A Silver Lounge
Skye Battles
12.19.14
For my mother
I sat in the back of my Anatomy class anxiously anticipating the bell. I’d have to take the crowded school bus home and sit in the back hoping not to go unoticed. Most of the time, I liked to walk home and stop to play in the cranberry bogs, but that day my mother needed help tending to our garden. We provided organic produce for a majority of the town; it’s tough work but I find it passes the time quite well. All of the popular kids would take the school bus home because they were too lazy to walk and their parents were too busy to care. The bell rang and everyone bolted to the door as per usual. I was the last one out and the only one to say goodbye to my teacher. I was off into the bright halls filled with the talk of weekend plans. It was a madhouse and I desperately wanted to get out.
The rusty bus doors opened with a screech. Arnold sat in the driver’s seat aimlessly looking out the window smoking an unfiltered cigarette. He was the worn out bus driver who smoked a pack a day but still could not manage to conceal his musty urine smell. I was one of the first ones on the bus because all of the other kids were busy talking to their friends, so I managed to grab a seat in the back row. I sat next to the window and placed my bag on the seat beside me with a thump. I did this every bus ride just to project anti-social vibes. You know, just incase someone wanted to sit next to me, but then again, that’s pretty unlikely.
The bus filled up and to my disappointment the popular girls took the rows in front of me. Within the first few minutes the bus went over a bump, which caused my bag to fall open onto the floor. The girls stared back at me and then at my mess of a bag on the floor. One of them, Nancy, picked up a tiny black bag that had fallen out. She unzipped the top and rummaged through it until she burst out laughing. I knew she had found exactly what she wanted.
“There are only two things in here: a pad, probably because she’s a pathetic virgin, and a comb! She doesn’t have any make up in here. Not even a little tube of lip-gloss and let me tell you, hunny that could get you a long way.”
They all proceeded to laugh hysterically and chant, “Dianna is a lesbian.”
Soon the whole bus had turned their eyes towards me. Everyone wants to be the center of attention sometimes but not like this. I remained silent hoping that they would find something else to entertain themselves with until the next stop, but they didn’t. Everyone cheered as I ran off the bus. I held my tears until the bus was a mere speck against the dusty blood orange sky.
After a few moments of desperation in the twilight wind, I gathered myself. I whistled as I walked the rest of the way home trying to forget about how tragic it is to constantly be surrounded by apathetic people.
As I was just about to reach the front porch I herd one of our chickens shriek in dismay. I ran to the front of the barn and made out a dog figure in the shadows. I could tell it was much bigger than our family dog as it slowly approached me. I calmly backed up and yelled for my mother as I stumbled towards the house. With the chicken between his teeth, the dog licked the sides of his mouth.