Carter (The Bus Stop)

Carteris the secondary antagonist/anti-hero-turned-deuteragonist of the 2016 drama short film, The Bus Stop.

He was portrayed by David Knoll.

Biography
At first he is seen walking down the sidewalk with his friends, Mason and Alex. When he gets playfully pushed by Alex, he backs into a bench, where Angela Wellington is sitting, hitting her head in the process. This gives Angela the courage to call him out for not saying excuse me or apologizing. However, instead of showing courtesy, he bullies her along with the other guys and then leaves with Mason and Alex, after Mason suggests going to a burger joint and catching the last bus afterwards.

The next scene, he is shown begrudgingly accompanying his mother, whose name is Lynn, to greet their new neighbor after Lynn threatened him that there will be no video games for a week if he is rude and does not come. After reaching the house, the neighbor, who is revealed to be Angela Wellington herself, greets the mother and recognizes Carter as one of the bullies. She lets them in and engages Lynn in polite conversation. At one point, Lynn tells Angela that Carter has been struggling with his school grades and asks her to tutor him. Of course, Carter protests but Angela tells him that she was a teacher before her retirement.

Carter then meets up with Angela at her house and is told to come in when she answers the door. He then angrily claims that he only agreed because his mom is “forcing” him. However, Angela strictly and firmly tells Carter that he will follow her rules and show respect in her house. She also tells him to be calm her “Mrs. Wellington”. Despite Carter’s rebellious attitude, she sticks to her guns and Carter begrudgingly agrees to it.

Later, he writes a paper about a novel, but Angela does not like it, due to the poor quality and lack of effort. Carter then says the book was “boring” after Angela explains why she does not like her paper. When Angela suggests he did a paper on a comic book, he agrees to it. He then hands her his paper on the comic book and receives a better reception. After some bonding with Angela, he reveals that his father died. Because of the connection, the two share their pains about their losses.

During the ending, he is seen again with Mason and Alex. After they come across Angela struggling put some fallen items back in her cart, Carter has flashbacks of how he got to know her and goes to help her, despite Mason and Alex still being mean towards her. After Mason and Alex walk away, he walks away with Angela.

Personality
At first, Carter is arrogant, rude, non-empathetic, selfish, and rebellious. Later on in the film, he becomes more selfless, compassionate, empathetic, friendly, and obedient after bonding with Angela and sharing his pain about the death of his dad with her.