He chose me. Or, rather, he chose to sit next to me. The bus was far from being full, but each seat held at least one passenger. I guess of all the choices he had, the seat next to me was the most desirable. Perhaps I was being complemented. As I lazily gazed out the window, something caught my eye from below. A fuzzy little thing with yellow and black alternating bands lay limp in the windowsill. It was a bee! I recoiled away from the window and scooted as far from it as I could. My seat mate stared at me without blinking. Was he trying to start a staring contest or criticize me for my fear of stinging bugs. Sure the bee looked dead but I couldn't relax. I'd been stung by three bees in my lifetime and in each instance it was due to me letting my guard down. I don't let my guard down.

The bus took a turn, possibly for the worst, and I fell toward the guy to my right. He must have thought I was a barrel of weird. Looking up I saw that his eyes were closed and he was leaning towards me as well. Was he trying to kiss me? What's up with this guy? He might have just been exhibiting normal behavior for riding the bus. It was my first time riding public transportation and, if his behavior was any indication of bus etiquette, it would be my last. I crashed my car three days before. It was the third time that year and if I asked daddy for money one more time he might have resorted to asking mom for another loan. Couldn't have that, wouldn't allow that, didn't need her.

Whoa we hit that speed bump pretty fast! Was this a bus or a roller coaster? Laughing at the joke inside my head, I glanced toward my seat neighbor. He was gone! Oh, there he was on the floor looking dazed out of his mind. I extended my hand to him as a silent peace offering. I'd help him out just this once. He didn't seem like a bad guy, just a weird guy. He took my hand but made no moves toward getting up from the ground. It was like he wasn't even there with me. Well, I wasn't going to wait for him to find his sanity. His body was quite light as I pulled him into the seat. He must have bird bones or something. It was too bad. Weak men get the short end of the stick in this world. I've learned that fact many a time from watching my mother and father.

After realizing that the bird boned man couldn't hurt a fly, I decided to give him my name. The word Clara rolled off my lips like I'd never said it before, because I hadn't. It wasn't my name. The lie came out before I could even comprehend it and Mr. BirdBones had this goofy grin on his face like it was the most beautiful name he'd ever heard. I could only smile back at this silly guy. He was cute, ....for a bird.

It took a second but he finally replied with his name, Rufus Thompson. I'd like to think he was also using an alias, but no one would make up a name like Rufus. It was a strong name for a weak guy. With a name like that, this little bird might one day fly, if he didn't meet a vulture that took him down first. The imagery of that was a little intense and I shook my head to remove the thought. Once I was done shaking I saw that Rufus was finally not staring at me. He was looking over my shoulder. I turned to see what could be so important, but all I saw was a generic bus stop whisking by. It did look eerily similar to the bus stop that was two blocks away from my apartment. I missed my bus stop! That's what I get for lying. My first time on the bus and I couldn't even get off at the right stop!

I turned back to see Rufus the bird was looking at me again. His stare really wasn't that bad, except for the fact that I didn't know why he was doing it. I waved my hand in front of his face and he didn't budge. Could he even see me? He was much too trusting. If I wanted to, I could have poked him in the eye right then. I wondered where he was going. It couldn't be safe for a guy like that to walk the streets by himself at night. He'd probably go into a trance and walk into traffic, or get mugged by a troupe of Girl Scouts. Should I follow him off the bus? Now I was being the creepy one. I was a liar and a creep! No, it wouldn't be creepy! After all, he did choose me. If I just nonchalantly got off the bus with him and acted like it was my stop as well, it would be fine. I had already lied about my name. It wouldn't be a stretch to lie about my bus stop. Don't worry little bird, you won't be anyone's prey tonight! Unless a bee shows up. Then you're on your own.

A/N: Moodboard pic by edoggypaws