Last Train Home

by Megan Nugen Isbell

  “We only let Brandon hang out with us because of him,” Holly said, pointing to Jesse.

  “C’mon. He’s harmless. He’s just desperate to get laid and he knows the only type of girl who’ll give him the time of day is someone like Adrienne.”

  “Adrienne would never give Brandon a chance!” Laura said as she burst out laughing.

  “I know she wouldn’t, but I meant her type…shallow.”

  I looked over and the three girls were just shaking their heads.

  “I don’t know about anyone else, but I really don’t want to waste anymore of our time talking about Adrienne,” Holly said and everyone agreed. “All you need to know,” she said, looking over in my direction, “Is that she’s a bitch and you’re best to ignore her.”

  “Thanks for the warning, but I’m not worried about her,” I said, glancing over to Adrienne’s table again. It was as if a permanent sneer was tattooed on her face. How could anyone be that bitchy all the time and still have friends? How had she developed such a superiority complex having grown up in a podunk hick town? She might think she was important here in Carver, but anywhere else, she would’ve been nothing.

  ****

  As I walked to my last class I was grateful the day was almost over, but then I stopped myself and realized I really wasn’t glad the day was almost over because when school was over, what else did I have to do? Go home and do homework or hang out with my nonexistent friends? At least at school I had a purpose and as I thought about it, it hadn’t been as bad as I’d expected, even with Adrienne’s warm welcome. Holly and her friends had been okay too. I thought we might get along and I was kind of looking forward to going to Jesse’s. Back in Boston my friends and I were always doing something and one of my biggest fears with moving to Carver was that I’d be stuck at home every night. Whatever we’d do at Jesse’s was better than doing nothing.

  Once in my English class, I followed the same routine I had since first hour. I approached the front of the room where my teacher, Mrs. Davenport, was writing something on the chalkboard. She was young, maybe in her mid-thirties and she was surprisingly attractive and stylish for a teacher and a resident of Carver. Her chestnut hair hung to her shoulders and layers framed her face. She wore silver rimmed glasses, which made her look smart. She turned to face me when she heard me approaching.

  “You must be Riley,” she said and I nodded. “You’re a long way from home. I hear you’re joining us from Boston.”

  “I just moved here a few days ago.”

  “Welcome to Carver. I’m sure you’ll find it much more exciting than Boston.”

  She winked at me and I smiled at her sarcasm as she handed me a worn copy of The Scarlet Letter.

  “We just started reading this a few days ago. It shouldn’t be too difficult for you to catch up.” I just nodded and didn’t bother telling her I’d read it the year before. “There’s an open seat behind Karen,” Mrs. Davenport said, pointing to a girl with dishwater blonde hair and a purple shirt.

  “Thanks,” I told her and then walked to my seat. I smiled at Karen as I walked past her and she smiled back. I sat down and began thumbing through the tattered book in my hand, trying to refresh my memory.

  “We’re on chapter six,” a voice said. I turned around to see a boy I recognized from Adrienne’s lunch table sitting two seats behind me. He was leaning forward and smiling and I immediately noticed his dark brown eyes. Not surprisingly, he was blonde, but a dark blonde, and the color reminded me of the wheat stalks that dominated the landscape in Kansas. As I looked closer, I noticed natural copper highlights in his hair as it hung in his face. He stood up and moved to the seat behind me.

  “Thanks, but to be honest, I read this last year,” I said, closing the book and setting it on my desk.

  “Maybe you could do both of our homework then,” he said and we both laughed. “I’m Alex.”

  “Riley.”

  “You’re from Boston, right?”

  “Yeah, how’d you know?”

  “Everyone knows.”

  “Why am I not surprised?”

  “It’s kind of a small school, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

  “Yeah…I definitely noticed. I think this whole place would fit in the gym of my school back home.”

  “It’s not as bad as you think. It can be alright.”

  “We’ll see,” I said, but knew deep down this town sucked and was nothing but a hole. I’d be back in Boston soon enough.

