2105: Benediction

1

I felt the warm rays of the sun as I slowly opened my eyes. I sit in my warm sheets trying to gather my mental bearings. I sit up and look over at my alarm clock. "Oh No! I'm late!" I say as I scramble out of bed and scramble to get dressed. I manage to trip my way out of my bedroom door to make my way downstairs and into the living room. I grabbed a quick breakfast of a pop tart and an Arizona tea and went to find my jacket. It was chilly in the house considering it was the middle of January. I frantically search for my hoodie and can't find it. The dang bus is going to be here any minute! Where is it?! My anxious mind screams. I decided to give up my search and bolt my way to the door in hopes that I make it on time. "Ahem!" I heard her voice as I made my way to the door to open it. "Aren't you forgetting something?" I turn around to see my mother holding my navy blue hoodie. "I found it in the dryer while trying to keep up with your siblings and their messes. Now, kiss momma before you go." She said smiling. I reluctantly kissed her cheek feeling embarrassed, and threw my hoodie on. Grabbing my backpack and with my pop tart in hand, I rush off for the bus stop.

When I got to the bus stop, I noticed that Mike and Henry were already there waiting on me. I fell in line as we waited for the bus to pull up. "What took you so long bro, did mommy stop you for a kiss or something again?" Mike asked sarcastically. I understand Mike is a bit facetious at times, but sometimes he's a bit of a jerk. The bus arrived five minutes later than normal. It was a much newer model bus with new numbers. The number in white read B-23 and the number of the bus itself, read 14865. I climbed aboard the bus and proceeded to take my seat. I sat next to a young girl who looked to be a seventh-grader. Mike and Henry sat in the back of the bus, which was only a few seats behind me. I looked around the bus noticing the lime green tape marking names with seat numbers. These names were foreign to me so I assumed they were from other schools in the route. I turned my legs into the seat and faced forward. The bus smelled of old candy and sweaty socks. Kind of like the gym lockers I used to have last year in gym class. I dug my forepaws into my pocket and removed my silver Eclipse mp3 player to play some tunes. I listened to a lot of Three Days Grace or Avatar on the commuting bus rides to and from school. I pressed play on my device when I felt a tap on my shoulder. It was the girl sitting next to me. She had brown-red fur and was a hybrid of a wolf and griffin. "Nice playlist, Is this one of those rebranded iPods they sell at Walmart?" She asked me. "It's just an mp3 player, nothing crazy fancy," I replied. I watched her reach into her pocket and remove a device from her shorts pocket and she showed me hers. It was purple with no screen and was made to look like an iPod shuffle. "My mom got it for me for Christmas. She can't trust me with a phone yet considering we are in middle school so she gave me this instead. I assume your mom or dad was the same way towards you." She said as she continued to stare at me for a minute. "I apologize for my lack of introduction. My name is Trixie. I'm just not used to having some guy or rather some fur sit here next to me. Trust me when I feel it's a complete accident." She explained. I could sense something was familiar with this girl. It was as if we were going through the same thing in life, with the small friend circles, being pushed off by others, being overlooked. Was she just like me? Was she autistic? Having autism makes my life more of a struggle than most realize. I'm the guy everyone uses for notes though when they need to cheat on a class test. It just gets to me that very few of us have a chance to make a difference in the world. "I'm Justin, It's been a pleasure meeting you," I say hoping to make her feel better.

The bus pulled up to the hallway doors and stopped at the end of the bus loop by the tech building. We heard the bus doors fling open and everyone proceeded to get off the bus. I take a second to stop and look back over at Trixie still sitting in her seat. She looked up at me curious as to why I came back. "Would you like to come to join us? We are going to go hit the lunchroom and hang out before class?" I say as I place my forepaw in front of her. She took a minute to look out of the bus window as my friends stood outside chatting and waiting on me. Trixie looked back over at me and after everyone left the bus she took my hand and I escorted her off of the bus.