TIFITY

There you are

I had never been great at sport-related stuff. Physical Education was a nightmare for me and I couldn't wait for the last course, where PE isn't compulsory. What I didn't know was that I would still have to run, jump, or do strength training out of school... I was not aware of how important exercising is when it comes to getting the train on time. I'd find myself walking fast so I wouldn't miss the train home, but being honest, I never run. Consequently, I've missed the train uncountable times in my short life. My mum would yell at me the second I got home late. She would call me irresponsible and every other negative adjective she could come up with. But summarising, missing the train I had to take, had only been a nuisance until the 21st January last year. For the first time in my life, missing my train and taking the next one at half-past three turned out to be something great. 

I'm one of those people who suck at social interactions, so I always beg nobody sits next to me while I'm on the train. I'd rather sit alone and look at the window instead of talking to a stranger. Music is the best excuse to avoid unwanted conversations, but I sometimes forget my headphones at school, and I have no other option than paying attention to what is happening around me. I forgot them that day, and the train was almost full. That meant there was no free seat for me, though I just had to wait for a couple of stations to pass so I could sit down. There were two free seats, and as obvious as it sounds, I sat in one of them. I was afraid of who would sit next to me, knowing that I would feel so anxious if they stared at me for too long or something alike. I remember one day I was listening to music on my way home, and a woman sat next to me. She wouldn't stop staring and when I got off the train, I instantly had a panic attack in the middle of the street. I didn't stop crying and hyperventilating until I got home. Such a bad experience.

But this time was different. Luckily for me, a girl who was listening to music was the one who took the seat next to me. I thought to myself, "How great that I won't have to interact with her." Unlike me, she wasn't wearing a uniform. She was wearing one of those jeans that were so fashionable at the time, along with some colourful trainers. Her brunette hair's length was the thing that caught my attention the most: it was down her waist. I would have loved to have that curly hair, besides her beautiful green eyes. She seemed to be so nice. I'm so shy around strangers that I initially had no intention of talking to her, but something unexpected happened.

I heard a song I was familiar with blasting out this same girl's headphones. It was "There You Are" by Zayn Malik, a song that I held dear. By the time I realised, I was whispering the lyrics. The girl noticed I was singing to it and looked at me. I was about to panic again and felt the need to excuse myself, so I decided to say, "I-I love the song you're listening to." For my surprise, she directly introduced herself as Evangeline Lincoln with a wide smile. As I've mentioned before, I'm not the best at social interactions, but I managed to say something like "n-nice to meet you." "And your name is...?" she asked. Of course, I forgot to tell her. I was going to introduce myself when the train stopped abruptly and the lights went off.

Everyone freaked out. Nobody knew what was going on and I imagine everyone was scared of another train running us over. I recall Evangeline and I hugging each other, totally forgetting we were strangers. We stayed like that until the train's machinist came. "The thing is," he explained, "that the wire of the electrical line is damaged, which means the train or anything on it will not turn on until it gets fixed." "We are afraid to say that all of you will have to stay here for about two hours while we solve the problem," he added.

Here's where it began.