Ship Falling

Chapter 3

The bus usually came around 6:45, and it was 6:37 right now. She sighed internally and checked her notifications again. You know it wouldn't hurt to just believe in ghost stuff a little bit. Her mouth formed a straight line in a that's-really-dumb expression and she started typing. I've never seen anything paranormal and I never will. It was just a weird mouse in the bushes, nothing- She stopped typing and saw the bus coming over the hill. Everyone drew closer to the spot where Mary sat at the bench. Eventually the bus stopped and the doors opened. She kept her head down and walked to the back of the bus, not keen on talking to anyone. The bus lurched with the weight of the added kids and off they were. Thankfully, no one was sitting in Mary's usual spot. She opened her phone again and finished typing. -more. i'll see you at school, Kath. She closed her phone and opened up her book: Frankenstein. Just because she doesn't believe in monsters doesn't mean they aren't fun to read about. She put her knees up against the bus seat and unfolded the dog ear she left off at. "From this day natural philosophy, in the most comprehensive sense of the term, became nearly my sole occupation. I read with ardour these works, so filled with genius and discrimination, which modern inquirers have written on these subjects. I attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance"- The bus lurched backwards and Mary looked up from her reading. She recognized this stop as the last one before the bus arrived at school. Tired faces clambered onto the bus and walked through the cramped isle. A sense of dread filled her stomach as the bus started driving again almost before students could sit in their seats. She looked back down to her book, trying to find her place. -"of the men of science of the university"- Her eyes became unfocused. -"of the university; and I found even in Mr. Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information"-The bus finally ground to a halt at the school entrance. She dogeared the book in resignation and put it in her backpack. She hadn't even read more than a page. The younger students at the front started piling off. The feeling of dread she'd felt had increased twofold. Her legs were a little weak and she stood up to get off the bus as soon as possible. As soon as she took the last step from black metal to asphalt, the uproar of sleep-deprived teenagers filled her ears. She quickly found Oliver, who waited at the side of the entrance for her every day, and they headed down the bleach-scented hallways. "Did you hear Ted thinks what was in the bushes yesterday was, like, a ghost?" Oli laughed. They shared the same notion that paranormal things were simply scary bedtime stories. "He's always been a little wonky. I mean, what do you expect? He keeps horror movies in his room in a special little box, like a shrine. I bet he writes fanfiction about getting abducted." Mary shoved his shoulder. "Don't be so judgemental, Ted. Liking horror doesn't make you some sort of degenerate." He laughed louder this time. "It's not like it's bad, just don't expect him to assume something's what it's not, you know?" She was about to respond when he spoke again. "And don't you like reading horror books? It's predictable to defend your own kind!" she gave up. "Whatever. Did you do your science homework? I told you yesterday to finish it." He tensed up. "Oh crap, I didn't. Now I have to do it in the bathroom. God, who needs to learn about types of geodes anyway?" He was already speedwalking to the nearest boy's bathroom. She couldn't help but giggle. Soon after, Anya tapped her on the shoulder. "Hey, did you see what happened out front?" Mary was intrigued. She shook her head. "Some guys were fighting over a hockey game. It was pretty entertaining." Mary frowned. "Violence isn't a good way to solve things, Anya. Who won though?" She snickered, a sound from the back of her throat like a yell but good natured. "No one did. It got broken up. I could tell the guy with the green shirt was winning, though." Mary sighed. She was hyperaware of the fact that she didn't have time to fix her hair this morning; she was busy looking for Jenny. "Hey, i'll see you at lunch, alright?" She told Anya before heading to the girl's bathroom nearest to her locker. Hopefully she'd be able to comb down her unruly hair before the last bell. She dropped her backpack on the bathroom floor out of habit before wincing, realizing her computer was in there. She internally shrugged it off, she'd had it for almost 2 years now and had dropped it more times than she could count. She took out a black comb she kept in the bottom of her bag and straightened out her middle part. She'd experimented with side parts, but she didn't have much time to style her hair every morning when school started at 7:30 every day, so she stuck with her usual part. She thought about her upcoming book report. She could do it on Frankenstein but it was hard to understand and she was only on page 78. Suddenly, a clattering sound came from inside one of the stalls. She thought she was alone. Turning to look at whatever made the sound, a hand shot down and grabbed something before opening the door in a flash. Mary turned around and tried to focus on her bangs, when she stopped dead. The girl who had emerged from the stall was none other than Sophie Santiago. Just in time, Sophie looked up from her phone and recognized Mary. She pocketed it and walked up to Mary, a sickening smile on her face. "A bit disoriented, are we?" Mary cringed as Sophie reached out and yanked on her hair like pulling the reins on a horse.. "You'll never do good senior year if you can't even get your hair to look right. You're so lazy, Mary." Sophie stood back and formed a look of disgust. "And that outfit! Did you even try to look nice today?" she spat out in an exaggerated tone. "Honestly, if I was in your shoes for a day i'd go straight to the plastic surgeon." Her shrill little cackle filled Mary's ears. "No offense." Mary stuffed her comb in her backpack and zipped it up as fast as she could. "Leaving so soon? I thought you wanted to fix your hair. You still look like you just crawled out of a homeless shelter." She resisted the urge to turn around and tell Sophie off. No use responding to first grade insults. She hated hearing it over and over, though. Whatever Mary did wrong, Sophie connived to make it as known as possible. It was torment, to say the least. She practically ran to her locker and stuffed her backpack inside. She wasn't going to wait for Sophie to find her again.