AUTHOR'S NOTES:
This one-shot is loosely based on an incident that happened on my bus when I was in the 8th grade. Some of these characters are based on my fellow classmates at the time. To protect the identity of my former fellow classmates, I pretty much made the characters in the story LOOSELY based on them and changed their names to protect them. Some of this stuff is more or less exaggerated, so don't go thinking that all this is real.
With all that said, I give you The Bug Situation. Enjoy.
It was a hot day towards the end of May. Several students were waiting for the School Bus to show up just to take them home. Unlike some of the other students of Bullworth Academy who could just walk back home or even take the Bus just as a lazy means to avoid walking, this set of students lived out in the countryside outside town. Walking home from school would take them hours at the very most to get home, so walking was out of the question for them.
Among those students were two brothers; Carl, and Billy Luce. They lived on a quite ranch about six miles from town. Their parents had every animal that they could think of on their ranch; horses, cows, chickens, geese, goats, and a huge quantity of dogs and cats.
"Man, I'm so sick of the Bus never coming on time", Carl says out-loud. "You'd figured Dr. Crabblesnitch would at least have the Bus pick up all students who lives outside town first", Billy points out. "That would make more sense", Carl agreed. "Instead, we're out here cooking to death in this hot weather. I'd like to see what some of those Preppies look like after waiting an hour or so without any shade to keep them cool". "That bus better come home here soon or I'll have to do all my chores in the dark. I hate having to do them in the dark", Billy says to his brother. "You always forget to do them anyway", Carl remarked to his brother.
When the nearby prefect on bus duty wasn't looking, Billy then gave his older brother the middle finger. Carl of course just waved it off. They were never really at each other's throats a lot like every other sibling. They got along real well; well enough that they even considered one another as friends.
Meanwhile, another student, Jasmine Simmons, was talking to some of her friends about her day at school. "So, I tried to talk to Angie earlier about how our homework assignment, but that bitch Mandy came and dragged her away before I could even say 'Hi'. I wish whoever made those posters of her back in April would make some more of them. Mandy is so much of a bitch, I don't think anyone really cares about her anymore. She isn't as popular like she uses to be".
"Mandy is just not the kind of girl anyone wants to be around anymore", one of Jasmine's friends, Eve Locklear, says. "It's even more sad that she's been harassing Beatrice more often", Daisy McMillian, another friend of Jasmine's, says. "Beatrice may be a Nerd, but at least she isn't like Clare. Clare can be so fucking annoying", Jasmine says out-loud.
"I heard that, Jasmine", Clare says while stepping up to Jasmine's group. Clare, unlike her other classmates in all of Bullworth Academy, was very small for a high schooler. It also made her a target for ridicule. No matter what she did, she could never get the respect of her peers. In fact, most of her peers saw her as an annoying little bug.
"Bitch, was I talking to you, bitch?" Jasmine says to Clare. "I'm tired of you talking about me behind my back", Clare tells her. Of course, all Jasmine had to was step up to Clare and threaten her and Clare would shut her mouth and back off. Just as she did try to step up to Clare though, she went right into the prefect's eye-sight. Not wanting a detention over Clare's "immaturity", Jasmine went back to her group and continued the conversation.
While Jasmine returned to her group, Clare couldn't help but bother another set of students; Tony Monroe, and Francesca Smith. These two girls were probably two of the smartest students in the entire school, but were not officially Nerds. Unlike their green vests-wearing peers, they were very popular. They would help tutor students who had problems with their assignments. They helped every kind of student in this academy, from Bullies to Greasers, Jocks and even Preppies who usually get their servants to do their homework for them. Because of their helping students, they were never really picked on. They were also very calm for most of the time, but when Clare came and started bothering them, that is where they usually draw the line.
They never pick on Clare, but they really don't want anything to do with her either. "Tony, Francesca, Jasmine is making fun of me again. I'm so sick and tired of her treating me like garbage", Clare complained to them. "Clare, why don't you just go tell that to the prefect over there?" Tony tells Clare. "If I do that, then she'll hurt me", Clare says. "Then stand up to her for once", Francesca suggests. "Then she'll hurt me", Clare says. "Well, we don't know what you can do then", Tony tells her. "Now do you mind, Clare? Tony and I are talking about the new Twilight novel that's coming out in August, Eclipse", Francesca tells her.
