Dorthy

Two

The bus to town was about to leave as Dorothy arrived at the bus stop. She hurried to the just closing doors and breathed a sigh of relief when the driver stopped and reopened them. She bought her ticket and walked along the aisle, avoiding eye contact with most of the other passengers apart from a brief smile of recognition for a neighbour. She took a vacant seat at the back and settled in for the ride. Dorothy took out her headphones and put them on. The other end of the wire wasn't plugged into her phone so there was no music playing, but she found it a suitable deterrent for anyone who might feel like starting up a conversation. She wasn't particularly anti-social, she was just in a quiet mood and wanted to do what she had to do and get home. She always seemed to do better on a test after a good night's sleep and tomorrow's maths exam would need the full eight hours with extra bonus time.

Rain started to tap on the window next to her, as if it were asking to be let in out of the cold. She folded her arms, hugging herself to encourage some body heat to spread, even though the temperature hadn't changed. The bus stopped occasionally to allow people to board or alight, but Dorothy didn't notice any of them. She stared out of the window at the gathering darkness and watched the streaks of rain as they ran down the glass, merging with other drops which either gave them more momentum or stopped them dead, out of the race for good.

"Hey Dottie."

Dorothy hated the abbreviation of her name. If her parents had wanted it to be shortened, they'd have forgone the extra letters and christened her that way. Everyone who knew her knew she would rarely answer to anything other than her full first name. She ignored the person speaking to her. She knew the voice anyway and could see him in the reflection from the window. Julian Hornsby. Class joker and a boy too intelligent for the little work he put in to his studies. Dorothy had to show effort and diligence to achieve the grades she had. Granted, she was doing well at school, but it didn't come easy. She often thought that she was wading through treacle in her attempts to understand the topics she was being taught. Julian skated through his lessons on a rink of laughter, wit and cheekiness. His ready charm was lost on her however. They were friends of a sort, but she could happily punch him sometimes. The fact she disliked the name 'Dottie' only made him use it all the more.

He dropped into the seat next to her with enough force to make her bounce in her own.

"You got the kangaroo chair, then?" he said, his voice bright. An elbow jabbed in her arm to emphasise the 'hilarious' joke he'd made only served to annoy her.

"Julie," she said in a flat voice. If he could lose a few letters of her name, she would happily mislay some of his.

His face dropped and he turned away from her. She was happy with that. Even though he was in close proximity, he was quiet. That was all she needed. The rain held her attention. Julian held her dismissal. After a moment, he turned back to her.

"I'm only messing, you know?"

"I know," said Dorothy. "But if you can't take, don't give."

"What's made you so grumpy?"

"People who deliberately do things to people when they know they don't like them."

"Who would do...?" Julian paused. "Oh yeah." He hung his head, staring at his shoes. "Soz."

Dorothy relaxed. Julian couldn't help being an idiot. He was a clever boy, but didn't really know what to do with his intelligence and so wrapped it up in nonsense, hoping some meaning would walk into his life, take his hand and lead him on the correct path. Until that happened, he'd make do with fun, frolics and frowns from those he made the target of his jibes.