Night bus

1am Monday morning on the 907 night bus. It takes me a few stops to realize that I am sitting across from an elementary school classmate. I am quite sure it's him: he looks the same as when we were 10, somewhat older and a lot bigger. I even remember his name, I think it suits him so well too. He's reading a book, holding his laptop case very tightly. For a while, I try to make eye contact; maybe if he recognizes me too, we would chat and for some reason I am really interested in finding out what has become of him. He clearly feels uncomfortable when he realizes that I am looking at him, and lifts the book higher so I can't see his face any more. Then I remember that he had always been like that; looking back now, I am pretty sure he's autistic, but those things weren't talked about or diagnosed back then in Hungary. We just thought he was a really weird kid.

Now embarrassed, I start paying attention to other things on the bus. A girl got on at the same stop as me, she is wearing all black and her face is covered with piercings. She's also holding a half of a watermelon, a huge one too. Strange combination, I think. She turns around to see a guy sleeping: he is wearing mostly leather and has a huge tatoo on his neck, slightly intimidating. Apparently, not to her: she taps him on the shoulder and asks him where he's getting off, telling him she is worried that he might miss his stop cuz he is sleeping. Very confused, he closes his eyes again without bothering to answer. She then starts chatting up another guy on the bus, this one awake. She talks about genetically engeniereed watermelons, how they must be imported from America and that's why they are so big. I am not even sure if the guy gets to say a single word. She goes on to talk about living in America. As they are both getting off at the same stop, they are standing right next to me so I can hear him asking where she was living in America. She says Jersey. Not even New Jersey, just Jersey. He has no clue where that is so she explains that it's about an hour south of New York on the East Coast. As they step off, I hear her saying that despite its proximity to NY, Jersey is super boring... then they are about to turn in different directions, and the last thing I hear her say is that she can walk either way, so they head off together into the night... I wonder where they ended up with that huge watermelon.