Hello. This is a pretty random one shot I wrote inspired by my Amber head cannon about her life in New York once she leaves Anubis House. I also have a head cannon that once they graduate Nina moves to New York with Amber and so does Mick, and they all live together and go to college there. Then Fabian also decides to go to college in New York so Fabina happens again. Wow. I'm getting pretty off topic. Um...
This is for the HOA One Shot Day 2013.
I hope you like it.
First sighting
Amber had been in New York for a couple months when she decided to start taking art and photography classes on top of her classes at fashion school. The culture in New York fascinated her so she thought these classes would be another way to explore it.
There was a bus stop outside her school so Amber took the bus on Tuesday's and Thursday's to her classes. She noticed him on her first trip on the bus.
She got on two stops before he did.
After sitting down Amber got out her phone and sent a text to Nina. Once Amber moved to the US it had been easier to stay in touch without the time difference getting in the way. Nina didn't live very close to New York but she'd already visited Amber there last month and was planning another trip there in a couple of weeks.
The bus stopped for the first time. Instinctively she looked up and then looked back down at her phone, something about public transport made her feel awkward. It was probably because she didn't enjoy being alone and surrounded by strangers. Even more so she didn't like all these strangers looking at her. Amber had always been someone who drew the eyes of others to her, whether she meant to or not. She was pretty, she dressed nicely and she was loud. Obviously, everyone wasn't staring at her but they definitely did look at her for a moment longer than they looked at any of the other passengers.
Amber didn't tend to look at other people. She saw them but she didn't see them.
Not until she saw him.
At the second stop she looked up again. She saw him.
Immediately she looked down, then she looked up again, then she looked down. When he walked past her, she looked up her again and their eyes met. She blushed and looked back down.
Amber kept her eyes focused down but his followed her as he made his way to his usual seat, 3 rows behind Amber.
He tried not to stare at the back of her head the whole journey.
She tried not to turn round. She did once and he saw her looking. It was awkward… for her.
Second sighting
His name was Wesley and he wasn't really Amber's usual type. He wasn't a joker like Alfie and he wasn't a jock like Mick. Wes was in a band and he was a bit of a nerd. Not to a Fabian level but he was a lot more interested in school than Alfie or Mick. He liked to read classic literature and watch cult sci-fi and fantasy TV shows with his band mates. He hated sports. He had a tumblr. Sometimes he baked for his band mates. He liked photography too and making music videos for his band.
Wes also had a job, which is why he caught the bus every Monday- Thursday afternoon.
Wes assumed there wasn't much chance of him seeing the girl again. He looked for her on the bus on Wednesday but she wasn't there. He looked for her everywhere he went for the next two days but New York was a big place.
He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her sitting there on Thursday.
She seemed to recognise him but he couldn't be sure. Their eyes met again, like the first time, but this time she held the stare for longer. She seemed to be checking that it was him.
No.
Why would she remember him?
She wouldn't.
This beautiful, mysterious girl on the bus could never be as captivated by him and he was by her. It was completely illogical. It was ridiculous. Of course she wasn't.
No.
Wesley spent the journey trying not to look at her, again. Amber didn't make the mistake she made last time. She didn't turn round.
First mention
Amber was on skype to Nina.
"I was on the bus on Tuesday on the way to my art and photography classes and I saw this really cute boy, and then on Thursday he was on the bus again, and I don't know if he's noticed me at all but he's really cute," said Amber.
Nina laughed, "Yeah you mentioned that he was really cute."
"Nina, don't tease me, I'm having a crisis."
"A crisis?"
Amber frowned. "Okay, maybe I'm exaggerating but cute boy."
"What's he like?" asked Nina, "You know, besides cute."
"I wish I knew, I mean I wish I knew more about his personality, what if I'm crushing on a complete douche?"
Nina looked surprised.
Amber interpreted her face wrongly. "I know, I've seen him twice on a bus, I might not even see him again, he might have only been catching the bus this week, who knows, I don't."
"I didn't pull a face because of that; I pulled a face because of your genuine concern about him having a terrible personality."
