line inches forward and he follows close behind, I’m hoping he’ll take it upon himself to sit next to me. I’d rather it be him than someone else who I haven’t even spoken to.
I make my way toward the center of the bus and into two empty seats, passing up the one on the outside and taking the one by the window.
He sits next to me and I’m secretly relieved.
“Since you’re a girl,” he says, putting his bag on the floor between his feet, “I’ll let you keep the window seat.”
He smiles.
After the bus is full and I can already feel the extra body heat rising up all around us from so many people crammed inside the space, I hear the door squeal shut and the bus lurches in motion.
The drive doesn’t seem so long and torturous anymore now that I have someone to talk to. It only takes about an hour of constant conversation about everything from what all of his favorite classic rock bands are, to why I like Pink and how much better her stuff is than Boston and Foreigner who sound the same to me. We argued about this for twenty minutes out of that hour—he’s really stubborn, but then he said the same about me, so maybe we’re both guilty. And I let him in on who ‘Nat’ is, though I don’t go into the gruesome details of mine and Natalie’s relationship.
By the time the night falls, I realize there hasn’t been a single awkward moment of silence between us since we boarded the bus and he decided to sit next to me.
“How long are you staying in Idaho?”
“A few days.”
“And then you’re riding back on a bus?” Strangely, Andrew’s face has lost all of its humor.
“Yeah,” I say, not wanting to go too deeply into this topic because I don’t already know my answers in advance.
I hear him sigh.
“It’s none of my business,” he says looking over at me and I feel the space between us closing in since he’s sitting so close, “but you shouldn’t be traveling around by yourself like this.”
I don’t look at him.
“Well, I kind of have to.”
“Why?” he asks. “I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, but a young, devilishly gorgeous girl like you traveling by herself in the slums of the bus stations of America is dangerous.”
I feel my face break into a smile, but I try futilely to hide it.
I look over at him. “You’re not trying to hit on me,” I say, “yet you call me ‘devilishly gorgeous’ and practically use that what’s-a-girl-like-you-doing-in-a-place-like-this line all in the same sentence.”
He seems gently offended.
“I’m serious, Camryn,” he says and the playful smile on my face dissolves. “You could really get hurt.”
In an attempt to shift the awkward moment, I grin and say, “Don’t worry about me. I’m confident in my ability to scream really loud if I get attacked.”
He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, slowly giving in to my attempts to lighten things up.
“So tell me about your dad,” I say.
The almost-smile flees from his face and he looks away from me. It wasn’t an accident, bringing it up like I did. I don’t know, I just get this strange feeling that he’s hiding something. When he briefly mentioned back in Kansas about his dad dying, on the outside it didn’t seem to faze him. But he’s going all this way, by bus at that, to see his dad before he dies, so he must love him. I’m sorry, but you’re never unfazed when someone you love is dead, or dying.
Sounds strange coming from me, who can’t cry anymore.
“He’s a good man,” Andrew says, still looking in front of him. I get the feeling he’s picturing his dad right now, that he doesn’t actually see anything in front of him except for his memories.
He looks over at me and is smiling now, but it’s not a smile trying to cover up any pain, more-so one washed with a good memory.
“Instead of taking me to a baseball game, my dad took me to a boxing match.”
“Oh?” I feel my smile light up. “Do tell?”
He looks back out ahead, but the
I make my way toward the center of the bus and into two empty seats, passing up the one on the outside and taking the one by the window.
He sits next to me and I’m secretly relieved.
“Since you’re a girl,” he says, putting his bag on the floor between his feet, “I’ll let you keep the window seat.”
He smiles.
After the bus is full and I can already feel the extra body heat rising up all around us from so many people crammed inside the space, I hear the door squeal shut and the bus lurches in motion.
The drive doesn’t seem so long and torturous anymore now that I have someone to talk to. It only takes about an hour of constant conversation about everything from what all of his favorite classic rock bands are, to why I like Pink and how much better her stuff is than Boston and Foreigner who sound the same to me. We argued about this for twenty minutes out of that hour—he’s really stubborn, but then he said the same about me, so maybe we’re both guilty. And I let him in on who ‘Nat’ is, though I don’t go into the gruesome details of mine and Natalie’s relationship.
By the time the night falls, I realize there hasn’t been a single awkward moment of silence between us since we boarded the bus and he decided to sit next to me.
“How long are you staying in Idaho?”
“A few days.”
“And then you’re riding back on a bus?” Strangely, Andrew’s face has lost all of its humor.
“Yeah,” I say, not wanting to go too deeply into this topic because I don’t already know my answers in advance.
I hear him sigh.
“It’s none of my business,” he says looking over at me and I feel the space between us closing in since he’s sitting so close, “but you shouldn’t be traveling around by yourself like this.”
I don’t look at him.
“Well, I kind of have to.”
“Why?” he asks. “I’m not trying to hit on you or anything, but a young, devilishly gorgeous girl like you traveling by herself in the slums of the bus stations of America is dangerous.”
I feel my face break into a smile, but I try futilely to hide it.
I look over at him. “You’re not trying to hit on me,” I say, “yet you call me ‘devilishly gorgeous’ and practically use that what’s-a-girl-like-you-doing-in-a-place-like-this line all in the same sentence.”
He seems gently offended.
“I’m serious, Camryn,” he says and the playful smile on my face dissolves. “You could really get hurt.”
In an attempt to shift the awkward moment, I grin and say, “Don’t worry about me. I’m confident in my ability to scream really loud if I get attacked.”
He shakes his head and takes a deep breath, slowly giving in to my attempts to lighten things up.
“So tell me about your dad,” I say.
The almost-smile flees from his face and he looks away from me. It wasn’t an accident, bringing it up like I did. I don’t know, I just get this strange feeling that he’s hiding something. When he briefly mentioned back in Kansas about his dad dying, on the outside it didn’t seem to faze him. But he’s going all this way, by bus at that, to see his dad before he dies, so he must love him. I’m sorry, but you’re never unfazed when someone you love is dead, or dying.
Sounds strange coming from me, who can’t cry anymore.
“He’s a good man,” Andrew says, still looking in front of him. I get the feeling he’s picturing his dad right now, that he doesn’t actually see anything in front of him except for his memories.
He looks over at me and is smiling now, but it’s not a smile trying to cover up any pain, more-so one washed with a good memory.
“Instead of taking me to a baseball game, my dad took me to a boxing match.”
“Oh?” I feel my smile light up. “Do tell?”
He looks back out ahead, but the
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