When I went to high school, nearly all my friends drove to school (usually in cars provided by their loving parents). Back then, you could get a Learner's Permit when you were 14, with the possibility of an actual Driver's License at 15...so there was very little need to use the bus for transportation to school. As I recall, most of my friends considered it less shameful to walk the whole way than to ride the schoolbus: this was relegated only to the "not-only-poor-but-also-far-away" types.
Now, licenses and cars for the teenage crowd are both in shorter supply, economic times having changed somewhat over the years. Bus stops for older kids are crowded enough in my neighborhood to draw my attention, with the bus stopping by in the middle of my commute. It's difficult to determine ages here, with kids typically passing for 5 years older than they are in fact, but I would guess that the ones I see at the bus stop are middle-schoolers: 7th, 8th, or 9th grade. Since 9th-graders are are now cut off from mingling with the high school populace, there is no chance of catching a ride with an upper-class pal, sibling, or sweetheart.
Passing these kids every morning, you start to categorize them: jock, nerd, cheerleader, wallflower, psycho. The bus stops are found on streetcorners with stop-signs instead of lighted intersections; there isn't much time for assessment as my car makes the turn to the main highway. Little details count in the game of figuring out Who's Who Among American Bus Stop Scholars.
Some of the kids I see everyday, since they are consistently early arrivals. Others I have seen only once, running for the bus. There are kids with giant backpacks and kids who seem to carry nothing (unless it's artfully concealed in their generally baggy clothing). Definitely there are "groups" who I'm sure take delight in knowing they are in while others are out. And there is one girl who is for sure part of the out club: the Biophysicist.
Of course she's not a Biophysicist yet. She just looks like she could grow up to be one. Or a Brain Surgeon. Or the Editor of the New York Times. Or a Pulitzer Prize winner. Compared to the other bus stop girls, she is tall with an average build: she wouldn't make it in Playboy but doen't need to hit Overeaters Anonymous either. She wears small black-framed glasses, the kind that years ago would be super-nerdy (think librarian) but are now considered cool in an artsy way. Her clothes are just neutral---casual/hip but not trendy (Is that all her parents will allow her? Or does she specifically try not to draw too much attention?). She stands apart from the rest of the kids and usually has her arms folded in front or sometimes jammed into her jacket pockets. What I notice more is her expression: serious and thoughtful, like she's mentally plotting out the necessary steps to early acceptance at M.I.T or Harvard.
Of course you never know---she could be flighty, and dumb, and popular. But probably not.