Amber glared at her. "I'm not shallow you know."
"Of course not," she said, "You just care a lot about appearances too, that doesn't necessarily make you shallow."
This made Amber smile.
"He is pretty attractive," she admitted, "Curly dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, tanned. I'd say he's tall, dark and handsome but he isn't really that tall, probably about my height. I wouldn't say he was a stereotypical, tall, dark, handsome type. He kind of looks like a puppy. He's adorable."
"A puppy?" wondered Nina.
Amber protested, "In a Sam Winchester, he's still really attractive, kind of way."
Nina laughed.
Third sighting
She saw him for the third time and she smiled.
It was the surprise really that made her smile at him, Amber had convinced herself that she would probably never see him again so when we saw him she smiled at him like they were old friends. Then she blushed madly and looked down, even though she did notice that he did smile back.
Amber looked up again and he was still looking at her. They smiled at each other again. He nodded then made his way to his seat.
She didn't know what was going on anymore.
Second mention
"You remember that girl I saw on the bus on last Tuesday?" asked Wes.
His band mate, Lexa, answered, "Vaguely."
"I saw her again yesterday and last Thursday, I think she recognised me, she smiled at me," he said.
Another band mate, Cornelia (Corey), teased him, "Wes is in love."
"I'm not in love," protested Wes, "I am in like, with a girl I've never spoken to before."
Corey continued to tease him, "From how you described her the other day she sounded pretty out of your league."
"She is," he agreed sadly.
Lexa poked him and said, "Don't listen to her, Corey is being stupid, she's not out of your league, if you see her again you should just talk to her and if she rejects you then you can start catching a different bus, simple."
"Thanks Lexa."
"You're welcome."
Fourth sighting
This time Wesley had a plan. He wanted to make himself seem… cool… to his mystery, bus girl, so he devised a fool proof way to get her to really notice him.
When he stepped onto the bus that Thursday, he spotted her instantly. She was sitting in the seat she always sat in and was looking even prettier than usual.
Amber had dressed up for the occasion.
Wesley sat down and texted his band mate, Evan, and a few seconds later his phone started ringing.
Automatically Amber turned around and Wes smiled at her, she blushed and turned back to face the front of the bus whilst trying to listen in to Wes' conversation.
"Yes… yes… shush… yes… I might have plans then, you know how busy I am… well I'll see you tomorrow anyway so it's fine, we have band practice tomorrow don't we? … True, we always have band practice… hey, some people need to work… I need the money to pay for instruments for our band… well that would be nice wouldn't it… yes, I see what you're saying but…"
Evan was teasing him a bit more than Wes would've liked but he still thought his plan may have worked, she had looked over at him when the phone rang. He'd wanted to seem cool to her but now he was just worried he'd come off as an annoying dork. The girl would probably not at least know he was in a band. That was cool wasn't it?
It wasn't like his band was famous. He thought they were great and that one day they would be, but right now they were just a bunch of nerds with musical instruments. Doesn't sound very cool does it?
Third mention
"You know I told you about that boy I keep seeing on the bus?" began Amber the next morning as she talked to her roommate, June, "Well, I found out why he catches the bus at the same time as me, he takes the bus to work."
"So you talked to him?" she asked.
Amber answered, "Well no… his friend called him and they were talking and I overheard him talking about his work and their band. He's in a band."
"He sounds pretty cool," grinned June, "Maybe you should talk to him finally. At least you know he has friends now."
Amber laughed. "Yeah, he seemed nice, like he and his friend seemed to be teasing each other quite a lot, it was really…"
"Cute?" finished June.
Amber stuck her tongue out at her but then said, "Yes, it was very cute."
"Then talk to him," insisted June.
"It's not that simple, I mean, what would I even say?" she asked, "And he probably isn't interested anyway, he's in a band, definitely out of my league."
June couldn't help but laugh at this. "Amber, there is no such thing as a guy being out of your league, you're beautiful, funny, intelligent and you go to the best fashion school in the country on a scholarship. Don't you think that's pretty amazing?"
"You're right."
June laughed again.
