All Fall Down

I thought I heard footsteps following me on my way home from the bar. I don’t know if it was my guilty conscience or my half-drunken stupor that was causing my paranoia, but I didn’t know why I was nervous. I didn’t turn to see who the footsteps belonged to. I wanted to, but I didn’t think it should really matter to me. I got to my bus stop and couldn’t help but laugh. I was always afraid of killing someone if I drove home drunk. It’s ironic to me that I still take the bus home from the bar because I am scared that I might hurt someone. I sat waiting for the bus for all of two seconds before it jerked to a stop in front of me. I couldn’t believe my luck. I’m always waiting for hours for my bus to come. As I stood to get on the bus, I finally saw my follower. She was beautiful, with brilliant blue eyes and curly reddish-brown hair that hung just above her shoulders. A solitary tear slid slowly down her cheek. She was looking at the ground, biting her bottom lip. I noticed one of her teeth was slightly crooked. The one imperfection made her perfect to me. She had a muscular body on a tiny frame, but not frail-looking. My mouth went dry and an urge started in my fingertips that surged swiftly through the rest of my body, which felt like pins and needles were jabbing all over. The bus driver sneezed, and it made my head jerk back to the dilapidated bus with one headlight and a thick layer of dust covering it. Everyone but the tiny girl boarded the bus. “On or off?” the bus driver queried. I jumped on without a reply and went to the back of the bus. I was vaguely aware of the girl, who boarded after me, following closely behind. I took a seat on a chair with a torn cushion held together by a few pieces of duct tape, with thread unraveling all around it. A light above the seat was flickering on and off just enough to annoy me. I dropped my head into my hands. I had to figure out a way to make these feelings go away. I couldn’t help but think how all this started. It would be so easy to make it all her fault, but even I couldn’t do that. Katrina Hunter and I had been dating for three years. We met in high school and decided to go to college together across the country to start a new life. She was incredibly smart. She got a full ride to Washington State. I followed her like she was a goddess, and I didn’t mind. She was my goddess. We were in the end of our second year of college, and things seemed good. I had been planning to propose to her and make her mine. We had talked about it, but she didn’t want to be that serious until after college. I figured it was just a matter of time. I didn’t put up much of a fight.