Bus Ride
by Catherine
Scalisi
Zoë walked
behind her friends onto the rusty steps of the
school bus — its gas and hot pleather smell
she knew so well. Her four friends, in their own
world, took their seats in a row to themselves.
Zoë, out of the conversation, and left to sit by
herself, found a window seat behind her friend
Rachel.
Zoë’s
attention went to the front of the bus, more than
half a bus away. She watched the kids in her
grade pile in. Juniors on a field trip. Any
reason to get out of the school was a good reason.
There were so many kids she’d never talked
to, no matter how many classes she had with them.
She knew Eric, her science partner in middle
school. There’s Jamie, the girl she
accidentally hit in the face with a basketball in
the second grade. And Duncan, who was always fun
to flirt with, but just a friend. Zoë held her
breath. Trevor. He laughed at her story in
English class on Monday. Her story about her
grandfather’s funeral. Zoë’s face
turned red as he walked closer. Trevor slowed
down to sit behind Jane in the empty seat across
the aisle from Zoë. Jane looked knowingly at
Zoë. She heard the story about a hundred times.
Zoë had a hard time controlling her expression
as Trevor looked at her. He gave a hint of a
smile before he hit the edge of the seat beside
her and called, “Hey, Mitch, there’s an
empty seat right here.”
“Thanks,
man.” Mitch sat down. His dark gray jeans
and black hoodie gave the impression he wasn’t
looking to chat. He slouched in the seat and
pulled his hood over his head as if ready to nap.
Zoë scooted
closer to the window as Mitch settled into his
recline: his legs spread, and his head fell to
the side. His hood bobbed back up a few times
before he was out.
Rachel looked
back at Zoë through the gap along the wall of
the bus. “You okay back there? Do you have
space to breathe?” She craned a nasty look
toward Mitch and rolled her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m
okay,” Zoë lied. “The view is nice.
Pretty day, don’tcha think?” She gave
an awkward smile while Rachel giggled and turned
to tell Jasmine, who sat next to her. Jasmine
stood up to look at Mitch, then glanced toward
the front of the bus before she sat down.
Across the
aisle, Jane stretched to see past Mitch. “You
okay?” she mouthed with a tentative thumbs
up.
Mitch sank
further down in his seat. His head fell closer to
Zoë. “Help,” Zoë squeaked so Rachel
could hear. Rachel looked back, her mouth dropped
open. She covered it with her hands to hold in
her laugh.
Like the wave
in the stands of a baseball game, the girls took
turns peeking over their seats. Last was Gabby,
who yell-whispered to Jane, “Move, so I can
see. What’s going on over there?”
Trevor, who
was chatting with the kid beside him, looked up.
“Why do y’all look like a colony of
meerkats?” He followed their gaze and his
eyes widened. He nudged Mitch and said, “Dude,
wake up. You’re about to crush Zoë’s
boobs with your big ass head.”
Mitch opened
his eyes and jerked up. He realized he was
looking dangerously close at a little picture of
Totoro holding an umbrella on Zoë’s t-shirt
pocket. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,”
Mitch said with a sleepy slur. “Teenagers,
ha ha, they say we don’t get enough sleep.
Right?” He yawned.
“Could
you move over, please? My arm is falling asleep
because it’s pushed up against the window.”
“Oh, yeah,
sure. Sorry again.” Mitch scooted over and
pivoted toward Trevor as if to talk. Zoë couldn’t
tell if he was actually sorry or wished he could
go back to sleep.
She heard low
laughing muffled by Mitch’s back. She bent
to see what they were talking about, praying to
God they weren’t talking about her.
“So how
were they? Did they look nice? Seems like you got
a good view,” Trevor said, his head leaned
toward Mitch, but his voice carried enough for
Zoë and Jane to hear.
“No, man,
I wasn’t trying to look. Shut up with that.”
Trevor looked
at Zoë. “What did you think, Zoë? Was it
nice having a guy like Mitch checking you out?
Don’t you think he’s hot?”
Her face felt
hot. She could hear her friends whispering to
each other. She was on her own. “Um, ha ha,”
was all Zoë could get out before she turned to
stare ahead. She discretely punched the back of
the seat in front of her, irritated that none of
her friends were saying anything.
“Ah, come
on, Zoë, what do you think?” Trevor
continued.
Mitch quickly
glanced at her. He looked shy, maybe even sorry
this whole thing was happening.
“Uh, no
thank you.” She was firm with Trevor, but
responded to Mitch with a nervous but
uninterested smile. Zoë looked out the window,
the only exit she could find.
Later, she
walked with her friends around the only museum in
their town. She passed through exhibits she
already inspected the innumerable times she
wandered the halls. Zoë put on a face her
friends would recognize. She made a show of
interest when Rachel pointed at the silly old-timey
tie the founder of the town was wearing in his
portrait. She looked straight ahead when she saw
Mitch and Trevor walk by with their friends. Zoë
saw, from the corner of her eye, Mitch try to
wave.
She sat by
herself on the way back to school and watched
everyone pile into the bus. Her friends weren’t
far behind her, but they didn’t notice where
she sat. They were in their own world and claimed
a row of seats to themselves. She noted two guys:
Mitch, who almost crushed her boobs, and Trevor,
who is definitely an asshole.
Bus
Ride by Catherine Scalisi
Copyright OCTOBER, 2023 – All Rights
Reserved
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