Once upon a time there was a girl by the name of Kitssie Bibbles. This is her story. Kitssie was an average sixteen year old with average dreams and ambitions living in an average town. She got average grades in school and had an average family and average friends. Even though she had her license she took the school bus to school every day as her parents needed their cars to make the commute to and from work. Kitssie didn't mind the bus that much, but wanted to sit in the emergency exit row. Ever since she was in a car accident when she was younger, Kitssie was nervous about riding in motor vehicles. She wanted to be able to get out of the bus quickly in case an accident ever occurred.
Kitssie was happy sitting in the window seat of the emergency exit row, that is until this one day when a fat, smelly, greasy, overweight freshman with glasses, halitosis, and a bad acne problem sat next to her. Kitssie dealt with the boy's stench though, as she didn't want to be rude. She didn't want to move because she thought she would have a panic attack if she couldn't sit by the emergency exit. "Well, I can be considerate and tolerate sitting next to him for just one day," she thought to herself. The next day, however, he sat next to her again. Unsure what to do, Kitssie almost panicked, but forced herself to remain calm. "Maybe he won't sit next to me tomorrow," she thought. The boy did sit next to her the next day though, and continued to do every day for nearly a month. Each day, Kitssie would hope the boy would sit someplace else with someone else, but in vain. Every day Kitssie would imagine the boy was getting fatter and fatter and smellier and smellier.
After nearly a month of sitting next to this boy, Kitssie decided she could no longer take it. Halfway through the bus ride, Kitssie screamed as loud as she could. All the other passengers turned to look at her, shocked. The bus driver looked at Kitssie nervously through his mirror. Everyone was quiet. Just a minute before, people were chatting about their upcoming days and the bus driver had to turn around to tell them to be quiet. The boy sitting next to Kitssie looked uncomfortable. The bus driver continued driving, and people gradually went back to their conversations, occasionally letting their eyes rest on Kitssie.
Slowly Kitssie stood up. Some of the passengers grew quiet and watched her. Kitssie said quietly, "I have to get out of here." "What?" asked the smelly boy. "I have to get out of here," said Kitssie, louder this time. Then, more panicky, she gasped, "I have to get out of here. I have to get off of this bus." She started hyperventilating. "I have to get off of this bus," she whispered, wide-eyed with tears in her eyes. She felt her throat tightening up. Turning to look at the boy, Kitssie swallowed the lump in her throat. She then turned to look at the window. By that time everyone was quiet, watching Kitssie's every movement. Even the bus driver had pulled over in order to look at her and make sure she wasn't about to throw up or something. "Are you all right?" asked the bus driver. Kitssie's eyes darted between the boy and the window. "Are you all right?" repeated the bus driver. Kitssie turned quickly and began trying to pry the emergency exit open. The boy stood and held he back. "That's only in case of emergencies," he said. "This is an emergency!" she grunted back as she struggled to break free of his sweaty grip. "Let me go!" she yelled. The boy looked at the bus driver for assurance. The bus driver, however, was busy staring at Kitssie.
The boy looked around and saw that everyone else was staring at the girl as well. Their eyes were all wide and their mouths open, staring at Kitssie in disbelief. Everyone thought her to be mad. Kitssie elbowed the boy firmly in his gut, enabling herself to pry the emergency exit open. Swiftly, Kitssie jumped out of the bus. She landed on the street and looked both ways before running in the direction of her home. For a moment everyone on the bus stood looking at the emergency exit window through which Kitssie had so recently departed. Slowly, the bus driver regained his senses and drove the rest of the way to school. The entire bus was quiet for the rest of the journey.
Kitssie ran the three miles back to her house. She showered and changed her clothes but could not seem to get the boy's smell off of her. When the principal heard what had happened, he called Mr. and Mrs. Bibbles in their offices. Kitssie's parents came straight home to find their daughter calmly eating lunch. "Are you all right, dear?" Mrs. Bibbles asked Kitssie, concerned. "Oh," said Kitssie, "I'm fine. I just don't want to take the bus to school anymore. Is that all right with you?" "Of course," Mrs. Bibbles laughed nervously. "We'll go car shopping this weekend. You're sure you're all right, though?" Mr. Bibbles asked. "Mmhmm," murmured Kitssie.
Kitssie stayed home from school that week, and that weekend her parents bought her a used VW van, just what Kitssie had wanted. When Kitssie went back to school she was happy, as she had just gotten her own car, but throughout the day she noticed that people kept looking at her strangely. People she didn't even know were looking a her and whispering, and whenever she stepped into a room, everyone within the room would suddenly fall quiet. Kitssie kept reassuring herself that all her peers were just jealous of her new van, but she became suspicious when she noticed that her teachers were acting the same way towards her. In addition, her friends were treating her differently, and everyone kept asking if she was feeling well. Of course she was fine. She didn't have to sit on that dreadful bus anymore. She thought everything would eventually cool off and that people would forget her "episode," but that's not what happened. People didn't forget.
Every night, Kitssie would come home and cry herself to sleep. She hated herself. Why hadn't she just switched bus seats? Why couldn't she have held out for one more day? Maybe he would have sat someplace else. Why did that boy bother her so much? Why couldn't she have been more tolerant? Why didn't anyone understand how she felt? She felt humiliated and lonely. She missed the way her friends used to act towards her. Although her longtime crush now paid attention to her, it wasn't the kind of attention she had desired. She had wanted her crush to look at her longingly, but he only looked at her with mockery and amusement in his eyes. The best she could hope for from him was pity. Kitssie became depressed. She'd go through the day in a daze. Kitssie's grades became worse and worse, and her teachers called her parents. "We don't know what to do with your daughter. She just isn't trying anymore," Kitssie's teachers told Mr. and Mrs. Bibbles.
Mr. and Mrs. Bibbles decided to take Kitssie out of school. Kitssie didn't seem to care. She went to a different school for "special" children. Kitssie soon failed out of that school too. Mr. and Mrs. Bibbles took Kitssie for counseling but Kitssie wouldn't talk. She just sat there. Kitssie felt dead inside. She hated herself for who she had become and how she was treated ever since "the incident." Kitssie never talked anymore. Mr. and Mrs. Bibbles didn't know what to do with their daughter. She wouldn't tell them what she wanted. Nowadays, Kitssie spends all of her time in her room at the mental institution sitting and reflecting. She doesn't talk at all. Some people in the hospital think she's catatonic, but that's not her problem. Her problem is that she's a normal girl in abnormal circumstances. Her problem is that she's average.