Clare, feeling like no one cares about her, goes to a quiet spot along the wall and sits down, not planning to bother anyone else for the day. "These people are assholes", Clare says out-loud. Just then, the Bus finally showed up and was greeted by smiles and cheers.
"About damn time", Carl says out-loud as he slips on his backpack. Both Carl and Billy managed to be the first ones to get on the Bus, followed by Tony and Francesca. Several more students managed to get on the Bus, leaving Jasmine, Eve, Daisy, and Clare as the last ones to get on. Eve and Daisy quickly got on the Bus before Clare could get on the first step. "Let's go, bitch", Jasmine tells Clare.
Clare, while reluctant to go because of how Jasmine keeps calling her a bitch, takes the first step onto the steps of the bus. After climbing about the second or third step up though, Clare saw something that really freaked her out: a cockroach. To normal people, a cockroach is just a harmless bug, but to Clare, it was the scariest thing in existence.
One scream. All it took was one scream, and the entire bus load of students couldn't help but wonder what she was yelling about. "It's a bug", Clare screams as he slips by Jasmine and off the Bus. Not so sure what kind of bug Clare just spotted, everyone at the front of the Bus then started panicking.
Students either ran from one seat to the other, or basically climbed over the seats while screaming their heads off to get away from the unknown terror. One boy who climbed over two seats almost lost his pants in the process. Jasmine, who was the last girl to get on the Bus, had a rough time getting through the panicking crowd of students. Once she got out of the crowd though, one student thought it was a good idea to smack her on the back a few times to piss her off. It worked, but she smacked the hell out of him in the process.
While all this was going on, Carl and Billy were in the middle of the Bus, watching the chaos before them. "Where's a camera when you need one?" Carl jokes to his brother. "This is pathetic", Billy says as he gets up from his seat to try and find the bug just so he could stump it to death. Tony and Francesca, who were in a seat on the right side of the Bus, couldn't help but think about how everyone was reacting over a small bug. "We're never going to get home at this point", Tony says to Francesca. "All of this over a bug? How pathetic?" Francesca says back.
As for the bus driver, she could not believe how much trouble one bug was causing. Everyone was screaming their heads off, just over a cockroach? Hell, she couldn't even understand why that Clare girl was still outside beside the bus stop sign, screaming her head off like if the bug was eating everyone on the Bus. Granted, Clare was a weird girl, but this is just over-the-top. Finally, after enough of the students have settled down, she finally yells out-loud, "EVERYONE GET OFF THE BUS, NOW!"
And just like that, everyone slowly got off the Bus, only to be confronted by the Headmaster himself. While Dr. Crabblesnitch was getting the full story about the chaos that happened, Tony, Francesca, and Carl came up to her and tried to talk some sense into her. "Why would you scream over a cockroach, Clare?" Tony asks her. "It was a very big cockroach, and I could have sworn that I saw it flying", Clare explained. "It wasn't even that big. It was barely an inch", Francesca tells her. "It was big", Clare told her. "Who cares now? It's all over", Carl says to the girls. "Besides, it was funny while it lasted. Don't worry Clare, I have a bunch of cockroaches at home. I'll bring some specially for you". Clare, not liking Carl's joke, grabbed him by the arm and gave him a good pinching. "Don't you be touching me, you little brat", Carl responded.
Just as Clare was about to punch him though, Dr. Crabblesnitch started speaking to the students. "All of you reacted to a very small bug?", he began. "Rather than react like you lost your minds, one of you could have gotten up and stumped it. You're taking up your time, my time, and the driver's time. This have better not happen again, or you all will be punished".
With that said, everyone got back on the Bus very quietly and calmly this time. No one said a word until the school was far behind them. All during the ride, all everyone talked about was how Clare reacted to the bug. Clare was so embarrassed, she stayed hidden and quiet till the Bus dropped her off. This was one of the worst days she ever experienced.