Station 429

the night of owen

the night of owen

__________________________________________________________________

Foster showed up before everyone else on Friday, as he usually did. He also usually came as often as he could besides on Fridays. He liked to have time alone with the station. He liked to spend a lot of time alone, actually.

Foster thought too much for his own good, in my opinion. He had been analyzing his father's suicide since the day of the funeral, which also happened to be the day he found the station. He was only twelve then and was way too young to be wandering around New York City on his own. Way too young to be picking apart the brain of a suicidal adult. But he did it anyway, yet found no answers, as do most.

He ended up making his peace about trying to understand why his father had killed himself- and that was that he could never understand- but that didn't stop him from thinking about him in general. His brain plagued him with memories that could not be controlled. But he refused to cry over his dad. That he could control.

His mind wiped clean when he heard footsteps coming from the entrance. Usually Foster wouldn't have put on a face here, but he figured it was Colleen (which it was), and he didn't want to overwhelm her. Especially when she was meeting the rest of the station's crew.

Foster turned around and smiled warmly at Colleen. "Nice to see you."

"You too," she said, stuffing her hands in her jacket. She was wearing all black again, like she was still mourning her friends' deaths, but this time added a beanie and scarf. She looked around the station for a moment before saying, "So, where are these friends of yours that have messed up lives?"

"They'll be here soon."

"Can you at least tell me who they are?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you quite yet, seeing as we have a philosophy to let people find their way here. But I gave you a little nudge in the right direction, since you already did half of the work by finding the station alone. You just came at the wrong time," Foster answered.

Colleen nodded and used the little light given off from a nearby streetlamp to really look at the loose curls in Foster's hair, hidden by a beanie once again, and his gray on black ensemble that was kind of like her own.

Soon enough, a boy's figure could be seen walking towards the entrance. As he got closer, Foster called out, "Hey Owen."

Colleen turned around to look at who he was. She noticed his blonde hair (so blonde that it almost looked bleached) that was long enough to cover most of his eyebrows. He wore a gray beanie and a white jacket with loose jeans that day. "Hey Foster," he greeted.

"Owen, this is Colleen," Foster said, gesturing towards the girl. "Colleen, this is Owen."

Owen nodded to Colleen, piercing her with his striking blue eyes that were easily seen in the gray atmosphere. "Are you hanging out with us tonight?"

"Um, I guess so?" Colleen said.

"That's cool. So what's your story?"

"My what?"

"Owen," Foster cut in, "chill."

"Sorry. It's just been so long since we've had someone new," Owen said. That left Colleen completely confused.

One by one, they all filed into the station. They greeted each other, and Foster took it upon himself to introduce Colleen to everyone as they sat down in a circle. After Owen, it was Kendall, the skater chick with the skateboard. Then Nathan- the oldest and smartest of the group- and Dustin- the jock- who walked in together. Then, finally, Misty, who was known for her hair that seemed to be a shade of whiteish gray with a purple tint to it.

Misty smiled gently at Colleen. "I'm glad you're here. Just know that everything that's said here, stays here, and that you don't have to hide anything from us." Colleen only nodded with no trace of emotion.

Then they just went on their way. Colleen was still left in a state of confusion as to what they were doing until she realized that they were just being teenagers. They sat and they talked in two's or three's, and Colleen felt out of place, yet so comfortable.

After a minute of Colleen getting lost in her thoughts, Owen came and sat by her. "So, if you're willing to tell me," he said to her, snapping her back to reality, "what's your messed up story?"

Colleen was taken aback by someone wanting to know the most horrible part of her life, but then again she wasn't surprised that one of Foster's friends wanted to know. Despite this, she still felt a little uneasy as she said, "My best friend committed suicide last year, then my other best friend committed suicide last month."

Owen nodded like a thought of his was confirmed. "You know, I was getting a suicide vibe when I first saw you."

"Is it really that noticeable?" Colleen asked, feeling slightly worried about strangers being able to pick up on this. But not these people. She didn't care if they could tell.

Owen shook his head. "No. But people who know the pain can see the pain. Plus, I get the same vibe from Foster every day."

Hearing this, Foster said from next to Colleen, "Too soon."

"Too soon? It's been six damn years, dude."

"Yeah, I know. I was just messing with you."

Owen rolled his eyes, then Colleen asked him, "What's your story?"

"Mine?" Owen asked, and Colleen nodded. "Well, I'll tell you. Some assholes bullied me in high school for playing video games."

"People still do that?" Colleen asked.

"Apparently."

"You don't seem too effected by it, honestly."

"Well, back then it felt like hell. But now I'm mostly bitter. Still hurts though, you know?" 

At first, Colleen was going to say no, because she hadn't been bullied before. Then she remembered what Foster said about having the same pain, but from different causes. So in the end she nodded and said, "Yeah, I do."

__________________________________________________________________

dedicated to andrea (@alchemists) for her lovely writing.

and there you have it- the whole crew.

song is salt by bad suns (which is meant to describe owen).

thanks for reading!

-abby xx