"Thanks June," Amber said, "You're pretty awesome too you know?"
"I know."
Fifth sighting
Amber's phone started ringing at the perfect moment: when he walked past her.
Wes didn't know what to think.
"Life at fashion school is brilliant, Nina, as it always is, how are you? How's your gran?" asked Amber. After telling Nina what transpired on the bus the other day Nina had suggested that she should call Amber to make her look just as awesome to Wes as Wes did to Amber.
"I can't actually believe I'm seeing you this weekend, I've missed you so much," said Amber, she almost forgot she was trying to impress the boy behind her with this conversation, she was too excited about seeing Nina, "Next time I should definitely come to you… I know, New York is amazing but I need to see your house, meet your friends and see your Gran again… of course she does, everyone likes me… well not yet… you're so annoying…"
They made idle chit chat since they'd talked a couple of days ago there wasn't much to catch each other up on. They talked about their plans for the weekend and Amber filled Nina in on what was happening at Anubis House recently (her and Alfie may have broken up but they were still in regular contact). Leaving out the parts about what had happened recently with Sibuna, that wasn't a conversation to have on the bus.
"Well I'll see next Friday Ambs," grinned Nina, she was really excited, "Do you think he's been listening to our conversation?"
"Yes, I think so," said Amber, "See you Neens."
Fourth mention
"Are you writing a song about the bus girl?" asked Wes' friend Micah.
His friends crowded around him, looking at his notebook.
Corey snatched it off him and flicked through it. "Do you have a notebook dedicated to the bus girl?"
"No…"
"This is becoming weird," said Lexa.
Evan took the notebook off Corey and started reading out a list that Wes had made.
"Things I Know About The Bus Girl:
she's beautiful
she has friend named Nina who is visiting her this weekend
she goes to fashion school
on a scholarship
which kind of helps to explain why she always looks so nice
besides her of course being beautiful
she's English
she moved here a few months ago for school
her ex is called Alfie, they still speak quite a lot
she misses her old friends
everyone likes her"
"The bus girl is English?" asked Corey, Wes had only mentioned Amber a couple times before but she had never pictured the girl as English. She'd had the image of a bubbly, tanned, cheerleader type of girl; a stereotypical, popular, American teenager.
"Yep," he said, "Her friend, that's Nina, called her on the bus yesterday and she sounded very English to me."
"Wait, what?" wondered Evan, "Her friend called her, after last week when I called you?"
Wes nodded. "I was wondering about that, if it was a coincidence or not."
"Maybe she likes you too," teased Micah.
Wes laughed, "As if."
Lexa said, "You never know, she might do, she might have got her friend to call her because you got Evan to call you."
"Why would she do that?" he asked, "She probably just did it because she sees me stalking her and wanted to make fun of me."
Corey laughed, "You have really low self-esteem."
His friends laughed at him which frustrated Wes. Something about the girl captivated him and he knew he should just speak to her, sit down next to her on the bus and say, "Hello," but he knew that he wasn't confident enough to ever do that.
Was he?
"Oh Wes." Lexa saw the sad look on his face. "Maybe she was flirting with you, getting her friend to call you seems pretty flirty to me. Trust me Wes, I'm a girl."
"That actually seems likely," confirmed Corey.
Evan and Micah nodded in agreement.
"I wish."
Wes did have pretty low self-esteem when it came to girls.
Sixth sighting
Neither Wes nor Amber had made any plans for this Thursday. No calls, no expectations, no decisions to finally break down the wall and speak to each other: nothing. They didn't really know where they could go from here if neither one of them were willing to start a conversation.
Wes walked past Amber that Thursday and smiled at her.
Amber smiled back and said, "Hi."
Wes was in shock, he managed to squeeze out a quick "hey." His voice sounding strained and he felt pretty embarrassed, but also sort of happy at the same time.
Amber turned around to smile at him again and he grinned back.
Fifth mention
"I don't get why you don't just talk to him?" said Nina. Amber's sudden shyness honestly did confuse her best friend because Nina knew that Amber wasn't the shy type. Amber was loud. Amber was confident. Amber was… Amber. Normal Amber would just talk to a boy.
