YouTube transcript (72a4ZAM88RU) — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:00If your school bus driver ever turns
2. 0:02down a road you've never seen, don't get
3. 0:04off. Don't look out the window. Don't
4. 0:07answer when he calls a name. Just keep
5. 0:09your eyes on your hands, stay in your
6. 0:11seat, and wait for the school.
7. 0:14It's your first week in Millbrook. New
8. 0:16house, new school, new bus.
9. 0:19Bus number 12 picks you up at the corner
10. 0:21every morning at 7:15. It's an old
11. 0:24yellow bus. The seats are green and
12. 0:26cracked, and they smell like rain and
13. 0:29gum.
14. 0:30The heater only works in the back. Every
15. 0:32window has the same little scratch in
16. 0:34the corner, like someone counted
17. 0:36something with a key.
18. 0:38The driver is Mr. Pell. He's tall and
19. 0:41thin with a gray cap and a big friendly
20. 0:43smile. He says good morning to every kid
21. 0:46by name, even you on your very first
22. 0:49day. Nobody told him your name.
23. 0:52The other kids don't say good morning
24. 0:53back. They just walk to their seats, sit
25. 0:56down, and look at their hands.
26. 0:58And you notice something else. Every kid
27. 1:01sits in the exact same seat every single
28. 1:04day. Nobody saves a spot for a friend.
29. 1:06Nobody moves to the back. Near the
30. 1:09front, one seat by the door always stays
31. 1:11empty. Even when the bus is full, nobody
32. 1:14sits there.
33. 1:16On your third morning, a girl in the
34. 1:17seat behind you leans forward. Her name
35. 1:20is Jayda. She has a yellow raincoat and
36. 1:22a pencil behind her ear.
37. 1:24"You're new," she whispers. "So, you
38. 1:26don't know about the other route." Then
39. 1:29she tells you the rules. Every kid on
40. 1:31bus 12 learns them in the first week.
41. 1:34The ones who don't don't usually make it
42. 1:36to the second.
43. 1:37Rule number one. If the bus turns down a
44. 1:40road you don't know, don't look out the
45. 1:42windows. Most mornings the route is
46. 1:45normal. Maple Street, the gas station,
47. 1:48the bridge, the school. 20 minutes every
48. 1:51day.
49. 1:52But some mornings the fog is thick, and
50. 1:54Mr. Pell turns left where there is no
51. 1:56left. The radio goes quiet, the heater
52. 1:59stops, and the road outside is one
53. 2:02you've never seen before.
54. 2:04Jada calls it the other route. She says
55. 2:07it looks like a normal neighborhood,
56. 2:08houses, mailboxes, lawns, but it's like
57. 2:11a drawing of a neighborhood made by
58. 2:13someone who has only heard about one.
59. 2:16And if you look at it, it looks back.
60. 2:19So, you keep your eyes on your hands.
61. 2:21You count your fingers. You read your
62. 2:22shoelaces. Anything but the window.
63. 2:25Jada says the worst part is the sound.
64. 2:28On the other route, something taps on
65. 2:30the glass, softly, patiently, like a
66. 2:33friend who wants you to look up. It
67. 2:36follows the bus the whole way, window by
68. 2:38window, until it finds the kid who's
69. 2:41curious. In 2014, a boy named Kevin Shaw
70. 2:44rode bus 12.
71. 2:46One foggy morning, the bus took the
72. 2:48other route. Kevin didn't know the rules
73. 2:51yet. So, he looked.
74. 2:53He told the kid next to him that every
75. 2:55house had a kid standing in the window.
76. 2:57Every one of them was waving. And every
77. 3:00one of them was him.
78. 3:02Then he said, quietly,
79. 3:05"That one is my house.
80. 3:07Why is my mom in that one?"
81. 3:09When the bus reached the school, Kevin's
82. 3:11seat was empty. His backpack was still
83. 3:13there. And on the window, in the corner,
84. 3:17there was a brand new little scratch.
85. 3:19Rule number two, never answer when he
86. 3:22calls a name that isn't on the list.
87. 3:25On the other route, Mr. Pell checks
88. 3:27attendance. He takes out a clipboard,
89. 3:29looks in the big mirror, and reads names
90. 3:31out loud. Most of the names are kids on
91. 3:34the bus, but some of them aren't.
92. 3:37"Is Emily here?" Nobody on bus 12 is
93. 3:40named Emily.
94. 3:41Jada says the names belong to the stops.
