The Mysterious Hero

The Mysterious Hero: Chapter 6

            Before Emily could reply, the bus came to a fast jerk, and the fat guy that mooned me earlier fell –on me. I tried catching him, but he was way too heavy to hold. He could be mistaken for a sumo wrestler if it wasn’t for the fact that he didn’t give the bus a lowrider! Or maybe he did give the bus a lowrider, considering that the drive was kind of slow.

            “Oh God,” I gasped, my face smooshed into the dirty, germ infested floor. Pain shot up through my wounded arm, and I was pretty sure that I was going to get it amputated later. “What did I do to deserve this?” I mumbled, waiting for someone to get the fat guy off of me.

            “Oh my God!” a voice shrieked. “Yeah! We’re finally at the mall! Damn, it felt like hours! Shopping, here I come!” Oh, well, I thought it felt like hours before the fat guy clambered to his feet. He didn’t even bother to help me up or apologize.

            “Lila? Are you okay?” a soft voice spoke, pulling me up, fortunately, by my good arm. I straightened my glasses on my face, surprised that they didn’t even break, and looked at the person gripping my arm.

            My lips twitched into a grimace as I said, “Tiff, do I look okay?”

            Eric chortled next to me. “Ha! You got squashed by a fat guy!” Tiffany smacked Eric on the head, while Emily punched him in the shoulder, a cry escaping his lips.

            I groaned but proceeded to walk out of the bus. When we were all out, I muttered, “Never again am I taking the city bus.”

            Even though it was a weekday, the mall was packed with people. I squeezed through the crowd with my friends in tow, hoping to find an empty space where I could stand without someone stepping over my foot. My right arm stung, and I really needed to check it. When we came to an area with small, leather couches, I plopped down with a sigh. Eric stared at the video game store across from us, while Emily and Tiffany frowned at me.

            “Don’t you want to come help us find dresses?” Tiffany questioned softly.

            I narrowed my eyes at her. “No. I’m having a bad day and I’m tired after the freaking bus incident. I just want to relax. Go on without me.” My voice was strong and stubborn, and they knew that I wouldn’t budge. After seconds of staring at me, they sighed and walked off to shop.

            Emily turned and shouted, “When you get that stick out of your ass, come find us!” Gasps escaped mothers and the elderly’s mouths at Emily’s bad language. “Oh and if you don’t find us, make sure you don’t miss the bus!” She grinned wickedly, knowing fully well that I despised the bus after what just happened.

            After they left, I decided to troop to the bathroom to check my arm. When I got to the bathroom, there was no one there which I was glad for. I didn’t want people to eye me nosily or have to be stuck in a tiny stall. I carefully pulled my sweater off and I didn’t even have to look at the wound to know that it was bleeding badly. I winced as I carefully pulled the band aid off, the adhesive peeling. The skin was ripped even more, probably from all the movement I had been making, and it hurt like hell when I touched it with wobbly fingers. Because there wasn’t a drug store or superstore in the mall, I had to settle with paper towels from the paper towel dispenser. I wiped off the dried blood on my arm, the metallic smell drifting to my nose. The paper towel wouldn’t stay on place on my arm, so I had to use two small band aids that I had in my pocket, and used them to tape the towel on my arm. When I was finished, my arm felt much better, the stinging reduced to a light tingling. Because my sweater was a dark blue, the blood wasn’t noticeable, as I pulled it back on.