Evanescent

2

"Is this seat taken?"

A deep voice echoed across the thin walls of the train, the question so innocent yet so seemingly crucial at the same time. No one would ever ask a question like that on an ordinary day, everyone always too caught up in themselves to think about what was polite. She never had been taught manners at the facility that had raised her and everyone around her, the technique of it lost as the years had gone by. She silently nodded, still not able to bring herself to meet the stranger's eyes, too terrified of what she would find if she did. The unfamiliar sense of urgency to look at him fought for control, every part of her pleading for her to turn her head, such a simple action that could cause so many consequences.

"I'm so sorry for intruding, I know how hard it can be on these mornings."

She let the softest smile paint across her face as he sounded so genuine, something she'd never known from anyone in her life. She tried to think back to the last time she'd been given the opportunity to have an actual conversation with someone that didn't end in hidden glares and rolled eyes. She was an outgoing person, secretly longing for company, though the world she lived in was no world for an outgoing girl. She'd learned how to hide her mind's insistent need for human interaction. It was becoming harder by the second to not return his sincerity, her mouth eager to start talking about things that had been on her mind since the moment she'd stepped into the world, it was scary, yet thrilling how easily she could let herself pour her heart out to a complete stranger. When his arm brushed across hers the intensity of it was too much, the need to know who he was overpowering every other warning. Before she could think her head had whipped around to face the intriguing stranger that had captured her attention. What she saw made the slow rhythm of her chest stop, the air being held in as she took in his features, the familiarness of them giving her something to almost remember, almost. His ebony hair hung loosely on his head, thrown to the side carelessly, his mouth upturned in a kind grin. She assessed him from the tips of his oddly dirt coated sneakers to the crooks of his light chocolate s that held something so honest that she didn't allow herself to regret looking in the first place, even when his presence sparked something so dangerous in her mind.

"So are you just going to stare at me all day or what?"

A fierce blush stained her pale cheeks as she realized how strange she must have seemed with her wide eyed gaze and curious expression. As much as she enjoyed talking with others she'd never had much experience since most of her conversations never made it past a simple 'hello'. She didn't know why it mattered so much that she had utterly embarrassed herself in front of this guy, this scarily familiar guy that made the ordinary dull rhythm of her chest race a mile per second.

"I'm so sorry, I'm just not used to this I guess." She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and let the words slip out of her mouth with such ease she couldn't hide the shock. She had grown accustomed to the stuttering that she'd dealt with ever since her days at the facility when talking had been a sin. Hearing the smoothness of the words brought her back to a time when she'd been able to skip along the slabs of concrete, careless and unrestricted.

"It's honestly no problem, I understand, it seems that everyone these days has some sort of stick up their butt."
She laughed full heartedly, the giggles coming out of her mouth quickly and loudly that the small clump of passengers around them turned their heads, but for once she couldn't bring herself to care. She let the lightness of the atmosphere warm her to the core as if nothing else mattered. She knew her laughter was hoarse, rusted from years of silence, the last time she'd had any reason to smile much less laugh was far out of her reach. As the minutes passed and the only noise that resonated was the short spurts of chuckles that blinded her, her mind slowly losing focus on reality as she felt the last pieces of sanity slip out of her grasp, leaving the most foreboding sense of freedom in its wake.

"Are you okay?" he spoke up after the long moment of stillness, his voice not hinting at any judgement, just the fluttering feeling of concern. She felt herself fall into his voice, the currents of his blinking eyes and long nose pulling her closer and closer as the seconds went by, the awareness that he actually cared enough for her to care back. She quickly nodded, losing her voice in his eyes as her giddiness simmered down into the most comforting sense of happiness.

"You know I don't think that anyone's ever laughed so much at one of my jokes before, they always seem to be underappreciated, I'm flattered."

His laid back attitude was enough for her to shake her head in silent giggles. She felt his eyes as they stayed glued to the side of her head, the one part of him that seemed to hold secrets while everything else stayed open to the blind eyes that invaded their moment. She longed to know what he was hiding behind his overly confident attitude, the curious side of her all too willing to get lost in him, to uncover the parts of him that he had yet to share. She felt the oddest sense of connection with him, the boy who she'd barely known, the one who gave her hope. The way he spoke and how his hands were so close to colliding with her own was bringing back empty memories that were locked with an iron chain, the key lost in the sea of her thoughts.

"Well I don't think I've ever had anyone who could make me laugh like that so you should be flattered." she saw how his eyes met the laces of his shoes for the quickest second, his mind going to a place of thought that she wished she could make sense of. As his eyes refocused and his lazy grin once again spread across his soft features, the change so fast she had to blink to make herself realize his grin had disappeared in the first place.