Chapter 2
All through the bus ride, all Snow could think about was her mother, how would she survive without her mum and how would her mum survive without her. Ever since her dad died, it had been just the two of them. Her dad died in service of the planet. One day, when she was just six years old, she saw her mum talking to a stranger in the living room. He wore a military camouflage and he had his hat on his hand and her mum was sobbing uncontrollably.
"Mummy? What is happening?" Little Snow asked as she walked over to her mother. Her mother, seeing her quickly wiped the tears from her face. She tried to hide it from her.
"Oh nothing sweetie. Something just entered mummy's eyes." She lied, she pulled little Snow closer and hugged her, she was still sobbing but she did everything in her power to hide it but she was doing a very terrible job at it.
"When is daddy coming home?" Snow asked as her voice was starting to break. She didn't know why her mum was crying but she felt compelled to cry as well.
"Dad is out on a mission, he'll be home soon." Maya lied again. It broke her that she has to lie to her daughter constantly. But how was she going to explain to a six year old that she won't be seeing her daddy anymore, that her daddy is never returning home.
The military man stepped forward and placed his hands on Maya's shoulder.
"Mrs. Arryn, I'm very sorry for your loss. John was a good man, and a good captain and his sacrifice won't be forgotten."
Hearing her husband's name just made her sob louder, at this point, it made little Snow cry with her mum as well.
"Why are you crying mummy?" Little Snow asked as she cried, Maya rocked her back and forth trying to get her to stop. "It's okay honey, don't cry. Shhh, don't cry…"
*BEEEPPPP*
Snow jolted from her seat at the back of the bus when the loud honking of another car almost destroyed her eardrums. She was just pulled out from the memory of ten years ago. One of the worsts moments of her life, even as a kid she didn't even know what as going on that day. She didn't understand it but she felt that something was wrong. Eventually her mum had told her that her father was never returning home. She still didn't understood what it meant, but she cried her eyes out that day.
As she grew up, she began to understand what it all meant, she grieved and she moved on and now, today, she was sitting in a bus that was taking her to a place that would shape her life, or end it, just like her father and many others who died in service of the planet.
The door hissed open as two young teenagers walked in, they were very identical. They both had blonde hair and blue eyes, the boy had a very sharp and attractive jawline, a few strand of his hair curled around his brows, his looks screamed handsome and Snow couldn't stop staring.
Just like her arrival, everywhere in the bus went quiet, and the boy took his time to scan the bus but unlike her, he wasn't fazed by the number of eyes staring at him. He was looking for an empty seat.
'How? How is he so calm? I almost passed out earlier' Snow wondered as she continued staring.
His eyes locked on hers amidst his scanning and she quickly looked away pretending she hadn't been staring for the past five hundred years.
"Shit!" She muttered under her breath. The boy gestured as he stretched his hand towards his twin sister and she took it and they both walked together hand in hand. Unlike her brother, she looked pale, her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying. Snow assumed it must be hard for her to leave home as well, maybe she missed her mum as well but when she glanced at the window, towards their house, she didn't see anyone standing there. Infact, it wasn't a house at all. It was a shelter, a shelter for the homeless.
'What the–"
The girl sat down to the seat on the left, her brother crouched down on the floor and asked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'll be fine, eventually." She replied sniffling.
"It will work out, I promise. You and me against the world remember?" He asked and there was a hint of worry in his voice
"Yes, I remember."
He nodded and he stood up. He looked around the bus again and his eyes landed on Snow.
'why the hell is he looking at me?' Snow wondered as she tried to ignore his stare but she the next thing she felt was embarrassment when he asked.
"Can I seat here?"
"Uh…yeah, it's a free seat." She answered nervously. He muttered a little 'thank you' as he sat next to her. She looked away with embarrassment having realized that he wasn't staring at her. He was staring at the empty chair next to her, he was probably wondering if he should seat or not.
He pulled out his phone and his earpiece and started listening to music. He didn't say anything throughout the ride which she found weird. Most boys she knew always tried to talk to her but he, he was different. It was almost like he didn't give a care in the world and it seemed like the only person he gave a shit about was his sister.
Snow stole a glance at him and that's when she noticed how perfect those jawline were, she didn't know it but she found herself staring longer than usual.
"Ahem!"
A voice came up in front of her making her snap out if her trance immediately. She looked up and someone was staring down at her, he had green hair.
'Yep, about time someone bothered me'
The boy beside her removed his earpiece, he had this unbothered look in his face when he asked, "Can I help you?"
The green hair replied, "Help me? It's you who need help , mate."
He smirked.
"What are you talking about," earpiece guy asked.
Snow had a habit of giving names to strangers before she learned their name and for this one, she chose to call him 'earpiece guy'.
"With the way green eyes here keeps staring at you, you might lose your face, she might be stealing your looks." He said matter of factly and Snow's face turned bright red with embarrassment. For the first time since he sat down, earpiece guy turned to her and that only made the entire thing even more awkward. He still didn't say much.
"Why don't you mind your own business, Sabrina?" Snow fired back in defence, sarcasm had always been her last line of defence towards bullies.
"Sabrina? That's not my name." Green hair said as he raised his brow trying to figure out why she called him that. "That's a girl's name, why would I answer a girls name.
Snow facepalmed as she sighed. "Pretty face with no sense of humor, I don't think I can survive this bus ride talk more of four years." She muttered under her breath and to her surprise, earpiece guy heard her, he chuckled.
'Did he just laugh?' Snow asked herself.
'oh my God, he did, I made him laugh. That progress'
Snow was already feeling gleeful and she pinched herself as soon as she realized what she was doing.
"I'm Lu by the way," he said. Snow had even forgotten he was there, she was too carried away by the person sitting next to her.
"Okay, Sabrina." She rolled her eyes, deep down she hoped earpiece guy would also introduce himself as she has grown bored of calling him earpiece guy but he didn't say anything, he just inserted it back in his ear. Snow sighed as she plumped back into her seat. Green hair did the same thing.
The chatter in the bus was still on going, loud as ever, she couldn't help but wonder why people chose to be noise, who doesn't like peace and quiet?
The bus came to a halt all of a sudden and the chatter died down, just like every other students in the bus. She thought that maybe it was another student coming inside but the door never opened, she looked at the window and she realized that they were in the middle of nowhere.
Earpiece guy got rid of his phone as he also looked out the window.
"What the hell is going on?
"Where are we? Why are we stopping?"
Voices flew as some of the students expressed their concerns.
"Are we being kidnapped?"
Snow raised a brow at that question but she brushed it off quickly.
Before anyone could ask any further questions, all the windows locked automatically. Panic was already starting to rise as gas started to fill the bus. Some were already coughing and some were already starting to pass out.
Snow turned to her side and her seat partner was already crouching next to his sister holding her hands, he was trying to protect her from what ever this was.
Not before long, Snow eventually passed out and so did everyone else on the bus.
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