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There’s some kind of light at the end when touching the edge of her skin… The music played as it block some of the sound that filled the bus. Olivia stared out the window as she listened to Blue October on the way to school. It was practically a daily routine for her. Wake up, get ready, listen to Blue October on the way to school, it was her morning routine. High schoolers of all grades sat or in some cases stood and jumped around. The teens crowded the bus, yelling and fooling around. The driver ignored them, probably thinking they didn’t get paid enough to drive this group of zoo animals. Olivia noticed MJ reading Lord of the Flies in the middle of the chaos as if nothing was happening. Then she noticed Peter and Ned talking together in front of her. Suddenly, Olivia saw a piece of paper heading towards her face. She jerked to the side just in time as the paper missed her. She grabbed the crumpled ball of paper. She looked around for a moment, confused. Then she noticed a group of guys laughing. Well all except for one, who sat there looking sheepish. Olivia smiled at him reassuringly, not really caring about the incident. Peter and Ned turned around a moment later. “Are you okay?” Peter asked worriedly. “Yeah, I’m fine. Never even hit me,” she laughed. Ned chuckled, “Wow, you dodged that really fast!” Olivia giggled, “Well, it was either that, or look like an idiot and get hit in the face.” After their little exchange, the boys turned back to their previous conversation. Olivia resumed listening to her music and watched outside as the various buildings went by. There was a multitude of cars around the bus as the rush hour traffic drove on.
The bus drove for another half hour, making a few stops to pick up kids. Finally, they got to their destination, Midtown High. The students poured into the halls as they went to their lockers. Olivia hauled her backpack as she walked to her locker, dodging around groups of friends who were blocking the middle of the hallway or running teens. Once she made it to her locker, she hurriedly grabbed her stuff for her classes and dropped off the rest of her stuff. Classes dragged on as usual. Teachers droned on, giving them various assignments some giving them homework. Lunch came and went far too fast for most of the student’s liking, not ready to get back to classes.
At last, they were in their last period of the day. Olivia sat on the cold bar stool as she listened to her advanced physics teacher teach. “Now today, we are going to be working on a project, but first I want to warn everybody to be careful with the magnets as they have a high attraction. They will pinch you very hard if they get caught.” The teacher droned on about the safety rules for this project for a few minutes more. Then she assigned seats with pairs. Olivia walked over to sit in her assigned seat and turned to her partner. The boy’s eyes widened in recognition and Olivia giggled at his expression. “Hey, my name’s Olivia. I don’t think I caught your’s?” Blinking, he smirked “My names Flash.” “Cool name. Alright, let’s get started.” For the rest of class, they worked together, getting most of the project done. The clock hit two ‘O clock marking the end of another school day. “Okay guys, that's the end of class for today. Pack everything up and you can go,” The teacher announced as the school bell rang. They packed up and left, some leaving stuff scattered around despite what the teacher told them. Olivia turned to Flash before he left, “Well, see you tomorrow. Have a good day!” Flash had a puzzled look, “Uh-Yeah. You too.” With that, Flash left to his locker. Olivia finished gathering her stuff and picked up her stuff at her locker. Olivia sighed as she walked home. She lived a decent distance from school, so it took her awhile to get home. But Olivia still felt it was too soon before she stood on the front step of her house.
Cautiously, she entered the house. She let out a sigh of relief as she realized that her mother wasn’t home. Olivia walked to her room and put away her backpack, grabbing a book while she was at it. She decided she didn’t want to be home when her mom was and that she wanted some peace and quiet, so she took her book and walked a park nearby. Olivia had become used to walking most places, and only took the bus to school. She liked the time it gave her to think. She walked for about twenty minutes till she reached a nice park. She found a nice wooden bench to sit on underneath a tree. Olivia liked to come to this park very often, whether it was to escape her mom’s abuse, or to just have some time to herself. The trees around it made the park feel secluded. Olivia felt safe here. Olivia read for a couple hours and noticed the sun starting to go down. So she finished the page she was on and left to head back home. She walked home in no rush at all to be with her mother. She sighed gloomily, I wish I didn’t have to live with my mother.
Meanwhile, after school Flash noticed the family chauffeur there to pick him up. Frowning in disappointment, he climbed into the car. Staring out the window, Flash finally dropped his facade of happiness and pride. He watched dejectedly, the sights go by him as he went home to his indifferent parents. After awhile, they reached his large house. Flash walked in, not even bothering to greet his parents, knowing he wouldn’t get a response. He had stopped trying to get a reply from them years ago. He still tried everything he could think of to get their attention, but nothing worked. Flash tried everything. When he was little he tried to be as good as possible. He got all A’s in school, never acted out, never got in trouble, but nothing worked. Then when he hit middle school, he decided to try being bad. He started with coming home late, then he stole his dad’s car, but nothing got their attention. Flash walked to his room and decided to play some video games for a bit. After some time, he grew tired of his electronics and wanted something simple. So, he decided to go walking around the family gardens. They were mostly tended to by hired gardens, but some of them, Flash grew himself. He’s never told anybody, because he didn’t want to seem lame. But he liked taking care of something. He liked the hard work with its rewards. Originally, he had planted his garden to impress his parents, but when that didn’t work, he decided to stick with it. Flash looked up at the sky and sighed and thought bitterly, I wish somebody actually cared about me.