Robin's Song

If You're Gonna Do It, Do It Shoe-Less

Robin

The long fabric from my coat flaps in the wind behind me while my hands work to control my wild hair. It's been a while since I had time for a haircut, but because I'm visiting my father today, I decided to get one. Maybe if I looked polished, my father would believe I fit myself into the prince lifestyle. My reflection is dim through the reflection in the train window. Instead of my messy mop of hair on my head, though the ladies loved it, I'm starting to like the styled look. Of course, I begged the barber to not cut it too short.

Studying my haircut through the window gives me an excuse not to look for my friends in the crowds of students. It seems like most people decided to go away this holiday. A man to my left warns everyone the train will leave in five minutes. Without thinking, I pace up and down the loading pad slowly. My freezing hands clasped behind my back and my eyes to the floor.

Sadness pangs in my chest when another minute goes by without seeing someone I recognize. I wonder what happened to Fox, Eden, and Arlo? Some of me had suspected that would stand me up and ditch our plan to go to my father's house. And honestly, I don't blame them. Maybe I'm only overthinking and I just missed them. They could already be on the train and I just didn't see them.

The thunderous roaring of running pounds against the pavement and I turn around to see the noise. A messy bunch of my friends run up to me and stop short as they breathe heavily. Their bags are dropped to the ground and their hands go to their knees. Workers quickly come through to collect their bags before they can say anything.

"Sorry we're late," While gathering his breath, Arlo wheezes, "Fox couldn't find her shoes."

A sharp laugh bubbles inside of me. I don't know if it's from relief or the fact that Fox ran here without any shoes on. We all stare at her, and she does a little dance on the concrete. She doesn't wait for us to stop laughing before exclaiming how cold the ground is and boarding the train. My head does a final shake. Arlo swings his arms around both Eden and I and we follow the shoeless girl onto the train. The doors shut for good as we load into the train.

Most of the compartments are filled. I look through the tiny windows to see if I recognize Fox in any one of them. At the end of the hall, Fox sticks her face through the last door and waves us to come inside. The cozy space has two benches on both sides and a table in the middle. Eden puts her handbag onto the shelf above and slides into a seat. Both sisters decided to take a window seat. Arlo sits next to Eden, and I slide the door shut before taking the last seat.

Fox's legs are folded sideways on the seat. I poke her sock-covered foot that lays next to me. "No shoes, huh?" A smile creeps across my face as Fox swats my hand away from her. Her head turns back towards the window, "Consider it a kind gesture. We all wouldn't have made the train if we looked any longer."

Everyone's body jerks as the train starts to move. Workers move up and down the halls making sure everyone is ready to go. There's one final train whistle. It is set, we can't go back now.

Arlo pulls out a deck of cards from his coat pocket. His hands swiftly shuffle them as he offers us a game. I tell him I don't have any money on me.

"Play for fun, Robin. Not every card game needs to be gambling. Also, I'm not paying for your snacks since you didn't bring any money." As strict as this sounded from Arlo, a warm expression is painted on his face. A pile of cards is pushed towards me and the two other sisters.

"In that case, you all are going down," I confidently hum while organizing the cards in my hands. It takes all of my willpower to not glance over at Fox's cards. This is a friendly game. In most cases, I would do anything to win, even cheat.