Station 429

the night of thinking

the night of thinking

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Colleen wandered into the station after the weekend at what could be considered an ungodly hour. Foster had already been there for two hours or so. He just wanted some privacy, but never minded when someone would walk in randomly. That's just the way he was.

When Foster turned around from where he was sitting on the tracks and watched as Colleen climbed down the rock pile, then jumped down from the small ledge that raised the passengers from the tracks on the small waiting platform. When Colleen realized he was there, she said, "Oh, hey."

"Hey," he responded.

"I didn't mean to interrupt," she said as she inched closer, stuffing her hands in her jean pockets.

Foster looked up at her. Normally she would be looking up at him, but she was standing above him while he was still on the ground. "You didn't," he said simply.

"No really, I can come back later," Colleen said, pointing her thumb behind her. "If you, um, need some time by yourself." This was the first time I had heard her use a filler word. Typically she was confident in what she was saying, so something seemed to be wrong. "After all, you're the one who found this place."

Foster patted the ground next to him. "I'm okay with sharing. Have a seat."

Colleen sat in front of him rather than next to him. The crisp wind coming in from the entrance hit her back and gave her chills. "Do you come here every night or something?" she asked, trying to distract herself from her relentless thoughts.

"More or less," he said. "I like to come here when I want to think."

"It is quieter here," she mentioned, moving her legs to criss-cross-apple-sauce position. "What were you thinking about?" The blunt side of her kicked back in right then. She seemed to do better with discussing others rather than focusing on herself.

"Suicide. You?"

She was not surprised at this; when someone gets a full slap to the face by suicide, the sting never leaves. "What makes you think I was thinking about something?" she asked.

"Again, no one comes to an abandoned train station just to hang out without a purpose."

Colleen looked down to her hands that were rested in her lap. "I'd rather not talk about it."

Foster looked at her for a moment, but didn't press further. He knew how to respect someone's boundaries by now. "Okay, so what do you want to talk about?"

I could tell Colleen was surprised at his response. She tried hiding the emotion, and maybe she hid it from Foster (that I don't know for sure), but she couldn't hid it from me. I caught everything.

"Let's talk about your friends," she finally said.

"Okay, what about them?"

"They're pretty cool," she admitted.

"Tell me what you really think," Foster joked.

Colleen laughed, which hardly ever happened here anymore. The kids rarely laughed, usually keeping it to smiles and chuckles, which kept the place looking like a black and white movie. That's what grieve can do to a person, and it happened to seven kids who deserved a lifetime of color.

"That's what I really think," Colleen said, still smiling. Foster seemed to make Colleen's stone persona crack after a certain amount of time. But she was skilled, and was able to patch it right back up in no time at all.

"They're the perfect example of how no one can come here without a reason. Did their bluntness throw you off?" he said.

"Kind of, yeah," Colleen breathed out, yet kept her smile.

"They really are something." Foster looked to his right while sighing.

"Why doesn't anyone come in that way?" Colleen had turned her head to look at what Foster's gaze was on, which was where the trains would exit the tunnel after the passengers boarded. The dark city sky could be seen from where they were sitting.

"Well, that pile of concrete slabs was the real entrance. There were stairs there and everything."

"Really?" Colleen glanced behind her and tried to picture how it would have looked.

"Apparently. Though I wouldn't know. I wasn't alive when this place was actually functional."

Colleen and Foster studied each other for a moment. They would have these random moments of silence and just look at each other, which I had never seen Foster do before. Neither of them could get a grip on each other, it seemed, and neither one of them could understand how they were able to connect so easily. You would think Foster was used to this by now, but the feeling happened with every person that stumbled in here, from Misty to Kendall. It's the magic of the station that brings them together.

Foster was infatuated with her. Colleen made black look amazing, he decided, and that he could listen to her talk with her crap excuse for a filter on her mouth for hours on end.

Colleen was more intrigued with him. She recognized a certain something about him that she couldn't quite pinpoint, and she wanted to figure out what it was.

"So, you really do like my friends, huh?" Foster said.

"Yeah, I really do," Colleen assured.

"I mean, they're not that cool. They even came up with a weird name for us."

"What is it?" She really wanted to know.

"Station 429."

"That's not weird. Isn't that just the number of the station?"

"It's weird," he insisted, "but do you want to come back every Friday and hang out with us anyway?"

"Are you guys secretly a cult?" she asked, only half kidding.

Foster chuckled. "No, we're not a cult."

"Cool, then I'm in." 

"Then welcome to Station 429."

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dedicated to kelly for her amazing story Finding Ford, which i binge read last night at two in the morning because it was giving me chills and melting my heart, so i had to keep reading. you are literally perfection and your sequel is gonna be amaaazing!

very short chapter, i know, but things will be picking up from here so stick with me! things are only getting started:)

song is state of grace by taylor swift.

-abby xx