Visionaries

two

// TWO //

"So, tell me, May. When did you really know you wanted to study liberal arts?"

I stare at Cass, sitting in front of me, on this mystical train we still haven't gone off. This is second one though. The one from Andermatt to destination; Lugano.

"I first heard about it around the age of 15. I didn't know what it was, but the person who introduced me to it told me about her courses and I was very intrigued. I looked into and fell in love."

"That's so typical," she says with a playful scoff to which I answer with a oh-yeah face. "I have the most unusual story."

"Shoot," I say quite intrigued that she is this confident about the greatness of her story. Well, it is Cass, she is always overly something about eveything.

"I had a school project for art class to do on liberty. I was trying to turn liberty into an adjective for art and I was searching for pictures online. When I put liberal art in the search bar, two things popped up: pictures about a liberal arts education and movie posters for a movie called Liberal Arts. Amazing and life changing is all I can say about the movie. And voilà, je suis là."

"I want to see that movie!"

"You really should. It's amazing."

After a brief pause, my bladder threatens to erupt.

"Okay, so I need to pee."

She waves her arm telling me to go right ahead.

I stand up and walk/run to the bathroom. All this reminds me of is my dream and I just walk faster to make sure I get to the bathroom before I bump into a beautiful man.

I make it. I run in. I urinate. I wash my hands and I run back to my seat.

"You seem pretty startled."

I give her a you-should-know look.

"Last time I was running down a train alley to a bathroom, shit happened."

She forms and 'O' with her mouth and turns towards the window again.

"Next Stop: Lugano" a woman's voice says through the intercom as the train takes off after the stop we just passed.

"Hey Cass."

"Mmmh?" She mumbles still not giving me her full attention.

"How did you deal with your parents' divorce? How do you still do it?"

She looks away from the window while biting her lip. She frowns as she stares at her feet. She keeps forming a V with her white Vans and sticks them together again in a swift motion. She repeats the action many times. I can only wait wondering if I just messed up.

Once she looks back up, her eyes are as dark as her miseries and they threaten to pour the most massive waterfall I think we will see today.

"Come here," I quickly say beckoning to the seat beside me that no one cared to fill, thankfully.

She almost jumps for her side to mine.

"Cass, darling, I'm so sorry. I would have never brought it up if I had known."

I keep her head nuzzled in my side and I play with her hair. I hear her sniffles, but after a minute, she raises her head again wiping everything off.

"No, it's fine," she mumbles rubbing her, thankfully, mascara-less eyes. "You could have never known that the divorce brings me to think of other things."