Locomotive Square

Track One

Locomotive Square was a reasonably sized city center with lots of colorful and entertaining attractions. One side of the courtyard was lined with train rails, allowing up to three trains to rattle past the little community. On the neighboring side was a large field with a sidewalk running around the perimeter and crisscrossing in the middle, maple trees trailing along the paved walkway on both sides. Benches were scattered throughout the park and small vendors often set up in the green field.

Across the courtyard was a line of little shops ranging from a little, warm cafe to a sweet-smelling candy shop, and a homey and welcoming bookstore. The final length of the courtyard had two floors, a large, stone spiral staircase leading up to the second balcony level. On the first floor was a small movie theater, velvet red ropes showing where people should line up and movie posters staged behind a plastic sheet for weather protection. The second floor consisted of local shops and a brand-new restaurant with outside seating.

Everyone who worked at and lived by Locomotive Square new everybody, as they were a tight family. Ms. Eaker was a sweet, elderly lady who owned the candy store, and the children would often visit her, just because they liked her so. They usually got a small sucker every time they went. Mr. Hansen owned the cafe; he was a kind old man who always brought the boy at the bookshop a warm cup of hot chocolate in the mornings. The boy always thought that the two should get together.

Stacy made the best, mouthwatering triple chocolate cupcakes up at the cupcake shop, and Alex had just opened her restaurant a few weeks ago. It was already up and kicking, much to Stacy's slight dismay.

There were always new visitors coming to the square; taking pictures on the tracks, carrying around tons of cupcakes, and buying new books at the bookstore, which is where our story begins.

The boy's favorite pastime, aside from reading, was watching all the different people pass by the large window. Each and every day he saw people of different sizes, heights, genders, and races. Each had their own style, and each one the boy admired. He would sometimes see someone who piqued his interest, and he would have fun daydreaming and creating a possible backstory for them in his mind.

But never before had he seen a boy like the one he was watching now.

As he analyzed the boy across the courtyard, he chewed on the end of the pencil he was previously using to doodle.

The boy across the courtyard was seated on one of the benches in the park, slightly slouching with one leg loosely crossed over the other. From what he could see, the boy was wearing a nice pair of black tennis shoes, black ripped skinny jeans, and a simple and plain gray hoodie. He sat there for some time, seeming to just watch people pass by as the boy in the bookstore did.

"Tom!"

Unfortunately, his staring was interrupted by a certain duo barging through the big door, causing him to jump in his swivel chair and drop his pencil onto the front desk with a clatter.

"Chill, Tom-Tom, it's just us." Minho, Thomas' best friend, sniggered as he clamped his hand on his back. Teresa plopped down in Thomas' lap, and he flashed them a goofy smile.

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Thomas wrapped an arm around Teresa's waist and lightly kissed her cheek.

"We were just coming to pick you up," Teresa hummed as she pulled the paper Thomas was doodling on towards her. She snorted when she saw the creature made of led. "What the hell is this?" She asked as she fought back a laugh.

The thing had a bulbous, gelatin-like body. It somehow held itself up on seven legs, half of which looked like stubby elephant feet while the other three looked more like toilet plungers. Its head wasn't even held up by a neck, simply being placed awkwardly on top as if it were a lopsided snowman. It had a pelican beak and frog eyes with dramatic eyelashes.

Minho looked over her shoulder and actually laugh, letting out a cackle of sorts. "It's his self-portrait, T. Don't be mean," he managed to get out before sighing, a teasing grin taking away any malice his words could have possibly held. "Anyways, like bitch queen said, we're here to get you."

Thomas rolled his eyes at his friends' teasing, but a fond smile lay upon his features. "Get me for what?" He asked as he took the paper from Teresa's grasp and crumpled it up, tossing it into the trash bin under the desk. His lips parted in worry at the look of hurt on Minho's face, Teresa just looking at Thomas in exaggerated shock.

"Dude, we were gonna grab hotdogs in the park for lunch, did you forget?" As Minho said this, he sniffed and pretended to wipe away a tear. "That hurts, bro."

Thomas relaxed just shook his head with another smile as he lightly nudged Teresa off his lap and stood up, the swivel chair shifting away in the process.

"Shall we go then?"

"We shall!"

Teresa laughed softly at their short exchange and went to hold the door open for them, bowing as they passed through. Minho, of course, turned his nose up and playfully scoffed, muttering under his breath a quick "Peasant." The girl squinted and smacked his shoulder at the small remark.

Thomas ignored this however, as his thoughts were occupied by another boy, who, as luck would have it, was sitting on a bench right in the middle of the path that the trio were taking to get to the hotdog stand. Thomas' brows furrowed as he realized this, and he ducked his head as if to ignore the stranger, but quickly raised it again after realizing there was no point.

Thoughts of the boy quickly faded when they reached halfway across the large courtyard. The group simultaneously stopped at the significant red brick line that cut the square in half for seemingly no reason. They all got evil grins on their faces in silent communication as they lined up at the line, one foot in front of the other as they glared at each other.

"On your mark..."

"Get set...!"

"GO!"

At the last word, they all planted their feet and took off, hair flying, stomachs turning with excitement, and feet pounding on the pavement as they raced to be the first to reach the park, and eventually the desired food. Minho went speeding ahead with Thomas trailing after, Teresa coming in a close third.

"Last one there pays!" Thomas' eyes narrowed competitively at Minho's call, his cheeks pink from the autumn air. Teresa suddenly sprinted past him, clearly determined to not be the one paying for the hungry group. Thomas stumbled in surprise but quickly caught himself. He grinned happily until he saw that Minho and Teresa had just reached the hotdog stand, out of breath and panting with huge grins on their faces. He was so distracted by the fact that he had lost that he almost ran right past them.

"Oi! Tom-Tom!" Thomas skidded to halt, but not soon enough to stop himself from crashing into the two winners, causing them all to tumble to the ground.

"Fuck! Tom!" Teresa had hit her head on the food cart, the vendor staring down at them with wide eyes.

"S-Sorry, T! I'm so sorry! Are you guys okay?" Thomas scrambled up and held a hand out for Teresa, still out of breath. The girl glowered as Minho took the hand instead, pulling himself up.

"No! You could have damaged this god-like figure. Shucking clumsy Thomas." Minho grumbled as he brushed himself off, flicking his eyes up to a very guilty looking Thomas. "That'll cost you another hotdog. Two for me."

By this time Teresa had helped herself up. "And a soda for me." Thomas pouted but pulled out his wallet, too occupied with getting the food and drink to notice the boy sitting on the bench watching him with an amused and sly grin.

If he hadn't been so desperate to reach the stand before his friends, he would have seen the boy watching him from the moment Teresa had shouted 'Go' for all of Locomotive Square to hear.

~~~

First chapter, let's go.

I'm excited for this, I think it's gonna be good.

Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Don't trip.