  “The bell’s about to ring, so I gotta get back to my seat, but wait for me after class?”

  “Yeah…maybe,” I told him and he moved back to his seat. I faced the front of the room again and watched as everyone walked inside. Blonde, blonde, another blonde and then I saw a familiar head of dark hair.

  “Hey, Boston! We meet again,” Jesse said as he walked over and sat down in the seat diagonal from me. “Who knew you’d be fortunate enough to have two classes with me?”

  “I know! I get to start and end my day with you. How’d I ever get so lucky?” I exclaimed playfully.

  Jesse just smiled and began digging through his backpack and pulled out his notebook. The bell rang and Mrs. Davenport stood up and I readied myself for my sixth and final introduction of the day.

  Class went by quickly as we worked in groups to discuss the chapters that everyone, besides me, had read the night before. I’d hoped I’d at least get to work with Jesse or Alex, but unfortunately I got stuck with Karen, who turned out to be an overly talkative know-it-all, who completely dominated the conversation, and two boys whose names I didn’t even catch because they were so quiet and could obviously care less about The Scarlet Letter. Then I smirked to myself and wondered if the reason they had been so quiet was because they couldn’t read. It wouldn’t surprise me. Most of these hicks were probably illiterate.

  The bell finally rang and I packed up my stuff and looked back at Alex. He was gathering his stuff too and I decided I would wait for him like he asked. I leaned up against the old maroon lockers, trying to avoid the crowds in the hallway as I waited. I was looking down at my fingernails, staring at the flaking red paint and deciding I needed a manicure ASAP, when he walked out. I looked up and he smiled. He seemed cool and maybe we could have fun together. He was cute anyway, so that was a plus.

  “I thought you’d taken off,” he said as he adjusted the backpack on his shoulder.

  “I thought about it.”

  “Ouch. That hurts,” he said as we joined the crowd. I shrugged my shoulders at him and smiled. I knew he enjoyed my teasing. I could tell by the way he looked at me, with a half-smile and raised eyebrows.

  “How long have you been in Carver?”

  “Three days. Three…long…days,” I said slowly.

  “You make it sound more like a prison than Kansas. You moved to Carver, not Leavenworth.”

  “Prison…Kansas…yeah, they’re about the same,” I said, positioning my hands like a scale, moving them up and down.

  “You’re not even giving it a chance.”

  “Have you ever been to Boston?” I said stopping, not caring that I was completely blocking the flow of traffic. Alex stopped too and stared at me with his brown eyes and that devilish smile.

  “No, I’ve never been to Boston.”

  “Then you can’t understand why I would compare Carver to a prison. If you’d ever been to Boston, you’d get it.”

  “Well, well. Aren’t you pretentious,” he said, the grin never leaving his face.

  “Pretentious? That’s an awfully big word for a hick from Kansas,” I teased as I started walking again, Alex following.

  “I’m a hick now? Please help me figure out why I’m even talking to you.”

  “I have no idea. But maybe it’s because you realized how awesome I am the second you met me.”

  His smile transformed into all out laughter.

  “You’re different, Riley.”

  “I take that as a compliment,” I said, stopping in front
of my locker and doing the combination.

  “You should. I meant it as a compliment.” He was leaning against the lockers and staring at me. He was still smiling and I compared him to the boys back in Boston. There, the boys were trendy. They wore designer jeans they paid way too much money for and donned sweaters and scarves with wool pea coats in the winter. I tried to imagine Alex, who stood in a pair of faded jeans and a gray t-shirt, in such a get up and just couldn’t do it. He looked relaxed and comfortable and I liked it. His dusty blonde hair hung in his face as his dark brown eyes peeked out at me. I usually didn’t like longer hair on guys, but there was something about it on Alex that was sexy. I grinned at him and waited for him to speak. We were interrupted before he could say anything though when my cousin David sidled up beside us.

  “So, you showed up and you survived,” David began.

  “I did.”

  “I looked for you at lunch.”

