On the other hand, the girl on the right was not carrying anything. She just stood there, lowering her head silently.
When she heard the bus wheels stopping in front, she subconsciously raised her head slightly; looking at Yani briefly and then averting her gaze as quickly as if scared that Yani might recognize her.
The one on the left was still hesitating to go inside when finally a firm look appeared on her eyes like she had finally come to a decision after thinking for a long time.
They both got on the bus. And the passengers turned to look at the new arrival.
However, they didn't seem to see the girl in the white dress. There eyes were looking apprehensively at the girl on ponytails, looking as if the former didn't exist.
The latter sat at the forefront, close to the girl who look lively, probably feeling that the girl was the most friendly-looking based on the way she dressed hence, choosing to sit there.
"Yani!"
A sweet voice familiar to Yani suddenly sounded, startling Yani who was too focused in her thinking from her seat.
She sprung up immediately in attention, turning her head in the voice's direction.
An exquisite face that was smiling brightly in greeting greeted her. However, her dull skin was particularly conspicuous in the dim lighting of the bus.
Her voice was loud enough for the entire bus of passengers to hear but, the passengers as if not hearing her, continued on what they were doing.
Only Yani who was very familiar with the voiced seemed to noticed the girl.
Yani in turn, smiled back, suspiciously staring at the figure who appeared out of nowhere.
"Anne?", she confirmed questioningly.
Due to the dim and strange ambience inside the bus, Yani's voice that was said in a hesitant manner was particularly loud in the quiet atmosphere, breaking the silence.
Startled by the noise, all the passengers except the driver who was only focusing on driving the bus collectively raised their heads.
Their attention were focused on Yani's direction, contemplating as they looked straight at Yani, confused.
Even the young boy sitting at the back of the bus who didn't even move the whole time the bus was driving and was seemingly sleeping raised his head at Yani pensively.
His gray pupils stared directly at Yani, as if trying to look straight deeply into her heart with his gaze.
At this time, Yani couldn't care less about the strange looks the others were sending her way as she focused her attention on Anne.
Anne was leaning closer to Yani, holding her other arm tightly and sitting beside Yani's seat.
"Didn't I say I'll go together with you? Surprise! I'm here, aren't I?!"
Anne exclaimed unrestrainedly, hugging Yani tightly.
Hearing that, Yani reflectively glanced back briefly at the mall and then at Anne, her eyes hiding unknown emotions.
'I hope you're not hiding anything from me'
Feeling someone's gaze scrutinizing her, she turned her head consciously in the direction of the stare and a pair of incomprehensible eyes met hers.
And Yani felt like the owner of this eyes saw through her intentions instantly.
Her heart felt like dodging, trying to fight the discomfort that arised in her subconscious.
Yani took back her gaze, clenching her fist tightly and continuing to chat with Anne as she ignored the young boy's deliberate gaze staring her way.
Nevertheless, even though she didn't mind; the others continued scrutinizing Yani thoroughly, apprehensively looking at her like an interesting puzzle that they need to piece together.
Shortly after, they stopped and returned to what they were doing rather boringly, uninterested.
There was no light outside the window bus and the bus was quiet. Only Yani's voice could be heard inside.
The driver, the young man in a baseball cap, and the lively girl in colorful clothes, the girl in red, the boy coming from the cemetery, the girl in ponytails, and Anne in a white dress with her flattering hair who got in from the mall.
All of them were abnormal--including her. The peculiarity of it all was really making her curious all of a sudden. The new school must be an interesting one.
Her eyes were gleaming with fervor, looking forward to her new school.
While speaking with Anne, Yani did not noticed that Anne was also looking at her closely.
Seeing the little change in her expression and the flicker of interest in her eyes that flashed past, for a moment, an unprecedented feeling of dread overcame her being.
Her eyes constricted, becoming fearful as her mind remembered something horrifying from the past.
This was exactly what her expression was like when that event happened. The sheer amount of hostility and mixture of interest was so overwhelming that she still remembered it even now.
A moment later, Anne came back to her senses. Her expression returning to the usual bright smile as she converse with Yani, acting like she didn't see anything.
The bus continued driving.
And just when the student passengers and Yani thought that the bus would finally go straight to the aforementioned school after going around all over for hours fetching the 'new students', the bus stopped once again at a famed hospital.
A man in a black suit over a white shirt and pants stood in front of a bench, his slender body casting a long shadow on the ground.