Station 429

the night of heroes

the night of heroes

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Colleen didn't know what to do with herself. She was sitting alone in the station on the night of the New Year's party because she had arrived really early. She was having the same struggle here as she was in her apartment, thinking about how useless she felt, and thought that there might be someone at the station to talk to. She had been wrong, and was now in the same situation she was back home, only now she was cold.

Sure, she had stuff to do. She had work for her internship at the local hospital she should be doing. She had a support group for people who had experienced the aftermath of suicide her mom had signed her up for (which was a joke compared to Station 429, Colleen had decided). She had phone calls to make to her friends' parents, not to mention her own. But all of those things seemed either pointless or difficult now.

Colleen knew that her friends would want her to continue to work hard at her internship that would get her a step ahead when she headed back to college the next school year. Every time she reminded herself of this, though, all she could think about was how that wouldn't bring her friends back; that she wouldn't ever hear them say that to her face. They would never be able to push her like they once had. She mentally cursed herself for relying on them so much.

She also knew that she should have called their parents by now. After the incident, she basically cut ties with all of them, not even telling them of her move to the city. Whenever she thought about talking to them, their faces would morph into Naomi's and Hope's, sending her into a fit of heavy breathing. Her own parents she could somewhat handle, albeit her phone calls had to be spread out over the course of every few months. But when it came to Hope's and Naomi's, there was no way if she wanted to avoid breaking down in front of them.

Words cannot describe how happy Colleen was when she heard the crunching of gravel outside of the train, signaling someone was finally arriving. It took all of her willpower not to jump up and run outside to hug the person coming.

Much to Colleen's surprise, Mia was the one who stuck her head through the open door of the train. When Mia saw Colleen, she smiled. "Hey, Colleen," she said, walking inside.

"Hey," Colleen said. "Where's Dustin?"

"Running late." She sat down in a chair next to Colleen. "I wanted to take a walk, clear my head, so I just decided to come here."

"Clear your head?" Mia nodded. "Of what?"

Mia leaned back in her seat, crossing her arms over her stomach. "Well, despite how much I try to block the feelings out, sometimes, it just gets hard. The whole family situation, I mean."

"That's understandable," Colleen said.

"I think it's the lying," Mia said. "No matter how angry I can get at my parents for putting all of us through this, I still don't like having to work my way around them all the time."

"But this time you didn't really have to," Colleen pointed out. "They sent you here, right?"

"That's true. But this has never been the case before." She let out a heavy sigh, shaking her head slightly. "I just feel like I can't be real with them, like I have to put up a front just to make them happy. It sucks."

"That should be somewhat fixed though, now that they're wanting to meet with Dustin."

"I'm scared for that, actually." Mia laughed. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can't help but think of all the worst case scenarios if it does happen. Things like them just arguing the whole time, someone lashing out, and we're back at square one."