September- When they became friends

When they became friends it was nothing especially special. It happened, as things happen in life, by chance. Coincidence and fate may or may not have had a hand in it. It was hard to tell since they were not on speaking terms with each other, but this was how it happened:


Mike was tiredly waiting for the bus that would take him to his great aunt's and, having already satisfied the considerable appetite of his gloomy predictions in his imagination, he turned his attention to the art of being bored-until he spotted someone he thought he knew.

"Hey Jonathan!" He called, prodding the boy who had just arrived and was leaning against the bus sign.

Zach briefly ran through the list of names he'd been called through his life and turned up a blank for the name "Jonathan." However, the hand that poked him definitely belonged to the same owner as the voice. Therefore the name was definitely being applied to him.

"I'm sorry?" said Zach, looking up at Mike with considerable bewilderment. It might be said of the moment that as far as first impressions went, Mike, in his permanently present dark sweater and rugged jeans, didn't seem the type that Zach would normally associate himself with. Hence the bewilderment.

"Sorry," explained Mike, "you looked like Jonathan."

"Oh," said Zach. There wasn't a whole lot that you could say when someone told you you looked like someone else.

There was an awkward pause.

"Anyway," said Mike, gingerly stepping into the silence with as many misgivings as Zach had about him, though he didn't know it. He looked at the book that Zach was holding, then looked at Zach. "You a college freshman?" It was definitely a college-leveled textbook, even if the person holding it looked like he should still be in high school.

"Ye-es..." said Zach, who was wondering why someone like Mike was still talking to him. He had no illusions about himself, and knew that he was a nerd, and looked it.

"Cool," said Mike, a bit desperately. He was exhausted after his week and knew that he had no hopes of resting for a few more hours, at least, and he felt like he ought to do something after calling a boy he'd never talked with before in his life "Jonathan." "Me too. I'm Mike."

"Zach." Said Zach, and left it at that.

There was another pause. Mike sat down on the curb. Zach leaned back against the pole and contemplated the direction where the bus was suppose to come from.

The pause grew at a rate that would've impressed the bacteria cultures in any science lab. However, before it could become a monstrosity, the unmistakable shape of the local bus presented itself around the corners.

"The bus's coming," said Zach.

"Mm." said Mike, getting to his feet and moving out of the way as the bus pulled in with a screech. "Want to sit here?" He asked Zach as they staggered down the center isle in respect to the overzealous turns made by the bus driver.

"Uh, sure," said Zach, surprised. He studied Mike for a few more moments and decided to scrap his original impression and drew up a full analysis. For some reason, he felt like he should do one.

Mike got in to a seat, slouched over, and propped his head up against the glass.

Zach paused in his psychoanalysis. "...tired?" he ventured lamely. It was either that or saying "you look like you're going to drop dead," and Zach decided to go the more cheerful way. It seemed appropriate.

"Yeah," mumbled Mike. It was either keeping it very simple, or start talking and not knowing when or where he'd be able to stop himself.

"Lousy day?" prompted Zach, in an effort to be sociable. They had multi-stop bus ride in front of them.

"Lousy week. Heck, lousy year," Mike paused. "You know what? Life sucks!" He burst out suddenly.

An alarm bell begin to go off somewhere in the back of Zach's mind. Parts of this sounded awfully familiar. Déjà vu was overrated.

"How so?" Zach asked mildly, speeding up his analysis.

"Well," begin Mike, voice dripping with sarcasm. "There's the fact that our current government sucks, the fact that our school system sucks, the fact that people in general suck...they do stupid things, you know?"

"Uh-huh." Said Zach. Depression, general anxiety, withdrawal, thought Zach, somewhat amused at what his mind was coming up with, except not really.

"Earth sucks, that's why we don't float off into space," said Mike in a tone of mock philosophy.

Probably chronic, thought Zach. "I don't know," he said lightly, and made a show of peering outside the window. "I rather like where we live."

"No, I mean, I like it too, but it's the way the things are...." Said Mike, and sighed. "It really bothers me."

"The way WHAT things are?" prodded Zach.

"Everything," said Mike, in the tone of one who had lost all hopes in humanity for ever and beyond.

"Ah," said Zach. Then, as a silence settled in, "I get off in three stops...group project meeting...."
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lol...Lucy, be thankful your turn wasn't as awkward as this. Then again, you probably have better people skills....
Three steps into reality and then a leap out. Anyone keeping count for me?