"I'm nervous," she admitted.
"Nervous?" repeated Nina. She'd assumed it was something like that but she was still surprised.
Nina and Amber were in the queue for the Empire State Building. Amber had been there once but Nina never had and she was really excited about it.
Amber poked her. "Don't sound so surprised, I'm not a robot you know? I do have emotions."
"You are definitely not a robot," laughed Nina, "But you aren't usually nervous around boys, ever, not like me with…"
"Fabian?" finished Amber.
"Yeah."
Amber linked arms with her best friend and said, "I know you miss him but who knows, maybe one day you guys can get back together."
"That's doubtful, but thanks."
"It could happen someday," grinned Amber, "But don't get hung up on him, I know you loved him but maybe it's time to move on and find a new boyfriend."
Nina grinned. "Maybe it's time to stop being nervous and take your own advice."
Amber couldn't help but giggle at that.
"I don't even know his name Nina," she protested, "What am I supposed to do? Trip him over as he walks past me."
"How about we start with hi," suggested Nina.
"I already did that."
"And he said hey, now it's time to move on to the next step."
"What next step?"
Nina shrugged, "I don't know, you're the love guru, not me."
Sixth mention
"She said hi to me on Thursday," said Wes, "Her best friend Nina is here this weekend which means she's out in New York today, probably sightseeing. We should go to the Empire State Building or something; does anyone feel like doing that?"
Wes was writing in his Amber notebook.
"This is becoming even creepier than before." Micah was starting to feel scared of his friend.
"We aren't going to the Empire State Buildings!" yelled Corey, "You wouldn't even talk to her if we did!"
Lexa grinned, "She said hi to you? What did you say?"
"Guys we need to practise." Evan was standing by his keyboard, waiting.
Wes just stared at them in response.
After a moment Lexa said, "So what happened?"
"I said hey," he answered, "Not much else, I looked a bit like an idiot but then she turned and smiled at me again which was nice."
"She definitely likes you." Lexa was excited, his other friends were less so.
Wes wasn't that optimistic. "Or maybe she was just being friendly?"
Corey said, "Can't you just talk to her and put us all out of our misery."
Lexa glared at her and Wes said, "Not helping Corey."
Evan moaned, "Can we start practising yet?"
Seventh sighting
It had been only 3 weeks since they had first seen each other but it felt like much longer. That was mostly due to the long days in between each sighting. Amber felt like the gaps between seeing each other were long but it was only a few days each time, if that.
Amber always got on the bus first and sat down in her usual spot and then he sat 3 rows behind her. She got off the bus first too.
It was good that she got on the bus first and then got off first because she got to watch him get on without appearing like a stalker and then he got to watch her exit the bus without being too embarrassed about it.
Wes walked onto the bus that day and Amber looked up at him, then looked down and then looked up again just like she had done every other time.
Today Wes had purposely positioned himself at the back of the queue of people getting on to the bus so that if Amber talked to him again he had the possibility of starting a conversation with her without holding up the people behind him.
He didn't really expect himself to start a conversation with her though.
Amber grinned at him when he walked towards her and said, "Hi."
"Hey," he replied and he paused for a moment trying to build up the courage to say something more, then he realised he couldn't and turned his body forward.
Amber reacted to him turning away from her and moved her bag and stumbled through a sentence, "Sit here, I mean, if you want to, sit here."
He looked at her surprised then the bus started moving throwing him forward so he gracefully tried to position himself down next to Amber. He landed next to her with a thud.
"On your way to work?" she asked, trying to make conversation but then realising she sounded creepy because she shouldn't really know that.
"Yeah," he answered and his mind slowly processed what was going on and that his plan had worked because she had listened to that phone conversation, he remembered what Lexa had once said about her phone call being her flirting, "Did you have a nice weekend with your friend?"
Amber looked at him surprised and then remembered her phone call.
He had been paying attention to her.
"Yes I did," he said, "It was nice to see her again, I miss her a lot now we live in different states."
"Better than different counties," he commented, "So you're English?"