  “What are you doing? Can’t you see we’re talking?” Alex interrupted and I thought I saw him glaring at my cousin, who rolled his eyes and started laughing.

  “Whoa…you’ve got it so wrong. Riley’s my cousin.”

  A look of relief seemed to wash over Alex and he relaxed again.

  “Anyway, just wanted to say hi since I didn’t see you all day. Dad mentioned something about stopping by Grandma’s house tonight, so maybe I’ll see you later.”

  “Okay.”

  He turned and walked off and then I looked back to Alex.

  “David Smollett’s your cousin?”

  “You know him?”

  “Of course. Everyone knows everyone here. But yeah, we’re friends, I guess. We play baseball together, so I guess that makes us friends.”

  “Fascinating,” I said with slight sarcasm. “You know him better than me, that’s for sure.” He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. “I hardly know the guy. I haven’t seen him in like eight years. We’ve only been thrust together again because of my mom and her decision,” I said, shaking my head, still angry at her.

  “Sounds like you’ve got a story to tell, Riley Regas.”

  “Maybe,” I said, shrugging my shoulders as I closed my locker.

  “Maybe you can tell it to me sometime…like tomorrow night. Let me take you out.”

  I wasn’t surprised that he asked me out. I knew he was going to and I wanted him to, but I couldn’t. I’d already promised to go to Jesse’s.

  “I’ve got plans tomorrow.”

  “It’s your first day. How do you already have plans?” he laughed.

  “I’m a pseudo-celebrity around here. Everyone wants to know me. I thought you knew that,” I grinned.

  “Well, I can see why,” he said as his eyes traveled the length of my body and I felt my cheeks blush. “But, I should’ve assumed you wouldn’t be free on a Friday night. What about Saturday?”

  “You’re nothing if not persistent.”

  “What do you say then?” he continued.

  I scratched my head and pretended I was contemplating, even though I already knew the answer. He didn’t need to know that though.

  “How ‘bout I call you on Saturday if I’m free.”

  “Are you serious?” he laughed, running his hand through his hair.

  “Yes, I’m serious,” I said, closing my locker and smiling flirtatiously at him.

  “Alright then,” he grinned. “See you tomorrow, Riley.”

  He smiled and I watched as he walked away.

  Chapter Three

  When I walked in the house after school my mom was on the phone. I didn’t know who she was talking to and I didn’t care. I ignored her and walked up to the room I was staying in. I refused to call it my room, because it wasn’t mine. My room was back in our Boston townhouse. It was painted dusty purple and I had a queen sized bed with an amazing bedspread I’d found at IKEA. They probably didn’t even know what IKEA was here. My old room was perfect. This room was a tomb.

  I dropped my backpack on the ground and pulled out my cell phone as I flopped onto the bed. I hated the old quilt and the room smelled like mothballs. I desperately needed to get a candle or incents or something.

  Natasha hadn’t texted me back, but Courtney had. As usual, she was whining. This time it was about some supposed cellulite she’d found on her thighs. I wondered how long it would take for her to develop an eating disorder, if she didn’t already have one.

  I was texting her back, telling her not to worry and that she was beautiful when I heard a knock on my door. I knew who it was, and I ignored it. I heard the knock again, and again I ignored it. Finally, the door opened and my mom stood in the doorway.

  “How was your first day?” she asked trying to engage me the way she had when I still liked her in Boston.

  “Fine.”

  “How were your classes?”

  “Fine,” I said as my fingers continued to maneuver on the phone as I texted Courtney.

  “Do you have any homework?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I was thinking we could all go out to dinner tomorrow,” she said, finally stepping inside the room and sitting down on the foot of the bed.

  “Can’t. I’ve got plans,” I said, my eyes still staring at the phone.

  “Yeah? What are you doing?”

  “Just going over to someone’s house.”

  “Whose house?”

  “Jesse’s house.”

  “Who’s Jesse?”

  I’d just about had it with all the questions. She knew I didn’t want to talk her and she wouldn’t let up.

