Bring Me The Horizon

[Anise]

There was a faint beeping sound emitting from her small, plastic pink watch, which clasped to a wrist hanging out of a large, soft pink comforter. The seventeen-year-old in which the wrist and the watch belonged to took a moment to awaken and, as soon as she noticed the beeping, had immediately started to blindly try turning the timer off. She quickly sat up, throwing off the comforter, and turned the beeping off. She sat in the dark, eyeing the time: 2:06AM. It was time for them to go.

Jumping from her bed, it was made clear that she was all ready. Sporting a pink and white-striped short-sleeved shirt and black skinny jeans, she grabbed her black hoodie jacket that was hanging from the back of the door and quickly slipped it on. She dragged a black backpack from underneath her single-sized bed, as well as black tennis shoes. She took out a bright pink wallet from one of the pockets of her backpack, rummaging through it to make sure she had all her money there, saved up from all the summer jobs she had done. She did.

After she pulled on her shoes, she picked up her blue cell phone from her nightstand, which also held a small, silver lamp with a soft pink top and a black scrunchy. Pulling her hair accessory onto her non-watch-using-wrist, she turned her phone on and began to text someone. “Gotta get up, girl, it’s time to leave…” she whispered as she finished her text message and stuck her cellphone into one of her back pockets.

Swinging her backpack over one shoulder, she creeped out of her bedroom, down the staircase (which she took extra care on stepping, as to not make any creeking noises) and through the house towards the front door. Her heart was beating fast, shaking slightly from being so nervous.

This was it.

But could it be this easy?

She wasn’t sure, but she was determined to make it to the ocean, to see it with her best friend. She knew they had a ways to go, but that was okay. They were going to do it.

Hurrying down the street, she scooped up handfuls of her long, black hair, trimmed neatly at the bangs and ends, and tied it up with her scrunchy. Her green eyes darted around in the darkness as she made her way across two more blocks, and stopped in front of a house.

And waited anxiously for her to come out.

[Ikuar]

Hands a little weak, she flipped open her phone to see the text message and smiled warmly. She had been waiting a long time for this moment and today was her day. She tied a pastel colored bandanna around her head and then put her favorite hat on over top of it. She was already dressed with her favorite white, styled-by-hand sneakers and knee high socks. Her pants came down to her toes and her sweatshirt hung lazily on her shoulders.

"Coming." She texted promptly before pushing her purple, wire rimmed glasses up on her nose. It was too late to turn back, she was thinking as she picked up her white and gray backpack filled with things she needed for the long trip.

Chapstick, money, medications and a few special snacks she managed to get from the pantry earlier in the day.

By the time her friend arrived she was unlocking the door and going out as quietly as she could. Her hands were still a little shaky but she knew once she was gone it would all be okay. She suppressed a cough and tiptoed down the front porch steps.

As she was walking towards her she could tell she was a little anxious. At least she wasn't alone there. And once at the end of the path only one thought really crossed her mind.

Sorry, but I want to live before I die.

[Anise]

The dark-haired girl had been looking around nervously in the darkness, hoping no one ho come up behind her and try to rob her or something of that nature. As soon as she heard the door of the house she was waiting in front of close, she looked up to see her friend approaching her. Smiling warmly, she managed to swallow her anxiety and greet the girl.

“Hi Lili,“ she started, trying not to talk above a whisper. It was hard for her. She was normally a very loud girl. “Are you ready to go?” She took off her backpack and took out her wallet, then pulled out two card. “I got the bus passes,” she went on, handing one of the cards to the bandana-clad female.

“I don’t know when the next bus is coming, though, so we should hurry,” she said quickly as she through her backpack onto her shoulders again, beginning to walk up to the bus stop, which was only about five blocks away. “So Lilibug, how are you feeling?” she asked.

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth followed at the speed her legs would go at which was better than usual since she'd stopped chemo. She didn't like having radiation done because not only did it ruin her hair but it made her feel sick and she didn't want to feel horrible on the trip.

