Hello! Thanks for checking out this story! This is based off of a true event, so it should be easy for me to write. If you're/you've read/are reading 'Beauty And The Beast', my first fanfic, you may not trust my ability to update, and I don't blame you. Don't worry though, as this will be an extremely short fanfiction. I'm talking 5-10 chapters. Enough rambling from me. Enjoy the story!
. That year, I boarded the bus with my hands stuffed in my pockets and my fingers crossed. I took a seat towards the front of the bus and sighed. Today was the first day of my 3rd grade year. I knew that Emma, my best friend, was in my class, but I didn't know if any of my friends rode my bus. I hoped with all of my being that they did, as the ride on the bus was about 30-45 minutes, an awfully long time to sit alone. I crossed my fingers tighter at every bus stop, desperately wishing that one of my friends would board the bus here. However, my wishes were in vain and I was still alone when the bus pulled up to school. I felt a tear well in my eye as I realized that I would be riding alone for the rest of the year, and possibly for the next years to come.
"Hey, Rikki!" Emma exclaimed,excited to see me after the long Summer. Emma and her family had gone on vacation for the entire Summer and we hadn't seen each other in ages.
"Hey, Em!" I said, still rather downhearted and dreading the year of lonely bus rides facing me.
"What's wrong?" My best friend asked, picking up on the glum tone to my voice. "Are you okay"
"I'm fine." I replied. "I'm just not looking forward to riding the bus alone for the rest of the year."
"Oh," Emma paused for a moment before continuing to speak, "I'm sorry."
"You got any friends riding with you?" I asked her.
"I've got Lewis." Emma shrugged. "I guess he's good enough company." I couldn't help but smile.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Better than nothing!" Emma laughed before a sorrowful,sympathetic look clouded her eyes. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted when the bell rang and the announcements began. Emma, the good student that she was, immediately shut her mouth as to not be caught talking during announcements. If I were talking to anyone else, I would have kept speaking, but I knew that talking to Emma would only earn me a scolding glare and a hushed whisper from her to shut my mouth.
The rest of the day flew by and I groaned when I stepped out and remembered how lonely I was going to be for the rest of the year.
"Maybe you should try sitting next to someone who looks lonely," Emma suggested, walking up beside me.
"I scanned the people on the bus this morning. Everyone sat with someone else and they were all talking and laughing. Don't worry, I'll be fine." I said, shrugging and giving Emma a small smile.
Just as the first day, the school year flew by and I began to adjust to being alone. I even began to sort of like having nobody around to bother me. No one really bothered to even glance at me, let alone sit next to me. I began to think that maybe the year wouldn't be such a bad one after all. The quiet realky gave me the chance to think and I had changed from a carefree, trouble-making rebel to a more Emma-like, smart, reserved leader. I was beginning to hope that nobody sat next to me unless they actually wanted to talk to me, although nobody wanted to talk to me. That was why I was so surprised when a girl boarded the bus as always, but with a bulging book bag slung over her shoulders and a stack of books in her arms that reached her chin.
"Can I sit here?" She asked, trying to balance the books in her arms.
"Oh, sure." I said, rather reluctantly, and quickly scooted my bag closer to me to make room for the girl. She sat down and quickly lay the books on her lap and removed the bag from her shoulders, rubbing them from the pain caused by the strain of lifting such a heavy bag.
"Thanks," The girl said, turning to look at me. I simply simply smiled. "I'm Cleo." She said, holding out her hand for me to shake.
"Rikki." I said, taking her her hand to shake it. Little did I know, it would be the start of one of the best friendships of my life.
Hope you enjoyed... hopefully you did. I know things were short, and this is going to be pretty short. Expect an update within a day or two, or three at the most. After all, I'm writing out the chapters and then typing them and then editing them, the last two of which are done on my Kindle. As I've said before on another fanfic, if you see any mistakes, please point them out so that they can be fixed. Have a good day!