Chapter Text
Public transportation would never cease to amaze you. People from all walks of life existed in one shared space, overlapping for one short moment. The opportunity for people-watching was unparalleled, and you loved to imagine the backstories of others. The old lady sitting across from you on the bus had dark but graying hair. It was styled in a beautiful, intricate braid. Her dark eyebrows were furrowed as she read the newspaper, small wrinkles lining her face. You tried to picture her when she was young, maybe your age. Was she married? Ever in love? What kind of loss had she experienced in her lifetime? Did she have grandkids that lived in the city and came to visit her? Your fingers twitched, and you wished you had your sketchbook.
A sudden noise to your left caught your attention: laugher. You ignored it ,until you couldn’t. It sounded… painful. You glanced up to see the man making all the commotion, sitting across the aisle and one row up. You couldn’t see him very well, just the shaking of his brown hair from behind and his hand coming up to cover his mouth. People around you were looking his way, too. Some were glaring, some had raised brows and were shaking their heads. The laughter continued for what felt like minutes.
Just to your left, a man in his 20s stood up, something that looked like crumpled paper gripped in his hand. Before you could register what was happening, he threw it towards the laughter. It hit the poor man on the side of his face, and his whole body flinched. He turned as far into the window of the bus as possible, as if trying to escape. His laughter continued, muffled by his hand.
The jackass was laughing now too, loudly and cruelly. A few people watching the scene were hesitantly chuckling. An instant rage filled you, and blood rushed to your face.
“Leave him alone.” The words fell from your lips before you could stop it. Shocked, you bit your lip as heads turned toward you – including the jackass.
“I’m sorry, what was that?” He demanded, sounding more shocked than angry. He was classically handsome, but his eyes were mean and intimidating.
You cleared your throat, knowing you needed to deescalate the situation. Why did you have to say anything, get involved at all? Sometimes you really couldn’t take yourself anywhere. Sighing, you tried not to look angry or sound accusing. “I just said leave him alone, that’s all. He’s not hurting anyone.” You held the man’s gaze, praying he didn’t take things any further.
He rolled his eyes, mumbled under his breath, and sank back into his seat. A quiet sigh of relief slipped through your lips, and you turned your gaze down to the floor to avoid the stares aimed in your direction.
An odd sensation crept up your spine, something you didn’t understand. Risking a glance upward, you instantly met a pair of curious eyes staring at you from between seats. Just as quickly as you met his gaze, it was gone. Curiosity filled your senses, but you couldn’t get a good view of him without drawing attention to yourself. So you sat back, rested your head, and forced yourself to keep your nose out of other people’s business. You tried to calm yourself, bitter that people in this city could be so unbelievably nasty.
Sometime later the bus lurched forward and you opened your eyes, regaining your balance in your seat. You weren’t sure how long you’d been resting. Curiosity getting the best of you, you stretched, pretending to yawn. You were able to raise your head just enough to see over the seats; the laughing man was gone. You’d never even gotten a good look at him, and a part of you was strangely disappointed.
You rested back into your seat, looking down at your hands. Wherever he was, you hoped he was alright. Nobody deserved to be treated that way.