What Comes After

f i v e

Harper's POV

Quarter to ten.

That was ok. We had a bit of spare time before the train was due to come – enough to at least buy some snacks for the journey – and would easily make the short walk to our platform.

Catie had told me the plan. We needed to get to LA to see her dad – at least one adult needed to know where we were, and he would understand. Then we would take a ferry to Catalina Island, where Laurel was living with foster parents.

The flight from London to LA was too expensive even with our combined student discount, so we were taking a three-day train from London to Rome and then flying from Rome to LA. Catie had (reluctantly) called him and asked if he could arrange a cab for us, so getting from the LA airport to his house was easy. He would pay for the ferry to Catalina Island, and then we would find Laurel.

Genius, right?

I leant my back against the toilet wall and checked my phone. No news from Catie. For the time being, I decided to assume that she was on her way. After all, she was hardly likely to be late after last time. I peeked around the bathroom door again. All the cubicles were open. Where on earth had Nikki gone, and what was taking her so long?

I hope she hasn't gone into the men's again...

What if something happened to her?

No, we're not in danger here.

She's probably just buying gumballs from the baby change place or something.

Yeah, that's right.

A toilet flushed. I mentally rolled my eyes as a large man waddled out of the toilet, shouting through the phone in a distinct Boston accent. Wait. Was that...

...Nah.

I waited another minute, watching the man just to be sure, then barged through the rapidly lengthening toilet queue, past a cheap tampon machine and into the hallway behind the toilets.

Next to me, a baby whimpered. Its mum rocked it gently, whispering something in... Italian, I think. As smart as I was, I'd never cared much about languages. Nikki was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, she skidded around the corner, sending gumballs from her pockets flying everywhere. Dodging person after person, she grabbed me by my hoodie and pulled me down the corridor. The probably-Italian mum gaped at us, shielding her baby with her arm.

"He's here," Nikki whispered.

That was all I needed. Together, we raced straight through the toilet queue and out of the bathroom. Barging through the crowds, we ran downstairs and towards the platforms.

"LEFT!" I screamed. I turned onto Platform 1, Nikki following, and leapt onto the train just as it pulled up, slamming the 'close doors' button.

We both sat in silence for a minute, breathing heavily.

"Wow," muttered Nikki, "I really need to get my stamina up..."

I gave her a sort of half-smile then turned back around. I scanned the carriage quickly, so it didn't look like I was staring – no one likes a gaper – but saw no sign of Catie.

Damn it. Where was she?

"Hey Nikki, you seen Catie?"

Nikki shook her head. She was picking at her fingernails and looking at her phone.

"Oh, and um..." I smiled at Nikki. "Thanks."

She tilted her head to one side.

"As in, for telling me about him. You really saved both of our butts back there."

She grinned. "You would have done the same thing."

"But I didn't. You did, and you saved us."

She couldn't argue with that, so she just smiledand went back to pretending to text.