A note to the readers – the following is a dramatization of mine and my friend's childhood at Clemens Mills Public School and uses the story ideas and concepts and characters from White Wolf's The World of Darkness – SAS – The New Kid – Innocence.
In the morning the bus is a cold, tightly enclosed cage on wheels, bringing the group of 10-year old students to the inevitable school day stretching out before them. In the afternoon, it is a space of glorious freedom where they can talk when they want, and about what they want. The warm sun filters through the windows, the promise of the afternoon playtime before them. In both directions, it is ruled with an iron fist by Mr. Seals, who the students call "Grouch'O." He allows the student a lot of freedom until the moment he feels student behaviour is distracting him. Then he clamps down, shutting everyone up with promises of detention.
The bus begins rolling away from Karoline's bus stop before she has taken her seat, causing her to lurch her way towards the back. Glancing back over her shoulder, she sees Grouch'O's eyes in the rearview mirror, those steely blue orbs demanding that she find a place to sit immediately. So she does so, her breathe hanging on the air. Having finished her homework after dinner last night for once, Karoline lets her eyes look out onto the passing landscape, taking it in with the sure knowledge that she'll be in a classroom for several hours that will seem like an eternity. All of the kids on the bus glance towards Grouch'O as the bus begin to slow down. The realization dawns quickly: it's a new bus stop! The students look out of the right window, some dashing across the aisle to get a better view. The first thing she notices is the old Mayfair House, a massive, dark affair that seems more like a crouching gray frog than a home. Dwarfed by the house's shadow, she sees him: The new kid. The doors squeak open, and you hear his light footsteps on the stairs before his head appears at the far end of the aisle. He is small and frail, with thick glasses, short hair and no chin to speak of. He has obviously been dressed by his parents, wearing a collared shirt tucked into brown slacks that looks like something your parents might wear. Clutched in his hand is an old copy of The Danger Brothers, a set of stories about two brothers who solve mysteries through logic. As the bus pulls away, Karoline glances back at the Mayfair House. She can't shake the feeling that she's being watched. When the New Kid takes his seat three rows up from Karoline she breathes a sigh of relief as she knows that his hazing will soon begin and although she hates to initiate him, to maintain her reputation in the school she would have to if he sat near her. Unfortunately, he was sitting right across from Max Cooper. The New Kid stays to himself, trying to read his book and generally ignores as best he can anyone who speaks to him. This gives Max the biggest grin Karoline had ever seen. He looked just like the old cartoon pictures of the Grinch when he had the idea to steal from the Who's. "What sort of loser tucks his shirt into his pants? It's like your just begging me to give you a wedgy!". Max's cheeks puff up with every chuckle as he revels in the torment. As the bus rolls on, Max's crew had begun ridiculing The New Kid and had taken the liberty of relieving the other students of the seats surrounding him. Max, fed up with not getting to The New Kid, turns to his trump card. With a swift hand he snatches the book from The New Kid's hands and goes to throw it out the open bus window
"Stop!" The New Kid yells, sudden and shrill. The bus strikes a bump, sending Karoline bouncing out of her seat... when there is an almost deafening burst of noise. The bus lurches sickeningly sideways, and the screams of other kids mix with the screech of brakes and tires against pavement, and then the Bus slams into the far side of a ditch. There is a moment of silence as the smell of rubber hangs in the air. Kids' heads pop up from behind vinyl seats and peer wide-eyed at one another. Eventually they all fall on the same person: The New Kid. The kids are herded off of the bus, told to wait quietly while Grouch'O calls for another bus to take the children to the school. Most of the kids give Bradley a wide berth, and Grouch'O cuts off any speculation with a demand of silence.