  “C’mon, Mom. Are we really gonna do this?” I finally asked as I slammed the phone down on the bed and sat up.

  “Do what? What are we doing?’

  “You know exactly what we’re doing.”

  “No, I don’t, Riley. Would you fill me in, please?”

  “This, Mom. You and me…talking. You asking me questions.”

  “I always ask you about your day.”

  “It’s different now and you know it. I don’t want to be here. I want to go home. I want to be with my friends, not stuck in this crappy town. You can’t expect me to just be okay and go on like everything’s okay, that we’re okay, because we’re not.”

  “I know this isn’t easy for you, but you don’t need to act this way. You could at least try and be civil.”

  “Why? So you can feel better about ripping me away from everything in my life so you can be happy?”

  “That’s not fair, Riley.”

  “No, Mom. What’s not fair is having to leave everything behind. My house, my friends, my life. That’s not fair.”

  “Riley, please.”

  “Do I have to spell it out for you? I’m mad at you. I need to be mad at you right now and I can’t pretend like it’s okay. So please, just let me be mad.”

  She stood up and walked to the door. I could tell by the way she looked at me that I’d hurt her. I didn’t want to hurt her, but I couldn’t forgive her either. She’d been selfish when she decided to move here. She’d completely disregarded me and now I was ready to disregard her.

  Chapter Four

  I knew what to expect my second day, so I wasn’t nearly as nervous. That still didn’t stop my stomach from doing a flip-flop though when I left the safety of my Jetta. The stares weren’t as heavy, but I could still feel them. I had put on a pair of dark jeans and a gray tank top with a deep v-neck in an attempt to look more relaxed like my classmates, but without completely forsaking style. My dark hair hung straight down my back and I pushed it behind my ear as I walked to my locker. I grabbed my Constitution book and looked around for Holly or any other familiar faces. When I didn’t see them, I decided to go straight to class. It would be better than hanging around like a loser in the hallway.

  I walked into the classroom and Mr. Barry smiled at me. I laughed to myself at how different the greeting was compared to the day before; ever since he found out I was from Boston. I smiled back at the old man and sat down at my desk. I
began looking through my text book, trying to find something interesting in it.

  “Good morning, Boston,” a voice said from next to me. I looked up and Jesse was smiling at me from the seat beside me.

  “Ya know, I do have a name.”

  “You don’t like Boston?”

  “No, I love Boston, but it’s not my name, Carver or better yet, perhaps I should call you Deliverance?”

  “That’s very funny,” he said mockingly. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, Riley,” he said, emphasizing my name.

  Jesse’s voice faded as my eyes focused on Adrienne walking in. Her wavy hair was a little less frizzy than yesterday, and I wondered if she had heeded my suggestion about the deep conditioning. Her jeans were even tighter than the day before, and she wore a white tank top with a long, gray vest. I hated to admit, but I actually liked the outfit.

  “Ah, the queen has arrived,” Jesse whispered over to me.

  “Does she ever look like she doesn’t have a stick lodged in her butt?”

  “No, never,” he said and we both laughed.

  ****

  I hadn’t seen Holly all day and part of me was afraid she regretted befriending me on my first day. I hoped she’d be in the cafeteria as I walked to lunch.

  “Hey, Riley,” a voice called from behind and I saw David walking towards me.

  “Oh, hi,” I said, stopping until he was beside me.

  “Everything still going okay?”

  “Yeah,” I told him as we walked into the cafeteria.

  “Do you want to sit with me and my friends today?” he asked, gesturing towards a group of guys across the lunch room, but as my eyes spanned the cafeteria, I noticed Holly waving to me. Mandy and Laura were already there too.

  “Um, thanks, but…I think I’ll sit with Holly again,” I told him, hoping he wasn’t offended.

  “Alright, just wanted to check. Catch ya later,” David said and headed towards his friends while I walked towards mine.

  “Hey,” I said, sitting down beside Holly.