• Chris •
"Nick! You did not just smile at her!" Chris slapped
his brother in the arm, hard enough to get his point across.
"Someone had to." Chris rolled his eyes as Matt laughed beside him. "You've only been talking about her for what? A year and a half? And that's the most action you've gotten in that time."
"Whatever dude. It's not like I can just go talk to her, I've only ever seen her on the train." Chris didn't like that his brothers were trying to push him into talking to the girl.
Sure, he'd been admiring her for a while and he'd sometimes brought her up to his brothers when he happened to see her, which was more frequently ever since he began going into Boston on the weekends to meet up with some of his friends who went to school there, but they'd never even made eye contact in the year and a half that they had been sharing a train car for.
She always had a large backpack with her, and he wondered what exactly she was doing. Logically, you would think that she was going home from school, but she only ever went into Boston on Friday's, and she only left on Sundays. He also had never seen her during the week, which only added to his interest.
Matt and Nick continued to talk about her, about how they couldn't believe that they had finally gotten to see her. Matt was sure that she didn't exist as the few times that he had come down to Boston with Chris, she had been no where to be found. Nick on the other hand, was now making 'kissie' noises in an attempt to get Chris' attention, earning himself another warming smack in the arm.
"You're telling me, that you've seen that girl at least 3 times a month for the past 18 months, and you haven't even made eye contact. What happened to your game, dude?" Matt uttered, shocked that his brother could seriously spend that much time entranced by a girl and not even smile at her.
"How would you start that conversation, Matt? 'I've seen you sitting alone every week for a while, also you're cute.'" Matt rolled his eyes when Chris imitated him. "That would only make me look like a creep and a stalker."
"If you think that she's not looking at you, too, then you're oblivious, Chris. Just say hi or something, it doesn't have to be some huge thing." Nick tried to comfort his brother, who was obviously not fully okay with the fact that his brothers had made more contact with the girl in 10 minutes than he has in 18 months.
"Fine, if she's on the train next time I am, I'll say hi." Chris lied, knowing that he would never in a million years be the one to initiate anything between them, and much to his dismay, this also meant that he knew that nothing would ever come of their train rides, because in all the time that he had spent admiring her, she has never looked up at him.
~~~
Chris stood in the station, nervously awaiting his train back to Somerville. Nick and Matt had left earlier that day, claiming that they had something to do, but they all knew that was just an excuse to give Chris some time alone with his train girl. God. That sounds so creepy. But what else could he call her, he'd never learned her name or anything that could hint at even her first initial.
He glanced around, hoping that she wouldn't show up today, and he let out a breath that he didn't realize he had been holding in when the train pulled up to the stop and he had still yet to see her. He waited for the other passengers to get out and then he made his was the his normal seat, noticing that the train was way more packed than normal today.
Suddenly, as if by fate, at the very last second, the girl stepped on the train, her usual backpack in tow once again. Her face dropped when she saw that the seat that she normally sat in, across from Chris, was taken, and the only empty ones were on either side of Chris.
Not wanting to seem eager, he pulled out his phone and began to text Matt that he owed him $10 as he may finally get a chance to talk to her.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her approach and take a seat down beside him, leaving a single seat as a buffer between them.
He adjusted his hat on his head, suddenly feeling as if it was too tight on him. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
If you don't do it now, you never will.
He turned his head, hoping that she would be asleep or something so that he could have an excuse to chicken out, but she wasn't instead, she turned and met his eyes.
"Hey," He smiled at her, grateful when she smiled back, "I'm Chris."
She stuck out her hand, which he noted was slightly sweaty. "I'm Mae."
