"GRACE STREET, WHO'S STOP IS THIS?"
I'm currently inside a fast bus, standing. All of the seats are taken and some are reserved for the next passengers.
"IT'S MY STOP!ㅡ" I hear a girl's voice from the back. Everybody infront gives way as she runs towards the door. She accidentally bumps into me and that made me blink three timesㅡ it woke my spirit up as I was about to fall asleep again, mentally.
"Oh noㅡ I'm so so sorry!" she apologizes. I study her figure. Her hair is straight but I can't see her face clearly because of her mask. "Hope you're okayㅡI have to go! I'm sorry!.. REALLY SORRY!"
I didn't have the time to say it was fine so I just watch her get out from the bus as we slowly move away from the street. I sighed and nearly scoffed when the vaccant seat that she left is already occupied by another girl. Now I'm back to standing.
I thought about the possible things that could happen when I reach home. It made me shiver. I don't want to face my parents yet, now that I've done something dumb yesterday.. I skipped my morning class just because I slept at the library. It wasn't intentional.. I was studying for the French test. It'll be the same catch, them scolding me for skipping class or them scolding me two times harder for failing French test.
I'm visiting my hometown today, leaving the dorm room to my dorm mate since I'm out. It's been months since my last visit and I can't miss it today just because I know they knew about me skipping a class. It's a big deal for them.
I check my wrist watch, it's almost 4:30 in the afternoon. I thought the bus would have less passengers inside now. But it's beginning to feel hot as many passengers entered. I puffed my cheeks. I don't think I can get a chance to sit down anymore.
I take a look at the old lady who is also standing a few steps away from me. She catches my attention because I can hear her heavy sighs each and every minute. I see her holding tight onto the seat infront of her, and it seems like she's having a hard time preventing herself from falling down everytime the bus stops.
Just when I begin to look away, a guy from the window seat. The bus hasn't stop yet that's why I'm confused. Turns out, he's guiding the old lady to take his seat. I was moved by his gestures, that is why I could not look away. The old lady keeps refusing and keeps telling him to sit backㅡ that she's okay standing. The guys shooks his head, still insisting her to take his seat. He even joked about having strong muscles. The old lady laughs and points out the none existing muscles on his shoulders.
"Please take the seat, it's really comfortable," the guy laughs. "I really insist. I'm almost at my stop, so a minute of standing won't hurt."
"You have such a kind and careful heart. Okay, okay, I'll go and take a seat," The lady says. The guy nods while smilingㅡ his dimple showing. They both smile at each other before switching places.
I suddenly find myself observing him. He's wearing a simple white shirt and black pants. A pair of adidas shoes and he brings with him a black shoulder bag that he's currently holding on. I can say he's taller than me. Even if I'm tall, he's still taller than me. My brows furrows when I notice a bruise on his left cheek. I wonder if he got in a fight before riding the bus. I shake my head. Overall, he still looks fine.
I mentally shake my head when I realize that I have been staring at him for that long! I was about to avert my gaze.. but he suddenly turn to look at my direction. I don't know what to do since he caught me staring. Should I act normally like nothing happened?
Without thinking, I awkwardly move my head back infront of the window where I am suppose to be looking. A few counts of my heartbeat, I slowly take a look again. I did not think about him still looking but to my embarrassment, he still has eyes on my direction. What could he be looking atㅡ the window infront of me? He as a window right infront of him too, why would he look here.
"Uhh-" I suppose I should stay silent. But he was just looking at me without doing anything! We are just 4 steps away from each other. How could I not feel embarassed.
"I.. Uhㅡ I was not looking at you." More embarassment comes to wreck me because he didn't react to anything. The only thing he did is to show his dimple when he's not even showing a smile. Is he preventing his self not to laugh? He better not. It's more embarassing than it is.
Our eyes remained lock to each other. And I didn't know why I couldn't look away. I don't know why but an unexplained feeling suddenly rushed through me as I wonder the look of us staring at each other. I'm about to look away but before I could, my heart thumps.
"What the hellㅡIs there a storm?" A random passenger says.
When we heard this, I immediately take a look outside the window and everybody did the same. My eyes widens as I see the whole place filled with darkness. It was just five in the afternoon but the sky was already so dark, hinting it would probably rain. It wasn't the monsoon season. I was worried that it was going to rain tomorrow, too. I almost jumped when I heard three consecutive thunderclaps. I wasn't usually easily frightened by thunder, but the last one made my heart beat faster. I turned to that guy again. We looked at each other with startled expressions on our faces. The bus didn't stop but it did when a very loud thunder came again. That made the others shout.
"Let's us not be afraid, let's drive slowly. Go back to your seats! Keep calmㅡ"
Three thunderclaps came with four lightnings. I hear a shout coming from a little kid and a loud cry from a baby. I take a look at the back and see a mother with her daughter, hugging each other as if this is the last. Kids are crying and the adults are shouting, confused and freaking out.
