About an hour after the bus departed, Lina called my name in a hesitant voice. "Sarah…" she said. I turned to her. "What?" She was looking out the window. "Earlier… didn't it feel like the bus shook for a moment?" I frowned slightly. "The road was straight." She shrugged. "I know, but… it was weird." I didn't respond. Because I had felt it too, I just couldn't put a name to it.
The bus kept moving. Everything looked normal. Too normal. My gaze drifted forward for a moment, toward the driver. Our eyes met briefly through the mirror, but he quickly looked away. Everything here felt strange. I didn't want to think too much about it. I leaned my head back against the seat and tried to get some sleep.
After a while, the bus began to slow down. "I think we're here," Lina said, looking outside. I lifted my head. We had stopped at a large station, and a crowd was slowly coming into view. "This isn't the last stop," I said. Lina let out a small laugh. "Of course not, we'll continue by metrobus." I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" "Yeah. Getting to Virelion isn't that easy." I let out a quiet sigh.
The bus came to a complete stop, the doors opened, and people started getting off. I grabbed my suitcase and stood up. "Ready?" Lina asked. I shrugged. "Not really." "Same," she said. We got off the bus together.
The station was much more crowded than I expected. People, noise, movement… I paused for a moment and looked around. It felt strange. Lina lightly pulled my arm. "Come on, let's not miss it." I followed her into the crowd. We went down the stairs and passed through the turnstiles. The metrobus had already arrived, but it wasn't like the ones I knew. It was longer, more enclosed. "What is this?" I asked. "It's for long-distance routes," Lina said. "Think of it like a half-train." Made sense.
We got inside. The first thing I did was place my suitcase on the overhead rack. Then I looked around for Lina. She had found a seat by the window and waved at me when she saw me. "Over here!" she called. "Coming," I said and walked toward her.
Just as I was about to sit down, someone came and took the seat next to Lina. I paused. I looked at him. He had settled in without saying anything. Then he looked at me. "If you're passing, pass," he said. I stared at him for a moment. "Are you serious?" He shrugged. "Aren't you going through?" I rolled my eyes. "That seat was empty." "Not anymore." Lina tried to step in, but I spoke first. "No, it's fine," I said to her, then looked back at him. "You could find another seat." "I could," he said, "but this one's better."
There was a brief silence. I don't have the energy for this, I thought. "Fine." I stepped back. I glanced at Lina. "I'll come sit with you later." I walked toward the other seats. He didn't say anything, but I could feel his gaze on me.
I found an empty seat and sat down. I let out a deep breath. "Great start," I muttered. "I agree." I turned my head. Lina had come over. "I ended up standing there with my suitcase, you know. You totally abandoned me," she said with a laugh. "I can kick you out too, if you want." "No thanks," she said and sat next to me.
We stayed quiet for a while. Then Lina leaned slightly closer. "That guy from earlier…" "He was weird," I said. "Very." My eyes drifted toward him without meaning to. He was still there, looking out the window, like nothing had happened. "He doesn't seem to care," Lina said.
At that moment, someone walked up to him. "Did you find a seat?" he asked. The boy gave him a short glance. "Yeah." The newcomer laughed. "Of course you did." Lina leaned closer to me. "His friend, maybe." "Probably," I said. The newcomer noticed us looking and turned his gaze toward us. I rolled my eyes and went back to watching outside.
After a while, he came over to us. "Excuse me," he said. I looked up at him and nodded slightly, signaling him to continue. "Did you have a problem with Draco earlier?" he asked. "Draco?" I repeated. He tilted his head toward the other boy. "Draco." So that was his name. "Ah… yeah, just a small thing," I said. "I'm sorry on his behalf," he said. He didn't even ask what happened. He must have known him well. I smiled faintly. "It's fine. We already dealt with it."
He held out his hand. "Carter. Blake Carter." His brown hair caught the light slightly. He seemed calm and polite. Compared to his friend, they were complete opposites. I shook his hand. "Sarah Vale." I gestured to Lina. "My friend, Lina." Blake smiled and greeted her as well.
At that moment, I lifted my head.
Our eyes met.
He was staring at me.
Directly.
He didn't look away.
Neither did I.
But I didn't say anything.
I was so lost in thought about him that I didn't even notice Blake had already left. The metrobus started moving again. The city slowly faded behind us. The sun was rising. Even small things were starting to feel exhausting. I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. I just wanted to rest.
When I opened my eyes, it was bright outside. I turned my head toward where Lina had been sitting, but she wasn't there. Draco and Blake weren't in their seats either. I started to worry about Lina. The strange thing was, half of the metrobus was empty. I looked outside. It wasn't moving. I was about to get off and look for Lina. I stood up, walked through the narrow aisle, and reached the door. Just as I was about to step out, I ran into Lina.
"Good morning, Sarah," she said with a smile.
"Morning, Lina," I replied with a slightly tired expression.
"Aren't you hungry? We're on a break, let's grab something to eat."
"That actually sounds great."
"By the way, how much longer do we have?"
Lina took out her phone and did a quick calculation.
"Probably around eight in the evening."
I gestured for her to come with me. "There should be a place nearby, right? Let's go check."
For now, everything seemed to be going fine…
But somehow, I had a feeling it wouldn't last.