The Subway

Anabeth

I had been on the subway for hours. After the fight with Declan, I couldn't possibly go home. Dad would ask how Declan was treating me and I would break down. And mom? She would ask how my time was and I would break down. I had to face the fact that I was an emotional wreck and I couldn't possibly be seen by anyone remotely in my everyday world. And that's when the last thing I wanted to see walked into the car.

The moments by myself had been so pure until Jared Whilner of all people entered the car. He looked like such a vampire, with his pale white skin and clothes that looked imported from a Japanese ninja. I wanted to sneer in disgust, but was afraid squinting my eyes would just let the tears spill over. And then where would I be? Crying on a subway at 3:00 AM in front of Jared Whilner. How to get destroyed on social media 101. Not that he would even know what that is. I just yanked my Beats earbuds out of my Michael Kors purse and inserted them into my ear before he would even have a chance to speak.

As much as I didn't want to talk to the little alien creature, he made me explain to him the obvious knowledge about train car reception. You always get the best reception in the middle of the car. The rest was filled with little awkward glances until my phone died. If you want to know how to turn a girl's best day into her worst nightmare, drain her phone battery.

"No no noooo!" I panicked.

"What, Declan finally left you?" Jared remarked. For someone with no social status whatsoever at Brimer High, he does know how to snap.

"Like that'll ever happen. He's lucky to have me." I retorted.

We kind of went back and forth for a while, and he got ever so hurt when I insulted his punk-rock friend group. He should have felt glorified I even knew they existed. But then it got real when he started going at my friends. Jared was all like, oh you're so pale, and I'm like yeah just so you know I really have dark skin and lighten it for the winter (which I don't, that would be stupid) and he goes, "Because I look like I'd fall for that. Sorry sweetheart, I have more than two braincells, unlike the rest of your petty entourage. Oh, I mean friends."

"Excuse me?" I gave him a chance to correct himself before he wrecked himself, but he just put his earbuds in. I could literally hear the music on the other side of the car.

"Hey! Maybe Person! Are you even listening to me?! You are such a-" Before I could even finish, I was airborne. A ringing filled my ears before I could even process what was happening. Everything was in slow motion. I saw Jared grip the handrail tighter, his hair [synonym to flying] to the left. His other arm was jerked out of a curled position and thrust out to his side. Finally reality caught up with me and I was seeing things in real time.

I found myself sitting at the edge of the car, facing the end. My feet were pushed up against the metal as if I was a little girl that had just done ten somersaults and ran into a wall. "My ankle!" I wailed.

"Aw, poor little girl." Jared grumbled as he straightened himself up.

"No seriously, I think I like broke it, or something!" I sat up and tried to rotate it around.

"Ugh, Girls," he groaned, "You're moving it, I think you're okay." Jared was not being much help at the moment.

"And my neck! What if I have to wear a brace?!" I gasped and my hands flew up to my throat.

"Diva." Jared muttered and put his headphones into his ears.

"How could you be so-so- ugh, I don't know, ___ at a time like this!?" I huffed, exasperated with this, whatever he was. He just turned his shoulder on me and stared intently at the map of the railway system. I was starting to get really mad. What if I had broken my collar bone, or spine, or my phone!

"Do you mind, like, helping me?" I couldn't believe I actually had to help from him. Most guys would be fawning over the chance to help Anabeth Brite.

"Do you mind, shutting up so I can listen to my music?"

"Wait, do you hear that?"

"Yeah, it's my music, duh."

"No, the other thing." I corrected him.

Jared promptly plucked his earbuds out of his ears and and put on a face of intent listening. "I don't hear anything."

"Exactly." I smirked.

"So... back to music!" And with a smug smile, that brat tuned me out and shoved his precious little buds back into his ears.
"Hey!" I screeched in protest and jumped to my feet, cringing at the pain from my ankle. With a toothy grin, I yanked his earbuds out of his ears for him, since he was having such a hard time keeping them out himself. And so he would keep listening, I chucked them across the room.

"What about now?"

"Hey! What do you think you're doing! I need those!"

"Really? Well first tell me what you hear."

"Well it's not my music. Who do you think you are?"

"Silence. It's silent. We're on the subway..." And then his last comment hit me. "And if you must know, I'm Anabeth Brite." I huffed.

"So..."

"Subways are loud." I tried, speaking to him like he was a kindergartner. He might as well have been.

"It's night." He was trying to do the same back to me. Ugh, boys.

"But, the noise from moving on the tracks. It's not there. At all."

I think Jared finally understood, and his face lit up like the Fourth of July before he realized what this went, and his countenance turned sullen. "So, we aren't moving, and that's probably not the best situation."
"Yeah, good! And 2+2=4!" I said to him in my ever-popular sarcastic teacher tone.

"Wow, you can do math!" Jared retorted, to which I scoffed.

"And I can plan too." I smirked, ideas bubbling in my head.

"Oh God." Jared sighed. "What is it?"

"So, first we take one of those things," I pointed his shoes, which had spikes on them. "And punch it into the skylight until the glass breaks. Then, we can take a piece of the glass and cut the bench out from the seat, and ram the door open," I could tell he was getting bored. He started walking around and scanning the area.

"Then we'll have to, wait, are you listening?" I continued

"Nope." Jared gave me a cheesy fake innocent smile.

"Do you mind?" I growled.

"Not at all, but keep going anyway." Jared continued to wander around.

"Fine, Well... we'll have get the doors out of the way to climb out and then, well, what do you think?" I immediately regretted asking his opinion.

"I think this." And with that, Jared bashed the car door down. "Got it." He said smugly.

"Or jujitsu, but that totally can break your toenails and then you can't wear flip-flops or sandals for like a month." I looked Jared up and down. "But I don't think that'll be an issue."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Jared clutched his heart in fake hurt.

"I don't know, you tell me."

"You know, it takes a lot of work to keep my skin so vampire white." Jared smiled like a model and started to pose, focusing on showing off his face. I rolled my eyes in disgust. This was going to be a long, long night.