Thursday morning, my alarm rang earlier than normal. It went off at the same time that it always does, but it seemed much earlier because I'd gone to bed far later than I normally do on Wednesday nights. The next hour was a battle for consciousness, resulting in a race against the clock to get my ass out of the house on time. I ended up having to run down the stairs, simultaneously tucking my jeans into my boots, zipping up my jacket, starting up my iPod, and triple-checking that I had my keys. I was a damn mess, and I had about a minute before my bus was scheduled to show.

Storming up the street, still attempting to multi-task, I glanced across the intersection at the bus stop to see how many people were there. At this time of day, zero means I missed the bus, one or two means I still have a few minutes, and three or more means I need to get my butt in gear. I saw a tall boy in a nice black pea coat, a woman with crazy blue dreads, and a woman yapping away on her cell phone in a power suit. Three people. Shit.

I waited as patiently as possible for the light to change and sprinted across Hennepin asap, nearly getting hit by the bus I was trying to catch. I totally budged in front of the boy and the Power Suit, jumping on the bus after Blue Dreads. I inserted my bus pass and plopped down in one of two open seats at the front of the bus (reserved for the old and handicapped, if possible), between two really really old guys who smelled their age.

The Power Suit got on the bus, looked around, and ignored the open seat. Smart move; she'd clearly ridden the bus enough around this area to know that she'd probably end up giving it up sooner or later. I considered it. Do I stand, eventually succumbing to the momentum, getting knocked into the sitting passengers, apologizing for my overstuffed backpack all up in their business? Or do I sit until I absolutely have to give it up to the blind woman who usually gets on at 24th?

The boy in the pea coat got on the bus. HOLY SHIT! I could not believe my eyes. Fumbling around for his Go-Pass a mere foot and a half away from me was the first boy that I've ever had a crush on in my whole life. Holy goddamn shit. We made brief eye contact and he did a slight double-take. Not a full double-take, but the glance and then second glance. I remembered sitting next to him in sixth grade. He was correcting my history test and I had failed it by one point. He winked at me and erased one wrong answer, changing it to the correct one, thus saving my grade. I remember the same year we bonded because he told me that he loved this new band called No Doubt. It was love ever since. And holy crap, there he was, getting on the same bus at the same stop at the same time in a nice black pea coat.

He, too, ignored the open seat and headed towards the back. I felt immediately like an asshole. Grandpa next to me inhaled sharply, sending mucus thundering throughout his sinuses. God. If I would have been a good and kind human being, I would have left the open seat to the old-slash-handicapped and would have been able to strike up a conversation in the back of the bus with my old crush. But no, I had to be the asshole who kept the seat, and karma was being a cold and nasty bitch.

Throughout the ride, I kept wondering if he knew it was me. I wondered where he was going. He must have graduated by now. Does he have a job or a career? Is it totally boss, or is it a mindless job-to-get-by? I think I saw on facebook once that he was into math or something. Maybe he's got a sweet math job. Where is he getting off? What if he gets off the bus after I do? Where would he get off? He's going downtown, so it's 9th street with me, or I'll never know. Is he still friends with Sean? They were tight as hell all through school. Man, I remember this one time that Sean came to English class totally hung over in ninth grade and we all thought it was the most badass thing...

By the time that my mind had completely wandered off, the bus was jam packed, and MCTC (aka The Building I'd Most Like To Detonate With A Nuclear Warhead) was coming up soon, indicating to me that I had been lost in my mind for a good seven or eight minutes. We stopped and a flood of people got off the bus. I glanced back and I could see him, now sitting, staring out the window. Was he reminiscing too? Did he remember that he changed my grade? Did he remember talking about the brilliance that was "Don't Speak" and the subsequent ska movement? Did it drag up all those random memories from the time when we were children?

I signaled the 9th street stop, gathered my things, de-wedged myself from between the snot-ridden old men, and got off the bus. As I did, I turned around and looked into the window of the bus. He saw me and smiled, sending me a nod of recognition. I smiled back and returned the nod through a cloud of exhaust as the black pea coat zoomed down Hennepin.