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Riley takes the bus to Amber Beach College's campus four days a week. Monday through Wednesday, he gets on the bus bright and early in the morning when it's packed with rush hour commuters.
On Thursdays, however, Riley only has classes in the afternoon and evening. To make it to class on time, he catches the 1:30pm bus every week like clockwork. The good thing about traveling at this time of day is that the bus is always fairly empty guaranteeing Riley a seat.
Riley sits at the back of the bus where it's usually the quietest, and uses his commute as an opportunity to re-read the most challenging parts of the week's readings before class. He often becomes engrossed in his readings, so he tends not to pay much attention to anything that's going on on the bus, but he happens to be looking around on the second Thursday of the semester when a guy gets on the bus.
Riley's attention is drawn to the guy because he's got a skateboard thrown over one shoulder, and as the guy makes his way towards the back of the bus, Riley notices that he's extremely attractive. The guy has short brown hair, brown eyes, and a gorgeous smile. Riley judges the guy to be a few years older than himself, and wonders whether or not he's straight.
As if in answer to his thoughts, the guy eyes a young woman sitting alone and takes the empty seat next to her even though there are many empty seats available throughout the bus.
Riley is instantly apprehensive, and his textbook is all but forgotten on his lap as he watches the guy interact with the woman.
"How are you doing today?" the guy asks her, and he sounds like he's from New Zealand.
The woman tenses at the same time she leans her body away from him. Although she doesn't say a word, it's obvious to Riley that she's not interested in the guy.
Riley has watched scenes like this before -- scenes in which guys continue to harass women for dates even though said women make it clear through their words and their body language that their answer is "no" -- so Riley's thinking of interfering when the guy abruptly stands up and tucks his skateboard under his arm. He shrugs and tells her, "Well, it was worth a shot."
The woman looks up at him, and if the expression on her face is any indication, she's both relieved and wary.
"Have a good day," the guy adds, and then walks closer to Riley and sits down in one of the empty seats directly across from him.
The guy doesn't say anything else to the woman. He simply plays with his phone.
Riley waits a few more minutes to see if the guy will do anything else, and when he doesn't, Riley goes back to his readings, unsure of what to make of the exchange he just witnessed.
*
The following week on Thursday, the same attractive guy with the skateboard gets on the bus at the same stop he got on the previous week.
Just like the week before, he sits next to a young woman traveling alone, and he moves to a seat near Riley when she gives a signal that she does not appreciate his presence or his advances.
While Riley thinks it's good that this guy seems to get when he's being rejected and seems to know to back off immediately, Riley also can't help but think that this guy shouldn't be hitting on random women on the bus in the first place.
*
The following week, after the guy with the skateboard -- skateboard guy, he decides -- gets on the bus and, once again, hits on a woman, Riley decides to do something.
Post-rejection, when skateboard guy sits down across from Riley, Riley says to him, "You know, you probably shouldn't be hitting on strangers on buses."
Skateboard guy looks up from his phone and raises an eyebrow at Riley. "Oh?" he asks.
Riley swallows. He wants to squirm under skateboard guy's gaze, but instead he forces himself to raise his chin and meet his eyes. "It's kind of creepy."
"Are you calling me a creep?" skateboard guy asks, but he doesn't seem upset. He sounds a little like he's laughing and he's smiling like he's amused.
Riley doesn't back down. "Yeah, I am." The smile disappears from skateboard guy's face and he seems taken aback when Riley continues, "The women on this bus are just trying to get from one place to another. They don't deserve to be bothered because you happen to be looking for a date."
Skateboard guy's brows furrow together as he seems to consider this. "I'll keep that in mind," he says, the amusement gone from his voice.
Riley nods and turns his attention back to his readings. He hopes this means that skateboard guy will change his behavior, but he's not holding his breath. He's known guys like skateboard guy before, and they've tended to be stubborn.
*
The following week, skateboard guy doesn't hit on any women even though there are quite a few in their age range on the bus. He takes a seat across from Riley, places his skateboard in his lap, and pokes around on his phone.
As Riley nears his stop, he puts his textbook away. This seems to catch skateboard guy's attention because he looks up and smiles at Riley. Otherwise he doesn't interact with anyone, and he's still fiddling with his phone when Riley gets off the bus.
*
The next week, skateboard guy proves that the previous week wasn't simply a fluke. After he gets on the bus, he beelines for a seat by Riley, and offers Riley a little wave before taking out and putting on a pair of headphones.
Riley feels the edges of his mouth quirk upwards as he offers skateboard guy a little wave of his own in return.
*
This pattern continues every Thursday for the next two months. Riley hasn't seen skateboard guy hassle any other passengers since he called him out on his behavior.
This is great, except that sometimes Riley finds himself staring at skateboard guy. Riley still thinks that skateboard guy is incredibly good-looking, and the fact that he seems to have changed his ways has only made him more attractive in Riley's eyes.
Once, skateboard guy catches Riley staring, and his eyebrows shoot upwards as if he's asking Riley a silent question. Riley immediately looks down at his textbook and flushes with embarrassment and something else he doesn't want to think too hard about. After all, skateboard guy has pretty firmly established that he's attracted to women, and he's given no hint that he's attracted to any other genders.
*
As the semester winds down, it hits Riley that in a few weeks he won't have classes on Thursday afternoons anymore. Since he won't be taking the 1:30pm bus, he probably won't ever see skateboard guy again.
