Playing Cards in a School Bus

There is a boy that sits across from me on the school bus in the morning.  He usually sits in the back, and I usually sit in the front, but this morning we sit in the middle, across from each other.  I sit, leaning back with my knees up against the seat in front of me, and he does the same.  He asks me if I want to play cards, gin rummy, and I say sure.  His blue eyes clash with the lighter blue skies that I can see through the bus windows. He has short blonde hair and is a few inches taller than me, though I can’t tell this at the moment because we are both sitting down.  I ask him what kind of music he likes, what does he do in his spare time, and he says that he doesn’t have spare time because of hockey.  He takes my copy of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and says it is his favorite book, because he can relate.  I ask how, and he says that sometimes he wishes he could run away from it all, just to find himself.  I tell him he can run away with me, if he wants.  He smiles, looks me deeply in the eyes, and says, just tell me when and where.  I lay down the last of my cards, three fours.  I pull out my sketchbook and show him the sketch of him that I drew yesterday while he was sleeping.  He looks at it for a few seconds and says, Is that how you really see me?  I say, Of course.

*This is a portrait of a boy that I used to know in high school.  He was my friend and I thought he was charming and charismatic and this is why I chose to write about him and his character.