Eighteen - Carine

“I’m gonna be late,” Carine said, standing.

“What for?” Vanadine asked as he sat back, satisfied.

“I’m in work today,” she said. “We take it in turns to go in at the weekend and today it’s my go.”

“Shall I come with you?” He asked as she went to the bathroom.

Carine paused and leaned against the frame, looking at him.

“I’d like that, she said.

Half an hour later they were on the bus, Vanadine looking about nervously as his hand on her leg shook slightly.

“What’s the matter?” She asked gently.

“I am unused to being so...exposed, he said. “It is unnerving to be seen by so many.”

Carine looked about the bus, apart from the driver there was an elderly man dozing in his seat, a teenage boy glued to his phone and a pair of women in their thirties who chatted and stared out of the window.

“Nobody’s looking at you,” she said. “No one’s interested in anything beyond the end of their nose,” she told him, squeezing his hand.

Vanadine nodded but did not seem to calm much.

“Haven’t you been out in