• Mae •
After spending the weekend with her father and Amanda, and having a pretty good time, as they always do. Mae was dreading the train ride back to Lowell. She didn't want to face Chris, knowing that she would either have to tell him that she wouldn't be coming to Boston much anymore, or leave it and just stop showing up.
She was early for the train for once, she almost always got on at the last second, and she noticed Chris standing on the yellow line where the train car that they usually sat in always stopped.
He turned slightly and smiled at her, waving her over to stand with him.
"Hey Mae, how was your weekend?" His voice was chipper, as it had been the few times when they had spoken before.
"Pretty good, my dad proposed to his girlfriend." She smiled, remembering how excited they were about the news.
"That's great! Even more of a reason to visit Boston." He laughed a little, seemingly proud of himself for suggesting that they would see each other more.
"They're moving into his girlfriends house, in Lowell. So I won't be coming into Boston as much after a few weeks." She mumbled her words, not wanting to seem excited for the change, even though the only bad part was her newfound friendship with Chris.
His face fell, and before he could respond the train pulled up. Mae gently grabbed his hand and pulled him behind her when she realized that he wasn't making an attempt to move.
"So you won't be coming into Boston anymore?" His words were sad, and he didn't make eye contact.
"For a month or two I will be, and I'll probably be coming more to help pack." She realized that she was still holding his hand, even after they had sat down, and she quickly dropped it, folding her hands in her lap.
He nodded, not content with the answer but grateful that they would still have some time to hang out before she would no longer be on the train.
It was kind of ironic, for someone who made such a big fuss about the amount of time that they spent on a train, she was pretty sad that she would no longer be making the trip.
The two sat in silence for a majority of the train ride, just enjoying being with each other, in a strange way that neither of them expected as they had only just met.
When the PA system announced that the next stop was Somerville, Chris finally looked up. "We should hang out sometime. Not on the train I mean. My brothers and I could pick you up."
She looked up sadly at him, grateful that he was making an attempt to stay friends. "Yeah sure, what's your number? So we can plan something."
She was unlocking her phone to hand it to him so that he could enter his information when the doors opened and people began to leave the train car and more people filed in, filling it up.
"Next week. I'll get your number next week." He was serious, pointing at her phone as he got up.
"Chris!" Mae called after him, but he was gone in the frenzy of people and it was much too loud for her to keep trying. "You dumbass. You left for jacket again." She spoke, mainly to herself, hoping that he might come back.
