Prologue...
She quietly entered the bus and sat at the same spot.
She had sat in that same spot since Jane left. The friend that could have stayed, but didn't.
The seat beside her was empty, a sacred thing on its own.
She didn't talk much, but people avoided that seat, almost automatically.
She placed her backpack on her lap, not daring to place even a finger on the other seat.
Resting her head on the window, she closed her eyes.
Then-
THUD.
Someone had sat on the seat.
The air in the bus seemed to still. Whispers hung in the air.
She opened her eyes to see who had disrupted the sanctuary she had preserved for almost two years.
The intruder smiled at her.
"Hello," he said, still blissfully unaware that the students around him were holding their breath almost to suffocation.
She looked at him.
She should have glared.
She should have snapped at him.
But for the first time, she didn't.
She gave a small smile, something no one had seen for a long time.
"Hi," she responded, almost unsure if she said it right.
She looked out the window.
"You don't smile much, do you?" he asked.
She considered it.
"You haven't been here long," she said, still looking out the window.
He wanted to ask what she meant, but thought better of it and gave her a light smile.
She was just different in a way that made him curious.
But he wasn't about to pry.
