Cords Of Love

~Chapter One~

Meher Bano's POV
.

I sit idly at the platform with music playing from my headphones, staring at the nightscape before me. Midnight is peaceful in a way my life is not. It is the time wrap where I can let my thoughts drift without any sort of interruption.
It's quite here, the soft breeze and rustling. The station shadowed by the high moon.
America seems lonelier than any other place. I came to Texas from Atlanta after visiting my uncle. Houston is warmer than Atlanta but more peaceful and lonelier.
I continue to wait for the train on the lonely platform with only four people in sight.

The incoming train slows down approaching the platform I and only two out of the four enter the train in complete silence before the doors shut close.

I switch mobile data on as I settle in the train and I'm spammed with over a hundred texts. I quickly open my whats app and text one of my best friends Maha and my brother that I'm now on the train to Houston as their chats were the first ones.

I often think of my mother on these nights which leave me hollow. And how my dad wants me to come back. He isn't pressuring me, but I feel I shouldn't leave him alone at this age because he's all I've got now.

A boy catches my attention, a dark brown haired attractive boy who sits infront of me, he does look like from my country, Pakistan and seems familiar too. Wearing a blue jeans and white t-shirt. He has airpods on and is busy staring into his phone. I gaze away from the young man and take a novel out of my bag to feel less awkward on a train headed to an unknow city with an attractive stranger seated infront of me.

His phone rings and he lets a long slow sigh before picking it up. I watch him silently with my head phones on without him noticing me glaring. His ringtone is the common default Iphone ringtone which I dislike. Iphone has zero varieties.

"Assalam O Alaikum Abu." He greets, obviously his dad. His accent wasn't any different from a Pakistani-American boy's. But his voice was slightly heavy and appealing.

The thing with me is, voices attract me so do tall heights and good hair, also a good personality.

The boy infront of me seems tall and has pretty hair as well along with a good voice.

I snap out of my thoughts when his left hand comes up in a writing motion. I look around me to see who he wants to talk to but I come to a conclusion that he's asking a pen from me the second time his hand comes up in a writing motion.

I quickly search for a pen in my small black bagpack and I move a little forward to hand it to him. He takes it without even looking at me and quickly notes something down in his brown notebook and ends the phone call without giving me my pen back.

arrogant and rude.

I roll my eyes and lean back on the seat folding my arms and I close my eyes. I wonder if it would seem bad, and weird if I just move to another seat. I debate my eyes closed on whether I should move to another seat but I decide not to as it would look very awkward.
'As if he would even notice and care.' My subconscious tells me and I ignore her.

My thoughts ponder over whether the guy would be an Indian or a Pakistani. He does seem like a Pakistani though but who knows. What if he's from Afghanistan?
I snap out of my thoughts when the lady's voice from the speakers echoes.

"We will be reaching Houston's Amtrak Station in one day and ten hours.” She speaks and I sigh. A long way to go.

The train slows down, and stops at the last platform and more than fifteen people step inside the train.

"Thank you." He says and I look up, startled. Thank god I have one headphone off. A smile covers his lips and I realize how attractive the boy in front of me is. He has an angelic smile.

I smile softly back at him and he pulls out his power bank and puts his phone on charge but continues using it.