I stood at my stop waiting to take the bus home as usual. It pulled up to the stop and I got on, marching towards my usual seat at the back of the bus. She was sitting in my seat next to the window, legs crossed on the seat and staring out the window. I sat down next to her and the bus began moving. I looked over at her. She was wearing faded tan jeans, and a white tank top that was frayed at the edges. Her feet were bare and she had a bracelet on her right ankle. She had bracelets on her wrists, and her hands were gently tapping her legs as though she was playing the piano. She had long, thick brown hair that blew in the wind and she wore a slight smile on her face, her eyes closed. She was attractive, in fact she was beautiful. But as I watched her something else attracted me to her, it made me fall in love with her, in a matter of minutes. I can't explain what it was. Like a spell of some sort, I knew that I had to meet her. I dropped my wallet, sort of tossed it towards her. She noticed and bent over to pick it up.
"Oh thanks," I say leaning forward to take it from her, almost too eagerly.
"No problem," she says turning back towards the window.
"I'm Ethan," I say to her, trying to not let what sad conversation we had had die away. She seems slightly surprised, but tells me her name as well.
"I'm Tesla," she says with a dazzling smile. Her teeth and white and straight, perfect.
"Nice to meet you Tesla," I say, "That's a pretty awesome name!" She laughs.
"Thank you, the name Ethan is pretty cool too. It sound like, old fashioned westernish...you know?" We both laugh.
"Yeah I guess it does, that's cool then. I like old western times."
"What kind of music do you like?" she asks, motioning towards my MP3 player and headphones sitting in my lap.
"Oh," I say, "anything really, but I really like metal. What about you?"
"Classical, piano music," she says closing her eyes and smiling. "Oh I love it."
"Do you play the piano?"
"I do, when I can. I don't own one, so I usually take the bus once a week downtown and play the pianos in music stores and such. I taught myself everything I know, all on pianos not my own." She laughs slightly.
"That's pretty impressive."
"I suppose...what about you? Do you play any instruments?"
"Yeah, I play guitar and bass, mess around with the ukulele a bit, I sing too...I used to play piano but I sort of gave up on that.... regrettably. I should have stuck with it."
"Well that's impressive, you play multiple instruments."
"Haha, well I guess, but I'm not that great at them, no better than the average-Joe. There's plenty of better musicians out there."
"I bet there are. There is always someone better than you at some point. Even if you become the best, someone will eventually get better and become the new best."
"Yeah..."
We are quiet for a moment, listening to the roar of the bus as it makes its way up the hill.
"What are you up to tonight?" she asks.
"Just heading home from work," I say. "You?"
"Just heading home from playing the piano, haha. Where do you get off at?"
"Two stops from here."
"Me too! I take the old canyon road home."
"Same! We can walk together, at least part way."
"Cool." She smiles at me again. I feel warm and peaceful, and I don't even know why. The bus approaches our stop, so I pull the cord to signal to the driver, and she stops the bus. Me and Tesla exit, and begin walking.
"So, do you have a girlfriend?" she asks me. "Just curious."
"No, not really...do you have a boyfriend?"
"Nope. What does 'not really' mean?"
"Well...No, I don't have a girlfriend."
"Ah." She seems to be getting closer, but it must be just me. "Have you ever had a girlfriend before?" She asks.
"Nope, you had a boyfriend?"
"One, well...not really...I mean, we grew up together. He died a few years ago though."
"Oh...I'm sorry."
"Well, shit happens." Her mood had changed. Se went from playful and happy to somber, and she slowed down as well. "Have you ever kissed a girl?" She stops and looks at me.
"Erm...yeah, a few, but not in a while. Haha. Why?"
She smiles at me mischievously and moves close to me. She looks straight into my eyes. "Kiss me." She says. I don't know how to react. We're so close together, our lips only a couple inches apart. So I kiss her. Our lips meet, our eyes close, and we kiss for what feels like hours. When we break apart we are both smiling.
"This is my road," she says nodding to a side road across the street.
"Do you have to go?" I ask. I don't know this girl, but I just kissed her...and there is something about her...I don't want to say goodbye.
"I should go...my parents will worry...and I'm sure yours will too."
"Yeah...well maybe we'll see each other again?"
"I hope so." She smiles at me before turning and running lightly and swiftly down the road, disappearing around a corner.
I keep on smiling as I walk home.
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