Hidden

I slip through the big, sunshine yellow buses as easily as a current through the stream. Students milled around aimlessly, semi-searching for their buses. I just melted in with them.

I find my bus, with the familiar bus driver. She didn't know me. She knew where to stop, and that was it. I slid into a seat, midway back, putting my backpack down where another person could sit, preventing anyone from getting close to me.

The students were clearing rapidly, finding their buses with practiced ease. I leaned against the window, closing my eyes softly, listening to the incessant chatter on the bus. One student was listening to 30 Seconds to Mars on a speaker, and a couple of others sang along. Some students were bickering childishly, whilst others were talking about trivial, schoolday things.

I felt the bus's engine roar to life, rumbling as if it were a giant animal, content in the dreary afternoon.

I felt dread, knowing where I was going.

Home.