A Carpenter Will Save The World.

((  Since I don't have a premium account, I can't write 'books' yet.  This will, hopfully, be a novel.  This first post has little to do with the story.  It's simply establishing the protagonist.  ))

         I thought I might throw up.  School buses weren't known for their pleasant fragrances, and  I swear I could smell the little boy across the aisle.  He smelled like old socks.  I felt like a vampire or something, with enhanced senses and all that, as if I had super smell.  Wrinkling my nose, I tried to think of something to take my mind away from the stench.  Absentmindedly, I tugged the drawstring of my hoodie back and forth until the top bunched up into an uncomfortable wrinkly mess.  The bus jostled us all around, due in part to the old country roads and to the fact that the bus driver drove like it was NASCAR.  I was one of the first of many stops.  Lucky for me, that meant I had to wake up extra early for school and enjoy an hour and a half of Keifer's terrible driving.

         Keifer, the bus driver, was an elderly bald man with brown horn-rimmed glasses.  Everyday he wore the same red and white plaid shirt.  In my ten years of riding his bus, that's as descriptive as I can be with him.  He wasn't pleasant company ,and the fewer words said to him, the better.  I stared into his overhead mirror, and I could have sworn he made eye contact with me.

         My body lurched forward, my head hitting the cushioned seat in front of me as the bus rolled to an abrupt stop.  After inertia had it's way with me, I was bounced back into my previous position.  My stomach, on the other hand, felt like it was in a perpetual state of somersaulting.  I knew in that moment that were I to even cough, I would lose my dinner all over seat.  Dinner, not breakfast, because I had felt too nauseated to eat anything this morning.  I looked up to see Keifer drumming his fingers atop the steering wheel impatiently as a little girl and her brother slowly crossed the street to board.  Sometimes I felt like he really hated kids.

          Staring at the open door, I imagined myself escaping this hell on four wheels.  I would get out of my seat and walk casually towards Keifer.  He would look back at me, maybe expecting that I had a question.  Instead, I would bolt out the door and run home.  He had a bus full of children, so I knew he wouldn't be able to chase after me.  I would stay in bed and just watch youtube videos all day.

         The door closed and the bus was back in motion, bringing me back to reality.  I hated the bus ride almost as much as I hated school.  I still had two sicks days left this semester, but I wanted to save them for the release of Battlebots 4.  The third game didn't have as strong a story as the first two, but the trailer for the fourth looked amazing.  It featured adventuring, collecting, upgrading, customizing and battling.  You weren't just limited to fighting your friends either.  You could play online and battle kids in Japan.

         I banged my head against the window, staring at the passing trees.  I smiled, imagining two huge Bots fighting each other.  They were racing and boxing at the same time.  Apparently, they had somewhere to be and didn't want the other to get there first.  In my head they were throwing each other into houses and leaping onto cars.  The fantasy lasted me until we finally arrived at the high school.  Sighing, I grabbed my backpack and scooted to the edge of my seat.  As always, I waited until all the seats behind me cleared out, then I took my place at the back of the line.

“See you in class Caleb.”

         I looked up at the sound of Jessica calling my name, but missed her as she exited the bus.  By the time I hopped off the last step, she had already disappeared into a crowd of students heading into the school.  She was attractive, in an emo way, and once a good friend.  We almost dated over summer, until we discovered that we were third cousins.  We haven't spoken much since then, which is why it caught me by surprise. 

         -------------------------------------