...And Then I Met You...

The Bus Ride

"Ida, did you know there's a school newsletter you could work for?" Mom beamed at me from across the dining table.

I was dressed up in the ridiculously expensive uniform eating breakfast, carefully chewing every bite so as not to stain the uniform. Before Mom mentioned the school newsletter, silence enveloped the room, and it was unbearably awkward. Hiram was sitting next to Mom, failing miserably to make conversation, and all of Mare's attention was fixated on her food, which she was gobbling down faster than one could imagine. Speaking of Mare, she was also going to a new school, one that was highly ranked. Her brown hair was pulled into two pig tails, and her feet swung under the table, her polished shoes clanking together. Mare was unbothered by all the change whereas all my thoughts were occupied about what I was going to say to Mr. Garroway and how in the name of Tartarus I was going to survive school. Mom's voice halted my train of thoughts, which suddenly became quite overwhelming.

"You could try asking Mr. Garroway you want to be a part of it, sweetie," Mom continued, dropping her spoon onto the plate which still had a good amount of food on it. "You always loved writing, remember?"

"I loved reading, Mom. Not writing," I muttered under my breath. I noticed Hiram raise his eyebrows at me, and I shot him a pointed glare.

Mom continued as if she didn't hear me. "It'll be refreshing, don't you think? You could do what you always wanted to do, maybe build more relationships with the fellow workers there, and get to know more about the school,"

Build more relationships with the fellow workers? No thank you. Aside from all the other points Mom made, the one that really caught my attention enough for my ears to perk up was the thought of digging dirt on the school. I can't be the only person Mr. Garroway has bribed. "Anyone can join?" I asked, leaning forward as my hands paused fidgeting.

Mom's smile deepened. "Anyone," she confirmed, clearly trying to contain her excitement. "So...what do you think?"

I considered telling Mom about what Mr. Garroway offered me, bribed me, threatened me, or whatever you want to call it, but then the image of her worried crease between her eyebrows and the thought of her struggling to do something that would help me popped into my mind. I glanced at Mom again, and saw her beaming at me excitedly and stealing hopeful glances from Hiram. I didn't want to drag her into my mess again, especially not when she was just putting her broken pieces back together. I nodded silently, stuffing my mouth with food so I won't slip anything out. "Yeah, that would be great, Mom."

Mom threw her hands up and clapped whereas Hiram merely smiled at her joy. Mare was still eating. The cook, Gertrude, served more food on the table for which Mare was more than delighted about. I was quiet, deep in my own thoughts as they all started talking over each other. I'm warning you, Ida Fay, when things go south, and they will quite quickly too in your case, don't come to me looking for help. I shivered. I knew the decision I was going to make.

***

I double checked to make sure my scars weren't visible, and when all of them were concealed, I exhaled a breath I didn't know I was holding. There's no need to get any unwanted attention especially about my scars.

I swung my backpack over my shoulder, and walked with heavy steps to the bus stop. It's been a while since I've ridden on a bus, but from what I remembered, buses were crowded and I usually had to end up sitting on the aisle. I remembered the loud noises, the chorus of "OOH"s and "AHH"s, and the constant throwing of paper balls and spit balls. I braced myself for getting hit with them on the head again as I made my way to Alec, who was stoic and very un-Alec way. Around him were other students, around the same age, and there were only a few of them too.