"𝑤𝑒 𝑘𝑒𝑒𝑝 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑎 𝑝ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ, 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑠𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑣𝑒𝑠"
in which all of the adults in a small town in connecticut disappear and two high school rivals learn to make amends
note:...
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"where there's life, there's hope" -cicero
・・・
"It's 7:30," said Grizz, looking at his watch. "The train's not coming."
"No, it's just running late." I tried to convince myself.
"Lydia," he said, facing me and placing his hands on my shoulders. "It's been twenty minutes, it's not coming."
"Shit." I kicked at the rocks on the bridge.
It had been ten days since we first returned from the failed school trip. Ten days since the world turned upside down. Everything seemed normal, the sun still rose in the morning, set in the night. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, save for the fact that we had no connection to the world outside of West Ham. It was like everything disappeared overnight, leaving two hundred kids to fend for themselves. Grizz and I had stopped by the bridge spanning the train tracks every morning, waiting for the New York train to cross under it, but it never came.
"Let's go," said Grizz, leading me back towards the town.
He and I had spent a lot of time together over the last few days, trying to get to know each other again. I realized we had a lot in common and I learned some new things about him. We both loved reading and being outside. While I enjoyed photography, he loved gardening. I couldn't think of any reason why I hated him for as long as I did. Grizz was actually a really cool guy.
"You know, today was supposed to be the day we came home from the school trip," said Grizz as we walked.
"Yeah, you're right," I said.
"It's a bummer we couldn't actually go camping," he said.
"I was kind of looking forward to it," I admitted.
"Unfortunate that the scouting mission was such a flop," said Grizz.
"Yeah," I mumbled.
The morning after we got back, Grizz and his friends had buried Emily's body behind the church. No one talked about what had happened, it hurt too much.
"Do you want to stop by the green?" asked Grizz. "I think that's where most people are going to be."
"Sure," I replied.
We passed a group of kids sitting cross-legged around a stack of rocks. They were all humming. I recognized one of the girls, I think her name was Lexie. When things were still normal, we were in the same gym class.
"What in the world?" asked Grizz quietly.
I laughed. "I have absolutely no idea."
We lay down on the grass, shoulder-to-shoulder, staring up at the sky.
"There's a game of Fugitive tonight, you should be my partner," said Grizz.
"I don't know," I said. "Seems like a waste of time."
