Hey. This is just something that popped into my head while I was riding the train.

I don't own the characters. I attach strings to them and shout, "Dance marionettes! Dance for my pleasure!"


She was always in that same spot, in the same seat, same row at the same time every day.

I usually don't concern myself with girls, especially weird ones who sleep on the bus, but something about her bright red hair and that old frog keychain made me stop and look twice.

I noticed that her hair was wet most of the times I saw her; like she was in a hurry with her shower and forgot to dry it off. But then I sit down next to her and I can practically taste the chlorine. She was probably a swimmer. Most likely competitive from the way I've barley ever seen her with her hair dry.


I followed her one day, just because I was curious.

I had graduated the year before and college didn't start until September, unlike my old high school, which started in August. The band I played in didn't have rehearsal until tonight and I had no idea where else I could kill some time. And then I remembered that girl.

Maybe she could cure my boredom.


There she was. Hair wet and smelling like chlorine as usual. This time she was actually awake though. Even more strangely, the area under her eyes was red. She had either gotten chlorine in her eyes or she had been crying. Judging by the wet streaks on her cheeks, it was probably the latter.

She got off a few stops after mine. She hopped off and I followed behind, trying hard to not look like a stalker.

She ended up exactly where I thought she would: Sheffeild High School. After ferociously scrubbing her eyes she yelled out to a group of girls hanging by the entrance on the stairs. Though they all differed in ethnicity, they all smiled brightly as she arrived. They seemed to just orbit around her.

A brunette pounded her playfully on the shoulder. The blonde said something that made her blush and the little Chinese girl pointed at me. When the redhead glanced at me, she shook her head before waving them off and started walking towards me. Panicking, I started walking towards the campus cafe, trying to look as casual as possible. Before I could get far enough, I felt a hand clap me on the shoulder, forcing me to turn around and face the girl I followed. Now that she wasn't sitting down or sleeping, I could see that her eyes were a unique shade of brown, almost red if you looked closely enough. She was really short too, only coming up to my shoulder.

"Hello?" Her waving in front of my face broke my staring. "Are you okay?"

I gave myself a mental slap to the face. "Um, yeah. What was the question?"

She bit her lip, obviously trying not to laugh. "I asked if you were staring at me. I guess we both know the answer to that question now."

I scratched the back of my neck, a habit I did whenever I was nervous. "I didn't mean to do it so obviously."

"But you still meant to do it?"

She had me there. "I was curious."

"Curious enough to follow me from the bus stop?"

My flush became painfully obvious. "Yes."

She didn't even bother to hide her giggles this time. "Tell you what, I've got class in ten minutes. Meet me at the campus cafe at ten-thirty and I'll answer all of your questions. Alright?"

Before I could answer her, the familiar shrill sound of the bell rang throughout the courtyard. "You need to go?"

She nodded and ran to the steps. Before she went inside she turned around, cupped her hands to her mouth and shouted, "My name is Will by the way! See you later!" And she ran inside.

I smiled and strode towards the cafe, quickly making a mental list of all the questions I wanted to ask her.