The Bus Ride

A Story by Stephanus

short story about a guy on his bus ride to campus when he sees a girl get on the bus

As far as cold days go, he has experienced much worse. Standing on the corner waiting for a bus that is perpetually late, except on days where he is late, in which case the bus is magically early. He is wearing the same thing he always wears on days that don't particularly matter, a t-shirt, jeans, his favourite sneakers and the snow jacket his ex picked out for him. He has received a lot of comments about how he needs to buy snow boots, it is after all the middle of winter. He likes his sneakers though, they are comfortable, the perfect size and he hasn't slipped in 2 years of owning them. The bus peaks around the corner down the road and he lets out a breath.

The wind finally calmed down enough for him to take his hoodie off. It feels strange for him to have a hoodie on when talking to someone. Even if it is just to show a bus driver his pass. He contemplates the habit and it makes him think of all the other strange and inexplicable habits he has. He almost forgot about the bus until it pulled up in front of him. It's the female driver, the one he doesn't like. He always tries to be friendly towards the driver because they must have a lot of s**t people to deal with as it is, she is the exception though. He shows his pass and heads to the back. Just a few catholic school kids on the bus, most likely skipping class. He always tries to think of what they must see when he passes by. Do they see a university kid that must be smart and sophisticated? Do they see a overweight loser that they would make fun of? Do they just ignore him entirely? He ponders the possibilities as he passes each person on the way to the back of the bus. Placing the headphones back in his ear he retreats into his imagination for the next few stops. Dreaming of superheroes and Armageddon to make time pass by faster.

A few stops later he sees her again. This is maybe the fourth time he has seen her this semester. She is fiddling with her ipod as the bus pulls up. She takes her earphones out to show the driver her pass, he loves that, and she starts heading to a seat. She brushes her dark brown hair out of the way and places her headphones back in her ears. She takes the seat she usually does a few rows ahead of him. He can't stop staring at her, the way her hair falls over her shoulder, the faintest sign of a smile across her lips. He starts to wonder what is causing the smile. He wants to be part of the reason but he knows of all the fantasies he has, getting to know her is probably the most unrealistic. He tries to be subtle about his staring. He knows he isn't the most attractive guy in the world but he doesn't think he is bad looking, but as cliche as it is, she is way out of his league. The way she carries herself shows confidence and assurance, two traits he definitely doesn't have. He would put money on the fact that she would talk to him though, if he sat down next to her and started talking, she would talk back and they would have the conversation to end all conversations.

They both have to get a connecting bus to get to campus and he would sit next to her to keep the conversation going. They would talk and he would work hard to keep track of how much he talks. He has been told many times he has an issue with how much he talks and he would make sure he gets her to talk mostly about herself. They would eventually get to school and he would offer to walk her to her class and they would eventually trade numbers. Suddenly the bus slows and he realizes they are at the mall, he needs to get on the next bus. Getting out of his seat he moves over to the door just as she reaches it. Awkwardly gesturing to the door he lets her go first and follows right after her. Just say something. Just say hello. He steps out of the door and lands on the pavement. The wind hitting his face right away. It's one of those days where the snow feels like pellets hitting your face at absurd speeds. It's a miracle that he hasn't started bleeding from the little hell pellets hitting his face at ungodly speeds. He doesn't like this kind of snow. Taking a quick look at the billboard tells him that he has a 6 minute wait before the bus gets here. He walks over to the right stop and waits at the front of the line. He doesn't like waiting in the cubicles, he always ends up being the last on the bus that way. If he waits at the front while everyone else stays in the cubicle to stay warm, he gets to be first on the bus. It isn't exceptionally cold today anyway, he is perfectly fine.

He didn't notice at first but she moved up behind him. Is she looking at him? He angles himself so that he can see her in his peripheral vision. He changes a song on his ipod as an excuse to look up and to check her out. Her light blue jacket fits her perfectly and you can see the outline of a pink hoodie underneath the jacket. He wonders if she is a girly girl. Not likely, she is the type of person to see the finer things in life, that ponders the bigger questions and that can have deep meaningful conversations instead of shallow 'what was kim wearing' chats. She will share his opinion on the world but at the same time making him more positive. She will give him that cheeky smile whenever he says the world is depressing and she will make him see the world differently. She would bring out the better part of him that sees the world positively and she would smile whenever he jokes about it. She would subtly grab his hand underneath the dinner table when she sees him being quiet at dinner. He snaps out of it as the second bus pulls up.

First on the bus as planned and he grabs a seat in the back again. He likes the back row, no one sits there really unless they have to. Meaning he usually gets to sit on his own and spread out a little more. Although, if he had to be totally honest, he wouldn't mind at all if she had to sit next to him. What is it about her that he likes so much. Her features are perfect in every way, everything from her dimples and freckles to her eyes that make you stop whatever you are doing to admire them. He knows she isn't the most beautiful girl in the world. He knows that she is definitely attractive but she isn't drop dead, but she is mesmerizing for some reason. The way she carries herself, her smile, her eyes, her laugh, the way she dresses and everything else. His family would like her of course. They would have her over and dinner would be a blast. She would play footsie teasingly with him under the table and he will try to hide his smile. His parents would compliment her and tell him she is a great catch. She would play video games with him even though she doesn't really like them and in turn he will go out with her even though he doesn't like parties. She would make him feel important and significant just by giving him that look. That look that he will fall in love with as time goes by.

His friends will mock him by telling him she is too attractive for him. He will laugh but secretly get scared. He will start to doubt the relationship and be scared that he isn't good enough for her. He will start thinking about the times where he could have been better towards her. He will start getting worries about the guys she hangs out with. Never telling her because he doesn't want to control her and he doesn't want her to feel limited. He would slowly pull back into himself out of fear of telling her his worries. She would notice and eventually the hidden worries and stressed would wear the relationship down. Things would change and they would distance themselves from each other. The relationship will eventually fall apart like the others have and he will undoubtedly not learn his lesson. He thinks about how it will go until he realizes that the bus has pulled up to campus. He gets off the bus and starts walking towards the school building where his class is being held. He wonders about what he could have done in the relationship to make it work and where the mistakes were made. The professor comes into the class while he wonders about the romantic relationship that could have been.