Boys In Cars

Ships Will Carry On

Disappointment

Failure

How could you do this to us?

What did we do wrong?

Are you doing this just to hurt us?

The words and names Samantha's parents had called her rang loud and clear in her head like a sickening song stuck on repeat. As usual it had to have been because she was trying to rebel against them, trying to hurt her precious parents who could do no wrong. She could clearly remember how crushed her mother had looked when Samantha spoke the words, how there was a mixture of fury, disappointment, fear, and heartbreak in her mother's bland eyes. Heartbreak? Yeah, her mother didn't know shit about heartbreak. That senior boy had dumped Samantha on her ass as soon as he'd gotten some, leaving her no longer a virgin, and not to mention, pregnant. She remembered how her father had tried to laugh, told her that it wasn't a funny joke. Samantha remembered how disappointed in her he'd looked when she tearfully reassured him that it was no joke, her trembling fingers clutching onto the positive pregnancy test in her shaking, sweaty hands. Her father had begun to lecture her, shouting at her about what she planned to do, how she was going to have this baby, and what the neighbors would think, because right now Samantha was definitely worried about what Mr and Mrs. Shoemaker next door would think of her for getting knocked up. No, her mind was trapped on more disturbing issues, like how much weight she was going to gain, how she was going to have a child on her own, likely give it up for adoption on her own, how she was going to finish high school. She'd already been accepted into university, but her parents made it very clear that college was currently off the table. It then took them a total of two days to call her aunt Mary in Kansas and set up a one way ticket to Kansas. It took just a few more days for her parents to pack up her things and herd her into the car and to the train station, barely able to even look at their daughter as they bid their goodbyes, promising to call. Samantha knew it was bullshit. They weren't going to call.

She leaned her forehead against the cool train window, her dark grey eyes following a raindrop as it slid down the window. It was almost a cliche how the dreary weather outside reflected her own mood. She felt like one of those huge grey clouds outside, weighed down by the thing growing inside of her. The train had hit Kansas just a few minutes ago and Samantha knew that they'd be hitting Indian Head sooner or later. Indian Head was a relatively small town, only about eight thousand residents. Samantha had visited it once when she was a young girl, and had met her Aunt Mary only a handful of times. She knew the woman was older, her mother's elder sister. She had no children and lived alone in a little apartment on the corner of Main Street, overlooking the street. According to Samantha's mother, Mary was very progressive and open minded, something that contrasted greatly with Samantha's mother who lived in a 'cookie cutter world' as Samantha tended to call it. 

It felt like only seconds had passed by as the train jerked and lurched to a halt in the Indian Head station. A few other passengers began to get off, but barely anyone at all. Samantha stood up and began to drag her suitcases out of the overhead storage. She cursed quietly as she tugged her heavy suitcase down, barely managing to keep it from hitting her on the head. A mother sitting behind her with her son cast the girl a scalding frown, which in answer Samantha pulled an ugly face at her as she fought to drag her suitcases down the narrow hallway of the train and to the door. Thanks to the kindness of one of the stewards, she made it out the door right before the train began to depart. As soon as she stepped out onto the platform she was soaked. The rain was a lot heavier than she had expected it to be. She shivered a bit as she began to drag her luggage towards the building, wondering where her aunt was. The door to the station suddenly opened and Samantha watched as a rather pudgy woman with an umbrella scurried out, waving eagerly to Samantha.