Merula 1:2

Chapter 1:2- Strangeness and charm

Great. I’d lost Mandy. And she had my bag. With my wallet. She had my ticket as well.
The day had gone by in a blur and I had enjoyed every second. Mandy and I had scoured the city thoroughly in the chase of useless stuff that we in the end didn’t buy. We were two of a kind, Mandy was a penny-pincher and I had money enough to make me passive, there was nothing I wanted and there were nothing that suited Mandy and had the price she liked. Instead we treated ourselves some coffee and cookies and chit-chatted. Suddenly the sun had begun to set and Mandy checked the time, it was ten minutes until the last metro. We rushed over to the station and got our tickets. As we waited for the train to arrive Mandy thought of the great idea to buy some sweets for the journey home so I told her to use my money and in a few seconds Mandy vanished with my bag containing the money and my ticket with the words “I’ll be right back”. When she didn’t return after a couple of minutes my wreck of a brain begun to overwork, after all this day had been spinning too fast to begin with and my feet moved on their own. I walked around on the platform while trying to remember which train I was supposed to take. So I lost Mandy.
I turned around, stood on my toes to see better but I couldn’t find her anywhere on the platform. A train arrived. Was this the one we should take? I didn’t know. It screeched and stopped. The doors opened and people rushed out and people pushed to get in. By the door stood a boy, oh well, almost a man. His hair was dark as chocolate and his eyes were dark. Handsome, yes, but what shocked me was how familiar he felt. He lifted his head and our eyes met.
-You know what train to take? He asked with a low voice.
I must have looked lost.
-No but I’m going to…
The speakers drowned out my voice and told the passengers to get on board, the doors were closing. I was puzzled, what should I do? Mandy was nowhere to be seen and what if this was the right train? It was supposed to be the last one. The doors beeped warningly and suddenly someone tugged my arm and I was on board. I looked into a pair of warm brown eyes.
-This is the right train, the low voice informed.
I took a step back to focus. It was the guy with the brown hair who had pulled me on board.
-Are you sure? I asked nervously, scanning the platform after Mandy as the train begun to roll.
-Yes.
-Oh, alright, then, I answered and felt really naïve to believe in a stranger I’d just met. –Edith.
As if offering my name and hand would make us any less strangers. But he took it all the same.
-Rogan.
It was something in his eyes that draw me to him, not only the fact that he was attractive. His eyes were the same as grandma’s, brown and warm as the brownies she used to bake. My cheeks flushed, I was staring! But I wasn’t the only one. He was staring right back at me, examining my body with his brown eyes. When he realised I stared at him for staring at me his sunburnt cheeks reddened.
-I’m sorry, didn’t mean to gape, it’s just…you seem familiar, he excused himself with a sweet smile.
-Likewise, I said abruptly before I begun to drool. His smile was too sweet. I didn’t even like sweet stuff, preferred liquorice. –You have the same eyes as my grandma.
-Oh, Rogan raised an eyebrow.
Had I offended him?
-You two have eyes like brownies, I mean they’re brown like brownies, and warm. It’s just, she used to bake brownies, that’s why, not that she’s making them anymore. She’s dead.
It felt like I had spilled out my whole family history or something. This was just too embarrassing. I usually wasn’t a talker, I preferred silence and awaiting the right moment to utter something knowledgeable. I couldn’t stand people who let floods of meaningless and empty sentences flow over you until you drowned. And now I’d turned into one myself. The Victoria falls. Not one of my finest moments.
-I’m sorry for her death, Rogan said and put an end to my shame.
-Oh. Thank you.
Our eyes met briefly and then he looked the other way. At least he could do that. I was crammed into a corner. I either had to face his beautiful face or look right into his chest. He looked well trained though.
The train made several stops and at each more people got on than there were people getting off. It was crowded. And at that point the smart people controlling the train sent out the ticket collectors to check every passenger’s ticket. Fellow travellers moved restlessly and took up their tickets from various pockets, bags, handbags, front and back pockets on their jeans and wallets. There were a lot of sharp elbows. I rolled my eyes, sighed and begun to search my own pockets for my ticket only to remember that Mandy had mine. Wherever she was.
-Shit, I muttered under my breath.
-No ticket? Rogan asked with his eyebrows raised a little.
-No, it’s just that my friend has it. And my bag. And my wallet.
-Oh, bad luck, Rogan frowned his forehead with compassion. –It’ll be expensive for you.
-Could have guessed. Want to pay? It was after all you who pulled me on this train.
Rogan smiled, at least he could appreciate humour.
-I can help you, but I don’t think you’ll like it though.
-If it’s free I’ll do anything you tell me to.
He smiled again. He had to stop that or I would eat him. Unexpected he attacked first. He bent forward and kissed my lips, not really kissing just keeping his lips to mine. My eyes must have been wide as footballs. I looked straight into his brownie eyes.
-Act, he muttered across our pressed lips.
Oh, right, as if the ticket collector would be tricked be that. Two teenagers making out, yeah right. How did he even come up with this idea? But I did as I was told, it wasn’t much of a loss anyway and I had told him I would do anything he told me to do. So I reached up to put my arm around his neck, stood on my toes to even our height and I put some effort into the flat kiss. This wasn’t what he’d expected from me, I could feel his body stiffen and his eyes glanced nervously at mine but then he did his part of acting too. He wrapped his warm arms around my bony body and pulled me closer to him. In the corner of my eye I saw the collector approach and I closed my eyes, hoping for snow in hell. And it snowed.
But it took at least seven minutes before either I or Rogan noticed. We got a bit entangled in our acting. When I finally released him his brown eyes had a different glow and I guessed mine had as well.
-You would be a really good actor, I complimented him to make the situation less embarrassing.
He smiled, his cheeks flushing a bit. So much for making it less akward.
-Yeah, seems like we actually got away with it. But I’d say it was because of our excellent teamwork.
The rest of the trip we talked, no more kissing. I wouldn’t really recommend kissing a stranger, no matter how familiar he seems and has eyes of melting chocolate.
Rogan had a similar humour to mine and we laughed most of the time. Then his stop came and I waved him off.
Before the doors closed Mandy was standing before me with worry in her eyes.
-You got on the right train, she said amazed as she pulled me out of the carriage before the train begun to move again.
-Just lucky.
-Lucky me, Mandy said relieved. –Mum would have killed me if I’d lost you on the first day you’re here. It would be just like me. Sorry by the way.
-No damage done, Mandy, I smiled to her, after all it was me who’d lost her.
I was really tired after the long day. When we got back to block 71 and the Evaeus’ flat Mandy and I kicked off our shoes and dragged our feet to her bedroom which was now my bedroom as well. A squeaky camp bed had been put by the element underneath the window. Beside it stood a suitcase, the one dad had packed in a rush. I sighed and sat down on the bed. I didn’t want to think about it now. Once again I didn’t see much of the younger sister except for that red mess of hair and some toenails sticking out from underneath the cover. Had she stayed in bed all day? I had never slept in a camp bed before let alone a squeaky one but I was too tired to care. I flung off my clothes and replaced them with whatever t-shirt I could find and snuck into the bed. That night I dreamt of Rogan. How could I not?

To be continued...
By J.L.Frick