered if they ever noticed her sad lonesome face. If they didn't, who was there to comfort her?
There was a time when she considered suicide, or simply running away from home. But she was too cowardly.
She had to be strong, not weak. She had to show them all that she could live, she could survive.
Yet she couldn't help but think she couldn't.
Her friends couldn't see. They couldn't understand. They had their own problems, who had time for hers?
She watched scenery by scenery fly by through the bus window. A girl patting a dog, an old man watering his garden, some leaves fell from a tree and a woman made it home with her grocery bags.
Children played in a playground, their parents keeping an eye on them with a hint of affection or concern, while the elderly sat on benches smiling softly at the young ones.
There was a time when her older brother would take her to the park. He would introduce games to her, and make sure she could get around safely. But that was all gone and in the past. Everything dissolved into memories over time.
She remembered when Samantha Peters almost jumped off the building. She was concerned for her friend of course, but couldn't help but feel like snorting and rolling her eyes. The reason for Sammy to want to commit suicide was so stupid, so small, so ridiculous, it made her look weak and attention-grabbing. Maybe she was, who knew?
She wished she had an anchor to hold on to her, a rock to lean on, a shoulder to cry on, someone to hold her in their arms and whisper comforting words into her ear. Why is it that she got the exact opposite?
The bus slowed to a stop by a path that led to a nice-looking cozy home, the kind that made you wish you had that kind of house but also gave you a little warmth.
She waited for everyone to step off, before mustering a grateful smile for the bus driver, and stepping off herself. She paused by the warm home, feeling a trace of a sad smile kiss her lips, before letting out a long sigh and walking the few blocks away to work.
A/N:
Whew, the prologue is over! Now… I really gotta do homework and soon enough I'll write the next chapter ;)
Love it? Hate it?
Review! (You get cookies ;P)
~Heron
Heron's Beta: Hey everyone, it's "Heron's mysterious beta" here! I don't actually have an FP account so um yeah, I'll just be chilling here in the ANs. Have a great day, wherever you are! :3
Heron: Just call her 'Trash' or somethin' :D