It Started At The Bus Stop

Sherlien Emerson's POV

Six years ago.

Today was the last day of us in this house which was our home for more than eleven years.

My father finally got his dream job for which he was working so hard for years. He finally got his Joining letter to the St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands as the department head of St. John Police station. He always wanted to be a Police Officer and now he got the opportunity to serve the Nation. And happy was an understatement for him right now.

We were having a get-together at our house. Most of our relatives and my family's close friends were there to meet us for one last time before we moved and to congratulate my father on his new achievement in his life.

My Dad was busy with his friends and colleagues from his training center with this big smile on his face. Mom was with hers, congratulating her and giving goodbye gifts.

My idiotic big brother was in his room with his school friends doing god knows what. As usual.

But I'm pretty sure that they were playing that new video game that Dad had given to him for his sixteenth birthday. I still remember how much he had begged for it because for him it was the most up-to-date video game in the market and he wishes to have it. And in the end, Dad had gifted it to him as his birthday present. Now my brother was inseparable from it and didn't miss a chance to show off to his friends.

After doing the usual greetings to the guests and relatives, most of whom I didn't even know and going to forget their faces in the morning, it was more than enough greetings for me in one day. Don't know how Mom and Dad handle it.

Away from all the crowd happening down there, I was upstairs in my room, with my one and only best friend Mia. We were best friends from kindergarten. And I still couldn't remember who approached whom first or how we first met but here we were lying in my bed, side by side, away from all the crowds downstairs. Probably, thinking about how much we are going to miss each other.

She was definitely trying her best to make me feel better about all this moving and new place but I knew better, she was as sad as I was.

"Are you going to miss me?" I asked her the most stupid question I could think of while we just laid there, staring at the ceiling fan for an hour now. Without saying a word.

Giving me her best are-you-crazy look she answered "Of course! I'm going to miss you. There's no doubt in that. I'm the only one with whom you share your lunch box. Remember. Ohh I'm going to miss your lunch box, Shona. So much! Your Mom's foods are just amazing." With a teasing smile on her face, she added, "I'm definitely going to miss your mom's cooking. Her new dishes. For sure."

I can't argue with that because it was the truth. My Mom was an awesome cook. It was her passion to try new dishes everyday and create something of her own imagination that becomes our new favorite dish.

I couldn't control the smile that came on my face remembering all those times when both of us spent hours in my kitchen, trying to help my Mom and learn new dishes.

Mom always lets us do the sprinklers on the cake and cookies!

And this was one of the many reasons why I'm going to miss her. She always had a way to make it easier to talk and put a smile on people's faces. She was like a sister that I never had.

I'm so going to miss this idiot.

"Stop thinking too much about this. We can still talk to each other on the phone and maybe we can do that, those letter things too. You know in vacations I'm going to come there to meet you." her brown eyes wide open and with that toothy smile that always makes people smile in return. I smiled back. "My Dad told me that it has lots of beaches and beautiful places. So it will be a good trip too," she concluded like it was easy peasy. Turning to face me on the bed so we were looking at each other while lying there.

"Yeah. I think you're right. My Dad said the same thing to me and Neil because Neil was looking more upset than me, I don't know why? But for me, it doesn't matter, it's just that you are not going to be there and I don't know how I'm going to do in my new school there."

Saying that out loud and accepting my troubled thoughts to her made me sadder because anyone who knew me knows that I was too reserved in my own space. It needed more time than necessary with me before I grew on someone. Usually, kids of my age didn't wait for that. They wanted me as they were not as I'm.

But Mia was not like them. She was just herself and trying to accept others as they were.

Like she accepted me.

Holding my hands, she said, "you are going to be okay in your new school just like you were here. I'm sure you will be able to make new friends too. And the best part is there will be no one to annoy you and make funny drawings of yours in front of the whole class anymore". The teasing smile and wiggle of her eyebrows telling me just what she was talking about. Or about whom.

"Oh my gosh! Why do you have to mention that? I don't want to think about that stupid idiot. Like Never. Thank God I'm going because seriously I can't handle that anymore." I said with a huff.

I swear that boy had made his life mission how-to-annoy-Sherlien-Emerson-on-different-levels. I mean who draws their drawing partner as a green potato? And when Miss Janny, our drawing teacher, asked him why he drew me as a green potato, he just simply said, "Because she's wearing a green dress."

Seriously! That boy has some serious issues.

Trying not to think about that humiliating drawing class I looked at Mia and to my absolute annoyance, she was trying her best not to laugh and failing miserably. In the end, she burst into fits of laughter. Clutching her stomach she rolled from side to side on the bed as another fit burst out of her. Like she couldn't even control herself.

It's very annoying when your best friend finds happiness in your not so happy situation. I was not having it either.

So I did the next best thing I could think of at that moment. I just launched myself on her as she was rolled on the other side of the bed. Now she was the one huffing and puffing for air as I put my full body weight on her with fits of laughter as she tried to move me away.

"You know you weigh a ton, you idiot!! Get off me, Sherlien!! I swear you are going to break my back! It hurts you idiot" She was trying so hard to get me off her body but she wasn't succeeding it because I was really healthier than her.

My mom always said to me that I'm not fat, I'm just healthier than other kids or specifically than her.

