"The Bus Ride Home" by Ava Parker

Photo by Maximilian Simson on Flickr

The school doors push open, letting the cold sunlight rush in, shining on what little skin I have showing. The winter wind whipped at us, turning us red. I begin thawing as I step onto the heated bus that was waiting to take us home from the show choir state finals. I can’t see through a dense fog on my glasses. My mask is not doing me any favors. I find a seat three from the very front and drop my bag and sit down, giving my legs a break from all the motion of the day. You can not see out the windows because of steam seeping from the heaters below. The doors shut and the cold disappears.

Chatter rises. Everybody is talking over each other. I can barely hear myself think. A sharp movement jolts us forward and we start moving. The voices from the back of the bus are getting quieter as people break off into smaller conversations. The three of us up front, however, had yet to talk at all. I am very close to the window, still cold, so I move closer to the alley. My friends Akouvi and Eva are looking at me all confused.

“It’s colder by the window than it is by the aisle,” I say as I scrunch into a tight ball. If I make myself smaller, maybe they will stop looking at me. 

Eva’s phone rings.

“Quiet down, it’s Daniel,” she says. Daniel is one of our show choir directors. A few minutes pass. “Ava,” said Eva, “we usually don’t tell you your scores until the end of the season party, but you got two 93s and a 92! That's amazing!!” 

Loud cheering is erupting from the back of the bus. My eardrums are bursting. Adrenaline is pumping through my veins. I can feel my heart exploding as the words flow out of her mouth. I stop trying to scrunch myself up. All I can do is smile for the rest of our long ride home through conversations and laughter.

Ava Parker is a thirteen-year-old eighth grader at Orono Middle School and she lives in Orono, Maine. She swims for Canoe City Swim Club at the Old Town Orono YMCA and practices six times a week, plus meets. Ava participates in plays, show choir, and musicals. Her favorite author is Ruta Sepetys, and her titles being Salt to the Sea and I Must Betray You are personal favorites. She has four dogs named Phineas (Phinn), Sullivan (Sully), Tater, and Oakley.