Seemingly ten minutes later, Mrs. Summerville was pounding on her door, demanding Natasha to "Open up now, young lady!". Amethyst stood behind her, embarrassed, though she was a little upset over the fact that Natasha had forced her to wake up at six o'clock and managed to be late herself. But then again, she was only a minute late and Mrs. Summerville was way overreacting. Natasha confirmed this with a, "Yeesh, Mom, I'm barely past a minute late!"
"I don't care," Mrs. Summerville snapped, grabbing Natasha's arm harshly. "Grab your bag and get in the car. Amethyst, wait by the door for Natasha." She said her daughter's name with obvious disdain. Amethyst hurried away from Mrs. Summerville and headed towards the garage door while mother and daughter continued bickering.

"Fine, I'm ready," Amethyst heard Natasha shout at last, then she pulled open the garage door and stormed out, nearly letting it slam shut on Amethyst. The girls quickly slid on their uniform shoes in the garage, then climbed into the backseat of Mrs. Summerville's car.

"And where is Dad?" Natasha asked as Mrs. Summerville turned on the engine and hit the gas pedal.

"You know he has to go in early four days a week," Mrs. Summerville snapped at her. "Besides, it's Amethyst's first day. She needs me."

"She does not," Natasha snorted while Amethyst shifted uncomfortably.

"Natasha, that's no way to act in front of your guest," Mrs. Summerville reprimanded her. They sat in silence until they reached the bus stop.

"Five minutes to spare," Natasha grumbled, checking her watch. "Thanks a lot, Mom. It's not like we could've used those five minutes to do more productive things!"

"Natasha." Mrs. Summerville's voice was warning. "Get out of the car."

"Fine!" Natasha pushed open her door and Amethyst followed her out.

"Bye, girls!" Mrs. Summerville called cheerfully, leaning her head out the driver's window to look straight at Amethyst. "Have a great day, Amethyst!"

"Uh, thanks, Mrs. Summerville," Amethyst replied nervously. Mrs. Summerville just pursed her lips and drove away.

"Well, I guess we'll just wait here until the bus comes," Natasha said to Amethyst, plopping down on a bench. Amethyst did the same and pulled her notebook out, hunching over it to let Natasha know that she wanted to work in peace, while also not being rude. Amethyst realized that she shouldn't have worried about being rude when Natasha pulled a thick binder out of her bag. Of course Natasha would never waste precious time socializing when she could be working instead.

A couple minutes later, the bus pulled up as Amethyst was erasing a line. She quickly blew the eraser remnants off the page, then stuck it back into her messenger bag and scurried up the bus steps after Natasha. They were, apparently, the first stop, so the bus was empty with the exception of the bus driver. Natasha led Amethyst to a seat in the third row where she spent the next ten minutes introducing Amethyst to the bus driver.

"Hello, honey. You must be new! It's so nice to see a fresh face around here! What's your name?"

"I'm-"

"She's Amethyst Wishbone. She comes from Winterfield."
"Winterfield? What a lovely town!"

"Yes, it really was-"

"Are you hosting her, dear?"

"Yes, it's such an honor."

"Well I must imagine. Amethyst, hon, what do you like to do?"

"She loves art! You should've seen her play the violin!"

And on and on it went. Amethyst had to use all her patience she'd picked up from yoga to stay calm and not punch Natasha in the face. Okay, fine, Amethyst wasn't violent, so she probably would've just yelled - or rather, said - something rude to her instead. Amethyst could just imagine how the conversation would go:

"She adores-"

"Shut up, Natasha!"

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

"Yes!"

"What did I ever do?"

"I have my own mouth, Natasha! You don't need to tell her everything about me, I can speak for myself!"

"Amethyst, calm down, you're ruining my driving"

"You know what, Amethyst? I don't think it's such an honor to host you anymore. You're going to have to find another place to live."

Amethyst had experienced just a snippet of Natasha's temper last night and she was not eager to experience more. Luckily, they stopped before Amethyst could lash out at Natasha and a sea of other students boarded the bus, ending the conversation between Natasha and the sweet bus driver.

"Hey, Natasha! Oh, hi there! You must be the famous Amethyst Wishbone!" A girl cried as she spotted Amethyst. Natasha had clearly been talking about her to her friends.

"Hi, yes, I'm-"

"Julie, this is Amethyst Wishbone," Natasha said brightly. Amethyst bit her lip and took a deep, calming breath. She would not get mad. Would not.

"Hi Amethyst! I've heard so much about you! Natasha says you love music, right?"
"She's amazing," Natasha started to say, but Amethyst cut her off.

"Natasha, I think I can introduce myself," she said gently. Natasha's face flushed pink, but the Julie girl just laughed.

"Natasha, Queen of Babble," she said teasingly. Amethyst's eyes widened and she was about to defend Natasha when Natasha burst out laughing.

"Thanks a lot, Julie," she said, but not meanly. "Okay, let's start over then. Amethyst, this is Julie. Julie, Amethyst."

"Hey, Amethyst," Julie replid, sliding into the seat behind them. Amethyst gave her a once-over in the mirror at the front of the bus. Blond hair, blue eyes, no makeup, big smile. She was trying to think of something fun to say when the bus took off again and headed onto the highway, causing Amethyst to lurch forward, crashing into the seat in front of her.

"Whoa, Amethyst!" Natasha cried, grabbing her before she fell forward off her seat. "Have you ever ridden a bus before?"

"Not on such busy streets, no," Amethyst admitted, glancing out the window at the cars whizzing past. Natasha shrugged.

"Fair enough. Here, take a peppermint." Natasha dug around in her bag, then opened her hand, revealing the small red-and-white candy.

"Natasha's the queen of candy," Julie called from behind them, watching over the backs of their seats. Natasha turned around and shot her an unreadable look/ Amethyst turned her head away, not wanting to accidentally spy on their seemingly telepathic conversation. She didn't turn back around until Natasha finally said, "No I'm not. Amethyst, do you want the peppermint?"

"Sure," Amethyst said, unwrapping the candy and popping it into her mouth. She leaned forward to toss the wrapper into the trash can, then stopped. Even if she did just this one thing, it might cause her to go back to her old ways. She couldn't do it. Instead, Amethyst stuck the wrapper in her backpack, telling herself she'd find a way to make up for it.

What do you think about Amethyst's bad habits? Could she have a secret life too? Find out more in Chapter Seven!

~ writesthetic ❤️