As I Fell ✓

Chapter 30

I almost smiled to myself with excitement all bottled up just thinking about meeting up with her. I had already opened up our text messages and was all set to type up a quick update before the bus stopped at another stop, letting on a middle-aged lady with an immensely horrible bob. She had a small child holding her hand, looking up at me as soon as they got on.

I didn't mind him at first because he was a kid and kids are naturally curious, so I kept brainstorming things to say to Athena.

Well, I ignored the child until he started screaming quite loudly. That set me off a bit.

I suddenly felt sorry for all the other commuters.

"I like your race car. Can I try it?" The kid whispered over to me with his big curious eyes.

As innocent as his question was, I didn't know how to respond to that. So, I just shook my head and smiled politely.

"Sorry, but no. You can't sit here." I told him as nicely as I can.

For some reason, my level of "nice" didn't seem to reach the level I wanted. All of the sudden, the kid screamed again but this time, calling his mom.

"MOMMY. I wanna sit in that racecar chair!" the kid screamed into the bad haircut lady as he pointed towards me.

I looked out the window of the bus avoiding eye contact, hoping the mom and her kid would just take their damn seats so we could all go. Even so, I knew they were standing right beside me.

Please don't bring me into this mess.

I suddenly felt a light tap on my shoulder and looked up to face a weirdly smiling mother. She was a big woman and yet her most defining feature might have to be her hair which was eerily similar to that of Lord Farquaad's, that annoying character from Shrek.

"Excuse me, young man, may my son sit there? You see, he's a big fan of racecars," she said as she motioned her hand towards the kid's shirt which indeed had a red racecar printed on it.

As much as I want to unlock the brakes of my chair and run her over, I just smiled and shook my head.

"Sorry, but I can't. You see, I need this to get around." I said as politely as possible. I even attempted to smile.

Please just take a fucking seat already.

"You don't need it now, do you? We're sitting on a bus. Of course you don't need to 'get around' here." she said with a sharp laugh.

I was starting to get frustrated at this random lady and I knew I had to calm myself down before I say things I don't even mean. I have quite a habit of it, as it seems.

"Ma'am, I really can't get up. Even if I wanted to." I said as I attempted to defend myself.

After a tiring day at school, especially now with the talks of college applications and stuff, I was definitely not in the mood to explain my whole medical history to a mother of an entitled child. I don't owe her an explanation. If I need my chair, I will fucking take this everywhere, even to my grave, and have it buried with me.

The bad haircut mother deepened her frown and looked stern. I didn't even do anything terrible.

"Please, you're too young to use a wheelchair. Come on. Stand up, bud. My kid needs it. What kind of person wouldn't like to make a kid's day?" She said with a tone of disbelief as she poked me several times on the shoulder and might I say, it was rather hard. Her voice was getting louder too.

"I apologize for anything I've ever said or done to upset you and your child but seriously, I can't stand up. Please find somewhere else to sit so the whole bus can leave." I said as calmly as I could.