Prompt: Bus - You sit in the same seat every day, and one day a mysterious stranger is sitting in your spot.

Cohort: Three

Words: 1,125

Written for the Camp Jupiter forum.

Humming quietly, Hazel waved to the bus driver cheerily and headed to the back of the bus. Her eyes swept past the other people, all busy focusing on their phones or whatever they were reading to pass the time. Her eyes traveled to the back of the bus, to the seat that was always open, seemingly just for her.

But not today.

Faltering slightly, Hazel bit her lip as she saw that someone had decided to sit in her seat. It was a boy, who looked older than her. He was stocky, and looked rather like a koala bear with muscles. Looking out the window, he was pressed against the wall of the bus with his bag on his lap. He looked anxious, as if it were his first time on the bus. Probably was. But something about his expression made him seem sincere, even if he was sitting in her seat.

Looking around, Hazel noticed with slight annoyance that the bus was rather full, but that there were still some empty seats. And yet, this stranger decided to sit in her seat. Even if it technically wasn't her seat - it really wasn't, but Hazel didn't care - she still felt like she had a bit of ownership over it, at least more than the stranger did.

Walking down the aisles of seats, Hazel squeezed past the other passengers before finally stopping next to the stranger.

"Um, hello," she said, toying with the straps of her backpack. What was she doing here? she wondered, fidgeting slightly. It wasn't like Hazel was going to ask for the seat - she wasn't that rude. And what was she even going to say to him? Other than hello, anyway.

"Hello," the stranger said to her, seemingly just as anxious as she was. His hands were in his lap, on top of his bag, twitching slightly.

Looking around her, Hazel nearly groaned when she realized in the time she had spent going to the stranger, all of the other empty seats had been filled. The only empty one was right next to the stranger. Biting back a curse, Hazel bit her lip as she realized she would have to sit next to someone, someone she didn't know, a complete stranger. Even if that person seemed nice enough. But still. Hazel didn't like sitting next to people, it was why she liked the seat in the back.

Giving him a timid smile, Hazel gingerly sat next to him. "Sorry, but the rest of the bus is full," she said apologetically. Sitting as far away from him as she could, Hazel hoped he wouldn't think she was being rude. After all, she had randomly walked towards him, just to say hello. And then sat in the seat next to him without really asking.

"It's fine," the stranger said, fiddling with his bag. "I'm Frank, by the way." The stranger, or, Frank, then dropped his hands into his lap, forcing them to be still.

"I'm Hazel. Nice to meet you," she said automatically, not really thinking about it. If Hazel were, perhaps she would have hesitated before giving her name to a stranger, even though he had given his to her. Names had power, after all. But even if she didn't really want to talk to someone she didn't know, Hazel didn't want to be rude to him. Frank seemed too nice to be rude to.

Frank grinned nervously, scooting over so she would have more room. "Nice to meet you too."

Sitting more comfortably now, Hazel lapsed into silence. Vaguely, Hazel thought that maybe sitting next to this stranger wasn't so bad. Frank wasn't the worst person she had ever sat next to after all.

"I haven't seen you here before," Hazel asked, turning to look at him. "Do you usually take this bus?" Hazel already knew the answer to her question, but figured she may as well be polite. Frank definitely wasn't a regular, otherwise her seat would have been left open as many others had done before.

"Um, yeah, this is my first time on this bus," Frank answered, playing with the strap of his bag again. "I, um, just got a new job, and I don't have a car..." trailing off, Frank began to tap his foot, looking at her worriedly.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," she said, looking at him. For some reason, Hazel found his anxiousness cute. It was real, something Hazel appreciated. Something open and relatable that made Frank seem trustworthy.

"Nice to meet you too!" Smiling, Frank held out his hand for Hazel to shake, still looking a bit nervous as he did so.

Hesitantly, Hazel shook Frank's much larger hand. Leaning against the seat, Hazel relaxed a little, much to her surprise. There was something about Frank that seemed to calm her down, which she wasn't used to. Not that she was complaining.

Swaying along with the bus, they chatted, getting to know each other. Not paying attention to the others on the bus, Hazel found herself, for the first time since she had started riding on this bus, in a conversation she wanted to be a part of. Asking each other question after question, Hazel began to feel at home with Frank. Like he was one of her best friends, even though they had only known each other for half an hour at most.

"Favorite animal?"

"Elephants. They're clumsy and cute... like me, I guess. Yours?"

"Horses, I love to ride them. There's this one place I go to, where there's this lovely horse, Arion..."

And as the bus trundled along, Hazel got to know Frank more. She found that she actually liked talking to him, liked being around him, liked getting to know him. Something about talking to Frank, clumsy, anxious Frank made her feel almost safe. If you could even feel safe sitting next to a stranger, which Hazel did. But he didn't even feel like a stranger anymore, it felt like he was one of her best friends.

When it was Hazel's stop, she turned to him, smiling hesitantly as she got out of the seat. "This is my stop... I guess I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked, brushing back her hair nervously. As much as she wanted to talk to Frank again, she didn't want to seem to eager. After all, they had only met today.

Frank smiled in that way of his - a boyish smile, one full of cheer and innocence that made Hazel want to smile back just as happily. "Sure," he answered happily. "I'll be here."