The bus driver drove a little slowerㅡas a precaution, I figured. There was zero visibility outside due to the heavy rain. Some of the scared passengers stood up to check what was going on. The conductor tried to calm them down. In panic and fear, I held onto my pouch and silently prayed.
More thunderclaps came. I hear more screams from the people inside the bus. I even grabbed the other pole for better support. The person sitting infront of me took out his praying beads and started reciting Hail Marys. A girl from the back immediately grabbed her phone to call for someone. It seemed like everyone around me were frightened by the turn of events. I couldn't help but to feel scared, too.
One more thunderclap. More screams.
It was the loudest one so far, as if the sky has had enough. Another round of lightning momentarily lit up the sky. I knew it happened in a flash, but in my vision, it was in slow motion. At that moment, I found myself terrified, almost believing that this was how the apocalypse looked like. Was the world coming to an end?
I look at the driver's seat to see the way that we're heading. I see a flash of light coming. I realized it was a motorcycle heading its way towards us.
Our bus immediately turns left which made the other passengers fall down, stumbling and struggling to get back up. My tears automatically fell as I hug the pole. Everyone is screaming, afraid that all of us might end up dead.
What the hell is happening.
My eyes trembled as I look around. The bus was uncontrollable because the driver couldn't see its way back again. The bus keeps turning around at random directions.
I almost hit my head but I held onto a seat. Unintentionally, my eyes locked again with the guy I just stared a while ago. He is also holding onto a poleㅡalso terrified. The screaming voices minimized and I can only hear my heart beating and my heavy breathing. I thought the guy would look away and mind his own safety but he didn't. None of us dared to look away even between a crisis.
"GOD, THE FATHER ALMIGHTY CREATOR OF HEAVEN ANDㅡ"
A very loud and deafening sound of another vehicle bumps into us. We didn't fall over. We only stopped.
"LET'S JUST GET OUT!ㅡ"
"NO! IT'S MORE DANGEROUS OUTSIDE. CARS ARE FLIPPING OVER!"
We were staring at each other as if we're in a peaceful place when we're actually not. How can I not break this? Why is he even staring at me for that longㅡ
"Ah!ㅡ" My head suddenly aches. I take a hold onto it as I wince through the pain. I do not remember bumping my head onto something. I can't, too, recognize the feeling of this pain. When I take a look ahead, I can still see that guy looking at me as if I was the only thing he should focus on. But looking at him only made the pain worse. I really don't remember bumping my head into anything!
By the time when he takes a single blink, I can suddenly hear a different voice. I try to recognize the voice by looking at the passengers near me, thinking maybe they're talking but there's no one. The voice mumbles something that is louder than the passengers' screaming. Every word is confusing and hard to understand. Confused, I try to figure out where it came from. But as I was doing it, I turn to look at the guy. He widens his eyes right after he catches my stares.
"M-Miss!"
"The people who break you are not the ones who are going to put you back together."
W-What?
My head ached again when I heard that voice again, with clear and understandable words. Who just talked? It's so random that I even forgot about remembering them. The lights inside the bus turns off and at that same moment, my vision starts to look blurry. I think my nose is bleedingㅡ I can feel the liquid running from my nose.
"Don’t go yet."
Dugdug.
"Just stay with me a little bit longer.”
I hear silent crying sounds from a person I don't even see right now. I feel my heart aching. All of a sudden, my vision struggles to focus. But still, I am still looking at him.
The loudest deafening sound bounces inside. A bigger vehicle bumped into us which made a great impact to push us down. Loud screams deafened everyone. Everybody inside flew from corner to corner. The bus shooked, causing me to bump into other passengers and hit my head on God knows what. I tried to focus on standing up again, but the rest of the passengers were just all too loud and uncontrollable. I felt like we were all done for. I closed my eyes shut and heard the sound of glass shattering.
I felt my world spinning as I felt my bones being cracked and pulled out. The pain was unbearable. I cried till my soul was out. Suddenly, there was a crunch. And then another. I tried to breathe through the pain, but it was just too much. When I felt like I was about to die from too much pain and too little air, I heard a man's voice echoing in my head.
"And what should say afterwards? 'To us'?"
I tried to talk back but I just couldn't. I think I'm dying. It wasn't from the passengers praying, it was impossible since we were all shouting at the moment.
"That's perfect.. This is to us."
My breathing literally stopped and my heart ached. How can I hear my voice inside my head? I don't remember saying it to anyone. I try to catch my breath. It was like waiting for the final words of what I'm hearing before I die.
"To Usㅡ"
Tears left my eyes as I felt my body being broken into pieces. The voice didn't register right away, but as soon as I heard it, a certain warmth wraps around me. Suddenly, I didn't feel pain anymore.
Different words were going through inside my head and even thought it was a last replay of my memories. Before I could come into a conclusion, everything went black.