12 August 2012
It took me a good two hours to realise I had been abandoned. Sitting at the side of the dusty road, late afternoon sun burning my back through my flimsy shirt, I expected to see the blue mini-bus appear on the horizon at any moment. It was a mistake, surely, I had told myself. In the bustle of getting everyone back onto the bus, they had missed me. They hadn't realised I was still in the toilet. I had been in there a long time, fixing my hair and my makeup in a vain attempt to compete with the natural beauty of my companions. As soon as they noticed I was missing they would come straight back for me. But as the minutes dragged by, slowing grinding out an hour, then two, the idea that they may not be coming back gnawed at the edges of my mind. Using my hand to shield my eyes from the sun I surveyed the empty truck stop. It was little more than a car park with a run-down toilet block and a few picnic benches. I scanned around, hoping to find a phone booth, but I was disappointed. And I had left my phone, along with all my other belongings, in my bag on the mini-bus. I looked up and down the road we had been travelling on, but all I could see was an expanse of dull-brown fields and a disturbingly silent road. There were no signs of life, as far as I could see in any direction.
The seriousness of the situation started to set in. The shadows were lengthening and the sun was hanging lower in the sky. Whilst I was thankful to finally receive some respite from the sun's oppressive heat, I was also aware that it would be getting dark soon. I didn't know what to do for the best - wait here in hope a passing car would stop and help me, or start walking. I got up and paced, stretching my limbs and thinking. I chewed my thumbnails; a nervous habit I had developed in my early teens.
It had all seemed too good to be true, I thought, being invited on this road trip by the 'popular' group from college. I mean, I wasn't hideously unpopular or anything, but my slight social-awkwardness and geeky tendencies had kept me on the fringe of their social group. They would talk to me at college, although mainly to ask me about homework or upcoming tests, but I was never invited to their parties or anything like that. To be honest, if I wasn't neighbours and childhood friends with Josh, I don't think any of them would even acknowledge my existence. When Josh had invited me along I'd jumped at the chance of spending time with him - I'd been nursing a massive crush on him for years. He was practically perfect with his short brown-blonde hair, clear green eyes and cheeky personality. Pretty much every girl in college had a crush on him at some point; even the teachers seemed to swoon over him. But as far as I could remember he had never had a girlfriend. I guess he was too busy partying, playing football and playing wingman to his best friend and head boy Liam.
Well, seems like I've well and truly been set up, I thought with a sigh. On a scale of one-to-ten, this practical joke was minus-five-funny. And was getting dangerous. Who knew how long it would be before another car came by? With that I decided that staying put was not going to work, so I turned left out of the trucks stop and started quickly along the rapidly darkening road...
...to be continued.
Abandoned • Opuss № I