CHAPTER 2

Joanna's taking the bus to work, as Blake, in his selfishness and recklessness, stole the Camry from her. She has to sit beside this creepy, unkempt, disheveled man wearing sunglasses. She's seething, thinking about how that asshole, Blake, has deprived her of her comfort and privacy, on a day designated especially for it. "That goddamned asshole." She swears under her breath. The creepy, disheveled dude sat next to her's like,

"Excuse me? Say something?" Taking any and every excuse to look down her cleavage. And Joanna's showing today, a lot. And the opportunist knows he would do with any amount on display, so, in fact, things have turned out really well.

"No, sorry, was thinking aloud," says Joanna.

"Oh, no problem. I do that a lot too."

"Yeah, sometimes, one needs to vent," says Joanna.

"You bet your ass."

Jo won't let the language bother her, this is the bus after all.

The creepster now reclines to relax and get a good view of the goods. 'Ahhh, thank God for sunglasses … and boobs.'

Even the bus driver won't stop glancing in rear view mirror to get a good glimpse of those titties. The fact that he himself has ones just as big under his uniform shirt notwithstanding. But he better be done with this boobie business before he crashes the bus and send those excellent masterpieces to waste.

"What would it take for her to let me play with them?" The creepster and the bus driver both think. "It's not fair, why is it so out of reach?"

The bus hits a little bump, and bus driver sees in the rear view mirror that the creepster gets contact "Lucky son of a bitch," he mutters to himself.

Olly's riding his bicycle, headed for the Computer Science department at UCLA campus, when this oncoming Two Thousand and Seven Mustang Convertible swerves into his lane, "That doesn't seem right," thinks he. The Mustang charges toward him, running him off to the shoulder where he's shaken and has to stop the bike to regain balance. He gets back his bearings and begins chasing the car furiously as it exits into a parking lot and parks.

"Hey! Hey!" Olly screams at the driver as he gets out of the car, smooth and cool, not in the least bit concerned. This is Steve, a senior with the physique of a football player, although, Olly's too furious to give a rat's ass how formidable the man is. His girl friend, Becky, and her friend in the back, Olivia, are also getting out. When Olly charges to them with the bicycle. "Hey!"

They look at the charging Olly. "What's this now?" says Steve.

Olly skids the bike to a stop right in front of them, springing off it, but not letting it fall over, he deploys the kickstand---Even in rage, God forbid his incredibly vital asset of a bicycle receives a scratch---but the thing is, the kickstand isn't in very good condition, and Olly spends a very elongated effort trying to get the bike standing, seriously clashing jar with the rage he ought to be presenting. Steve and the girls can't help but guffaw, and Steve actually feels genuine pity for Olly, despite his scorn.

"Jesus Christ, man," says Steve.

Olly finally gets the bike standing, and lunges at Steve, glaring. "Hey! What the fuck! You almost ran me over!"

Steve glares back, moving up close to Olly, eyeballing him. "So? What are you gonna do about it?"

Olly holds his glare, contemplating whether to use physical force. I mean, this guy is bigger than me, but my pride's been hurt. Is it worth a fight? Be smart here, man. But if I just walked away, what does that make me? Think, Olly boy.

Becky isn't really comfortable with this, she wasn't always this kinda girl, every now and again, she mourns her lost ideals. But now, she knows she has to side with her man and be a jerk. "Listen, bicycle boy, someone almost ran you over? It wasn't him. I and Olivia here are witnesses to that. We can corroborate that, whereas you're the only one whining about how he almost ran you over. Just forget it, it never happened. So just turn your little bike around and ride away before Steve here plants his foot up your ass, he especially hates bicycle people."

Olly just keeps his glare on, really pissed. And Steve ain't backing down either. Olivia, the only one there that knows Olly by name, and this is only because they went to the same middle and high schools and had the same last name, 'Murphy,' and their first names are also in close alphabetic order, and so they always came into close proximity when things were done in that order. She can't deny he's very good looking, although, she doesn't care very much for broke, poor men that take their bicycle everywhere, and he himself can't deny she's pretty, and he really used to crush on her back in the day. If only dating were done in alphabetic order. Although now, he can't be sure she's his type, her great looks notwithstanding. She tries to mediate the current dispute in her own special way. "Listen, Olly, don't blow this whole thing out of proportion. Okay, I agree, there was just a little bad driving there-"

Olly faces her, incensed. " 'A little'?! You call that a little?! He swerved into the wrong lane, my lane, and charged up at me for a kill-"

" 'A kill'?! Olivia interjects. "That ain't sound right. Not Steve. I know the man, he won't hurt a fly."

"Were you asleep in the car?" Olly asks. "If he won't hurt a fly, 'the fuck is he doing here eyeballing me when he damn near killed me, whether on purpose or from being a bit less stupid?"

"It's your approach, man," says Olivia. "You charge up here, guns blazing, over something as trivial as this, no body meant you any harm."

"That is bullshit, and you know it, Olivia, you know it. Gosh, I can't believe this is the kinda person you've become!"

Olivia would rather not have anyone remind her of the jerk she's become, as opposed to the reasonable, hearty girl she used to be. She rolls her eyes, more for self-reproach than any thing else. "Hey, you know nothing about me, so just shut up."

"I know that you're here being totally unreasonable and repugnant," says Olly.

"Whatever! says Olivia. Well, I've tried to resolve this, but if you'd rather fight big Steve here, be my guest. I won't say I told you so when he plants a foot up your behind."

That evokes a giggle from Becky.

'What's so funny, bitch?' Olly thinks, 'Did it remind you of something about the times he actually plants something up your actual behind?' He now decides that the smart thing to do is to back away with a good last word. These idiotic people ain't worth the trouble. "Know what? Screw you and your goddamned bimboes. I have better things to do," he yells in the face of the formidable Steve. A parts of him regrets calling Olivia Murphy a bimbo. He has a soft spot for her despite everything. They have so much history together, even though not quite together, but share a common background in a way he actually cherishes, after all, she was his crush for some six years, hell he still finds her compellingly attractive, except now, as someone with considerable life and relationship experience, most of it harsh, like when he had his heart shattered by a girl---or a woman, she was considerably older than he---he thought was 'the one,' and his ass handed to him by her husband, a Marine, Olly also pays a great deal of attention to people's temperament, it is imperative that he determines what people are capable of before engaging with them, even if it means lying to them. He turns the bike around, pedaling away, but stops cold, turning to look Olivia solemnly in the eyes, shaking his head "Olivia Murphy, I can't believe this is the kinda person you've become."

Olivia wavers, bowing her head in a brief moment of remorse, then immediately regaining her bitchliness; "Shove it up your ass, man."

Olly shakes his head in genuine disappointment and rides away. He begins thinking about how he'd rather not shove anything up his ass as that area is rather sore from riding this damned bicycle so much, and that even if they wanted to make fun of how poised and 'shoved' up his ass the pointy bike seat is, he's gotten too far away for the insult to score. 'I better now forget about these assholes, and go about my day.' Although, on reflection he highlighted "asshole," with the bike seat and all…

Steve watches Olly ride away, wondering why he didn't know Olivia's last name is Murphy all these months they've been hanging out. Although, it's not that important, is it? She isn't the one that's my girlfriend. Although we did do it thrice behind Becky's back. ' Becky's back. ' Hm. Goddamn. And rightfully so, Becky does have a sumptuous backside. Steve wonders what makes him cheat on such a lovely girl, and it immediately comes to him that variety is spice of life. And Olivia has awesome boobs. Goddamn.