"Not too bad, actually." She said, hanging on tightly to her bus pass. That pass was like her golden ticket to the world. Or at least the ticket that would take her far away from home. A home where she felt confined. That pass was going to take her places and she could barely keep herself from running. It was more exciting than she'd expected it to be.

Actually, she half expected it to be terrifying.

"I'm sure we'll make it in time for the next bus. I packed some snacks and sodas." She continued.

[Anise]

"Snacks and sodas?" she asked in a sing-song voice. "Coral likes!" She pulled her jacket closer to her body. "All I could grab were some bottles of water and these... grain bar... things. But that's better than nothing, I guess!" Coral began fanning herself with her bus pass, gazing around suspiciously for anyone that might be wandering around in the dark. She was always a little paranoid about getting jumped, whether it was in the night, or the day.

As they neared the bus stop, Coral began to feel nauseous. Must just be nervousness, she thought. Apart from the one or two cars that had just past them, it was very quiet, eerily quiet. This made Coral uneasy. Gripping onto her bus pass, she sat on the bench in a huff, then crossed her legs. Patting one of her thighs, she gazed at Lilibeth.

"Are you ready?"

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth's glasses were falling down on her nose a little bit when she heard Coral's words. She pushed them up and looked at her with a confident nod, "Yeah, I'm ready when you are. Is there a bus available?" She asked, leaning forward in her seat while resting her elbows on her thighs.

She wouldn't get up until she was sure they were going. Her legs were really shaky and tired from the walk and she felt like sitting, at least until they had to walk to the bus.

[Anise]

Coral cringed at the thought of a bus not even coming. She began playing with her hair, leaning forward as well, trying to see up and down the road for any sign of a bus. "I hope there's a bus available..." she mumbled. "I'm sure it's coming soon!" she said cheerfully. She leaned back to relax.

Fifteen to twenty minutes have probably passed before an obnoxious sound ran through the air. Coral sighed heavily, looking down the road to see what it was coming. Suddenly, she had a giant smile on her face when she saw that, finally, the bus was approaching.

"Lili! Lili!" she cried happily, jumping off the bench. She began tugging on her friend's arm in an attempt to get the girl to stand up. The bus rolled to a stop in front of them, with the doors swinging open. The driver, with a weary expression, looked on, waiting for them to get on.

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth stood up and snatched up her backpack. This was it, after they got on that bus there was no turning back. At least not until after they saw the ocean. The bus wasn't too heavily packed when they climbed on. Lilibeth found a seat for them closer to the front and sat down, her back to the window. This, of course, was after she showed her bus pass.

"I can't believe we made it." Her voice was soft, "This is going to be amazing!"

[Anise]

Coral took off her backpack as she sat next, then placed it in her lap. The bus doors swung closed, and the bus slowly took off. "I know!" she agreed quietly. "After this, it's smooth sailing!" Grinning happily, she pressed her knees tightly together, hugging her backpack to her chest happily.

After a few streets, the bus stopped at another bus stop. The majority of the people on the barely-crowded-bus got off. As they were doing so, a petite, frail-looking woman, who looked no more than 26, got on, holding a blue-blanketed baby in her arms. She put some money into the money bin, and slowly made her way down the aisle, her short, curly blonde hair bounding as she walked. Her sad, dark blue eyes were glued to the floor. Taking a seat a few paces behind Lilibeth and Coral, she decided to look up. Hugging her baby closer to her chest, she squinted her eyes at the duo, and made a very small, almost unnoticable gasp.

"You two..." she murmured, getting back up. The bus began moving again just as she did this, making her stumble backwards a little. "Excuse me, excuse me..." she continued, unfazed, walking back up on the aisle. The driver yelled at her to sit down, which she hesitantly did so, behind Lilibeth and Coral.

"What are two little girls like you doing out so late at night?" she questioned softly, obviously concerned. "Shouldn't you be at home now? It's very, very late..." Coral looked back at the woman, making a startled expression. "Oh...! You're talking to us? Well, uhh..." she trailed off, looking at Lilibeth for an answer.

