Momo almost trips as she sprints her way to the bus stop.

She’s afraid she’ll miss the 5 pm bus going home.

Moreover, she’s afraid she’ll miss her.

The girl.

Momo almost misses it as she sees the bus about to drive off from the said stop. So she sprints as fast as her legs could carry her and slams her left hand multiple times on the side of the moving bus before it slowly halts to a stop.

The bus doors open and Momo sees the driver, no older than fifty, looking at her with a mix of surprise and relief.

“I was starting to wonder why you weren’t on today.”

Momo bows and smiles curtly. She mutters something about being held up in class before bowing once more and heading to her usual seat at the very end of the bus.

She holds on to the back of the seats as the bus started to move once again and she makes her way to her seat.

Her eyes, automatically scan the bus and finds who she’s looking for at the exact same place where she’s always been.

These past two months, Momo has been racing off to the bus stop just a block away from her school. She usually didn’t get home till after her usual hangout with her friends but ever since that one day she decided to actually go home early, she hasn’t stopped doing so.

---

The day has been dragging on, her classes seeming more boring than usual and Momo regrets sleeping at 3 am just so she can finish the new manga she just bought.

She yawns from her usual seat at the back of the class and makes up her mind to just go straight home and indulge herself into hibernation.

Like clockwork, her phone buzzes from inside her uniform’s coat pocket.

“Momo, we’re going to the arcades after school. You down? –Jeong”

Having already made up her mind about her own after school plans, Momo lowers her phone, careful not to get caught by their teacher as she types in her response and puts it back in her coat pocket.

After a few moments, her phone buzzes once more and Momo already knows what Jeongyeon was gonna say.

“Eww, such a granny! Anyway, I think you do need to sleep, I can see your eye bags from here. Haha! – Jeong”

Momo smirks and looks up to find her friend, sitting at the opposite side of the room and playfully sticking out her tongue at her before turning back to face the front.

Eventually, their classes ended and Momo just wants to get home and lie down on her comfy bed and sleep until around noon tomorrow. She thanks the heavens that its Saturday tomorrow and she can sleep without feeling any guilt or rush.

So she makes her way to the bus stop, forgetting how much people go home at this hour too as she sees them flocking in front of the newly arrived bus. This is one of the reasons why she opts to go home later in the first place; she hated being in confined spaces and crowds and going home at a later hour ensures the decrease of commuters, hence the decrease of people to deal with inside the bus.

Momo waits patiently until the bus leaves, full with commuters. She looks at her watch and sees it’s five minutes before 5 pm, five more minutes till the next bus comes.

Taking out her earbuds and phone from her coat pocket, she scrolls through her music playlist to distract herself for a while until the bus arrives.

When it arrived, she fell into a beeline heading into the bus. It wasn’t as crowded as she expected, but eventually has to sit at the very back since all the ones up front are taken.

Momo didn’t mind though since she usually had a 30-minute travel time from her school to her home. She liked long, car (or in this case, bus) rides, it helps her think in peace and day dream just about anything.

Little does she know that from that day on she’ll only be daydreaming of one thing.

Or one person.

Momo shifts comfortably on her seat beside the window. Like in a music video, she mentally hums the lyrics of the song she’s listening to.

“Yeah, it’s over

It’s over

I’m circling these vultures

Got me praying

Man, this hunger

Feeling something rotten”

She continues to bop her head along to one of her favorite songs, turning her head to look away momentarily from the window when she sees her.

“Last time I saw you,

said ‘What’s up’ and pushed right through

Then I tried to catch you but we’re always on the move”

She sat at the opposite end of the back of the bus, looking out the window as if in a movie. Her features, so delicate and a sense of elegance radiating off of her.

“And now it’s over

We’re sober

Symptoms of the culture

And the night ain’t getting younger

Last call’s around the corner”

Momo feels something stirring in her chest and stomach as she continues to stare in awe at the girl. And no, it wasn’t the same as she feels when she’s hungry or sick.

She has a strong urge to move from her seat and get closer to the girl; curiosity and fascination washing over her as the girl moves to brush a stray hair from her face and tuck it behind her ear. It was a simple action but it makes Momo feel things she can’t decipher, still.

Everything seemed to be going into slow motion, at least for Momo, as she unabashedly stared at the girl.

“Feeling kinda tempted

and I’m pouring out the truth”

And the truth was, Momo’s enraptured.

It was strange and beautiful at the same time.

SHE was strange and beautiful at the same time.

With her dark brown hair falling just slightly past her shoulders, swaying along the subtle movements of the bus.

Pink, supple lips that Momo can only describe as something created by the gods themselves.

Her eyes, dark yet inviting and Momo thinks she can stare at them all day,

and the curve of her jaw that Momo never thought she’d find attractive in anyone.

“Just fadin’ out these talkers,

‘cause now all I want is you.”

Momo realizes she’s been staring like a total idiot and slouches back down to her seat.

Yet, she kept taking a glance at the girl who was still sitting with her hand atop her bag, back resting straight on her seat and eyes still trained outside the window.

Momo’s lips curve into a slight smile, finding it a bit amusing that the girl already seems like the complete opposite of her; quiet, graceful and gentle.

And Momo was none of those things.

She was always brazen, loud and hyperactive. Especially when around friends.

As much as she knew her limits and knew how to stay within them, Momo never found herself to be graceful in any way.

Momo inwardly groans when the bus halts and she notices they’ve arrived at her destination. Hesitantly, she gets up from her seat and makes her way toward the exit but not without looking back once more at the girl.

She sighs and eventually lets herself off the ride.

What Momo assumed to be a night filled with sleep, was filled by thoughts of the mystery girl instead.

Even as she drifted off to sleep, Momo wished she saw her again even if it was just in her dreams.

---

For the next two months, Momo started to make various excuses to her friends about going home right away.

It ranged from her mom needing help with chores or giving her chores.

To having to walk her dog or not feeling well.

Momo has practically recycled all her excuses before her closest friend, Jeongyeon has caught up. It took Momo by surprise one day, when Jeongyeon sat beside her during lunch and took away her food tray.

“Hey! I was eating, you nerd!” Momo whines, trying to reach the tray once again.

“It’s a girl, isn’t it?” Momo freezes at the question momentarily, before brushing it off and continues to reach for the tray in Jeongyeon’s hand.

“Come on, you peach. I know it’s a girl. It couldn’t be a boy, could it?” Jeongyeon raises an eyebrow at Momo, still remaining quiet which Jeongyeon took as a ‘yes’.

“I knew it.” Placing the tray back on the table, Jeongyeon smiles in relief, playfully ruffling her friend’s hair.

“You could’ve told us. Or just me. Geez, they thought you were avoiding us because you were mad about something.”

Momo mumbles an apology and continues to munch on her pizza slice.

They sat in silence before Momo relents and finally tells her friend about the girl, gushing at how perfect she is.

“So, what’s her name?” Jeongyeon asks, making Momo wince in embarrassment. Even after two months, she hasn’t gathered up the courage to speak to the girl, let alone sit closer to her.

Momo’s only ever sat at her usual seat at the back of the bus, seeing as it’s the closest her guts can muster. So she smiles awkwardly at Jeongyeon who face palms herself in response.

“You mean, you’ve been skipping out on our hang outs for what, two months now? For a girl you’re ogling at every single day, and you haven’t even asked for her name?” the short haired girl asks incredulously, making Momo settle down her pizza and mull over what she just said.

It was true though. It was weird for Momo to be this shy.

She was usually confident in making friends and even coming up to people she likes and it was ridiculous how she was suddenly this way.

“You got it bad, Hirai. And as your friend,” Jeongyeon places her right