The Bus Ride

Everyday I take the bus to school. It’s a forty-five minute drive to Larks Technical High School. I have to wake up at five in the morning because I have to be at the bus stop by seven. It’s normally a pretty quick ride, but one day the normal bus ride to school went from just a typical day to an eerie and extreme day. It was the first day back to school from summer vacation.  It was September 3^rd if I remember it correctly. I was so happy that it was my last year at Larks Technical High School. Even better, I was getting a new car from my parents for my birthday in a few weeks. Trust me, I was stoked. As I headed out my house with a smile; oblivious to the unexpected events that would soon change everything in my life forever-I walked the two blocks to the bus stop.

“Kevin, my man, what’s going on?  Dude.”  Nigel screamed at me as I walked towards him and the rest of the kids waiting for the bus on Elm Street.

“What’s going on, man?!” I yelled back with a smile. Nigel has been my best-friend since kindergarten. We’re both on the soccer team. If you saw him you’d think he was a football player.  He’s a big guy; broad shoulders, thick strong legs, and just an overall fit body.   He works out every day and can bench-press 250 pounds! Girls are all over him at school. They think he is cute. I guess he is a handsome guy but I’m not a homo.

“Ready to hit those books, again?” Nigel smirked at me. We both laughed. It was a sunny day but then out of nowhere it became dark and foggy.

“Wasn’t it suppose to be sunny all day?” a girl said

“Yeah” everybody else responded in unison. Nigel and I looked at each other in our bewilderment.  It was pretty creepy how it just went from sunny to gloomy in a few seconds. We could barely see across the street. Suddenly, the fog got thicker and we heard the sound of an engine come from the left side of the street. We had to strain our eyes but then we realized it was our yellow school bus coming through the thick mist.  For some reason a chill ran down my back. I didn’t feel so happy anymore; something was definitely wrong.  When it finally got in front of us the doors stayed shut for ten long minutes.

“Open the door!” Nigel screamed after ten minutes of waiting. The doors opened and we staggered into the bus.

“Hi, kids!” A red-haired woman greeted us. She had the palest skin I’d ever seen. When she smiled at us we got a glimpse of her rather sharp front rotten teeth.

“Why did you too so long to open the doors?” Nigel asked her.

“Sit down, dear” she responded and Nigel obliged. I was astounded. Nigel would have never backed down just like that. He was a stubborn hard head to the core. Something was certainly wrong-I could just feel it. I made my way to where Nigel was sitting.

“Hey, why did you back off so fast?” I asked him.

“Huh” Nigel said with a blank stare. What’s going on I wondered.

“Sit down, children. Off to school we go!” the bus lady chirped with a cold laugh. That laugh was like ice cold water.  It gave me chills. I looked around to the other kids; they had the same blank stares as Nigel. It was like they weren’t really there mentally or physically. It was unexplainable.

“I knew you were going to be a bit of work, Kevin, but I’m always up for a challenge.” I heard the bus lady say. Then, she turned and smiled at me. Her eyes turned bright green.  I gasped in fear. Then everything went black.