i got this idea from a tumblr post with the AU "i had a terrible day and i'm on the bus stuck in heavy traffic you're waiting for your ride outside and we have a staring contest then u blink and smile like the big dork that u are i cant believe i smiled back" on it, but i changed it around some to make this work.

"I can't believe this! Don't you know who you're talking to? Honestly, it's just embarrassing! Do you think Mariah Carey's people make her wait? Do you think Beyonce's people make her wait? Yeah, no, I don't think so!"

There's a long sigh on the other end of the cellphone Brittany Miller is clutching angrily in her hand. She's pissed, for several reasons, and she's too far gone to stop taking all of it out on her sister. People are starting to stare at her as she continues to pace around, and all she can think is let them, she's angry and with a good right to be and she doesn't care what anyone else thinks of her practically making a scene in the middle of the street.

"Brittany," Eleanor finally says, it's obvious her patience has already worn thin. "First of all- you're not Beyonce. Second, I'm not your people. And third, I already told you, I'm trying to get there as fast as I can! There's a ton of traffic today."

"Well, make the traffic stop!" Brittany snaps right back, stomping her foot, much like a small child would. "I want to go home!"

"Why didn't you get your ride there to drive you back?"

Brittany stops pacing and weighs out her options. There's no way she's going to admit to Eleanor the date she'd been bragging about all week had been downright awful, he hadn't even bothered to dress nice, didn't pay for her food (like a gentleman should), it was obvious the entire time he had been just as miserable as her, so much apparently it gave him the nerve to say he was going to the bathroom and then never show back up afterwards.

"I ditched him," she tells Eleanor instead. "He was terrible, there's no way I was going to get back in a car with him."

"I don't know what else to tell you then. You'll just have to wait."

"Fine."

With a roll of her eyes, Brittany hangs up, not bothering to give a proper goodbye. She knows later she'll feel bad about being so snappy with Eleanor when she hasn't even done anything to her, but right now all she can think about is the bad mood she's in.

She looks around and spots an empty bench nearby. Smoothing out her skirt, Brittany sits down, praying that with the luck she's been having today she won't accidentally sit in something and ruin her pretty (pretty and wasted on a rude boy) outfit. Thankfully, she doesn't.

Now there's nothing else for her to do but wait, and Brittany hates waiting. Especially when she's already having such a bad day. Maybe she can convince Eleanor to go to one of the nearby shops with her to help her feel better, if she can convince herself to tell Eleanor the truth about what happened.

Ugh.

She's so busy silently fuming, Brittany almost doesn't notice the bus that's been stopped on the road in front of her, stuck behind a gigantic line of cars.

She probably wouldn't have paid the bus much attention, if it didn't feel like someone's eyes were on her. She waits for the feeling to pass but it doesn't, until her curiosity gets the better of her and she scans the many faces on the bus, her eyes eventually landing on someone who is staring- right at her. She knew it.

She's used to people staring. She's beautiful, after all, so who could blame this boy in red on the bus staring her down?

What Brittany isn't used to, is someone not looking away after they've been caught staring. She looks away after catching him, of course, because everyone knows that's the polite thing to do, but even after she does she still feels like someone is looking at her.

She looks back and he's still staring. The nerve!

Well fine, Brittany thinks, her annoyance at everything that's happened today getting the better of her yet again, if he wants to play it that way... two can play this game.

She arches an eyebrow and stares right back at him. The boy still isn't looking away, so Brittany makes sure she doesn't this time either. After a few seconds of staring she starts to realize neither of them are even blinking, and that's when Brittany decides she's committed to this silent little staring contest- and she's going to win.

He's giving her a look now that almost reads "I could do this all day" and Brittany hopes he's getting the same vibe from her, there's no way she's giving up at this point.

Maybe a minute passes by-she's too focused on not blinking to keep track-when the boy raises a hand and snaps his fingers at her from the bus window. She has to bite her tongue to stop herself from laughing out loud; that might have been a good tactic to use on her if he'd actually been standing right in front of her, but with him literally separated from her by a bus, it's useless and Brittany makes sure to show it by smirking at him proudly, still not blinking.

And that's the moment she takes the win. He blinks and instead of just feeling satisfaction like Brittany's been expecting, a strange rush of affection fills her too as the boy on the bus breaks out into a huge, ear to ear smile. And Brittany, despite the bad mood she's been in and all, can't help but smile back too, a genuine smile- only because his smile is contagious and she finds herself actually liking it.

Suddenly the bus starts to move. The line of cars that had been in front of them had cleared out without Brittany even realizing it, too distracted by the boy in red. She's almost disappointed about the bus leaving, until just as suddenly as the bus beginning to move, the boy shoots up out of his seat and rushes to the front.

She can't tell for sure, but it looks like he's yelling "wait!" to the driver and she watches in slight horror as the driver abruptly stops and in a chain reaction the cars behind the bus all have to push on their breaks, almost ramming into one another. She covers her eyes as loud honking begins to ensue.

When Brittany moves her hands away she sees the boy is practically running off the bus. It takes her a second to realize-oh, oh no, he's running to her-and she wishes she could cover her eyes again.

"Phew, that was close!" he says, and Brittany decides she likes his voice just as much as his contagious smile.

"You almost made all of those people get in a wreck!" Brittany accuses, standing up from her spot on the bench. "You're crazy."

"Not crazy," he corrects her, "impulsive."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah. Besides, I couldn't just leave without congratulating you on your incredible staring skills."

Brittany goes to playfully thank him until he adds, "Can't really blame you though- I am pretty nice to look at."

He's only joking-she thinks at least, maybe he's half joking-but it still makes Brittany's eyes widen in disbelief.

"You started staring at me first!"

He only shrugs, and that's when Brittany decides she doesn't just like his voice and his contagious laugh- she likes him.

"So other than the fact that you rudely stare at people on the street, and also suck at staring contests," Brittany teases, rocking back and forth on her heels, "tell me something else about yourself. What's your name?"

"Alvin," the boy tells her. "Alvin Seville."

"I'm Brittany," she smiles, sitting back down on the bench, only this time he sits right down next to her.

Maybe waiting for Eleanor won't be as bad as she thought.