The Train

The Beginning

The night was cold, I shivered while walking around the pond. I felt like an idiot, running after what I loved. As I stepped onto a pebble, my foot started to bleed, "Crap," I whispered. I sat down and studied the cut at the heel of my foot. The pain faded, so I laid down, and stared at the stars. "I wish, I could go back in time, and fixed all of this."

BEFORE...

As I stepped out of the car, I smelled the fresh California air. I opened the rear door and took out a brown box. I shut the door and walked onto campus. My father put his hand on my shoulder, "this is it son, this is Farewell College." i turned to face him, his eyes were watering, this was his old College. I felt kind of sad, knowing I would only see him once or twice a year. "Yep, I'm kind of nervous." I replied. He sighed, "You'll do fine, I mean, your like a work machine, you can do anything." I put the box down and hugged him, "I wish mom was here." I said. My dad let go and went back into the car smiling. I picked up the box and started walking toward the Lobby. I reached the door, but I was struggling to open the door, then, someone opened it for me, it was a girl. "Thanks," I said, "are you a freshman too?" She giggled, I walked in and she turned away. I wondered who she was, blonde hair, green eyes, a rose tattoo on her ankle. I ignored it.

I got my room key and headed to my dorm, it was on the third floor. I noticed the hallways were dead silent. I guessed nobody was there yet.

I walked down the hall looking at the dorm numbers, "345, 347, 349," then finally, 351. I took out my room key, then, my arms started to weaken. Shoot, I thought. The box dropped and my keys, "ugh, I hate this." As I bent down to grab the keys, a girl knelt down and picked up the box, "Hi, I'm Alessia. Are you a freshman too?" She stood up, I admired her blue eyes, and brown silky hair. "Yeah, I'm Matteo."

She smiled, "Cool, myself and a couple of my friends are heading down to the juice bar, want to join us?" I felt the urge to stay in my dorm and just explore the place but, it would be nice to fit in with a group and not be a loner. "Sure, I just need to unpack and everything." she smiled and nodded. "See ya." She gave the box to me and walked down the hall. I smiled, weirdly, I couldn't believe I was just invited to go out some place. I mean, I never really was invited to places. I pushed open my door and walked in, it smelled, fresh, like daisies. The room was empty, no one was in it except myself and my luggage. "Time to unpack." I said. So, I started to open boxes and make my bed and put my books in the shelves. I stopped to wonder if I had a roommate, maybe he was just late. I finished putting away my Moby Dick and The Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank. I sat on my neat bed and sighed, I popped up and ran to the closet to grab my shoes, "I almost forgot, the juice bar!" I quickly grabbed the key to the room and headed out.

The campus was huge, large rooms, and many of them, and about 5 buildings that all connect. I ran around trying to find the bar, I headed down to the lobby and talked to the front desk frontier, "Hello, where is the juice bar?" She nodded down the north hall, "Thank you." I replied. I walked down the hall and saw other rooms, the banquet hall, the buffet for breakfast and dinner, and the snack machines. It all seemed like a hotel. I finally reached the end of the hall and peeked in a room, the juice bar. I saw Alessia sitting at a table with a couple other guys and another girl. I glanced at her and waved, she waved back and called me over. I walked over shyly and sat at the table. "Guys, this is Matteo. Matteo, this is," she first pointed at the girl, "Stacey, Jake, Michael and Louis." I said hi and they stood up, "Leaving so soon?" I asked, "Yeah, we're heading to the Grudge. It's a really cool French themed restaurant."

I gave a confused look when she said, 'The Grudge.' she smiled. "We like to go there because the name is weird for an French restaurant, but the food is perfection." I shrugged, "Can I come?" I hated inviting myself, but, I need to make some friends. She looked at Stacey, then the guys, "Okay, but you have to be at least twenty-one to be able to enter. You look, twenty. They'll accept you." I nodded, she was telling me about the place and what exactly happens there. I interrupted her once, "Your hair's beautiful." I liked giving compliments, I always thought it would make people give me some. But, nobody ever did. I had a different feeling about Alessia, though." she smiled then twirled her hair, "Thank you. I like your eyes, they're nice."

It wasn't the best compliment but, it was something. Louis drove us in his van to the Grudge. As we approached the restaurant, I started getting anxious, the outside looked intimidating. We parked and the hopped out, I followed behind. Stacey knocked on the door, the bartender opened it, "May I help you, kids?" Louis rolled his eyes, "We're twenty-two for your information." The bartender shrugged and let us in, "That was easy," I whispered to Alessia, "he just let us right in." Alessia smiled. We walked inside and the air was filled with smoke, men were drinking and smoking at the bar while the women were sitting at the booths drinking and gossiping. We sat at a booth, I sat in the middle between Louis and Jake. Stacey, Alessia, and Michael sat together with Alessia in the middle. "So Matteo, do you have a girlfriend?" I recognized the voice, Louis. "Uh, no." My voice cracked and I shut up. I new I shouldn't of said anything. It was awkward for a few minutes then, Stacey spoke up. "Do you want to play truth or dare?" I nodded and so did everyone else. "Okay, I will start."

She started with Louis, and he picked dare, so she dared him to go up to one of the men at the bar and ask them to smoke with them. He did, and at that point he was sitting at the bar with them. Stacey asked Michael, "Truth or dare?" Michael thought for a moment, "Dare." Stacey waited a few moments, I knew it was going to be something good. "I dare you to kiss Alessia." My heart stopped, what did she just say? Michael shrugged his shoulder, "Okay, I've done it before." Alessia stared at me, like she wanted me to kiss her. But, she faced him and grabbed his face and they kissed. After ten seconds, I left the table. I liked her. But, I wanted her to know. I went to the washroom and looked in the mirror, my pale skin and brown messy hair couldn't compete with the tanned blonde jelled haired guy. I should've just gave up, I never felt wanted. Then, the washroom door opened, it was Michael.