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THE one thing in the world that Blodwyn hates more than anything is having to catch the bus. It's not like it's a jab at public transport or anything, because she actually has a peculiar like for trains after spending her childhood in Japan, but she cannot stand the bus. And unfortunately for Blodwyn, she has to take the bus on a regular basis, unlike the majority of Gangnam Academy's student body. As a boarding student, Blodwyn doesn't have a chauffeur like the rest of her classmates, and she's pretty sure her parents have better things to spend money on.
But the bus is is like a danger zone. There's gum attached the the back of all the seats, and Blodwyn doesn't even want to think about what might be underneath them. There are rips in all the fabric covering the seats, the frayed material making them uncomfortable to sit on for long periods of time, and there are food stains across questionable surfaces. Blodwyn should know, she happened to be on the bus that one time a food fight broke out, and the driver did nothing despite the large NO FOOD OR DRINKS sign that hung above the front window. It's one of the many reasons for Blodwyn's dislike towards the bus.
Besides, everyone always looks at her weirdly. The bus is territory of the local public school, and they don't really seem to like any of the private school kids. Which is strange, because Blodwyn has always assumed that private school kids were the snobby students, but these public school kids walk around with their noses in the air, refusing to talk to anyone who wears a blazer with a private school logo. But even without the Gangnam Academy logo, people look at her strangely.
Her skirt is too long and her socks are too high. Her shoes are too scruffy, scuff marks on the leather, still holding firmly together but looking out of place surrounded by the rest of the rich student body with enough money to buy out entire shoe shops should they want to. There are freckles clustered across the bridge of her nose likes persistent specs of glitter, and she's always fiddling with her earlobes and chewing on her glossy lips. To the others, she always seems to be in a constant state of daze. Maybe that's why they avoid her. Blodwyn's just too weird for them.
Blodwyn's not the only one to get off the bus when it crawls to a stop outside one of the nicer shopping centres in the area. As far as she knows, it's central to all three schools, and obviously the popular after school hangout spot. That alone would usually be enough reason for Blodwyn to avoid the area all together, but she actually needs to go and do some shopping. Her dorm is running low on basic supplies like toothpaste and shampoo, along with some other bits and pieces (that aren't really necessities, but Blodwyn thinks are essential anyway) and they're running out fast because Blodwyn keeps forgetting to go shopping, despite the shopping list she's taken to writing on her arm.
She moves past the swarm of public school kids, keeping her head down in case they try and pick some kind of petty fight with her. Blodwyn's seen it happen before. The public school kids can be relentless sometimes. Well, not all of them, but a certain select few. A select few that Blodwyn is unfortunate enough to come across on a somewhat regular basis, and she'd much rather avoid them right now. She doesn't have the time or energy to deal with them today.
She makes quick work dashing into the large supermarket chain store first. She's only got a small amount of money to spend, and if she doesn't prioritise things, she'll end up spending all her money on lip gloss or Japanese stationery instead. She's already had to force herself to walk past the little stationery store in the corner, trying her best to resist the large sale signs (even though she has every intention of going back on her way out).
Blodwyn makes a beeline to the part of the store that has a range of various bathroom products lined up, and immediately sets to work trying to find the specific toothpaste that her roommate requested. There's only one other person in the aisle, a boy around Blodwyn's age, the colour of his uniform a telltale sign of which school he attends.
This boy has freckles too, dusted across his cheeks like little stars. His hair is dyed a light shade of blonde that suits him more than Blodwyn cares to admit. He's dressed in a uniform, school bag slung over his shoulder, and his eyes are darting around the store, never lingering on one spot for too long. His eyes narrow every time he focuses on a particular section of the shelf, his mouth moving silently as he reads the brand names that capture his attention.
Blodwyn finds it fascinating, but she forces herself to look away so she won't come off as a creep. Instead, she goes back to focusing on the different toothpastes, each one with a different promise printed on the packaging. Blodwyn thinks it's a bit ridiculous, really, because it's toothpaste, and at the end of the day, it does the same thing, regardless of the brand.
A loud clatter catches Blodwyn's attention, and she turns back to find a pile of different soap dispensers on the floor, and the freckles boy from before scrambling to pick them all up, his cheeks pink as he looks around frantically, probably hoping that no one was around to witness the ordeal. His face turns even pinker when he spots Blodwyn standing not too far away from him, and he turns his head away.
Admittedly, it takes Blodwyn longer than it should to help the boy, but she's always been a bit slow to react to situations. It's probably a side effect of living in her head all the time, her mind whirring a thousand miles a minute at an given time. So by the time she stops to help the boy (after momentarily getting distracted by a particular brand of shampoo), he's already cleaned up most of the mess himself in a panic to avoid being scolded by a staff member.
She picks up the dispenser that rolled the furtherest from the boy, only a few steps away from herself, and shuffles along the linoleum floor to give it back to him. Blodwyn holds it out tentatively, but she doesn't speak.
"Um, thanks," says the boy, one hand resting at his neck sheepishly, while the other reaches for the soap dispenser that Blodwyn offers him. He gazes briefly at the school crest printed on her blazer, his eyes sparking with acknowledgement (not that Blodwyn's surprised, really. She thinks you'd have to live under a rock to attend either of the private schools in the area and not know about the rivalry between them) and then averts eye contact. He bids Blodwyn and awkward goodbye before he's scurrying off towards the checkout.
