Summertrain.

Chapter 2: Tennessee

summertrain Chapter 2

I woke up, feeling empty space beside me. I shot up in a flash. Where was Davyn?

Looking to my right, I saw a man in a tuxedo talking to him quite a far distance away, making weird gestures with his hands, and felt relieved that he was still here. I looked at both of them, wondering what they were talking about. The tuxedo guy threw his hands up in the air, spun around on his heel and stormed off, looking very frustrated.

Davyn also turned around and walked back to where I was. When he looked up and saw me, he quickened his pace, expression changing from nothing to a smile. "Morning." He sat down next to me.

"Morning." I nodded my head. "Who was that?" I pointed towards the direction in which the tuxedo guy's silhouette was still seen among the trees. He was quick to reply. "Just some guy asking for directions. You looked so soundly asleep, I couldn't bear to wake you. Are you hungry?" he changed the subject in a blink of an eye.

I nodded, not probing further into what the guy was here for. Something felt a little weird. Why would a guy in a tuxedo need to be asking for directions in the middle of nowhere? But if he didn't want to tell me, I shouldn't go asking about it.

I realized we WERE actually in the middle of nowhere- with no food whatsoever. Yet he had asked me if I was hungry, where were we going to find food? He produced a packet of chips from beside him and waved it in the air infront of me. Not exactly the type of breakfast I was hoping for, but it's still food. I took the packet out of his hands, opened it and crunched on one slowly. Sour cream and onion. It was good, considering my increased standards for this particular flavour of chips compared to others as it was my favourite.

"Mmm, where'd you get this?" I asked, popping chip after chip into my mouth. I tilted the bag towards him and his hand dipped into the bag and produced a chip which he promptly ate. "Yesterday, at some WalMart before boarding the train. Funny. I thought to myself while buying this, 'Who knows when a random girl you meet on a random train gets hungry, right?'" I couldn't help but laugh at that. It wasn't as hot as yesterday, at least, since we were right next to the lake.

After our gourmet feast of chips was over, Davyn suggested, "Why don't we go state hopping or something? I've always wanted to do that." I was surprised how similar we were at that moment, state hopping had been my dream since I was a little kid. I eagerly agreed, and he jumped up and pulled me and our belongings with us, bounding enthusiastically towards the direction of the train station, both of us as hyper and carefree as little kids without a care in the world.

"So." He tried to start the conversation again. "So." I played back. He laughed. "What's so funny?" I asked, giggling slightly as well.

"I don't know, maybe the unusualness of all this. Like, try imagining two strangers meeting on a train, traveling together, seeing the world together, still strangers, yet not completely. You don't exactly know me, I don't exactly know you, and here we are." He laughed again.

"That's not funny..." I trailed off, looking in the other direction. We weren't exactly what you'd consider strangers anymore, right?

"Okay, maybe it's not, but I was just trying to say something." He grinned.

I rolled my eyes. "Well glad you realize that. You're a terrible conversation starter, you know that?"

"No, I am not. Look what we're doing now?"

I pondered over that question for a while and put on my best thinking face. "Hmm, let's see..." In a monotonous voice, I sarcastically answered, " Walking?"

"Talking. See, I ain't a bad conversation starter cause I did indeed start a conversation, because we are talking right now."

That was true, couldn't argue with that. "Pshh." I scrunched my nose at him. He chuckled. "That's cute, do it again!"