The next morning, I crawled out of my tent, starving. I figured by now, mom
would
either be searching for me herself, or have the cops after me. I never knew why, but mom
has always been jumpy about calling the cops for anything. Our teacher once told us that
a lot of the cops in Post-Pulse America were corrupt, so maybe that is why. Checking my
watch, I saw it was almost nine in the morning; I had until twelve to make myself look
older and get back uptown to the bus. I packed up my tent and walked out of the park,
when I got to the first bus stop, I caught one into the area of the west side that had stores,
I went into the mall and found a washroom, where I dyed my hair, I didn't have enough
dye, so I had to leave the tips dark. By the time I spiked my hair it created a good effect. I
still looked like I was only thirteen or fourteen. There was a large store in this mall;
maybe I could get a few cheap clothes there to make me look older. I found a fake black
leather jacket with a tear in it, so I managed to get it for fifty dollars; its ticketed price
was a hundred and fifty. I was already wearing a pair of black jeans, so I found a black t-
shirt and a pair of sunglasses. After paying for this, I realized my money was going fast. I
dug through my change jar for a bagel and hot chocolate, then went and got changed.
There was only one thing missing, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then I
realized, a lot of teenage guys had their ear pierced, mom was going to let me get mine
done for my fifteenth birthday, but that was still a year away. At the moment, I didn't
really have the courage to go through with it, but I had seen some fake gold earrings in
the drug store uptown, maybe they had some in the drug store that was here. I looked and
couldn't find them, so I figured I could pick them up there before I caught the bus. I
checked my watch again; it was eleven, so now I had to rush to catch a city bus uptown to
the bus depot.
"The bus leaves at twelve thirty. You miss it, too bad, no refunds."
"Thanks." I had finally got my ticket, but I had a fifteen-minute wait. Since it was going
to be almost two hours on the bus, I went to the washroom. By the time I got out, the bus
was pulling up. I checked my tent into the luggage compartment, but took my backpack
on the bus with me. Luckily, I got a seat to myself, and I read the whole way to the
border town.
When I got off the bus, it was late afternoon and I was getting hungry again. I couldn't
see any signs of a city bus, so I ended up walking to a fast food place and eating quickly.
I could see the border crossing from where I sat, and the line looked long, I wanted to be
in America by dark. After eating, I joined the line. It wasn't as long as it had looked from
the restaurant, but it was moving slow. Some of the people were in cars, but most were on
foot. Over half of those on foot had a cop with them, escorting Americans that weren't
supposed to be in Canada back over the border. Finally, I made it to the border, praying
they wouldn't give me any hassle. The cop there asked me if I was American or
Canadian, I told him I was born in America, but lived in Canada since I was a baby. He
then asked me if I had a sector pass. I wasn't sure what that was, so I said no. He gave me
a form to fill out and pointed me to another line to join when I was done. Great.
~~
either be searching for me herself, or have the cops after me. I never knew why, but mom
has always been jumpy about calling the cops for anything. Our teacher once told us that
a lot of the cops in Post-Pulse America were corrupt, so maybe that is why. Checking my
watch, I saw it was almost nine in the morning; I had until twelve to make myself look
older and get back uptown to the bus. I packed up my tent and walked out of the park,
when I got to the first bus stop, I caught one into the area of the west side that had stores,
I went into the mall and found a washroom, where I dyed my hair, I didn't have enough
dye, so I had to leave the tips dark. By the time I spiked my hair it created a good effect. I
still looked like I was only thirteen or fourteen. There was a large store in this mall;
maybe I could get a few cheap clothes there to make me look older. I found a fake black
leather jacket with a tear in it, so I managed to get it for fifty dollars; its ticketed price
was a hundred and fifty. I was already wearing a pair of black jeans, so I found a black t-
shirt and a pair of sunglasses. After paying for this, I realized my money was going fast. I
dug through my change jar for a bagel and hot chocolate, then went and got changed.
There was only one thing missing, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Then I
realized, a lot of teenage guys had their ear pierced, mom was going to let me get mine
done for my fifteenth birthday, but that was still a year away. At the moment, I didn't
really have the courage to go through with it, but I had seen some fake gold earrings in
the drug store uptown, maybe they had some in the drug store that was here. I looked and
couldn't find them, so I figured I could pick them up there before I caught the bus. I
checked my watch again; it was eleven, so now I had to rush to catch a city bus uptown to
the bus depot.
"The bus leaves at twelve thirty. You miss it, too bad, no refunds."
"Thanks." I had finally got my ticket, but I had a fifteen-minute wait. Since it was going
to be almost two hours on the bus, I went to the washroom. By the time I got out, the bus
was pulling up. I checked my tent into the luggage compartment, but took my backpack
on the bus with me. Luckily, I got a seat to myself, and I read the whole way to the
border town.
When I got off the bus, it was late afternoon and I was getting hungry again. I couldn't
see any signs of a city bus, so I ended up walking to a fast food place and eating quickly.
I could see the border crossing from where I sat, and the line looked long, I wanted to be
in America by dark. After eating, I joined the line. It wasn't as long as it had looked from
the restaurant, but it was moving slow. Some of the people were in cars, but most were on
foot. Over half of those on foot had a cop with them, escorting Americans that weren't
supposed to be in Canada back over the border. Finally, I made it to the border, praying
they wouldn't give me any hassle. The cop there asked me if I was American or
Canadian, I told him I was born in America, but lived in Canada since I was a baby. He
then asked me if I had a sector pass. I wasn't sure what that was, so I said no. He gave me
a form to fill out and pointed me to another line to join when I was done. Great.
~~