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You tried to take public transportation as little as possible for this very reason. You were pretty sure you weren’t very high on the attractive scale, but some assholes could be extremely high on the desperate scale and refused to leave you alone simply because you were alone.
On the occasions that you found yourself without a car or a ride, you would have to take the bus to and from work. Like today, your coworker you normally rode in with was sick and all of your backups had failed.
And so you stood on the sidewalk with several other people, one of whom looked like he probably smoked weed in his mother’s basement for a living despite looking in his mid-forties. He was standing in front of you in a dingy, dark gray shirt with what you hoped was grease stains and loose-fitting jeans. He stunk of body odor and halitosis as he chattered nonstop about how he was going to be fixing up his uncle’s old Chevy corvette as soon as he got a job that paid well enough.
You tried not to be bothered. Maybe he was just lonely and needed an ear for forty minutes. You could probably handle that, as annoying as it was. But dammit, you had updates to read from your favorite fanfiction authors, and you had planned to do just that on your way home.
You nodded and hummed just to be polite and started looking around when you spotted him. A tall skeleton monster was standing on the other side of the covered bus stop bench, his head bowed as he did something on his phone.
You’d met quite a few monsters in your life, but very few skeleton monsters. The curve of his brow ridge and cheekbones reminded you so much of your friend from years ago. Could it be?
He glanced up from his phone and met your eyes for a brief second, smiled and nodded, and then turned his attention back to his phone.
That smile convinced you. All thoughts of stories left your mind and you really wanted to go say hi to him. It had been so long; you wondered how he and his brother were doing and what he’d done with his life so far. He was always so damn smart.
“Hey, maybe you’d like to come for a ride?” The man in front of you asked.
“Huh?” You looked back over to see the man had stepped closer to you.
His smile showed yellowing teeth. “When I get the car all fixed up, you wanna come on a ride with me? I could take you up the mountain to this real pretty spot I used to take my girlfriends.”
Yeah, because that wasn’t a creepy thing to say to a stranger.
“I should get your number so I can call ya when it’s all fixed. Maybe we could meet up a few times before then. I could show you some of my projects.”
“I’m not really sure how I feel about that,” you said hesitantly. It wasn’t dark out yet, but it was getting late and despite the number of people at the bus stop, you’d never once been helped out of an uncomfortable situation like this. You just really hoped he wasn’t going to push it too far.
“C’mon now, don’t be like that. I came over here to talk to you because you looked sweet. Ain’t you sweet?”
You felt a little sick, to be honest.
“I don’t—“
The man took a step closer to you, making it look casual, but you could feel the irritation radiating off of him. Where was the damn bus?!
“Let’s just exchange numbers, okay? How do you know if you’d like me if you don’t give me a chance?”
Oh, you knew. There was a thing called respect and boundaries, and he clearly didn’t understand either one.
“oh my god, is that really you?” Another voice suddenly yelled, and you looked up to see Stretch standing there, looking at you with wide sockets and an equally wide smile. “i haven’t seen you in forever, how are you?”
He pushed past the man and pulled you into a hug, and you couldn’t help but squeeze him back. Not only did he recognize you, but he came to say hi?! All your worries about the creepy stranger disappeared.
“Hi!” you cried back, amazed at how he seemed to have filled out. He’d gotten taller, too, but he was certainly broader than he used to be. “I haven’t seen you since, what, ninth grade? Eighth?”
He pulled back and smiled, moving to put himself directly between you and the stranger. “how’ve you been? what’s been happening?”
Before you could answer, the man cleared his throat loudly. “Excuse me, I was talking to her.”
Stretch turned just enough to look down at him. “yeah, and now i’m talking to her. we’ve got a lot of catching up to do and a short ride to do it, you mind?”
The man rolled his eyes and grunted what might have meant to have been a curse, but he did walk away. You were confused and yet more creeped out when he kept walking, leaving the bus stop altogether. You weren’t sure what that meant, but it couldn’t have been anything good.
Stretch looked after him with a raised brow. “damn. sorry ‘bout that. I just saw how uncomfortable you were and thought i’d try to help.”
You grinned. “That’s okay. I’m really glad you did.”
He nodded. “well, i guess he’s not gonna bother you again, i’ll leave you alone.” He offered you a cute smile and a half a wave before walking away.
Wait. What?
It took the fifteen minutes before the bus finally arrived and you finding a seat halfway down the bus from Stretch before you realized what had happened. He didn’t actually remember you. He was just being kind.
You weren't sure how you felt about that. On one hand, the two of you had been nearly inseparable for a whole two and a half years of your life. How could he forget you? On the other hand, it was nice to see that some things hadn’t changed. The Stretch you knew back then would absolutely have done the same thing he did today.
You sucked in a breath and made your decision. Standing up, you picked your way up the aisle and took the empty seat next to him.
He looked up from his phone and smiled at you, but it was a little tight. “can i help you?” he asked, his eye lights darting around for a second, probably trying to see if he had a way out of whatever misery you were going to cause him.
You couldn’t help but smile sadly. “You don’t actually remember me, do you?”
He was silent for a second, staring at you. “should i?”
Shrugging, you looked down at your hands and told him your name and the name of the school you’d gone to together. Glancing back up at him, you saw the moment recognition hit. His eye lights brightened the way they always did when he was excited and his smile grew into something real and happy.
“no fucking way! holy shit, you look so different. you always kept your hair short back then. and you never wore makeup.” He looked you over for a second. “suits you. i like the glasses.” He reached up and pulled them from your face just as you should have expected him to do.
“Hey!” You laughed as you tried to get them back. He only grinned and put them on his own face, squinting through the lenses.
“how do you even see out of these?” he asked. He had to hold them on as he had no ears to do it for him.
You snickered. “Much better than without them, I can promise you that.”
He gave them back and you both talked for a while. He was living with his brother and often took the bus to go into town while Blue was at work. Stretch wasn’t technically working, but he was on call at the physics department of the university and sometimes went in to help out with events or update learning materials.
You told him about your job and your family. You were both excited to exchange numbers and keep in touch.
“you should come over for dinner sometime. blue would be thrilled to see you.”
You grinned. “I’d love that!”
It was decided that he’d talk with Blue about it and you’d coordinate dates later.
His stop came up too quickly, and you stood to hug him again before he got off. The rest of your ride was spent with a smile on your face and excitement bubbling in your chest. You’d lost contact with so many friends from school, and you were looking forward to getting back in touch with Stretch.