[Ikuar]

"I'm dying and there are a few things I would like to see tonight. It's one of those things where you complete a list of things you want to do. Make some memories so you don't feel bad that you are missing things." Lilibeth said. She knew it was going to feel like a stab wound after saying it. It really ached, she wanted to cry but she couldn't let herself fall down like that.

"So it's a one time thing. Everything is okay and our parents are fine with it." She lied there, she had to. She didn't want to worry anyone.

[Anise]

The baby in the woman's arms cooed softly as she put her up against her shoulder. "Well, all right..." she murmured, glancing away. "Where are you girls going? Is it far away? Do you have a map or anything?" It seemed that the blonde's questions were never-ending.

"Ma'am," Coral began. "Lucy," the woman interrupted matter-of-factly. "...Lucy," Coral corrected herself, "We'll be totally fine. Everything is planned out. We have a map." Coral stuck her head closely to Lilibeth's and whispered nervously, "You brought the map, right?"

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth nodded and began to rummage through her backpack, under medications and snacks she found the map and handed it to Coral, "We're safe." She could tell the lady, Lucy, was just being protective. She must have been a new mother because Lilibeth had heard that most new mom's acted that way with a lot of people, related or not, no matter how old they were.

[Anise]

Coral waved the map slowly for Lucy to see. "Yeah, see? We're totally fine!" she declared. Lucy narrowed her eyes, then sat back in her seat. "I see," she murmured. The rest of the bus ride was quiet. The few people that were on got off over time, Lucy being one of them. She muttered a "be careful" before getting off.

It seemed like forever before it got to the two girl's destination, but the bus eventually stopped at the bus station. Coral, who was nodding off, became more alert from the bus' vibrations. She looked out the window, blinking slowly, and saw that they were at the bus station. Nudging Lilibeth, unsure if she was awake or not, she picked up her backpack and wrapped the straps around her wrist. "Liliiii," she whined, "We're at the bus station now." She tiredly hobbled towards the door, rubbing her eyes with her free hand.

[Ikuar]

She forced her eyes open against her own body not liking it at all. She often had trouble waking up but managed to get out of her seat. She felt heavy but it wore off when she began to walk behind Coral.

"Sorry I dozed off. Sometimes I just get so tired that it's impossible to stay awake. Do you know where we are?" She gripped harshly to the rails as she managed the steps to climb off the bus. She had forgotten where they were switching at and last she checked Coral had the map. After hitting the pavement, Lilibeth pushed her glasses back up on her nose and examined the area, looking for signs to tell them where they were and then where they were going next.

"Gosh, it's chilly here." She commented wearily.

[Anise]

The sky had begun to turn from its dark blue color to a pinkish orange color as dawn approached. Letting out a yawn, Coral reached into her jacket pocket, while nodding in agreement with Lilibeth's comment about the temperature, and pulled the map out. "Ummm," she hummed. "We are at... the Jefferson Bus Lines in Fort Smith, I think." Looking up from the map and at the sign on the bus station building, she saw that the sign said just that. "...Yep."

Handing the map to Lilibeth, Coral took down her hair so it could cover her neck from the cold, and stuck her scrunchie on her bare wrist. Looking at her watch, she saw that it read 6:53AM. "Wow, we were on that bus for a while..." she mumbled to herself. She turned to Lilibeth and suggested, "Let's go inside and ask someone when the next bus is coming."

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth had a small coughing fit but quickly recovered and followed Coral into the large building. It smelled like things she couldn't describe - smoke being one of them. She hated the smell of smoke. Her hands fumbled for a moment before she finally grabbed the straps of her backpack to keep it from hitting against her butt.

She was so tired but they had to keep going. They certainly weren't going to get this trip done in a day. She looked around quietly and smiled. Outside the windows she could see lots of trees and scenery. It was beautiful. Inside, not a lot could be said about that.

[Anise]

There wasn't a whole lot of people inside, but there wasn't a giant crowd either. The majority of the benches were taken up by slumbering people, and at this, Coral sighed deeply. She looked around for someone that was awake and looked like they could have an intelligent conversation with, even if they were just going to be asked a question. As Coral ruffled her fingers through her hair to shake it out of its pigtail, she saw someone a few benches away.

