The Dreamers [ONC2020] | ✓

Eight | Finn

"Why isn't the bus here yet?" Sean complains, blowing on his hands. 

A solitary streetlight hangs over the bus stop and layers us in dark yellows and blue shadows. Sean fidgets to keep warm and I shiver as I try to conserve heat. Salt crunches under our feet, a ward against the frost.

My mouth quirks. "It'll be here soon."

We sneak glances down the street and after another minute, the bus' headlights come into view. The bus trundles to a stop and we climb aboard, mumbling hellos to the driver. Inside, the bus is empty and smells like sweat and must, but the windows are cracked open to let in fresh air. I take a window seat and Sean grabs the one beside me. The frosty air counters the bus' heaters that thrum at full-blast, futile in their efforts to warm the interior.

The bus lurches to a start and just as suddenly grinds to a halt. I glance out the window to see two figures running for the bus and once they've climbed on, I recognize Hugh and Beth.

"Oh hey!" Beth greets with a broad grin, sliding into a seat in front of us. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're going bowling," Sean says with a smile. "There's a discount for students after six. Do you want to join us?"

"Ooh, sounds fun." Hugh nudges Beth with his elbow. "Babe, we should go. What do you think?" 

Beth's gaze darts between Sean and I. "Wasn't it just the two of you?" she asks.

"You can come along," I offer. It is meant to be reassuring, but she stares at me as if I've completely misunderstood her meaning. After a moment, she shrugs, a wicked grin crossing her face.

"Sounds fun," she agrees, "Let's do it."

The bus ride to downtown is about twenty minutes long, and we spend the time throwing topics of conversation back and forth. Or rather, Sean and Beth keep up a constant stream of chatter while Hugh adds his own commentary and I occasionally chime in. It's interesting to listen to the twists and turns of their discussion; what started off as complaints about assignments became a talk about the zombie apocalypse and survival techniques. 

We get off at the stop downtown and make our way to the bowling alley. A bright neon sign marks it off for us, its glowing arrow pointing to a door that descends to a basement area. It looks a bit shady, but Beth pulls open the door and heads down the stairs with no fear, so we follow after her. 

The bowling alley opens up once we hit the bottom of the staircase, a large underground area lit with glow-in-the-dark decals and patterned lights. Music pulses in the background, interrupted by the crash of bowling pins and laughter. The air smells faintly of air freshener, sticky soda, and sweat.  At the counter, we trade money for shoes and a lane in the far corner. Hugh and Sean make bets on who will win while Beth scoffs at both of them. I punch our names into the score machine and they flash on the screen above our lane, a silly animation of a bowling pin waving its arms and gesturing for Beth to start.