Anna remained unconvinced. “You’re acting real weird,” and she worried about what she’d got herself into.
There was a change that drifted over Carl since the first time she met him. Granted the situation they were in wasn’t one conducive to acting normally but still… he seemed to become increasingly paranoid. He was becoming jittery and strange when he talked. And when Anna looked to him she’d occasionally find him lost in the moment as if his mind had drifted away to another era. She figured he was harbouring some demons but only time would tell if he would open up to her about them.
The lined moved slowly but steadily and soon enough they were at the window buying their tickets.
“Have a nice trip!” the girl behind the counter smiled.
But Anna could tell she looked at them strangely. They did, after all, look like peculiar kids on the run, except Carl wasn’t so much of a kid anymore. As they walked through the bus station she thought they couldn’t have looked more suspicious and prominent if they tried. But maybe she was the one becoming paranoid.
“Is that our bus over there?” Anna pointed.
“Sure is,”
“It looks kinda old and dirty,” she grimaced.
“You never been on a coach before?” Carl laughed.
“Nope,” Anna shook her head.
“Well let me give you the grand tour,” and he placed a hand on her lower back to comfort her as she walked ahead.
She climbed the steps up into the coach and showed the driver her ticket. He smiled and nodded at her politely and she was good to go. She hovered in the gangway for a moment feeling afraid and confused. A queue began to form behind her, and people were agitated as the entrance to the bus became congested. But Anna didn’t notice. She was too busy running different scenarios in her mind. There was something so terrifying about being trapped in a tin can for hour after hour with strangers pressed up against you wherever you looked.
“Anna, what’s wrong?” Carl nudged her to move forward and she did so apprehensively.
“I just don’t like this it feels weird. I feel trapped,”
“Don’t worry, nobody really likes buses, but we’re safer in here than anywhere else,” he squeezed her hand.
“I guess so,” she relented and sat down at the back.
“See? It’s not so bad. We’re like the cool kids at the back of the bus,” Carl chuckled.
But Anna didn’t notice him. She was busy staring out the window at a city she wished she could become more acquainted with. Watching the hustle and bustle of the bus station she wondered where everyone had to go, and why they were in such a hurry. She pondered on the idea that there were countless people like her out there, on the run and in peril.
Scanning her eyes over the other passengers as they took their seats she thought everyone seemed so normal to her. That was until she caught sight of the last passenger to come on board. The girl couldn’t have been more than sixteen but had the confidence of a woman more than twice her age. She popped gum and glared at each passenger with disgust. Her headphones were blaring loudly but for some reason she had them dangling down the front of her chequered shirt.
Her eyeliner was thick around her eyes and it looked as though she’d been wearing it for days. Acne covered her chin but somehow it didn’t make her any less pretty. The girl walked to the back of the bus and nodded in acknowledgment of the runaway couple. She made eye contact with Anna for a split second before she sat in front of them. It was as if the turmoil in her respected the turmoil in Anna.
There was a roar of the engine as the driver reversed the bus out of its bay. And as he pulled out of the station she wondered if she would see Austin again someday, she hoped so. Soon they were back out on the open road with danger behind them and a life full of opportunity ahead. Carl looked to Anna and noticed the despair on her face and the thunder in her eyes.
“You know you’re coping with this really well,” he whispered into her ear.
She flinched at the words and looked to him surprised.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean most people would have gone bat shit crazy living your childhood, but you’ve gone one step further. You survived it, conquered it and moved on,”
“But what have I moved on to?” she questioned him and looked back out the window at the desert that was moving quickly passed her.