I could hear the alarm blaring on the other side of the room, but I pushed it as far back in my mind as I could. I just wanted to stay in my dreamland for a little while longer. I could feel a presence approaching my door, but I just lay there with a pillow covering my face. After about thirty seconds, the door burst open with a blast of cold air. Damn…I thought to myself as the blankets were thrown off of my body.
Quickly, I sat up and made myself look alert and ready. "Get up and get dressed. It's your first day of high school." The maid reploid walked out of the room. I sighed and stood up. I walked to my closet to pick out some "presentable" clothes. I threw on jeans and a black see-through shirt with a white shirt with a skull under it. I didn't care what my parents thought. I was supposed to hide the fact that I was a reploid… no one said I couldn't dress like this.
I dashed out of my room and down the stairs. I stopped at the table to say goodbye to my "parents". I then ran out the front door as if I was late for the bus. I stopped running about half way and bumped into someone. My book bag fell to the floor, so I bent down to pick it up. When I picked my head up, the boy I bumped into was holding my folder out for me. I took the folder, gave him a smile and a nod, and started to walk away. As soon as I started walking, he grabbed my arm.
"I don't get a 'thank you'?" He spun me around so I was facing him. I looked up so I was looking into his eyes.
"You're welcome. I have to get to my bus, so can you let me go?" I looked down at my wrist, where he still had a hold. Quickly, as if he had forgotten that he was holding my arm, he dropped his hand. I started to walk in the direction of my bus and he followed. "Why are you following me?" I turned on my heel to face him once again.
"I'm just walking to our bus. I go to Prescla High too."
"Good, I have a 'friend' to talk to at my bus stop," I said sarcastically as I started to hustle to the bus stop. He easily caught up to me.
His steps fell into rhythm with mine. "My name's Axl. What's yours?" He was so innocent, it was almost cute.
It was hard to resist talking to him. "Well, Axl, my name is Ceri." I slowed my pace to give him an easier time walking with me.
"Well, Ceri, nice to meet you." He extended his arm to me. I took his hand and shook it.
Finally, we reached the bus stop. When we got there, we sat down and relaxed. As the bus came into view, I started to notice that he was a little off, almost like he was hiding something. I brushed it off my shoulder, though.
When we got on the bus, I stopped to sit in the first seat, but Axl waved his hand for me to follow him. A bit nervous, I followed him towards the back of the bus. He sat next to a boy with brown hair and green eyes. There was an empty seat in front of him, so I sat in it. I wasn't going to turn around to talk to them, but I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked behind me only to see Axl leaning over the seat to look at me. For a second there, I felt like I was a little kid again. After about thirty seconds, I realized I was staring at Axl, and I completely turned around in my seat. I propped myself up on my knees to see over the seat, "Yes, Axl?"
"Ceri, this is my friend, X." I looked over to the left of Axl at the other boy, X. He seemed like he was shy and not wanting to talk. His eyes were focused on the floor and he was playing with the strip on his backpack.
"Hi, X."
His head rose a few centimeters. "Hi." After his one word answer, he went back into his shell. Axl jabbed him in the side and gave him a very intimidating look. "Sorry, Axl… Hi." This time he kept his head held up and had a small smile on his face.
"Hi, again. My name is Ceri."
A look of recognition washed over his face. "Ceri? That's… a nice name." I cocked my head to the side.
"Thanks, I guess…" I clearly had a confused look on my face. Immediately, a look of regret came over his face.
It seemed that he was trying to talk to me, but I was too busy looking out the window. It was an abnormally gloomy day out. I looked back at X and saw that he was still frantically trying to explain what he meant. I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. It's ok."
The rest of the bus ride was very calming. We didn't talk as much as I thought we would. In fact, we hardly talked at all. The ride was very short-lived. And then I saw the school. In those last few minutes of the bus ride, it felt as if time had been reduced to a trickling stream.