Single post in Shifting Fates

The morning air was cooler than he expected. Rondrio zipped up his lightweight, scarlet jacket and pulled its hood over his head while waiting for the bus to arrive. He had been silently practicing his apology to Reneé all morning. If he could get that done on the bus before reaching the school, maybe he could get his head clear. Somewhere between her and the strange Asian chick from yesterday, he had lost all focus on this new school year. He wondered how that girl was doing anyway. As the yellow bus pulled up to the corner, he and two other high schoolers he had been waiting near grabbed their backpacks. The bus stopped. Its door slid open with a squeak. Rondrio’s foot touched the first step, and the world turned white. His eyes darted around. The bus and students had amazingly vanished along with everything else. “Where…?” “The fire seeks you…” The voice that echoed all around was the softest, sweetest whisper that had ever reached his ears. Before he could ask what it meant, he’d blinked and found himself staring blankly at the bus driver. “You gettin’ on or not?” the driver impatiently asked. After taking a moment to blink again and ensure the world wouldn’t pull a second vanishing act, Rondrio nodded and stepped past him. He didn’t have to scan the seats in search of Reneé as she was already gesturing for him to sit by her with a wide grin on her face. Curious as to why she was in such a good mood, he cautiously strolled to her seat and waited until she shifted to the window. As soon as he lowered his backpack from his shoulder and sat down, Reneé quickly yanked his hood off and kissed the bruise on his forehead. “I’m sorry for tickin’ you off, but don’t ever snap at me again, okay?” Rondrio frowned. What just happened? “It started off like an apology, but now I’m… not sure what that was.” The bus driver shifted gears and began to pull off. She smirked. “It was a Reneé special. That’s all you need to know.” She nodded towards the front of the bus. “Why did you pause before gettin’ on? Scared of me?” “Whatever.” But what was that voice he’d clearly heard? He couldn’t make sense of what happened even if he wanted to believe his eyes had suffered temporary blindness. He had been squinting more lately… maybe that “white-out” was a side-effect? Rondrio rubbed his eyes and blinked them clear. “By the way, did you have any classes with an Asian-looking girl this week?” Reneé frowned. “I don’t think I’ve seen an Asian girl anywhere at school.” Now that he thought about it, that girl didn’t have a single book on her. Maybe she wasn’t a student after all. But then why was she on campus? The clock maybe? Could she have caused it to malfunction somehow? “Wonder where she was then,” he accidentally muttered loud enough for Reneé to hear. “Where was who?” He shook his head. “Nevermind.” In any case, he hoped that girl was feeling better and not around any clocks that could brain her again.