red hair and a blue hoodie // ed sheeran

Red Hair and a Blue Hoodie

ZO'S POV:

The glass was foggy and my seat was scratchy but I couldn’t care less. The bus that I was always forced to catch after my designated work shift was deserted and that was how I liked it. I was sat towards the back, enjoying the benefits of the hot air system while my gaze was transfixed on the outside, like a deer caught in headlights. I don’t know what I found so interesting about looking at trees but this bus ride was always one that I enjoyed. The sky was a mixture of colours with a sprinkle of light blue, baby pink and emerald green in the mix symbolizing the end of the day.

The trees were swaying gently as the evening breeze jumped from leaf to leaf, branch to branch. But as beautiful as my surroundings were at the present time, my focus was solely on the musical notes drifting into my ears. I didn’t own a phone so I had to be content with my hand-me-down iPod. The screen was scratched, the ratty casing was tattered and worn well past its years and it had the old style rotating clicker circle on it but as long as it played decent music, it was okay with me.

The ear pieces in my ears were old too but again, as long as the music was of sound quality, I didn’t have a problem. As the introduction finished, I waited for the next song to play. ‘Lego House’ by Ed Sheeran. His voice was rich in my ears, striking a nerve as easy as he would pluck at the strings of his guitar. I melted back into my chair and let my muscles dissolve into the itchy fabric. I tugged at my sleeves and let them cover my wrists and thumbs, pulling a signature Ed move.

My three words have two meanings but there’s one thing on my mind

It’s all for you

Words as deep as a large Slurpee cup. I smiled at the memory of watching the music clip for the song, seeing Rupert Grint walk on the scene thinking that he had replaced Ed and experiencing a moment of confusion. Then the end of the clip came and I realized that he was just a stalker fan.

And it’s dark and cold in December but I’ve got you to keep me warm

If you’re broken, I will mend you and keep and sheltered from the storm that’s raging on

I felt my eyes start to slip shut from exhaustion. I hadn’t realized how tired I was until the song finished and I let out a long yawn. I raised my hands to my mouth, self-conscious suddenly even though there was no one on the bus with me except the driver and he was all the way at the front of the bus. I looked out the window again and saw that I was nearing my stop. I reached up to the railing and pressed the illuminated ‘STOP’ button above me. The ringing sounded and the bus driver sighed relief knowing he could finally take the bus back to the depo and head home.

He was always shitty with me because I lived so far out from the depo but in London, anywhere was good for me. It had always been my dream to live in London with Big Ben and the Palace. My friends had always laughed at me when I told them my dream living destination but when I thought about it, I knew they were just jealous. I grabbed my satchel that was sitting next to me and lifted it over my shoulder, opening it a little to check that I hadn’t left anything behind. I was always so worried about doing that. I hoisted myself up from the chair with the help of the bar in front of us. The bus was still moving by the time I had reached the half way mark of the walk so when the driver slammed on the brakes, I nearly lost my footing. I clung onto the pole next to me and swung around, still managing to whack my head on the window next to me. I scrunched my face up in distaste and brought my free hand to press to the sore, expecting my hand to ooze some sort of magic healing power into my now throbbing skull.

“I tell you every time not to stand up while the bus is still moving. How many times do I have to repeat myself Zo?” The bus driver, Dave spoke in his croaky and irritated voice. I hated being the reason to make people angry.