'Get out of the bus!" Alicia and Stacy were banging on the bus window. "Get out."

It was a stupid idea. Doris had flipped her middle finger at Alicia when she saw Alicia's gang walking by at the intersection. She didn't think that she would be caught. Alicia happened to look up, then she told her gang and they ran after the bus.

"Get out!" They were shouting.

"Why should I get out?" Doris turned her back to them.

"Because I don't like your ass."

"So why should I get out?" Doris shouted out the window, half expecting them to board the bus to get her. But the doors closed and the bus pulled away slowly. She could still see Alicia and the other girls flailing their arms at her, glaring and taunting her. She knew she would get it in class tomorrow.

Alicia was pretty in a way teenage boys went crazy over. She had nice curves and nice hair. She had a wide smile which hid a hint of meanness. For some reason the other boys loved her meanness. It made her seem confident and sexy, but she was such a bully. Doris, on the other hand was plump and dark, she had curly hair that she tied up in a bun. She also had a little fuzz around her lips that Alicia and the rest called a "mustache".

Alicia was vicious when it came to people who offended her. For some reason, everyone did whatever she wanted them to. Those other girls--her lackeys were meaner than Alicia. Alicia didn;t have to do anything. All she had to do was to declare her dislike for someone and that person was marked. her gang would make their school days so horrible they would cry. There was once someone who threatened to kill herself to stop the bullying, but all it did was to make Alicia and gang alienate the poor girl. She moved away shortly after. Doris still wondered how she was doing.

Doris watched the trees brushing by the bus window. She was worried. What would happen in school tomorrow? She tried to think of all the fun things she would do when she got home, but her discomfort on her own position made her worry. Jessica, a tiny Chinese girl from her class was on the bus and she witnessed everything.

"Why did Alicia say she doesn't like you?"

'I don't know" Doris frowned, "but I don't like her either."

Jessica nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah."

Then silence. Both girls were deep in thought.

There really wasn't anything else to say. Jessica was trying in her own small way to make Doris feel better, but even she felt afraid for Doris. People like them needed to stay out of the way of Alicia's gang. The more invisible they were, the better.

Doris told herself again and again. It really wasn't such a big deal. She could handle it, whatever Alicia planned. But Alicia was intimidating, in front of her, Doris would feel her own strength draining. She had seen what Alicia has done to others. There was home, but it was not much of a protection against Alicia. Her life now, as she understood, revolved around school. Alicia would make sure that she would have no place to hide.

It was her stop and Doris got off. She slowly lugged herself home. It was a long walk uphill, but tha would help her clear her mind now clouded with fear for what was to happen to her when she got to school tomorrow.

An old bum lying on the pavement with a sign that said: Why lie? I need a beer. looked at her. "Hey you young girl. It's about to be summer soon."

Doris nodded. The old bum was helping her take her mind of Alicia and the rest.

"It's summer. You should have fun. It's right to have fun, but make sure you have something under your belt. So that when you're twenty, twenty-one. You'll have something. Summers, they go by fast."

Doris nodded again and started to walk away. She could still hear the old bum mumbling "They go by fast."

The next day, she got up as usual. Her mother was already in her hospital scrubs ready to leave the house.

"Mum?"

"What is it?" Her mother was chucking the dishes form the table into the sink that was already piled up with dirty dishes.

"I don't feel well. Can i stay at home today?"

Her mother looked at her face. "What's wrong?"

"I feel kind of dizzy."

Her mother placed her hand on Doris's forehead, frowning deeply. "You're fine. Get to school."

She shooed Doris out of the house and locked the door with a resolute click. "You know why you need to go to school. Do you want to grow up and spend your life cleaning hospital beds like me?"

Doris shook her head, she could feel her eyes clouding over.

"We didn't come to the U.S for you to stay home and watch T.V. Your life is already so much better than mine. Now get to school."

Doris dawdled to stall time. She took a detour to the bus stop. She usually took the eight-fifteen bus that was packed to the brim with students like her and others all trying to get to work on time. But that day, she sat around at the bus stop watching the world rush by. Then at eight-fifty she got on the bus. It was strangely empty. She had never seen a bus that calm. The bus was full of empty seats so she sat by a window and watched the scenery outside.

She got off at the usual stop. It was a ten minutes walk to school. She strolled slowly in the direction of school. She watched the many houses and the gardens, trying to name as many of the plants as she knew.

Outside her school, she could hear that lessons had already started. There was the soft murmuring of the voices of teachers and the sound of whistle blowing in the field where some of the students were having their physical education class. She sat down on the pavement. She could no go any further. She sat and she waited. A white cat was walking on the pavement towards her. It must be one of the cats from one the neighboring houses. It studied her for a moment, then it purred and tried to warp itself around her legs. She patted the cat, stroking its soft fur and looked out . There was a road in front of her. It was grey and empty. It seemed to stretch on forever.