Anybody want to read my story?
Somewhere in the Midwest in a city of about 115,000 a noisy school bus filled with high schoolers is rumbling along a poorly-maintained city road. Somewhere in the middle of the bus sits Cassidy and Samantha, who have been friends since the first grade.
Cassidy's eyes were beaming, and she could barely contain her excitement. She's quite eager to show her dad the final grades she received for her freshman year. He's a surgeon, working in the ER of the nicest hospital in the metro area, and as such, is very hard to please. He loves his children, certainly, but sets the bar very high for them- a bar which they don't often meet.
"Dad's is going to be so pleased!" she squealed, barely able to sit still. "Maybe I'll get a bonus on my allowance like last year. Or maybe the new iPhone!" Or ma-"
"That's nice." Sam interrupted, sounding much less enthused.
"What's wrong? I thought you scored well too?"
"I did. It's just that since my dad lost his job, he's got bigger things to worry about than my grades." She muttered, staring out the window, counting down the house numbers until the bus would stop to let her off.
"Ah. Yeah. I forgot about that." She said softly. "I'm sorry. I'm sure he'll get another job soon. How could he not with a resume like what he's got?" She said in a vain attempt to cheer her up.
"Yeah, I guess so. We'll see." She muttered, sounding not-at-all cheered up.
They sat in awkward silence until the bus arrived at the stop, and Sam left her friend without saying much more than goodbye.
Continue...?