95. 3:44Every [snorts] stop on the other route
96. 3:46is missing somebody. And when Mr. Pell
97. 3:48calls a name, he's looking for someone
98. 3:50to fill it. If you answer, you become
99. 3:53that name. And the worst part is how
100. 3:56kind he sounds.
101. 3:57He calls the name again, a little sadder
102. 4:00each time, like a dad waiting at the
103. 4:02door for a kid who's late. You'll want
104. 4:05to help him. Everyone does.
105. 4:07Jada says, "That's the whole trick."
106. 4:10In 2016, a sixth grader named Rosa Diaz
107. 4:13heard Mr. Pell call Emily three times.
108. 4:17Nobody answered. The bus was so quiet.
109. 4:20Rosa felt bad for the empty seat, so she
110. 4:23raised her hand and said, "Here."
111. 4:25Mr. Pell smiled at her in the mirror.
112. 4:28"Welcome back, Emily."
113. 4:29The next day, her teacher called her
114. 4:31Emily. Her friends called her Emily.
115. 4:34When she got home, there was a different
116. 4:35name on her bedroom door, and her mom
117. 4:38looked at her for a long time
118. 4:40and asked if she wanted her usual
119. 4:42cereal.
120. 4:43Rosa doesn't like that cereal. Emily
121. 4:46does.
122. 4:47Rosa still rides bus 12. She sits in the
123. 4:50third row by the window. When someone
124. 4:52calls her Rosa, she doesn't turn around
125. 4:55anymore.
126. 4:56But sometimes, on foggy mornings, she
127. 4:58writes her real name on the window with
128. 5:00her finger over and over, so she won't
129. 5:04forget it.
130. 5:05Rule number three. If the doors open at
131. 5:07the other stop, don't get off, even if
132. 5:10someone you love is waiting.
133. 5:13Sometimes, on the other route, the bus
134. 5:15stops. There's no sign, no reason.
135. 5:18Just the hiss of the brakes and the
136. 5:20doors folding open and the cold air
137. 5:22coming in.
138. 5:23And standing at the stop, there's always
139. 5:25someone you know. Your grandma, your
140. 5:28dog, your best friend from your old
141. 5:30town.
142. 5:31They smile. They wave. They say they
143. 5:33came to walk you home.
144. 5:35Jada says they look right. They sound
145. 5:38right. But they always stand a little
146. 5:40too still, like they're waiting to be
147. 5:42told how to move.
148. 5:44And they never step onto the bus, not
149. 5:46even one foot. They just stand at the
150. 5:48bottom of the steps, holding out their
151. 5:50hand, waiting for you to come down to
152. 5:52them.
153. 5:54In 2018, twin brothers named Noah and
154. 5:56Eli Turner sat together near the front.
155. 5:59When the doors opened, their mom was
156. 6:01standing at the stop. She was wearing
157. 6:03her work clothes. She said there was a
158. 6:05family emergency.
159. 6:07Eli stood up. Noah grabbed his arm. Eli
160. 6:10pulled free and stepped down onto the
161. 6:12road. The doors closed. The bus rolled
162. 6:15on.
163. 6:16Through the back window, Noah watched
164. 6:18his mom put her hand on Eli's shoulder
165. 6:21and turn him slowly toward the fog.
166. 6:24At home that night, his real mom asked
167. 6:27where Eli was. Noah tried to tell her,
168. 6:29but she just looked confused and asked,
169. 6:32"Eli who?"
170. 6:34Rule number four. Never look into the
171. 6:36big mirror above the driver seat.
172. 6:39The mirror is how Mr. Pell watches the
173. 6:41bus. He sees everything in it. Who's
174. 6:44talking, who's crying, who's looking out
175. 6:47the window. But Jayda says the mirror
176. 6:49shows him something else, too. It shows
177. 6:51him which kids are already his.
178. 6:54In 2019, the school hired a bus monitor
179. 6:57named Mrs. Dalton. She was kind and
180. 6:59loud, and she sat right behind the
181. 7:01driver. On her first foggy morning, she
182. 7:04noticed all the kids staring at their
183. 7:06hands. She thought they were sad, so she
184. 7:09turned around to cheer them up and
185. 7:11looked into the mirror.
186. 7:12The mirror showed the bus full. Every
187. 7:15seat, every row. Kids she had never seen
188. 7:18sitting perfectly still with their hands
189. 7:20in their laps. Kevin, Emily, Eli, and so
190. 7:24many more.
191. 7:25And in the mirror, the driver seat was
192. 7:28empty.
193. 7:29Mrs. Dalton quit the same day. She wrote
194. 7:31a letter to the school board with one
195. 7:33sentence underlined. Count the children
196. 7:36when they get on and count them again
197. 7:37when they get off.