"Do not mess with me." I tried to sound threatening as I moved my body from her but oh well, I knew better.

"I should have told him about you" She muttered under her breath as she tried to take long breaths.

That totally got my attention.

"What!?" I shrieked.

"Well he was asking about you today at lunch and he kinda looked sad but I'm not sure." She said, taking a long breath. I think she felt how tense I was because she added " Don't worry Shona, I didn't tell him about your move or anything else. Nothing from me. Not a single word. But you know he's going to know sooner or later."

Yeah, I know. It was really childish of me to think that not telling about my moving to a different city will be the best. Because it was not like he was going to move to my neighbor or something. That was some kind of twisted way of revenge for that drawing.

"Wait.." suddenly Mia said with a dramatic pause, "I did talk to him more than a single word. And that was…' I don't know about her.'" She started to laugh again like she just made a million dollars joke.

Seriously!! It was not that funny.

"look at your face. You were going to pass out just there" pointing her finger towards my face she snickered.

"Hahahaha. Very funny." I replied, sarcastically.

"Can you just chill? He is not that bad. He just likes to annoy you and tease you, that's all. And it's not like you back out or don't fight back whenever he says something to you. So that's even between both of you." She completed with a little shrug of her shoulders.

I was looking at her like she just lost her mind.

" Wow, Mia. Now he is not that bad. HE IS ALWAYS THAT BAD. ALWAYS. When some guy is going to draw you like a green potato just because you're wearing your favorite green dress. Then we'll talk about this." I told her. Making sure that she gets the point.

And she did.

"Okay. Okay. No need to be angry. Let's just drop this. Okay." Good. Now you are talking, I thought. " Let's just talk about something else? Okay."

"Hmmm. That's better."

"Like what?."

"Weather?" I said with a serious face.

Only two seconds I could put that serious face on. Because on the third we both started to laugh, looking at each other like we were idiots. And that's what we were. Idiots.

As both of us laid there on the bed talking, laughing, teasing and making some more memories to remember when we're going away from each other. I thought we people took everything for granted without even realizing it. Because I was going to miss all of this, he jokes, making fun of me, our bickering, her always letting me win at the end and so on.

Only if I could hold time for some moments.

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When it was time for dinner my Mom came into my room to call us for dinner. Today's special was Biryani and we couldn't miss that for anything.

The perk of having an Indian Mom with a passion for cooking.

After dinner, most of the guests had left the house. Only the close friends of my Dad were there but they had moved in my Dad's study room by the stairs. Probably having drinks from Dad's different drink collection that he opened on special occasions. The loud laughing and talking were any indication then it had opened today. Most of his friends were family men and very cheerful around us. Dad's friends were always good to me and Neil.

But one of his friends was really good to me. Uncle Michael. He was always friendly to me and Neil. And I was really comfortable around him. Because he was my Dad's oldest friend, they were College buddies. So I was very familiar with him as was there from my birth. He was my father's best friend. Always helping my father and our family for anything. He was helping us in shifting too. Almost everything was already shifted to a new house in St.John.

He had a wife and a daughter of my age. But they didn't live with him and he always told me how much he missed them and his daughter. And I always thought about why they didn't live with him because Uncle Michael was a nice man.

As I was saying goodbye to Mia, which was really difficult because we both were trying not to cry, one of the most unexpected things happened. My brother, Neil, gave her his favorite paint brush set as a gift to her that he loved so much so that he couldn't let me even touch them. With an uncertain and I suspected shy look on her face Mia took the gift and thanked my brother, that was so not Mia.

Saying a hurried and nervous goodbye Neil walked so fast like his pants were on fire. And what was more unexpected was that as long as I remembered these two were the real version of Tom and Jerry. Like literally.

After saying goodbye to Mia and with that weird incident in my mind I came into my room and got into my bed again.

I was just lying there and looking at the remains in my room because everything was already gone with other stuff, only a small suitcase and a handbag was there in my room beside my bed table.

I looked at the walls of my room that were painted by my father and not so perfect, but for me it was perfect, butterflies,(that was one of my favorite parts about this room) painted by my brother when he was just twelve. He had given his touch of art in every room's wall in this house. It was his passion. Painting. And I really admired his talent because I couldn't even draw a straight line till now when he was drawing the perfect lion at my age.

Tomorrow at this time we will be on our flight to St.John And we have to make all of this again to our new house there. We would have to create new memories with every piece of that house like we had with this house.

New memories, a new beginning of our life.

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It was night time, Mom was in the kitchen downstairs cleaning up the dishes, Neil was in his room that was across the hallway and my father was still in his study room with his friends because I could hear them talking and laughing (they were really loud).

Everything was good, everyone was enjoying their time. It was not like we were never going to come back here and meet with these people but we didn't know when and it wouldn't be as it was now. So it was only today for them to enjoy like this with their friends laughing, teasing, smiling.

I too had a great time and I enjoyed this evening, until. Until...I didn't.

The most terrifying unexpected happened that had changed my life completely.

I just wanted to be like any other girl, enjoying her life, dreaming about different things, making her family proud and so much more... so much more.

But I didn't know that that one moment was enough to break me and my hope. To cut my wings and make me a prisoner of my own mind that I couldn't escape.

That I would be captivated by a feeling that I couldn't even comprehend. Even if I tried.