The Tracks

Jumpover

"Hi."

"Hi."

Jay took her hand, stopping himself from grabbing her and taking her into his arms. Dei lifted her other hand to touch his dimple, and they both smiled.

"I was hoping you'd be there."

"I've been there for the past five days."

"You were?!"

"Well, every afternoon, actually, after my shift at the store where I work. I've been driving by, hoping to see you..."

"I had to rest my foot."

"Are you feeling better?"

"The swelling has gone down, and I can walk better. Slow, but it's ok."

"Good."

"Yeah...uhm...Jay..."

"Dei?"

She looked at his eyes, those gorgeous eyes that bore into hers when he had her in his arms the day he saved her. Her hands gripped on his arms, feeling its strength, and the goosebumps that were forming as she held them tightly. She smirked, realizing that she was giving him that effect, and he lowered his gaze to her mouth, drawing himself closer. Just a few more inches away, he could feel the heat emanating from her breath, her sweet breath that smelled of orange and mint...

"Can we sit down?"

"Huh?"

"My foot. It gets tired easily lately, I need to sit down."

"Oh, yeah. Sure."

She carefully sat down on one of the large tree roots that has forced its way out of the earth. As he still had not let go of her hand, he sat by her side. For a couple of minutes they sat in silence, looking out over the tracks, comfortable with just each other's presence. They caught themselves stealing glances at each other, and then smile. She giggled as he turned to face her.

"So, you drive by the tracks every afternoon?"

"Yeah. For the past five days. I'd stay for an hour, trying my best not to just cross over and take my chances of seeing you in the North. I thought you might be in the hospital, or being held hostage by your brother and his minions."

She let out a hearty laugh, and Jay couldn't help but laugh with her. He liked seeing her like this, loved hearing laugh. Granted it was only their second meeting, but there was undoubtedly something that's drawing them together. That's drawing him more to her. And he decides this early on that he will not waste another moment not letting her know.

"I like you, Dei."

She stops laughing abruptly and stared back at him.

"What the hell?!"

"What's wrong?"

"You don't just go around saying things like that! Especially not to someone whom you just met, and especially not to someone whose brother threatened you murderously on the day that you've met!"

He just looked at her and smiled, amused more than confused that she suddenly made an outburst.

"I'm being serious, Jay."

"So am I. Look, Dei, it's not as if I'm getting down on one knee and asking you to marry me. Maybe someday, definitely someday, hey, don't get up and leave....I'm just saying that we can never say what will happen in the future but for now, I'm just declaring that I like you. What's wrong with that?"

He held her back down after almost attempting to walk out (futile because she really can't storm out on a bad foot), and as she sat beside him, processing what he just said even as her mind wanted to dismiss any hopeful thoughts, she couldn't help but feel giddy. She shook her head, bringing herself back to the reality of their situation.

"I'm sorry, Jay. But this...us...it's a page out of Romeo and Juliet. The North and the South, our towns have been rivals for as long as I could remember..."

"It's never been like that before."

"Yeah, but it is now. And that's the reality that we face!"

"But Romeo and Juliet still fought for their love..."

"And died! They were stupid to fight for that crazy feeling so they died!"

"But you still thought of us being Romeo and Juliet..."

"Yeah, so what?"

"That means...you have thought of that possibility of us being star-crossed lovers."

"What?! No! I mean, yes!"

"Aha! So you do like me, too!"

"That's not what I meant..."

"But that's what you were insinuating."

"I was not insinuating anything, Jay! I was saying that the North and South will not get along in this lifetime, just like the Capulets and the Montagues in Romeo and Juliet."

Jay just kept on smiling at her, holding her hand.

"But Romeo and Juliet still ended up together..."

"Dead. They ended up dead. OK? You're forgetting that very crucial part of their story. Jay, I'm serious, please. Stop looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Like everything is going to be fine! Meeting you here already spells trouble for both of us..."

"And yet we're still here. And I would like to see you again, and again, and again, even if it meant crossing over to the North and facing your brother. Whom, by the way, I easily tower over by at least half a foot, so technically he's facing my chin. Ow!"

Dei pulled out her hand from his and swatted it.

"Hey, you're talking about my brother. He's an ass, as you've seen, but we still share the same blood and I know he's just looking after me. And our town."

Jay held his hands up as if in surrender, then held Dei's hand again. They were silent again for a few minutes before he spoke up.

"I can never understand why our towns ended up like this."

"Harry says it was because of an accident a long time ago."

"Yeah, my uncle told me that. But it's been decades, Dei. Don't you think they would've mended each other's wounds by now?"

"But somebody died, Jay."

"Yeah, my Uncle and my Dad's friend. From the North. He said that it was an accident."

"Harry said the Southerners left the kid to die on the tracks."

"What? No, that couldn't have happened..."

"Well, apparently that's the story that we know. And that's why the Northern folk don't want anything to do with you guys from the South. They see you as killers."

"Is that how you see me, Dei? If that were the case, why'd you risk going out to the tracks today? Why were you hoping to see me? Why are we here now?"

She looked at him gently and saw how sad his eyes have become. She cupped his chin, feeling his day-old stubbles and how it tickled her fingers. She poked his dimple again, which made him grin. She let out a sigh.

"Because you saved me from the tracks that day. Because you didn't leave me on the tracks to die. And even if my ass of a brother thinks you're trouble, somewhere deep inside me I know and feel that you are meant to stay."

***

Jumpover. A structure carrying one set of tracks over another set of tracks for the purpose of eliminating movement conflicts that would have occurred had the two sets of tracks crossed at grade. Also known as a flyover. (Railroading Glossary. TRAINS Magazine)