First Encounter

The muscles in his stomach and legs were burning, but for the hundredth time, he leaned over in his seat to look out the window. This was his first time on the bus, and though his guardian had told him exactly how it worked, he was still anxious that he'd miss his stop. Even though he sat in the middle near the rear door, he sat on the street side, so it was hard for him to see the bus stop signs clearly. And each time there was a new bus stop, he couldn't get through the flow of people getting off and then back on to move to another seat closer to the windows on the sidewalk side. He sighed again as more people got on to the bus. It was so packed that even people stood in the aisles, holding on for dear life.

As the bus moved forward again, he checked the map in his hand. Eight stops, his guardian said, but he couldn't remember exactly how many stops had already passed. Kuanzhai Alley was the name of the first stop, and then he would have to get on another bus for a quick ride to West Freight Station Rd. He was a bundle of nerves as he leaned over again to check the street signs, desperately trying to see through the gaps of people.

With another enormous sigh, he sits up straight and looks out the windows of the car speeding by. This was his first time in Mainland China, and though he heard stories about Shanghai and Beijing, he had never heard of Chengdu, and thought it was a quieter small town. He couldn't keep his mouth closed as he realized how big of a place it really was.

The bus pulled to another stop, and he was sure it was the eighth stop. So quickly, he stands up, making a stop for himself in the aisle, not seeing that as soon as he stood up, the man who was standing in the aisle holding onto the bar smoothly sat in the seat he just left.

As the crowd moved in front of him, he leaned towards the window to see the bus stop sign, and he turned bright red as he realized it wasn't his stop and the people waiting to get off behind him were getting anxious.

He looked at the woman behind him as she huffed and opened her eyes wider. He quickly bowed and apologized and went to sit in his seat again, not looking behind him.

"Hey!"

His face burned even brighter and hotter as he looked at the man that he was sitting on. He tried to stand back up immediately, only to be pushed back down by the crowd streaming off the bus.

"Ugh," the man grunted as he fell down on top of the man's lap again. "Just—just sit here until the crowd gets off, and then stand back up. I don't think I can take you slamming down like this again."

He can't help but nod, his head shaking like a bobble head as his heart beats loud in his ears. He looked at the man to apologize, but it stole his breath from him.

"So beautiful."

"I don't think you meant to say that out loud," the man laughed.

"So beautiful," he whispered again.