Even though they don't do anything besides sit across from each other and acknowledge each other's presence, Riley feels sad when he thinks about their encounters coming to an end.
*
The last week of classes turn out to be the worst week of the semester for Riley. It seems like he has papers and assignments due in every single one of his courses and he has to start studying for exams at the same time.
He's overwhelmed and exhausted, and by the time Wednesday night rolls around, he has barely had time to look at the assignment he has due for his Thursday afternoon class. He stays up until 4am to finish it and then crashes. He wakes up well after noon on Thursday and scrambles to make the 1:30pm bus so he won't be late for class.
Riley is so tired and has so much on his plate that he doesn't even think about or notice skateboard guy until he hears a familiar voice ask, "You alright, mate?"
Riley looks up at him, surprised, and feels something in his chest tighten at the concerned look on skateboard guy's face. It's only then that he remembers that this is the last time he'll be riding the 1:30pm bus on Thursdays.
"I'm just stressed," he tells skateboard guy, and he doesn't know why he's telling him this, especially since they haven't really spoken since Riley told him off. "Everything is due at once and then exams start, so I'm feeling swamped right now."
"What year are you in?" skateboard guy asks him.
"I'm a sophomore," Riley answers automatically. After a moment, he realizes he can't figure out why skateboard guy would want to know that, so he asks, "Why?"
Skateboard guy says, "If you're a sophomore, then you probably went through a similarly hectic period before your exams last year, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Riley replies, not following skateboard guy's reasoning.
"If you've been this stressed and busy before and persevered through it, that means you already have the skills you need to get through this," skateboard guy explains.
Riley blinks at him as he considers this. "I... never really thought about it that way," he admits, and feels himself relax a little bit.
"Every time I see you, you're studying from that same book," skateboard guy continues, gesturing with his phone to book open on Riley's lap. "Is that what one of your exams is on?"
Riley nods. "Yeah."
"Then you know that material," skateboard guy says.
Riley stares down at his textbook and runs his fingers along its edges. Skateboard guy has a point. Riley's never taken into account the fact that he's technically been studying for his exam all semester during his commute.
Riley startles when he feels a warm hand on his shoulder. He looks up and skateboard guy is suddenly standing directly in front of him, leaning down so he's looking into Riley's eyes from only a foot away.
"You can do this," he tells Riley. He sounds so sure that Riley feels his breath leave him.
"I--" Riley starts to reply, heart hammering in his chest, but then he hears his stop being announced and blurts out, "I have to go."
Skateboard guy laughs, backs out of Riley's space and sits back down in his seat. Riley can feel himself blushing as he shoves his book into his bag and pushes the stop request button.
Just before Riley exits the bus, he waves at skateboard guy and says, "Thanks."
"No problem," skateboard guy replies easily. "Good luck."
As Riley walks to his class, he feels confident in a way he hasn't felt in weeks -- in a way he wouldn't have thought he could feel an hour ago.
Despite his embarrassment at his own awkwardness -- was "I have to go" really the best thing he could come up with? -- Riley is pleased that his last encounter with skateboard guy was a good one.
*
A month after exams end, during his summer break, Riley gets on a bus he's never been on before to visit his brother's new apartment on the other side of town. The bus isn't crowded, and Riley chooses a window seat close to the back exit.
He's in the middle of texting his brother to confirm his buzz number, so he's distracted when someone sits down in the seat next to him. As Riley hits send on the message and starts paying attention to his surroundings, the first thing that he notices is that the bus is so empty that whoever has decided to sit next to him had to have deliberately chosen that seat.
The second thing he notices is that the end of a skateboard is brushing up against his thighs.
Riley lifts his gaze to find skateboard guy smiling at him.
"It's been a long time," skateboard guy says. "How were your exams?"
Riley is so surprised to see him that it takes him moment to process what he's asking.
"Good," he finally answers, feeling himself flush. "Thanks for the pep talk. It really helped."
Skateboard guy says, "I knew you could do it." Then he adds, "I'm Chase, by the way."
"Riley," he replies.
"So Riley," skateboard guy -- Chase -- says. "What would you say if I asked you for your number?"
Riley's mouth falls open. "Are you hitting on me?" he asks, stunned. Because Chase -- the guy he thought was straight who he's been admiring, if not explicitly crushing on for months -- the guy Riley only knows because he told him to stop flirting with women on the bus -- is all but asking him out while on a bus.
"Well, you did tell me not to hit on strangers on the bus," Chase says nonchalantly, "and I've taken your advice to heart, but technically you're not a stranger and I've gotten the impression that you wouldn't mind."
Riley shakes his head and laughs, feeling astounded at of the sheer ridiculousness of the situation and feeling joy because he doesn't mind. Not one bit.
Chase grins at him. He takes his phone out of his pocket and hands it to Riley. Riley carefully types in his name and number and passes it back.
"I'll text you," Chase tells him. A moment later, Chase pushes the stop request button and says, "Regretfully, this is my stop. It was good to see you again."
As he stands up, Riley tells him, "Take care, Chase."
Chase flashes him a brilliant smile before resting his skateboard over his shoulder and exiting the bus.
*
Not two minutes later, Riley's phone buzzes alerting him to a text from an unknown number. It reads: Are you free on Saturday? - Chase
Riley texts him back: Yeah. Want to go out for coffee?
Chase immediately replies that he's interested, suggesting a place and time, and Riley is so ecstatic that he almost misses his stop.