Endless Thrills (On Hold)

Part 1

Tell me where shall I go? To the left, where nothing's right? Or to the right, where nothing's left?

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The train let out a big cloud of smoke as it screeched to a stop at its 4:00pm destination. Crowds of people rushed out of the train giving the remaining a chance to grab a seat before another flock of people crammed into one of New York's busiest underground trains.

A girl who looked to be around 18 years old grabbed one of the side seats feeling the need to rest her legs. She had been travelling in trains the entire day when she finally found the right train; all she needed to do now was get out at the right stop. Only one more stop, she thought happily.

A flood of New Yorkers crowded into the train. The girl drew her legs she had been stretching back to her as an ignorant person was about to step on her feet. She exhaled and looked down glance at her phone that was dead.

A man on her previous train had challenged her she couldn't achieve the score of 800 on Piano Tiles 2. She couldn't back down on a challenge, but now she was regretting her choice. She looked up and around the train. 

There were many people in business suits waiting rather impatiently. There was a man on the side in a Statue of Liberty costume asking for money from an old couple who was staring disapprovingly at a couple of girls who were holding hands. 

It was her first time riding an underground train, well not exactly first because she rode a few trains earlier in the day only to find out she was riding the wrong train. She finally got on the right train.

She was about to bring her eyes back to her lap when her eyes landed on him. 

Her breath hitched as her heart started pounding against her chest like she was running a race. She glanced at her hands to see them shaking. When she glanced back in the same direction he was in, there was another man in his place. 

In replacement was a man wearing a business suit glancing at his watch. Her eyes danced around trying to find him in the crowd desperately trying to convince herself that she wasn't as crazy as they said she was. She wasn't hallucinating; she saw him. Her head started spinning. It was like a box was closing in on her, she needed to escape. 

Not here, she thought, he isn't here, she chanted in her mind trying to convince her self that it was all in her head. Sweat started forming on her forehead. She grasped the railing on the side of her seat and pulled herself up.

She needed to control herself; showing vulnerability is a weakness, a familiar voice spoke in her head. 

She stood up and calmly offered her seat quietly to an old man who was standing nearby. 

"Thank you dear, lord bless her," the old man croaked out, his voice raspy due to many years of tobacco. 

She paid no attention to what he was saying. 

Breathe in for four seconds, hold, and exhale for four seconds, her therapist's instructions came to her mind. 

She tried the breathing exercise but it wasn't working. She needed space from the invisible walls that were caving in on her.

The statue of Liberty man came up to her asking for some change repeatedly when the train finally reached the destination. The girl forced her legs to move and pushed past the man.