The Change

Where I Belong

“Enough!” The scruffy bus driver bellowed, stopping the two in their tracks. Both their heads peek into the aisle. The one on top was chubby and had fluffy blonde hair, while the one that was trapped under him was smaller but defined. “Knock it off and sit up before I make you walk!” He said once more.

“He-” The smaller one started but was cut off at once.

“I do not give a s**t. Do you want to walk the rest of the way?”

“No, sir.” The one on top said as he got off him and sat properly in his seat.

I stayed silent, knowing that if I said a word, it would make it worse. Honestly, I didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire of whatever drama the boys were having. It wasn’t my business if they were fighting over Uno or a girl they liked.

Soon, the bus was on the move again, and the girl beside me was awake from the commotion. She started to talk, so I lowered the volume of my “Iris” By the Goo Goo Dolls to hear and respond. But that’s when I realized it wasn’t to me, but to someone on her phone through her earbuds. Although she was trying to be inconspicuous, she was obviously talking to someone she liked, and I rolled my eyes. I turned my music back up to a totally acceptable volume, closing my eyes and leaning my head against the back rest.

“And I don’t want the world to see me, cause I don’t think that they’d understand.

When everything’s meant to be broken, I just want you to know who I am.”

I sighed away the heavy feeling settled in my sternum, as the bus screeched up the hill to our high school. Parking it behind the other buses in the lot, everyone settled down so that they could leave one row at a time.

When we got into the building, I didn’t stop to talk with anybody. All I wanted to do was get to my locker and get to class. Not that I had any friends to talk to anyway. I unloaded my backpack in my locker, pulling my Algebra and Biology textbooks into my arms. They weighed like bricks. I closed my locker and put my backpack back on.

Going to Algebra I, I found a seat near the front of the classroom but not too close with my notebook and pencil out in front of me, ready for note taking. The teacher came in and started writing equations on the board, and I copied everything he wrote as fast as I could, so I didn’t fall behind.

He gave a bored sigh, “Don’t forget to do problems fifty-five to eighty-two for homework tonight,” the teacher wrote the homework problems on the whiteboard in large black letters. I copied that in my notebook, even though that was going to be a nightmare to complete. I worked on a few problems until 9:28, giving me a few minutes to put everything back in my backpack.

The bell rang, signaling the end of class. I viscerally cringed at the sound but got my stuff and left before the others blocked my path. My pocket vibrated as I walked through the Freshmen Hall towards the Sophomore Hall, where I “belonged” so to speak. 4 minutes until my next class, I ducked into the nearest girl’s bathroom and locked myself in a stall.