But this time Abhi didn't back down and ran as fast as he could and just in the nick of time caught up to the bus and got in.

As he stood on the first step of the entrance he tried to look ahead but all he could see was the back of a crowd filling the bus up to the brim.

The bus was filled with a diverse group of people, including factory workers, cleaners, sweepers, janitors, nurses, and postmen. Despite their different uniforms and jobs, they all seemed united in some way.

United by the feeling of being worn down from working all day, being drenched in sweat and sharing the cramped space. Yet they kept standing while holding the railings and hooks attached to the railings of the bus, the citizens kept quitely swaying from the shakes of the loud bus riding down the edge of the high city, one could tell at a glance the people weren't smiling. There were no words spoken once the bus started riding through the evening, Their faces reflected dread and a lack of motivation.

The few people sitting in their seats felt lucky as they used this opportunity to lay back and close their eyes for a few minutes of rest on the quiet and almost serene bus ride back home. The people standing looked at the seats with envy but didn't voice their thoughts, they kept hanging by the bus swaying as the bus moved about the road down below.

Their struggles united them but so did a minute sense of pride. Although all of them worked tirelessly for low-class jobs, they still felt pride in their position they respected the fact of getting to wear the worn-down uniform every day and had to have the privilege of getting a job in the High City.

The conductor of the bus wiggled his way through the bus, he was a little man in his early forties with dark skin brown eyes and black hair. his khaki uniform made him stand out from others. He asked for people's tickets or passes. Very few bought new tickets and rather already had a bus pass of their own. In fact, a lot of the people on the bus were regulars as their job required them to come and go at the same time.

The conductor mostly only asked for verbal confirmation from the passengers claiming to have their bus passes. Sometimes he was aware that some passengers lied about still having the pass as the expiration date should have been long gone, and sometimes passengers just directly lied about getting one. Yet he let them be, not trying to use it as an opportunity to punish them as he was aware of the desperate need most of them were in.

He tried his best to subtly remind people to renew their passes just in case the senior checker came to check on the passengers himself. While doing his regular work he slid past everyone while verbally confirming the validity of their passes. Some passengers were lying about the validity of their pass but most were telling the truth, Yet not a single person in the entire ride bought a brand new ticket until now.

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"Hey sir, can I buy a ticket to Yang stop, and the adjacent ticket from Yang to Radhav Nagar Low City stop," Abhi said to the bus conductor while holding out his hand with some change in it.

This seemed to have caught the bus conductor's attention as he shifted the position of his khaki hat and looked Abhi in the eyes. It is rare to see tickets being brought in the first place but the young man in a school uniform buying them was unseen.

"Sure, here you go." The bus conductor then takes the change from Abhi's hand and prints out a ticket from his ancient ticket printing machine.

As it took a bit for the ticket to come out, the conductor used small talk to avoid the awkward silence. "So brother, how did you find yourself in the High City today? You seem to be new here." This caught a few people new by's attention as they subtly looked at the conductor, it was pretty unusual for a bus conductor to be talkative, especially about irrelevant subjects, as the conductor was usually a personality fed up from handling all the passengers and the passengers were usually too tired to talk. The bus conductor's curiosity was starting to spread to the rest of the populous.

"Oh yeah, I just started high school in High City. This is my first day so I'm buying a ticket." Abhi answered nonchalantly.

This seemed to have stirred everyone's attention further and the few people previously interested in the talkative conductor directly looked at Abhi.

Abhi was slightly startled by this but didn't seem to concerned as the gazes were mostly backed by looks of shallow curiosity and nothing malicious.

The conductor adjusted his khaki hat again, his eyebrows were raised with surprise and he smiled with a soft frown showcasing a feeling of being slightly impressed maybe even a little proud. "Damn! Did you really get into a high city school? You said you live in Radhav Nagar, Low City right? Well, congratulations big man. Rarely do see someone get in."

Other passengers also seemed to share this sentiment as they positively commented on Abhi's achievements.

One of the uncles asked. "I work as a peon at the Kartvvay school, I heard they let in 2 low city citizens, glad to hear other schools are also taking the initiative to let our people follow our dreams. Make your parents proud beta."

Being put in a tough spot, the socially awkward Abhi just replied with "Yes thank you. I was very lucky to get accepted."

In the merry atmosphere, the conductor asked "So what school did you get into? I'll get you a little help around the bus routes if you need some."

The various people who had seen an exception among the people felt the feeling of anticipation for the first time in their repetitive schedule… they turned to look at Abhi as he was the little variable a spark of interest in their mundane lives.

"Oh thank you very much, I got into the school at the centre of the city which is much closer to the western bus station.

The school is called…

H.S. Kolar…"

...….