My name is Maggie: chapter 2
Das bus
I moved through the building, only stopping to take a small breath. I looked around the corner, trying to see if whoever was chasing me was near. Nothing. I was to let out a sigh of relief before a loud bang reverberated around the room and the spot on the wall my hand had been resting on only a moment ago exploded into a shower of plaster. I started running again, but I tripped over a trashcan and landed with a loud thud. I let out a small whelp. The weight of my body, even though I was only 85lbs, landed on my ankle, and I felt more then heard a crack. I looked up to see whoever was chasing me was standing over me. They slowly raised a pistol. Even though their face was shrouded in shadow and I couldn't tell who it was, I knew, I just KNEW they were smiling. They pulled the trigger….
…and my eyes darted open and I yelled. I looked around and was relived that it was only my roof over me. Metalica's "st.anger" was playing out of my clock, which read 6:15am. I thought for a second to remember the dream I had just woken up to screaming bloody murder about, but found it was as gone as my chances of seeing dad in shape. I got up and looked into my mirror and sighed. First day of middle school. Great. I pulled out a black t-shirt and plaid over shirt and put them on. I then looked around, making sure mom wasn't watching. When I was satisfied that I was alone, I opened a small box under my clothes. I gently opened it before slipping on my necklace, my most prized possession. Actually, it was just my old pacifier tied to a string, but it was worth more then all the gold in the world to me. Mom had told me to get rid of it, and I had to hide it now. I slipped on a pair of baggy jeans and began to get my stuff ready when the song ended and Bart's voice filled the radio.
"Hey, this is the bartman himself, Bart Simpson with my lovely co-anchor Jessica Lovejoy!" I smiled. My big brother had been going out with Jessica for 2 weeks or so. I'm surprised that they haven't killed each other yet. "Shutup bartman, or whatever you call your ego." Jessica's voice said with skeptism and playfulness in her voice. "All I'm trying is to get some t&a.," he said pleadingly. I had to laugh at this. Bart being desperate live on the air with his girlfriend was something I'd laugh about when was at a family reunion. "Who knows, you might still get some." Jessica said in a sultry voice. I turned the radio off in disgust at the image of Bart in bed with Jessica. Since my backpack was ready and filled with fully loaded cans of spray paint, I walked downstairs.
As I walked into the living room, I saw pictures all over the place. Some showed me as a baby, while others showed pictures of Bart somehow passing high school (who knew he had it in him?), Lisa at the prom with Mac (just as friends), and dad's last remains of his high school diploma. I walked into the kitchen expecting to be alone, but there was mom, making waffles. "Good morning!" she said in a fake cheery voice, but I could tell she was stressed out. The bottom of hair was gray, and the "shoes" she was wearing were really sandwiches. "Uh, I buy lunch today?" I said tentavily, trying not to notice the sandwich with a Maggie scribbled it on it with mustard. "Fine, fine, fine, whatever!" she exclaimed. She looked at the clock on the wall
And nearly knocked me off my feet when she yelled "BUS! BUSSSS!" I looked at the clock and said "alright! alright! ALRIGHT!" I said as she pushed me out the door. I ran and saw the bus just rev up its engines as I jumped on board. I sighed and sat down next to my friend Joan. Joan was about my height, with red hair in a frizzled manner. She wore a long silver necklace. It was from her dad before he died on the escalator that goes nowhere. It was probably from some kfc quarter game, but I wasn't going to to say that. It was as valuable to her as my pacifier was to me. While she talked and talked and talked about how she was looking forward to all the boys they were bound to meet, I looked out the window and just looked over the places they had been. But also of a certain guy I had meet at the quick-e-mart. I was just remembering his spiked brown hair and big ol' grin when I heard Joan say, almost as loud as bars spinal tap funeral album, "MAGGIE!!!" I jumped 2 feet in the air, and looked shaken and angry at Joan, and said "what?!?" But her big grin shocked me. What had forced her to make me stop thinking about a certain someone, and why was she not showing anger for me not listening or pity for messing up my thinking, but actually SMILING?!?!
"We're here, that's what." She said with a grin, even bigger now knowing she had pissed me off. "oh." I replied in a small voice. As we got up and got our things, I could tell my face had turned a deep red. Why couldn't I forget about him? Why? It was a small plus was that she had not known what I was thinking about. As we walked out of the bus and into plain sight of the school, Joan said in a voice that cracked with giggles, she said" next time you think about HIM, tell me so I can think about Bart." I stared at her for a moment in disbelief. Then we both burst out laughing, laughing so much that instead of going to school of our own free-will, we were pushed in by a crowd of kids, looking at us in a way that they thought we were insane. At that moment, they were probably right