Nudging Lilibeth, Coral slowly made her way, being careful not to bump into anyone's foot hanging off the end of the benches or anything, and quietly stopped in front of a tan blonde woman with long, wavy hair, and was wearing some kind of obnoxiously bright pink jogging suit. She was reading a book called Bed of Roses or some other while occasionally taking dainty sips from her bottle of green tea.

"Excuse me," Coral began. "Do you know--" And just like that, rudely, loudly, she was interrupted by a voice that was equally obnoxious as the color of the owner's clothing. "HM?" she buzzed. "What was that?" Coral glanced at Lilibeth, then continued. "We just wanted to know--" The woman lowered her book to reveal her caked-on make-up and green eyes the color of vomit. "I don't CARE what you want to know! Can't you see I'm busy READING? Shoo!" she screeched, waving her hand at the two and went back to reading her book. Speechless, Coral pulled away Lilibeth and, with her head lowered, murmured, "She hurt my feelings, Lili."

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth wrapped her arms gently around Coral to give her a hug, "It's okay. One day someone will walk by and hurt her feelings. That's what she gets for being rude to you." She glared at the woman who wasn't even paying attention and took Coral somewhere else in hopes of finding a friendlier person that could help them out. She trekked quietly until she got to a help desk where she proceeded to ask about the bus schedule. They gave her a paper with the upcoming buses and then they found an empty seat.

"There's one coming in thirty minutes. That gives us enough time to have breakfast..." Lilibeth whispered as she scanned the sheet in her hands.

[Anise]

Coral hummed a little as she was in thought laying back in her seat and changing positions slightly to get comfortable. "There's a..." she began, waving her hand in a circular motion, trying to think. "...a Burger King across the street, I think. We could go over there and eat. Or something," she suggested tiredly, letting out a loud yawn.

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth nodded with a smile on her face, "Yeah we can just get a couple of breakfast things and drink the water bottles we brought along. That way we can save our cash for other stuff." She knew how to save money, that was certain. She stood up, wobbling a little and looked towards the door, "We have time, let's go ahead and eat."

[Anise]

Coral had noticed the wobbling and narrowed her eyes. "Are you okay, Lili?" she asked quietly. Coral took her arm so the girl had some support as they walked out of the building. As they neared the crosswalk, she went on, "If you feel tired or anything, tell me so I can carry you on my back. Or try to."

[Ikuar]

Her body involuntarily leaned against Coral's. She was exhausted and not feeling that well but she figured after getting a drink and eating some breakfast her energy would boost. She laughed a little and glanced at Coral from the corner of her eye.

"I'll be okay. I can walk just fine, but thank you."

[Anise]

Coral smiled lightly. "Okay," she said. As soon as the crosswalk became green, they made their way across the street and entered the Burger King on the corner. Like the bus station, the restaurant wasn't too horribly packed or deserted. Coral drummed her hands on her thighs as they walked up to the counter, not being greeted by the detached-looking young woman there. She was leaning up against the counter, busily texted away at someone. She suddenly looked up, and was obviously startled. "Uhhiwhatdoyouwant?" she asked quickly, looking back at her cellphone.

[Ikuar]

Lilibeth made an order for a couple things on the breakfast menu. It didn't really take them too long to eat and when they got back to the bus station they started to wait another twenty minutes for the bus to arrive. She sipped at her waterbottle and stared off at the distance. She didn't feel good at all. She debated on taking a short nap but there wasn't a lot of time.

[Anise]

Coral looked around the station as the majority of the people that were sleeping on the benches were awake and waiting like everyone else. Sighing deeply, Coral tapping her fingers on her knees and repeatidly looking at her watch, wishing the time would go faster so they could finally leave. She looked at Lilibeth, looked away, then looked back, looking more closely this time. "...Lilibear?" she asked timidly. "You don't look so hot. You doin' okay?"

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