it was one of those crowded days on the bus. i didn't manage to get a seat, and because i was a good citizen, i moved toward the rear of the bus to let others on.
before long i found myself right at the back, with a young schoolgirl around 14 or 15 standing beside me. and then we spotted this couple board the bus.
don't get me wrong - both looked pretty normal. perhaps in their late 20s or early 30s, they were dressed well, and were obviously on their way to work. the girl was chinese and really quite cute, with a perm and freckles across her nose. the guy, perhaps northern indian, looked clean and presentable in a pressed shirt tucked neatly into his pants.
they moved past the buggers clogging up the area near the door, and stood beside the schoolgirl and myself. the girl was mostly facing the window and only slightly turned to him. he, on the other hand, was facing her completely. this means schoolgirl and i could see his face clearly.
i wished we couldn't.
because everytime he looked at her (he never took his eyes off her, btw) he had this leery come-here-i-just-want-to-eat-you-up face so that everytime his surprisingly hairless arm slid around her waist, i wanted to barf.
clearly, so did his girlfriend, because everytime The Arm came around to rubbarubba (caress sensuously? i don't know how else to explain this) her waist, she inched away from him.
if there was ever a stupidest person alive, it would take him less than 5 seconds to realise that a) the relationship was a new one, and b) he was obviously more enthusiastic about it than she was.
why did i keep looking if his leering and overactive arm was making my stomach turn?
because as she inched away from him and toward us, he took a step closer to her (so that he could comfortably reach around her waist), making her inch away some more.
the schoolgirl and i, with no more personal space left whatsoever, were at wits end. they were totally oblivious to our plight - schoolgirl was so close to them that when his hand went around his girlfriend's waist it brushed along hers, too (barf!), and if i were to inch further back i would have to stand on the lap of the guy sitting in the back row.
the poor schoolgirl. she looked as if she might cry if The Arm came around one more time. she squeezed into me, gluing her side to mine.
but i could do nothing. so i turned evil. i took off my sunnies and shot Armboy my best disgusted look. unfortunately, he was too busy leering at his girlfriend to realise. so i stood my ground. i just stopped inching back. from the corner of my eye i could see schoolgirl give me a pleading, PLEASE-DON'T-DO-THIS-TO-ME look. i ignored her - she's gotta learn how to stand her ground sooner or later.
she squirmed now, as if stuck in the space between the wall and the bed on which her parents were having sex.
then she got smart (okay, on hindsight maybe she just got pissed with my refusal to budge). she also stopped trying to give them space and straightened her body. then she faced them and let out a very loud and highly irritated "tsk!".
i was swelling with pride! sucha brave little girl. i let out a similar "tsk!" to show my approval and support.
and i do think she was encouraged by it. because when our "tsks" was only heard by the very embarassed girlfriend (the guy totally didn't think anything but his peni..i mean him and his girlfriend existed in the world), our dear little heroine actually spoke up.
"oi. please hor. behave yourself, can?"
ah. my little padawan. a tad cheena and still a little rough around the edges, but you'll grow up to be just as bitchy as the rest of the female population.
*smiles like proud mother*