You grabbed the straps of your backpack a little tighter as you picked up speed. The train’s departure time was soon. If you hadn’t slept through all those alarms you had set up for yourself the night before, this wouldn’t be happening. You pulled out your boarding pass out of your coat pocket to examine the info one last time. You looked up and saw the station number. You slowed when you saw the conductor standing there waiting for any last minute stragglers (like yourself). You smiled sheepishly at the conductor, apologizing for being late; he checked your ticket and you finally got onto the train. You really were late because as soon as you stepped on, the whistle and steam of the train blew and the train rocked into its forward motion, almost throwing you off your balance. Luckily you caught a hold of someone’s arm, or rather he stuck it out before you fell.

“Thank you.” you nodded slightly at your savior. “Are you okay?” You looked up to see a young, good-looking man. Not handsome, in the sense that his features were somewhat feminine but oh god, that jawline was to die for. Before you could drool anymore over this stranger, you realized how dumb you must’ve looked considering the confused expression on his face.

“I’m okay, thanks.” You straightened yourself up, holding onto the seat for balance. No other seats were available except for the two in front of this good-looking stranger. You sighed and asked, “Is anyone sitting there?” He looked up at you with innocent, yet inviting eyes and shook his head ‘No.’ You settled in the seat near the window so as to not be directly facing the guy who was sitting near the aisle. You placed your backpack on the floor in front of you and pulled out you iPod and headphones. You rested into your seat and listened to your comforting music while looking out the panoramic windows of the train. Scenes of pastures, fields, and far off mountains passed. You were travelling out of the city and into the countryside. You found yourself nodding off to sleep.

You felt a slight poke on your right side. ‘No… sleep…’ you thought as you felt yourself awaking. This time, a heavier nudge of the palm. You slowly open your eyes and blinked to clear your sight. Your ears picked up on a familiar voice. “Hey.. wake up. We’re taking a stop. Wake up.” You blinked again, that good-looking guy’s face was inches away from yours. You turned away from his gaze to look out the window. The train had stopped at a station. The engineers were doing routine check-ups on the brakes and gears.

“Why did you have to wake me up? I don’t need to get off.” You crossed your arms and settled back into your comfortable spot. Then, a grumbling noise erupted from your stomach. You gasped in embarrassment. You looked up to see him covering up a laugh, fueling your burning cheeks. “I guess I’ll get a snack or too since we’re here.” you said, getting up quickly while grabbing your wallet out of your backpack. You headed towards the exit and stepped onto the platform. You heard footsteps following you. You turned to see him standing behind you with a surprised grin.

“What?” you said.

“What? Why’d you stop walking?” he replied.

“Are you following me?” you asked, continuing to walk away from him.

He caught up with you so that he was walking by your side. “No. Just going to buy some food too.”

You shrugged and got him off your back inside the store when you turned into another aisle. You bought some bottles of juice, trail mix, and some candy. While standing in line, he creeped up behind you once again.

“So, what’d you get?” he asked.

“Stuff.” You found it weird, yet somehow nice that he was giving you all this attention. When you went up to the register, you only had the exact amount of bills but not enough change.

“Do you not have enough?” the cashier asked. “You could take out some things.”

“I—Sorry, uh..” you managed to stammer out. This had never happened to you before. You remembered that you had left some extra bills in a pocket in your backpack that you forgot to put in your wallet.

“Here.” He put down enough change to pay the rest of your dues. You looked up at him in confusion. “Thank you.” you said, finding yourself not being able to directly look at him.

He paid for his own things as you went to wait outside the store.

As the automatic doors whooshed open, he walked out and you could see that he was looking around… for you. His face broke into a smile as he set his gaze on you.

“Hey, you waited.”

“Yeah, thanks for spotting me the extra change. I had left my extra money on the train.”

“No problem. Would you have done the same for me?” his curious eyes lit up. What was with this guy…

“Uh.. yeah. I would have.”

“I’m Chen, by the way. Sorry I couldn’t properly introduce myself until now.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m ________.”

It was time to board the train now; it was bad enough that this stop had set people’s schedules off so everyone seemed to be anxious to get on and were hurrying to the entrance doors. One man in particular nearly collided with you until Chen had put an arm around you, grabbed your left shoulder, and you were pulled into him. The man had only brushed against your leg.

“Are you okay?” He took his hand off of you. You were still trying to register what had just happened so you just nodded. He followed after you onto the train back to where your seats were. There was an old couple that took the two seats you had earlier claimed as yours. You saw that your stuff was moved onto the seat next to Chen’s. You felt bad if you decided to make the old couple leave and after you had looked around, the train was full again. The couple probably lost their own seats after everyone started rushing on.

“I’m sorry, we just—-“ the lady, who could’ve been around your grandmother’s age, started.

“No, it’s fine. You two can sit there. I’ll sit…” you turned to Chen, who had already realized the situation and was now politely holding out his arms to the seat as if he was escorting you.

“Take your seats please!” the conductor’s voice came on the speakers. You took the seat next to the window and Chen, in his own seat.

You put away your wallet and reorganized your things, making sure nothing was missing. You pulled out your camera and snapped a few pictures of the station and the convenience store.

“Why take a picture?”

“For… memories.”