Mysterious Passenger by Alisa Yunes

 "Where are you going?"

The man at the bus stop barely turned. "West."

"West where?" The woman adjusted her bag. "That's a big direction."

"Does it matter?" He sighed. "You?"

"Same way."

He glanced at her—old shoes, worn-out coat. "Running from something?"

She smirked. "Why do you think that?"

"People don’t wait for buses this late unless they are. Name?"

She hesitated. "Anna."

"That’s not true."

Her eyes narrowed. "Excuse me?"

"You paused. Try again."

She sighed. "Fine. Claire."

"Better." He nodded toward the bus. "I’m Lucas. Guess we’re traveling together."

They sat in the back. The bus rumbled forward in silence.

"So, Claire," Lucas said, "what did you do?"

She didn’t answer right away. "You think I did something."

"You don’t look like a tourist."

She studied him. "And you? Running too?"

He smirked. "Let’s just say I owe people."

"Money? Or something worse?"

He sighed. "Doesn’t matter. It always catches up."

She looked out the window. "Not if we keep moving."

Lucas nodded. "For now."

She pulled her bag closer. "Do you ever think about stopping? Starting over somewhere?"

Lucas tilted his head. "And do what? Pretend the past isn’t waiting?"

"Maybe." Her fingers traced the edge of her coat. "Or maybe just be someone else."

He let that sit for a moment. "You ever tried?"

She gave a dry laugh. "Once. Didn’t stick."

Lucas stared ahead. "Yeah. Same."

The bus rolled on, carrying them forward, further from what they left behind—but never far enough.