She nodded. "Uh huh. I moved here a few months ago for…
"Fashion school?" he finished.
"Yeah," she replied.
"Sorry," he said, "Am I being creepy?"
Amber laughed, "Not at all, you're actually being pretty cute."
Wes was pleasantly surprised by that.
She noticed the smile on his face and was happy that for once she wasn't being teased about using the word cute. He was cute and close up he was even cuter. His shoulder was touching hers and she could smell him. The smell was indescribably pleasant; Amber thought she could get used to that smell.
Wes interrupted the silence by saying, "I'm Wes."
He felt a sudden nervousness in the moment before her reply. Weeks of looking and thinking and guessing led up to this moment. He was going to find out the girl on the bus's name.
"I'm Amber," she smiled.
"Amber," he repeated and he grinned back at her, "Pretty."
"Thank you," she said starting to blush. Amber couldn't pinpoint what it was about Wes that made her feel nervous. He just seemed so different from every guy she'd ever known and she wanted to impress him.
They chatted for a bit longer but the bus ride wasn't that long and soon it was Amber's stop. He stood up to let her get off.
"I'll see you on Thursday." Her smile was a promise.
He nodded. "Yeah, see you then."
Eighth sighting
Wes was more nervous about this bus ride than any other bus ride because he knew that he was definitely going to speak to Amber that day. Amber. He liked the sound of that, he found himself saying her name at random moments during the day and thinking it all the time when he was supposed to be concentrating on other things (like school or work). Amber.
His band mates had suffered a lot more than the six previous mentions the day after Amber first spoke to Wes. Every word of their conversation was recounted to them multiple times. Every look, every gesture, every breath was analysed.
Amber captivated Wes in a way that no girl ever had before. He didn't really have much experience with girls. He had only had two previous girlfriends; the last had been almost two years ago. With work and his band there hadn't been much time for anything else and Wes had kind of been holding out for someone... someone like Amber.
Both of them were nervous but excited that day.
As always Amber was first on the bus. She sat there, impatient, as the bus turned round corners and made its stops, but when they finally reached Wes' stop she wanted the bus to drive straight past. Until she saw him smile at her that was.
"She has nice teeth," thought Wes when he saw Amber smile at him.
They grinned at each other as Wes made his way towards her.
"Hey," he said. His excitement at seeing her finally allowed him to speak first, she responded with "hi" as he sat down next to her, a little more gracefully than the first time.
Wes asked, "How was your class on Tuesday?"
"Good," she answered, "It's nice to be in a class where you don't feel like everyone's judging you all the time."
"Is that what it's like at school?"
"A bit," she said, "There's a lot of pressure to be the best because we're not all going to be famous designers in the future so we have to try be better than them now so we have a better chance at being one of the lucky ones."
Wes grinned. "I'm sure you'll be a famous designer one day."
"You haven't even seen my designs," pointed out Amber.
"You have a point." Wes was enjoying their conversation, they'd only been talking for a minute but she'd already been so open and nice to him. "Have you got any of your designs with you?"
Amber was uncertain for a moment but then she reached into her bag. "They're a bit weird."
She handed him the book and Wes flicked through them for a bit. He had to agree that some of them were a bit weird but she was pretty talented.
"They're good," he said, "Really good."
Amber blushed. "Thank you, you don't think they're too... crazy?"
"They are a bit weird," he admitted, "But good weird."
She giggled and said thank you again. Amber explained to him some of her designs and they talked more about school for a bit. Then she realised she was talking too much about herself so she asked him about his band. Wes told her about his band mates, who were also his closest friends, until it was time for Amber to get off the bus.
Amber turned to Wes. "See you next week."
"Yeah," he began, "Or maybe, um, we could, I don't know..."
His awkwardness was adorable to Amber. She wondered, "Do something this weekend?" Amber removed a slip of paper from her pocket. "Here's my number, call me."
"Okay."
That was a really long one shot.
I'd love to write more about post- Anubis Amber and Nina but I don't really know if there's any interest in that sort of thing.
Well, I hope you liked it, and if you did, don't forget to review.