Public Transport
Sitting in the filthy blue-patterned seat of Kingston's 3:25 p.m. bus, Courtney came to a rather dull realization.
Public transport sucked.
Of course, this was not the first time she had thought this. She'd been on plenty of public buses and trains before, and each time she had arrived at the same conclusion that there was absolutely nothing pleasurable about the experience. Disgusting seats, disgusting floors, disgusting people. The girl grimaced inwardly as she saw the—grossly overweight—man in front of her use one of his sausage-like fingers to dig around in his nose. She nearly barfed when he stuck said finger into his mouth.
Yep. Disgusting. She couldn't believe she'd paid three dollars for this crap.
Courtney averted her gaze out of the window, trying to find something to take her mind off that nauseating display. There wasn't much. A child in a toy store, a couple having lunch at a cafe, a young boy struggling to free his bike from the bike loop. Boring. She scowled. She really wished she had taken up Bridgette's offer on driving her to work while her car was in the shop. It would've saved her a good 10 to 15 minutes, not to mention the whole container of hand sanitizer she would need after getting off this germ bucket. Letting out a sigh, she let her head fall back against the window and closed her eyes.
"Have a rough night?"
Courtney begrudgingly opened her eyes again to shoot a glare at the speaker. She found herself face to face with an attractive young man, probably about her age, with teal eyes, black hair, and a roguish smirk on his face. He wore dark clothing, several piercings and a spiked dog collar. They only added to his already intimidating profile.
Courtney wasn't scared though. Just disdainful.
"I'd prefer it if you wouldn't speak to me." She blew some stray hairs out of her face, leveling her dark eyes on his own before continuing, "I don't tend to associate with delinquents."
The man snorted as if he found her statement amusing. "Yeah, well, I don't tend to associate with uptight preps either, but look at me now."
Courtney gasped, indignant. "Excuse me?!"
"You heard me, sunshine."
Mouth gaping open, the brunette had to fight back a powerful urge to slap the man for his impudence. She managed it, though only just. "I'll have you know, I'm one of the most laid-back people I've ever met!"
He laughed. "Then you definitely need to get out more."
Courtney wanted to yell back at the man, but was at a complete loss for what to say. So, she simply huffed and sent him one last glare before shifting in her germ-ridden seat to face the opposite direction. A bit childish, she had to admit, but it was the only thing she could think of to keep herself from either hitting him or going off on a rant, both of which had the capability of getting her thrown off the bus.
Though, she mused, that actually might not be a bad thing at this point.
Either not noticing her precarious state or simply not caring, Courtney started as she felt the young man wrap an arm around her shoulders and engulf her body in his warmth. "Awww, don't be that way, babe."
Throwing the arm off her, Courtney whipped around once more, face red from anger. "Okay, first of all, my name is not babe, or sunshine. It's Courtney. And second of all-"
"Courtney, huh?" He interrupted, pretending to reflect on this new information for a moment. He disregarded the fact that she looked ready to explode. "Nah. I think I'll stick with babe." That infuriating smirk was still on his face.
"But-but... It's not a choice!" she practically screamed at him, gaining them looks from the other passengers. Not that she really cared at the moment. Lowering her voice slightly, she continued. "I don't know who you think you are, but my name is my name. It's not something you get to decide on."
"Whatever." The bus came to a shuddering halt. Courtney gratefully grabbed her things and stood up. "Leaving so soon, princess?"
Courtney scowled, but decided to ignore the nickname. "This happens to be my stop. Thank god," she muttered under her breath.
To her surprise, the man actually seemed a little put out by this statement. "Oh. Well, bye, I guess." She simply rolled her eyes and nodded at him in response. As she stepped off the bus, she heard sudden footsteps behind her. "Wait, Courtney-"
Said girl glanced at him, annoyed. "What?"
"Uh," he hesitated, unsure of what he wanted to say. "My name's Duncan, by the way."
Courtney just rolled her eyes again. "Good to know. Goodbye, Duncan."
"See you."
Giving him a cursory wave as the bus's glass door shut, Courtney started the final trek to her office building, a couple blocks away. She didn't bother to see if Duncan waved back. A tan hand came up to rub her temples gently.
She was never going on a bus again.
Author's Note:
Just randomly came up with this idea yesterday. Hope you liked it :)
-Scraps