wheels on the bus

Instructions

art and characters by @therealpjberri [me!] OKAY BEFORE THE STORY. its in the pov of nine year old ceres, and at the time maddie only used she/her pronouns. so if you notice ceres doesnt refer to him with he/him pronouns thats why ALR STORYTIME :3 - it was just another day of school. in the crowded bus, everyone's voices...they were so loud. and cles, she sat a row behind me. and she'd do small things, things nobody would notice. she'd tug at my hair, or kick the back of my seat, or even call me names. sometimes she got the other kids to join her. 'cles, leave her alone...' i could her applesauce's soft voice telling my sister. applesauce was one of her many friends. it was a wonder how, though. he was actually...kinda nice to me. yeah, he'd never sit next to me, and yeah, he'd stay to the side whenever cles and her other mean friends would pick on me. but he meant well. at least he stuck up for me sometimes, when he saw cles bothering me. 'what do you mean, LEAVE HER ALONE?' i heard cles snap at applesauce in response, a slight hiss in her voice. 'shes MY sister. and shes [floop]ing annoying.' yeah, she had a pretty nasty mouth. i felt bad for applesauce there, because all i heard from him was a quiet 'sorry...' which i didnt know if it was directed to me or my sister. what i DIDNT hear, though, was whatever cles told me, because i felt her yank on my hair while hissing, 'did you even hear what i said?' at me. 'i..no, cles. im sorry...' i murmured quietly. i couldnt see her, but i could already hear her getting ready to do something. thankfully though, the bus driver figured something was happening. 'foxtrot, knock it off.' she told cles in her gruff voice. cles grumbled, 'well arent you lucky..' angrily at me before i heard her loudly talking to another one of her friends. i covered the sides of my head, like i usually did. i hated the loud noises. i hated the yelling, and loud talking. it was so early in the morning, too... then i heard everyone fall silent as the bus suddenly stop. i looked out the window, realizing we werent at school yet. 'wh-where..are we?' i asked quietly, not wanting any of cles' friends- who literally were almost all of the kids in the bus- to tell me to be quiet, that i was being too loud. 'i dont know! and even if i did, i wouldnt tell /you./' i heard jessica, one of cles' friends, scowl at me. i looked out the window curiously, also trying not to make any eye contact with anyone in the bus, and spotted a drone coming to the bus. and she was little like me! i saw more drones crowding around the windows on my side, desperate to get a look, excited whispers between everyone filling the bus. then everyone went back into their seats, but peeked over to the front as they waited. the drone came in. it was a new drone, probably in third grade like me. suddenly everyone was excitedly chattering. 'hi new girl!' 'ooh, you look cool!' 'come sit with me!' were the things i heard mostly as she curiously looked around from the front of the bus. the bus driver turned to look at us. 'everyone, this is madeline. she's a transfer student from another colony's school. i expect that all of you,' she narrowed her eyes at cles specifically, who just turned to applesauce and whispered something in his ear, 'treat her with respect. madeline, you can go pick your seat.' once the bus driver was finished, everyone stoarted excitedly hollering and calling out to madeline, 'come here! sit with me! no, you can sit here!' but she looked around at all of the seats, clearly slightly nervous but still smiling at a few of the kids. she then got closer to where i was sitting, and i found myself instinctively staring at the ground, just like i usually did. i heard her stop...somewhere. 'heya! mind if i sit with you?' she asked. at first i didnt look up until i felt stares directed at me. i looked up to see who she was talking to. '...oh, uhm...me?' i replied, expecting her to say no, that she was talking to someone else. to my shock though, she nodded. 'yeah!' she told me, a smile on her face. i found myself just staring at her for a moment, shocked and also a bit flustered that she was talking to me. of all drones. surely she'd heard, somewhere? nobody here liked me. i was the outcast. the weirdo. the idiot. the quiet girl. but i nodded, and found myself smiling widely as she sat down next to me. i...couldnt believe it. i was shocked. i didnt even know what to tell her. thankfully it was her who spoke first. 'i mean, i noticed nobody was sitting with you! and i dont like seeing people alone. everyone needs a friend, after all, right?' she told me. i nodded slightly, a wide smile on my face. although i quickly tried to hide it- cles told me my smile looked weird, and even i thought that too- madeline smiled at me. 'hey, dont hide it! i like your smile! i like seeing people happy, after all.' she told me kindly. still surprised, i muttered out a quick 'thank you' before finally having the courage