Died Trying

Chapter 4

The next day was Friday, and it was raining again, more heavily than she had ever seen before. She begrudgingly chose to take the bus. She waited within the shelter of her house until she saw it pulling up. The few seconds she spent sprinting outside were enough to get fairly soaked.

She stomped angrily into the bus, barely remembering to thank the bus driver who grunted something back. Without really looking at the occupants of the seats, she looked around for an empty space. She already knew the occupants of the bus fairly well, having seen their ghosts on the few other times she had chosen to go to school this way. That was the reason she never took the bus.

She saw one open spot and sat in it. She sat on the edge of her seat, as far away from whoever her partner was as possible. She rested her back pack on her lap, and tried to cut herself off from the world.

"I have an extra jacket in my backpack. You could use it to dry off." Said whoever was sitting next to her. Her stomach dropped. She recognized that voice.

"You figured out my bus route?" she said, immediately standing. She snapped sunglasses over her eyes, and stared at the boy.

"Nope, I swear. It is completely coincidental that my bus route happens to be yours. Anyway, need that jacket?"

The boy's ghost stared her straight in the eye. He was telling the truth about the bus route. But he was still, sickeningly, in love. Mercedes opened her eyes and looked around desperately for another seat, but they were mostly full, or at least inhabited by thy reasons she refused to take the bus.

"Sit down." grunted the bus driver. Mercedes grimaced, and sat down. She tried to ignore the boy.

"Hey, you're the girl who saved my life the other night!" said Aaron in mock astonishment.

"Shut up. As if either of us could forget," she said, almost growling.

"So I left an impression?"

She looked Aaron in the eye, and grabbed him by his shirt. It was another of soda shirt. This time, it said "Mountain Juice."

"How do you know me?" said Mercedes.

"Well, most of the school knows you. The guys all want you, and the girls all hate you because the guys want you."

"Yes, but you are new to the school, and somehow I don't imagine you make friends quickly."

Aaron smiled, not perturbed by the insult. "Well, there was that video online."

"What?"

"On "johnnnyallstar's" channel. The prom proposal thing? The whole school has seen it."

She let go of Aaron's shirt, cursing to herself. She knew Johnny was going to do this. Posting the video online would serve as reminder to the whole school that she had said yes. His channel was very popular. He probably hoped she'd succumb to the peer pressure and go with him after all.

Unfortunately, she wasn't in the social loop enough to have caught on that he had actually gone through with it and posted the video.

"Aaron, you don't just know me from the video, do you?" She looked at him from behind her glasses.

"Well, I'm not sure. I think I might have known you for a long time." He said. Despite the cryptic nature of his statement, his ghost looked her straight in the eyes. "Besides, you know basically everyone you see. Maybe not by name..."