Layalli

The bus coincidentally began to arrive and break at a screeching halt just after Jake and Layali had finished their conversation. The passengers were thrown forwards as the driver stopped just before a large pothole. The bus let out some exhaust in the form of an unhealthy black smoke and groaned as it grew to a halt. The bus doors unwillingly creaked open, bouncing back slightly as if they were trying to close back. The bus driver was a gruffly old man with a hat that was seemingly stuck to his head, none of the kids had ever seen it off. Nadene was the first one to step on the bus, but just as she did she was immediately grabbed by one of the arms in her pockets.

“K-Kid. Lemme tell ya’ a tale. Way back when I was wit’ ma friends, and we was chillin’ out by the schkool-yard. An’ we saw a fine lookin’ woman, I tells ya’ this gurl wa’ so fine dat she coulda been an angel”

Nadene only starred in the bus driver’s eyes, she was partially afraid at this point but with all the witnesses it’s not like anything too bad was gonna happen.

“A-An’ we saw dis girl, and she was m-magical, h-her heart wa’ fiery man, you should’a seen it. An’ I studied for drivin’ dis bus jus’ so I coul’ see her again. B-but she musta’ died in da’ war”

“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss” Nadene tried to make out as genuinely as she could, “It must be difficult to cope with dedicating your life to something, only for it to mean nothing in the end”

“Well dats’ da thing tho” The man hurryingly continued, “She dead. But she ain’t...dead ya know? So if ya’ eva’ see her in heaven, jus’ tell her dat’ I sent ya, kay’?”

Nadene pulled away firmly and shakily nodded, “Christ I’ll get your women old man, just like...leave me alone”

The bus driver only nervously shook his head and brought his hands to the wheel once more. Allowing everyone else to reach their normal spot, the very end of the bus. Layali had to pass by someone she hated every single time she got on this bus, because she was always there before Layali was. Most of the time this girl was comfortable already, either doing makeup or talking with her friends too much to notice. Layali rushed by them and nudged herself in the furthest part of the corner she could, all the while shooting dagger at her enemy.

Suddenly, a spotlight appeared on the star of the show. She stood up, the bus driver wasn’t going anywhere for awhile, he was crying to hard. She did a few more glances at the mirror and shut the case as dramatically as she could with a confident smile,

“Layali, could you make it any less obvious that you’re still upset about our breakup? Might I add, the 3-month anniversary of our break-up?”

Layali thought for a moment about being the bigger person. About not giving in to this petty fake version of reality that school had presented her, about moving on, finding someone else, and starting over...Only for a moment.

“OoOh, sorry sweetie! I’m just ever so slightly annoyed that you ditched our entire relationship because your daddy said so” Layali mocked, standing up herself. The spotlight was given to her too now, everything would be extremely silent if not for the faint sniveling in the background. Stephanie was slightly phased, but not enough to keep her from enabling herself a little more.

“Honestly Layali, I get that you’re upset. But I’m not sure what you expect, I gotta listen to father, he’s the one who pays for the school. Well, he is know at least. Since...y’know, arranged marriage and all” Stephanie laughed, she reached in her back and began working on her nails now, though she was secretly relishing in the time she had without her saying anything. Layali began steaming now, boiling over as she shot a constant stream daggers at Stephanie.

“Wait...arranged...you got married at 14!? Like, Again!?”

“Well...yeah, you proposed to me at--...y’know, I’m not even sure why I’m arguing this” Stephanie sighed, she really wanted to back out at this point, but it was too late. Everyone was watching both of them, and until this bus started she was trapped.

“Y-You dare...you’re trying to marginalize my suffering aren’t you? It’s almost like you’ve converted to the enemy side at this point!” Layali practically screamed out loud. Her passion was enough to really get down to Stephanie’s core. Her confidence broke and she stepped away a tad,

“N-No...I-It’s just that...I-it...Dad doesn’t really think it’s a good idea...to have someone like me as a daughter...I-It was a burden to my family” Stephanie broke away fully, filling her nails way more than they needed to be.

“Oho ho, so now I’m a burden am I? What, you think you can just throw me under the bus cause’ Dad told you to? That’s what you think isn’t it?”

“Christ could you just lay off of me for one second !?” Stephanie shouted back. The room grew very silent, and everyone immediately awaited for her to finish what she was going to say. Just as she opened her mouth the bus started up again, throwing her down into her own seat compartment. Layali dropped back down in her seat with her arms crossed. She longingly looked out at the window with a defeated look on her face, waiting for Stephanie to get back up and finish; But she never did. A disappointed audience groaned, and the light slowly dimmed to a dark black before cutting off entirely.