Effortless (h.s.)

Chapter TWENTY SEVEN - train hugs

I thought about how I felt in that exact moment, how I wish I could relive it all again.

Now I was unsure if he would even let me come back and work for him, had I fucked it up too far?

My eyes started to drift close, I pretended I was back in my apartment, underneath my covers instead of my makeshift trench coat blanket. Blackness started to consume me. The tension in my muscles began to relax, thoughts were slowing down...

And then I was awoken.

I jumped in the bed, sitting up with a burning sensation in my neck like I had been laying on wrong. Two men were yelling outside of the motel. Fear was pulsating deeper than just my blood, it was in my bones at this point.

The clock on the nightstand read 5:56AM.

I quickly switched on the light and rubbed my dry eyes, I must've fallen asleep for an hour or two. My head started to absorb the room around me once more, taking in all the things I had studied about it the previous night.

The train departed at 6:20AM.

I slipped on my boots and adjusted my hoodie that had gotten twisted around on my body while I slept. The heating in the room kept me warm but I knew the second I got outside I would be in a terrible mood due to the cold so I made sure to put on my trench coat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw myself move in the mirror on the back of the door.

I slowly meandered over, giving myself a look up and down before setting a stare at my face.

I could tell I had easily lost about ten pounds since I moved out of my parents house. They didn't say anything about it when they saw me but if I could see it after living with myself for a month, I was positive the change in my appearance was obvious to them since they hadn't seen me in so long.

The black skinny jeans with holes still clung tightly to my ankles, stopping right above where my brown boots started. I clung onto my hoodie and let out a sigh, why did I let myself get this far? Why couldn't I have just stayed in LA?

I guess I didn't have much of an option with my parents to stay, but if it was this easy to ditch them and hear nothing from them, I could have just hung up the phone call between my mom and I.

From across the room, my phone started ringing and vibrating on the counter. I rushed over to stop the noise and saw it was 6:01AM, and it was Dylan calling.

"I'm up," my voice unexpectedly cracked, so I cleared it and spoke again, "I'm headed out now."

"Okay," It was obvious he had just woken up seconds ago by his morning voice, "What train you riding?"

I furrowed my brows, "The one from Toronto to LA, why?"

"Just want to see how long it's going to take you to get back?" He questioned, he breathed in deeply and I could see him in my head flipping over in his bed.

"Almost three days, but it's cheaper than a plane ticket," I laughed, the yelling outside between the two men stopped and I rushed over to the window and moved the curtains to find no one was out there, "I'm gonna go," I decided out loud, "Call you later?"

"Yeah," he sounded like he had more to say but kept it in.

I pursed my lips and waited for a second to see if he would, but after a while I hung up the phone and hurried over to my bag. The black bag seemed heavier this morning but I didn't have any other option other than to pick it up and carry on with the day.

I threw the key on the bed and left without locking the door. The guy at the front desk had told me to since he wouldn't be around until seven.

The cold air hit me hard, my hair was pushed back out of my face while I walked up the sidewalk to the train station. It was practically next door so I wasn't worried about timing. My pale skin burned with coldness and the ends of my hair were nearly past my chest, the longest it's ever been.