Travelling River

Three

"Riv?"

"River, come on."

It's Timmy, the plane is nearly empty and he is standing in the path, waiting for me to come with him. "Oh, sorry, not fully awake yet." I say, as if I slept on the plane. I didn't, but I hoped Timmy hadn't noticed that. I was still going over how to tell the kids about the news, but the more I thought about it, the more I realised there was no good way.

Once we all got off the plane I asked the kids to huddle up. Make a game plan, I said. And tell them the bad news.. I thought. We were gonna go to the hostel, so the kids could drop off their luggage. We decided we would see from there what we would do with the rest of the day. Before I could start with the bad news Timmy pointed at the sign behind us. It was a big lit up sign with all the train departures on it. The train station was attached to the airport, and our arrival gate happened to be right next to the train station entrance. "Isn't that our train?" Timmy asked. Train towards Raster, 5 minutes. the sign said. It was our train, and if we didn't catch this one, we'd have to wait for an hour. "RUN!" I yelled out. Not expecting these kids to do so. I was surprised when they all did in fact grab their luggage and sprinted towards the train. Eloisa and Yao struggled with their luggage. Eloisa's backpack was way too big and heavy for her, she could barely lift it to put it on her back. Yao's suitcase didn't roll properly, and he couldn't seem to carry it. I grabbed both, after giving both of them a gentle push while telling them I got their stuff, just run.

The train arrived exactly as I came down the stairs, panting. All the kids already waiting for me, Dory standing in front of the group, hands in her sides. "What took you so long old man?" I groaned at Timmy's comment. "Go find a seat in the train, preferably one where we all sit together, okay?" I dragged myself and the luggage in the train, putting it away in the storage rack. Ray had come to get me, leading the way to where everyone was sitting. They had found a four seater, and a few seats around it. Eloisa was sitting alone. "Hey, can I come sit next to you? Or do you want some alone time?" Eloisa nodded, and I took that as a yes for sitting with her. Dory's head popped up above the four seater, she was sitting on her knees backwards on her chair. "You can sit with us River! We are gonna play a game." I shook my head, "No thanks Dory, I'm quite tired, plus there's already 4 of you in the 4 chairs." I smiled at her, hoping to not have offended her. She turned back around. I spoke calmly and softly to Eloisa, part of me scared that Dory was eavesdropping, but also because something in me was telling that's how Eloisa liked it. Soft, and calm.

Eloisa was 17, almost a legal adult, yet something so childish.. fragile about her. The train journey would take an hour, since the airport wasn't exactly in the city centre. The first half an hour Eloisa didn't say much, mostly just staring out the window. All the other kids however didn't seem to make any effort to keep their voices down. Luckily the rest of the wagon was mostly empty, so we didn't bother anyone too much. With 20 more minutes to go the kids started to quiet down, must be tired from all the travelling I figured. "I'm nervous." I looked up from my book, it was Eloisa who had said it, still staring out the window. "How comes Eloisa? What are you nervous about?" I started to panic a little, I wanted to do this right, create a safe space for her. "I don't know, this is all so new." She paused, and I wasn't sure if I should say anything, but then she continued. "Mom doesn't let me do a lot of things, I was surprised she let me go on this trip actually." I nodded as if I understood. "It doesn't feel good lying to her, but I really wanted this." I let out a small sigh, poor girl, being controlled so much by your mother must be hard. "It must be difficult with such a strict mom, I think you made the right decision by doing this for yourself though!" I smiled at her, I really did think this was good for her. "Plus, all these kids are awesome, I'm sure you will all have so much fun!" She looked at me, but didn't smile. Okay, maybe that was a bit too excited and fake. I did mean it, they were all really fun kids, but maybe it wasn't exactly what Eloisa wanted to hear. "I am here if you need anything Eloisa, just text or call, I'm sure it will all work out, have a little faith." I winked when I said the thing about faith, hoping she would pick up on the church joke. She chuckled, it was soft and only a little, but I did hear it. Good, I handled that pretty well, I thought to myself.

From the train station it was only a five minute walk to the hostel. This time everyone carried their own bags, even though me and Timmy offered to help. When we arrived at the hostel I checked everyone in, and told them to go find a bed and put their bags on it. They could unpack later, but for now I asked them to join me in the living room afterwards. One by one the kids came back from the room and sat down on the big couch with me. Lily and Raya were the last ones. They came in giggling, like the teenagers they were. There wasn't enough space for both of them on the couch, so Lily sat down in Raya's lap. "Everyone found a bed?" I asked. They all nodded. Some of them had changed clothes, understandable after a whole day of travelling. "Okay, good. So before we make any further plans for the day, I have some news." I looked around the group, hopeful faces. "I received an email about the concert tomorrow night, they had to cancel the meet&greet due to a mistake from the venue." "WHAT? They can't do that!!!" Dory screamed out. The guy standing behind the desk looked up, raising an eyebrow. Timmy pulled her by her arm to get her to sit back down on the couch. " I'm pretty sure they can do that." Timmy said calmly. "I am so sorry guys, I know it is a huge disappointment, but sadly there is nothing we can do about it. Luckily the concert will still be happening, that's the positive." I smiled, but I knew it was a huge disappointment for these kids.

We sat in silence for a little while, giving them some time to process this news. Then I decided to stand up, we couldn't sit here and simp all day. "Okay, so let's make the most of it, how are you all feeling, aside from this bad news? Tired, or do you have energy left?" Most of them were staring at their feet, clearly defeated. Some of them mumbled something along the lines of tired, exhausted, sad, ugh. Okay, yeah, clearly not in the mood for positivity. "How about we order some pizza, take it slow the rest of this day, you can all unpack your bags, make your bed, maybe watch a movie together later?" I didn't get much of a response, but then Timmy stood up. "Sounds good old man, let's order pizza first, then we can unpack while we wait." "Sounds like a plan Timmy."

After we finished the pizza, most kids returned to their room, I stayed behind and chatted a little bit with Lily and Yao, and eventually also called it a day. I went to their room and told them I would go to the hotel, reminding them they can just call or text if there is anything. Before leaving I also reminded them that they were free to leave the hostel, but never alone, and they always had to inform me. I was glad to have my own hotel room, but also worried, giving the fact that these kids now had a lot of responsibility staying at the hostel by themselves.