Shrieks of panic filled October's head, waking her from her sleep. The bus jerked violently, sending her head smashing into the side of the window. What was going on? The bus lurched forward and skidded to a halt. Had the bus crashed? Were they even in town? October put her hand up to the side of her head. That had really hurt. She held her hand there, trying to suppress her headache.
The bus was totally silent in quiet anticipation of what the driver was going to say. He stood and faced them, "Everyone, stay in here. I'll be right back." Mrs. Wilson followed him outside. The bus noise rose from a whisper to a dull roar in seconds. Questions were screamed back and forth- 'what happened?' 'Did we hit an animal?'. Within seconds of the panic, the laughter returned. October considered it a natural response to fear- to laugh it off. It's a way to forget about looking foolish. She looked around at the others, studying them.
Shawn, a well known tennis jock, stood up in the seat in front of her. He looked back at his classmates, his eyes eventually turning to October. "Are you okay?" he paused, his eyes squinting at her, "Is that your real eye color?" he asked surprised.
Her heart leapt into her chest. Her glasses! They must have been knocked off when she hit her head. Where were they?
"They're just so…green…"
"What?" October looked up at him, her memory coming back. She had put her contacts in that morning. He hadn't seen her red ones; he was staring at her green ones. "Yeah," October smiled, nodding, "Good genes, I suppose…" She swallowed, trying to push down the past, and turned to look out the window.
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*OCTOBER'S FLASHBACK
She had been thirteen when she first heard the truth about her birth mother, Emily. Her foster mother, Nancy, and she had been making cookies at the time. Perhaps she felt as if the time was right. Perhaps October had been too careless putting the legal documents back into the closet. She had been all right with the secret, believing that Nancy must have had a good reason to keep it to herself.
She did.
Her mother had been raped in her twenties. The specifics of it were never written down, never documented so October had no idea who her biological family could be. Emily, feeling like she couldn't take a life but also couldn't raise the child lovingly, put her child up for adoption. A short while later, Nancy was a proud mother of one.
October couldn't have asked for better parents. They had provided her with everything she could ever need and more. She was loved but there was no connection there, no bonds. October felt alone, like she didn't even know those people. They were her family, yes, and she cared for them but the belonging was just never there.
Occasionally, October thought about what her mother was doing or where she was. Did she ever find peace in life? Did she ever find love? Did October have siblings she didn't know about? Was there a family out there somewhere, waiting for her like a long lost puzzle piece? Would she ever find answers to her questions?
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*OCTOBER'S POV
"It's just a flat tire," the bus driver thumped back on the bus, followed by Mrs. Wilson.
"So fix it and let's go home!" someone from the back cried out.
"We can't…" the bus driver seemed disappointed, "Besides it being dark, we do not have an appropriate spare. We can't travel for miles on a donut."
Angry, irritated groans filled the bus.
"So we're supposed to sleep on the bus?!" another voice from the back asked.
"Sleep, stay up and talk, whatever," Mrs. Wilson spoke up, "We've already radioed in for assistance. We'll have a spare by tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow?!" students cried out.
The bus driver, feeling as though he had said enough, sat down in his seat and talked on the radio. October looked outside again. There was something in the woods, she could see it. It stood still, watching them, waiting.