It was Thursday.
Courtney was the first person on the bus, seeing as she was always let out early by Mr. Rockley, who knew she was his best student. The other students endlessly gossiped about how Courtney and Mr. Rockley (A handsome teacher, about the age of twenty) were having sex. They said nasty things about how she was the best student in the school because she was a whore. In reality, she was simply the best student because she was intelligent.
They called her a brat because her family was rich, and she lived in a very rich part of town. Courtney lived in a place called "Garden Springs" (which she had always thought was a redundant name) along with her neighbors, The Kirtland and Burton families.
Courtney sat down on the first seat in the front of the bus and pulled her book, Jade Green, from the grey backpack she called her own.
The next two people on the bus arrived in a pair, discussing some horror movie. They two were Gwen and Duncan. Many people believed that they were dating, but they were really just friends.
Gwen took off for the back of the bus, but Duncan saw someone who caught his eye. He flung his plaid backpack beneath the Courtney was in and sat next to her.
She ignored him as well as she could, but he was staring at her, and the feel of unwanted eyes on your person is not a comforting one.
"Can I help you?" She said in the most aggravated fashion she could muster.
He smirked and continued to stare without a single word. Courtney groaned and turned her back to him, a fine blush coating her face.
The school bell rang and a noisy flood of students poured onto the bus, throwing their books about, laughing, and shouting. Trent Kirtland was the only one carrying a guitar though. He made his way to the back of the bus with the instrument while his brother, Cody, followed like a lost puppy. Trent sat down in the seat next to Gwen, and his brother sat in the seat across the aisle.
"Hey, I'm Trent." He smiled in a warm, friendly smile. Gwen blushed slightly, and then turned in her seat to look out the window, avoiding the boy.
-
Trent's sister, however, simple sat down near the back in an empty seat with her books neatly stacked and balanced on her lap. Claire Kirtland watched the other students be herded onto the bus by their friends, and crowd into the double seats, the space beside her becoming more and more obvious as everyone ignored it.
Noah Burton was the last one on to get on the bus. His sixth period was gym class, and it always made him late because he didn't like using the community showers. He hung around the gym, reading his book repeatedly until the first rush was over, and then went into the locker room just as most of the other guys were leaving. If he was lucky and the shower was empty, he used it; otherwise he yanked on his clothes and trusted to the general rush and confusion of late dressing to cover the omission of bathing. By the time he was clothed and had put away his gym clothes, it was a matter of luck whether or not he made it to the bus before it drove away. Sometimes he didn't, and that meant hitchhiking, something he didn't particularly mind when the weather was warm.
Today, however, was not a good day for standing outside by the road thumbing a ride, snow was obviously about to fall. Noah noticed this and, putting on a final burst of speed, made it to the bus just as the doors were closing. He used his good left hand to pull apart the doors enough to slide through. He looked about for a seat and noticed that the only available one was next to a girl, and close to the "perfect" Trent Kirtland. He begrudgingly sat next to the girl and noticed that the similarities between the girl and Kirtland were plenty noticeable. They both had black hair and those olive green eyes. The two were were related.
As he looked at her, the girl returned his stare. They looked at each other for a moment, and the girl picked up the book she had been reading. It was definitely an invitation to not start a conversation, and Noah was amused by it.
Another loner, he thought, and he would have liked her if she had not looked so much like another girl he had known. It was a type he was drawn to, tall and slender, not exactly pretty, but smooth, with neat, waist-length hair that defied the current fashions, a cool, aloof, slightly superior lift of the head which made it seem as though there were more there than she would ever see fit to offer anyone.
There had been a girl who looked almost identical to Claire. They both had that fine-boned look, that proud little tilt of the head. He had dated her a few times, and he would have continued dating her if it had not been summer and everyone had decided to go to Wawanaka.
He had made an excuse not to go, and they had believed him. It would have been alright if he had not heard the girl—his girl—saying to a friend." OHMIGAWD! Thank gosh Noah isn't going. He's a nice guy, and cute enough in that jacket, but I think I'd die if I ever had to be seen on the beach with him!" Her friend had giggled in agreement and tossed her dark pigtails over her shoulder.
The bus stopped and started, until only a few people were left, only seven students and the driver. Somehow, no one had noticed that the driver was not their usual driver. The usual driver, Mr. Newman, wasn't very popular among the students, and was ofter forgotten about.
Claire silently let her eyes focus on her book in an attempt to bore the boy who was looking ever so rudely at her. She read the same sentence over and over again, not really taking in what it meant, but simply looking at the words. She was only seeing on word, her eyes focused on "missing". Something was clicking in her mind, but the rest of her body didn't react. She was the first to notice something was out of place. "Mr. you just missed the turn."
"Oh yea, sorry, I was daydreaming." He continued along the road, leaving the gate to Garden Springs far behind. He slowed the bus and eventually stopped in the side of the road. Outside the bus was a large black man with an anchor tattooed on his arm. The man held a gun. The bus driver opened the door and the other man climbed into the bus.
"Stand up, you little maggots!" Everyone stood, whether the reason being they were pulled to their feet or otherwise, and the man ordered them to walk off the bus in a single file line with their hands on each other's shoulders.
"Why should we?" Duncan bravely stood up to the unknown man. "You're probably just kidding with us. That or you're really stupid."
"Do you know who you're dealin' with boy? I will shoot you if you do not follow my orders!"
"Yea right, you're probably just trying to psych us out so you can do this without getting your hands dirty."
Suddenly, the driver spoke up. "Chef has killed people before." When no one commented, he continued. "We're holding you lot for ransom, and so long as your parents don't know that you're dead, they'll still pay us tons of cash to get you back!" He stood up from his seat at the wheel and everyone could finally see his face. That man had brown hair and soulless black eyes that, no matter the position of the sun, never showed any reflection of the world around him.
The man had a heavy leather jacket, the kind that one whould most often use when staying in an area of high altitude. Claire, the writer, noticed this first. "Where are you taking us?"
"Somewhere no one will find you, and where no one can rescue you."
"Enough chit-chat, we've gotta get you outta here before someone finds the bus!" Chef literally grabbed the first person his hand came in contact with (Courtney) and hoisted them upon his shoulders.
Duncan quickly pocketed his cellular phone while Chef and his accomplice weren't looking, and walked off.
Trent grabbed his guitar and walked off with it in his hands, acting cool and unafraid (though fear tinted his beautiful eyes a few shades darker).
Gwen looked slightly board as she walked off the bus, Cody protectively holding her by the shoulders and, no matter how much she glared at him, never loosening his grip.
Claire instinctivly slipped a small piece of paper into her book to hold her place, and walked off, Noah resting his left hand on her shoulder and leaving the other to his side.
The last one off the bus was the brunette man, who simply left the bus to sit at the side of some forgotten road.
As soon as everyone was off the bus, Chef let Courtney down (and none to gently, I might add) and picked a walkie-talkie from the pocket of his camouflage pants. "Yo, Bette! Bring the car."