Urban Bus Adventure: The Girl

She was gorgeous! She looked like she had just stepped out of a magazine. She was tall and lean with beautiful blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. Her clothes fit her in all the right places accentuating her nicely shaped body. She was wearing hardly any make-up but her skin looked flawless. She was standing at the bus stop, her back pack slung over her graceful shoulders, without a care in the world. She was one of those girls that you see and wish almost instantaneously that nature had blessed you with her gifts. She looked to be about 16 years old and I wondered to myself what her high school days must be like. She most assuredly had a following of young boys clamoring for her attention. I smiled to myself as I approached the bus stop. I sat on the bench waiting and the girl paced a little to and fro. After a few minutes the girl struck up a conversation. We talked about the weather and school. She seemed to have a million and one questions to ask me. Did I like school? Did I like my subjects? Finally, she asked which school I attended. When I told it was the University she stood and looked at me in shock. "You go to college?!" she asked incredulously. "Oh my gosh! Did you start early?" I chuckled and assured her that was not the case, thinking to myself that perhaps it was best that I not tell her this was my 3rd year of college. As we were talking the bus rolled up and we prepared to board, the girl still asking me all sorts of questions. I answered them as best I could, trying not to shock her more than she already was. She informed me that she had thought I was in high school. Upon hearing this I asked her old she thought I was. She looked at me and squinted her eyes for a minute then assured me I looked no older than 16. Yikes!!! Well I guess I wasn't as mature and aged looking as I thought! I had to laugh though. I didn't tell her my real age but I did let her know that I was not quite that young. I then asked her about her schooling. She rattled off details about math classes and science classes and informed me of the classes she liked and the ones she disliked. After a few minutes of her filling me in on her school life I ventured to ask her what year she was and how old she was. I was not prepared for her response. "Oh, I'm 13. I'm in 8th grade this year and will start high school in the fall." Now it was my turn to be surprised and I just about fell off my seat from shock. It must have been very apparent because the girl started laughing and then managed to ask how old I thought she was. I told her that I had her pegged for at least 16 and already in high school. She giggled and reassured me it was a common mistake most people made when talking to her. She then told me that although she enjoyed be thought of as older at this point in her life she hoped that when she was my age she looked as young as I did. I could only smile at this thinking, "And you don't even know how 'old' I really am!"