198. 7:39Nobody ever answered her letter.
199. 7:41But that afternoon, you decide to try
200. 7:44it. When the kids climb on, you count.
201. 7:4623. When they climb off at the school,
202. 7:49you count again. 22. You count three
203. 7:52more times. It's always one less, and
204. 7:55nobody else seems to notice.
205. 7:58Rule number five.
206. 8:00On the last day of school, when Mr. Pell
207. 8:02says, "Last stop," stay in your seat
208. 8:04until he says your real name. The last
209. 8:07day is different. Jayda says the last
210. 8:10day is when the other route is
211. 8:11hungriest. Summer is long, the stops are
212. 8:15empty, and Mr. Pell wants one more
213. 8:17passenger before the school year ends.
214. 8:20So, on the last morning, you sit in your
215. 8:22seat with your backpack on your knees
216. 8:24and your eyes on your hands. The night
217. 8:26before, Jayda made you practice. Eyes
218. 8:29down, mouth shut, don't move until you
219. 8:32hear your real name. She made you say
220. 8:34the rules back to her. All five of them,
221. 8:36over and over until you could say them
222. 8:39in your sleep. "Promise me you won't get
223. 8:41off," she said, "no matter who's
224. 8:43waiting." You promised. The fog rolls in
225. 8:47at the gas station. The radio goes
226. 8:49quiet. Mr. Pell turns left where there
227. 8:51is no left. You don't look out the
228. 8:54window. You hear something tapping on
229. 8:56the glass, gently, the whole way. You
230. 8:59don't look. He takes out the clipboard.
231. 9:02"Is Emily here? Is Kevin here? Is Eli
232. 9:05here?" Nobody answers. You don't answer.
233. 9:08The bus stops. The doors fold open. You
234. 9:11hear your grandma's voice calling your
235. 9:13name, telling you she made pancakes.
236. 9:16Your grandma lives three states away.
237. 9:18You don't get off. You feel the mirror
238. 9:20on the back of your neck. You don't look
239. 9:23up. Then Mr. Pell says, "Last stop."
240. 9:26Kids stand up all around you. Footsteps
241. 9:29go down the aisle and out the door, but
242. 9:31you stay in your seat and you wait. The
243. 9:34bus is so quiet you can hear the engine
244. 9:36ticking. And then, finally, Mr. Pell
245. 9:39says your name, your real name. You look
246. 9:42up. The fog is gone. The bus is parked
247. 9:45in front of the school. The sun is out,
248. 9:48and the other kids are walking in
249. 9:49through the front doors like it's any
250. 9:51other day. You did it. You made it
251. 9:53through the whole year. You let out a
252. 9:56breath you didn't know you were holding.
253. 9:58Your hands are shaking, your face is
254. 10:00wet, and you don't even remember crying.
255. 10:03You turn around to thank Jayda. Her seat
256. 10:05is empty, but her pencil is lying on the
257. 10:07cushion. She must have gone in already.
258. 10:10In home room, you ask your teacher which
259. 10:12class Jayda is in. Your teacher checks
260. 10:14the bus list. Then she checks it again.
261. 10:16There's no Jayda on bus 12, she says.
262. 10:19There hasn't been for a long time. She
263. 10:21opens a drawer and takes out an old
264. 10:23yearbook, 2014. She turns to a page
265. 10:27called Students We Remember. And there,
266. 10:30in the corner, smiling in a yellow
267. 10:32raincoat, is Jayda. Under her photo, it
268. 10:35says, "Missed her stop."
269. 10:38That afternoon, you take the bus home.
270. 10:40Mr. Pell smiles and says your name. You
271. 10:43sit down and look at your hands. And on
272. 10:45the seat next to you, there's a new
273. 10:47little scratch in the corner of the
274. 10:49window. The bus pulls away from the
275. 10:51school. At the gas station, the fog
276. 10:54rolls in. The radio goes quiet, and Mr.
277. 10:57Pell turns left, where there is no left.
278. 11:00There's a new kid on the bus today.
279. 11:02She's sitting right in front of you, in
280. 11:04a red raincoat, swinging her feet. She
281. 11:07has no idea. You lean forward. You open
282. 11:10your mouth to warn her, to tell her
283. 11:12about the rules, and you hear yourself
284. 11:14whisper softly, in a voice that doesn't
285. 11:17feel like yours. "You're new, so you
286. 11:20don't know about the other route." And
287. 11:22in the big mirror above the driver's
288. 11:24seat, Mr. Pell is smiling at you.