with you l eddy chen

Chapter 9 - T40A3S23

prompt: meeting eddy in the subway/anything else (tram)

"So how did you know him?" your friend sipped a cup of her earl grey tea and cocked her head to the side, pining with interest.

"My encounter with him, comes from a seat in the tram." you sliced your almond muffin and send it in your mouth, recalling the brief moments.

——

Seventeen, eighteen, nineteen.

Twnety, twenty-one, twenty-two,

Twenty-three.

The counting starts the moment you tap your card on the payment platform. You move up to the stairs onto the second storey and counted to the seat that suits you the best, your most comfortable seat. Your comfort zone.

Different from the Common Room in the Arts Academy, this seat truly belongs to you; it has a unique place in your heart. From your school days to your work days, this has never changed for you and it's a simple bliss to sit there.

This is Tram 40, the public transportation that you take every day. You walk up to the second storey, proceed to the third aisle and found "23" on the small handle of the tram.

Tram 40, Aisle 3, Seat 23, or T40A3S23.

The reason you took Tram 40 is because of your convenience to travel from your house to your school. Surprisingly, your office now is also in the route of Tram 40, except that it is a few stops later to your school. The reason you took a tram is because trams have a special memory and place for you. They're not quick-paced like metro rails, crammed like buses and expensive as taxis; they're just right and you can see a nice morning or sunset view when you leave or return to home.

Aisle 3 is because of the weather. Aisle 1 is too exposed to receive the sunlight and it's too much Vitamin D for you. Besides, it's too hot to get sunshine for the whole ride. Aisle 3 is the part where you could still the scenery on your left window and get sufficient sunlight and warmth. That was alright for you.

Seat 23 is because of your birthday: it falls on a 23rd. Also because it is the seat next to the window, so you could assure that you won't fall into the central aisle when the tram turns.

All of this is perfect until one day, you realise that the seat's been occupied. By a boy your age and when you reach to the second storey, you almost guessed who he was from the back of his hair and attire.

Your inner voice speaks, None other than Eddy Chen.

Even as the ninth time seeing him, you never feel bored as to how you two will meet. But let life decide, you thought, for what is the fun if you intervene deliberately?

Yet, you were still a little frustrated. It's like the moment you see a balloon passing by you, you feel that you lost it and seeing it fly further away from you, a little part of your heart deflates.

Great metaphor?

Not really.

When this happens for days continuously, seeing Eddy sit in the seat makes you feel a little bitter, because now you'd have to sit at Aisle 2. What's wrong with that? Aisle 2 is annoying because the curtain that extends to Aisle 1 drapes your sides. When you rest your hand against the window and with your head lying on your hand, the curtain brushes you and it's itchy.

Now the balloon is not just flying away - it's pricked by a needle midway.

You feel like saying something to Eddy.

Excuse me? Too formal and serious. Hey? Too informal and casual.

"Hi." you settled on that and turned your head to Eddy behind you.