Bam! I shut the door and tilt over the stairs, ready to be eaten by boredom. I slumped to the bus stop, as excited as a kid going to the principal’s office. I finally reached the bus stop unwillingly ready to sacrifice another beautiful Friday night.
Hell is also known as lifeguard courses. The last 3 classes, all we accomplished was acting dead, performing CPR and pushing lifejackets with our feet. Worst of all... the teacher was ugly.
The city bus was croaking down the street. The paint was blunt and the sign faintly read 453. The right headlight was missing and the window was cracked in the left corner. By the time it was 10 feet away, it was spewing out smoke at the same speed as a heart pumps blood. After a few minutes, the door opened; before falling off. Apparently, the bus driver spent as much time maintaining the bus as the lifeguard instructor did on planning for lessons.
I stepped in, shuffled to the back and had my fingers crossed, and hoped the roof wouldn’t fall on top of me. I sat on arguably the cleanest seat; a torn up sac with yellow fluff evaporating from beneath the seat. In the corner was the leaning tower of Pisa made out of gum. Hey, at least it would have deserved a better mark than my grade six social studies project.
I scanned around the bus, looking for a cleaner seat. That’s when I noticed that there was another man on the bus. Oh, I recognized him. He was a Philippine old man who was working at Westside. He’s the one who has his white hair in a ponytail and trying to act young and cool. I didn’t want to be seen by this guy. Well, I didn’t have much to worry about; he was playing tap-tap revenge on his I-pod in the same posture that I have in math class.
Anyways, the bus somehow managed to restart and we were zooming at the same speed as molasses.
We were soon about to arrive at Westside, home of the awful lifeguard courses. I was surprised that 14 people actually signed up for this activity. They were all excited before and after the lesson. (The only reason they were excited after was because we got bribed that we could win cool stuff) To me, lifeguard courses were as lively and energetic as a dead battery.
Stepping out of the bus, every step made a loud heartbeat, just like the music from the TV show: 24. The building was getting larger by the second, just like my neighbour when he smells food.
I was thinking, pondering, brainstorming of any alternative for this dead end. I could sneak off and go to the wave pool and skip class. No, I might get caught. I could just have to go to a “dentist appointment” in the middle of class. NO, I would have to still suffer a bit. I could just wait outside by the cafe...
Observing that I still wasn’t inside Westside yet, I opened the door, allowing it to eat me.
Behind me, I heard tires screeching. I shifted around, forgetting about the door. Through my crooked glasses that sat somehow on my face which was squashed into the door, I saw the 301 bus overtake the 453, which somehow was capable of losing its door again.
Within seconds, my brain hatched an idea and I dashed to the bus. My glasses floated off my face. As I picked them up, I became aware of all the stains on it. I guess that saying “take care of your belongings” actually means something. However, right now wasn’t the best time to think about all the mistakes I had made in my life (if I did, I would be sitting here for a month). I had a bus to catch!
Soon, I hopped onto the bus and got off at another stop. I trotted through the parking lot of Glenbrook Mall to EB Games. I entered, and went straight to the vacant console. It was a PS3 and the game was Rock Band 2. I joined a redhead kid who was on the bass. I took the drums and we were later joined by man and played the guitar and sang at the same time.
The three of us decided to go on a tour and we randomized our names. I was “The Alligator”, the redhead was “Alex” and the man was “Car Salesman”. Our band name was “The Painkillers.”
I thought that painkillers were medicine, and I was debating whether it was true or not. So, I screwed up the first song getting the fans pissed off. New York wasn’t the best place to start.
Though, we got better on the next song and started rocking out. New York, Chicago, Montreal, Philadelphia, London and other places; we were the coolest band ever!! Just after playing “White Wedding” in Amsterdam, the man had to leave. He high-fived the red head kid and he turned to me. It took us both a while before we recognized each other. It was my dad!
We both had a why-the-hell-are-you-here look. He was astonished because I was skipping lifeguard courses. I was stunned that a 39 year old was playing Rock Band 2.
We left the store (after my dad bought the game). The car ride was quiet. This is usually because my parents prefer not to argue on against me single-handedly (because they always lose).
At home, my parents forced me to sit down and lectured about something about responsibility. I tuned out because I was deep in thought of the coincidence of meeting my dad at EB Games. Also, I didn’t argue because of the “respect your elders” rule. In addition, both my parents and I know that I would win.
The argument was pointless. It was funny but pointless. Pretty much all that happened was my parents asked me questions. Absentmindedly, I said yes or no. For the last question, “Will this happen ever again?” I accidently kept on answering yes. So, my parents repeated the questions. To make a long story short, I got grounded for three weeks. So that was another story for my grounded stories. Yet still, I ponder over something:
What do parents do when we’re not at home?