On Defense

Chapter 3

Vivien's POV

     I finally reached the bus, out of breath, hair probably sticking out in every single direction, and definitely a disgusting mess. As I jumped up the steps of the bus, I gave an embarrassed grin to the bus driver. He frowned back. Great start.

     Now for the first obstacle of the day. I glanced up at the rows of seats in front of me. The cheap, probably extremely unsanitary covers on them were not what scared me. Although, when I thought about it that way, it did scare me a tiny bit. However, the even bigger problem was the groups of teenagers sitting in them. 

     Now I may be somewhat of an extrovert, but this was a whole new court. If I was going to make friends, I needed to actually get to know people, and how things worked around here. The law of the land. That meant that I had to find someone who looked like a weathered citizen of these grounds. Narrowing my eyes, I scanned the weary faces of the students in front of me.

      On the right side of row three, there was a girl with straight brown hair and a black and white checkered hairband. She was dressed simply enough that it looked like she didn't really care about first impressions. That meant that she had been around these kids for a while already. She was a prime candidate. On the other hand, she was wearing reading glasses and seemed to be extremely focused on a book in front of her. That meant that she probably wouldn't appreciate being disturbed and asked a bunch of questions. 

     At the back of the bus, there was a boy who was holding a soccer ball. What was with that? He was talking to a nerdy looking guy sitting next to him and laughing super hard. Also, someone who looked a little too popular to bother disturbing. Besides, he was sitting at the back of the bus. That meant that he was one of the cool kids. I could work my way back there slowly.

     Then I saw him. He had sharp, observant looking eyes, and though the bus was LOUD, he didn't bother looking around. He had headphones on and was staring out the window. By the way no one was disturbing him, I could tell that he was an old-timer. He seemed a little angsty for my tastes, but he was perfect for what I needed. The seat next to him was empty too. Excellent.

     "Hey! There are other people that need to get on! How long are you just going to stand there looking around?"

     I jumped when I heard the bus driver yell at me. I turned around, and sure enough, there was a line of grumpy looking teens shooting me death glares. I gave them another embarrassed grin and hurried down the aisle. As soon as I plopped myself down next to the guy, I heard the noise on the bus suddenly die down.

      I looked up, curious. Did I suddenly go deaf? Then the whispers started. And everyone....everyone was looking at me. Wait. Not at me. They were looking at the guy next to me.

     I slowly turned to look at the boy next to me, yet another embarrassed smile ready on my face. It turned into something else real quick. The assumed reluctant savior of mine was glaring daggers at me. Like literal daggers. I could feel them piercing into my soul.

     "What. Are. You. Doing," he growled softly. Alright, so he wasn't exactly Mr. Sunshine. I could still work with this.

      "Just...you know, chilling. Hanging out. Having a great time. You?" I was doing my best to get some kind of conversation going. Maybe he was just shy or something? I gave him an encouraging smile, hoping that this was all just some kind of misunderstanding.

     "Leave," he said, using the exact same icy tone. He turned to face the windows again and pressed play on his phone. I noticed that he was listening to an audiobook. Odd. I hadn't taken him for the type.

     I tapped his shoulder. He turned, and for a moment, I almost laughed at the slightly shocked look on his face. He rolled his eyes and pressed pause on the audiobook again.

     "What exactly do you want? Are you deaf or something? Leave. Go away. Shoo," He waved his fingers dismissively at me and then turned to look out the window. He didn't unpause the audiobook again, so I took that as a sign that I might be getting somewhere.

     "I mean, I was wondering the same thing myself a moment ago. I was like, whoa, it got quiet real quick in here! Why did everyone stop talking? But then I heard them whispering, and you told me to leave, and I kind of assumed that my ears were still working fine. Since you're listening to an audiobook, I guess you're not deaf either, so what are you listening to?" Real smooth.

     The boy paused for a moment, considering if perhaps I was insane or something. To be honest, I asked myself the same question every day.

      "No, but really, what do you want? Is this a prank or something? Cause right now, you're making yourself look kind of stupid. I guess you don't know who I am, but that's not my problem. All you need to know is I sit here alone. Everyday. This is my seat. So. GET. LOST."

     Okay, so I was way off. This guy was not going to be of help. At all. And he was a jerk. I shook my head at him and considered smacking him upside the head before I moved to sit somewhere else. I settled for flicking his forehead.

     "Dude! What the heck!"

     I stuck my tongue out at him like a four-year-old before I got up and moved to sit by myself in an empty row. I guess I was going to have to figure out the system for myself without Mr. Ice. I slumped down in my chair, looking out at the passing scenery. I was right. This was going to be a disaster.