"What do you mean he's gone? People don't just disappear, Jean!"
"I told you, he fell! We were together and then…then the next thing I knew, he had fallen! So please, shut up and help me find him!"
Chapter one.
Fall.
Fall was a special time for Jean Kirschtein, indeed. It would mark the beginning of his senior year of highschool, and the end of his turbulent and emotional summer. The brunette adjusted the straps of his carry on bag around his shoulders and trudged out of the cramped plane he'd been seated on for the last 8 and a half hours. He felt a twinge of pain in his neck from when he'd fallen asleep weirdly, and his leg was still sensitive from when a bump of turbulence ended up with his coffee spilled all over his only decent looking pair of Jeans. A puff of air conditioning greeted the teen as he looked up at one of the many hanging terminal signs in the Sea-Tac airport. He'd need to get to baggage claim in about 10 minutes if he expected to have any time to grab a bite to eat before the next bus made its rounds. He'd been practically kicked to the curb by his parents after they found out about his drinking habits, and he'd been moved to rainy Tacoma, Washington, to live with his grandparents for the school year. It was a bit of a difference as compared to his parent's house in West Virginia, but he wasn't complaining too much. The place had charm, his grandparent's. It was a soggy little cabin seated at the mouth of the woods on the outskirts of town, so privacy wasn't ever an issue. Jean was lucky enough to not have been the only one of his siblings kicked out of the house for behavioral issues; his older sister Joanna had her turn when Johnny and the rest of the football team took to making her their plaything, and left a gift. Nowadays, she was off gallivanting around the world as a nurse while her kid lives with his grandparents.
"Where the heck is this gate..." Jean grumbled, pulling out the wrinkled map of the airport he'd stuffed into his jeans earlier. If there was one thing he hated, it was not knowing his surroundings. He didn't particularly like to travel either, so the past few days had been a huge hassle for him, and he wouldn't be surprised if he'd be due for a few gray hairs. People from all over whizzed past him as if the entire building was on fire, and children complained about boredom and being hungry to their parents sitting across from them as they waited to be loaded onto the plane. After some protest from the coffee stained map, Jean began a hasty walk down the huge terminal, trying to scope out the cheapest place to eat as he searched for baggage claim. Glancing down at his wristwatch, he cursed a bit; there'd be no way for him to stop and still get to baggage in time for the bus, so that meant going who knows how much longer without a bite to eat. He mentally kicked himself for being too snobby to accept the food offered on the plane, and raced down the halls to the crowded escalator with an empty stomach. He was beginning to notice one thing that was different about this new state already; everything seemed to be moving at high speed all the time. He nearly careened over a crowd of people and to his death, the escalator was descending so quickly. The airport he was familiar with back in sleepy old West Virginia barely got you from point A to point B without sputtering or coughing, but it seemed as if this rollercoaster never slowed down.
"Whoa…!" He winced, as he gracelessly skidded to a stop when the moving stairs ended. "This is getting to be ridiculous…Okay," He mumbled aloud, "Baggage claim, and then the bus stop should be at the front of the airport entrance."
After about 5 minutes of pacing and waiting, Jean finally grabbed his huge suitcase off of the carousel and lugged it behind him down the linoleum floors, evading people and obstacles along the way to the front entrance of the Airport. Once he got on the bus, all he'd need to do was sit back and relax for another half hour until he got to the bus station, where his grandparents would hopefully be waiting for him.
The large, glass pane doors opened quickly and Jean took his first breath in his new state. The air was significantly thinner than in West Virginia, and there was a thick scent of pine and earth wafting about. The sky was overcast and gray, and it was drizzling ever so lightly.
"Hello gloomsville…" He murmured, squinting his eyes as he looked for his bus number. There were hundreds of people looking just as lost as him, so hopefully the bus driver took that as a hint not to speed off without him. He swore, things never stopped for even a second in this place. Maybe it was just the airport, but he was betting the entire population of Washington had nitrox injected into their blood stream. Just as he was about to start to panic, he noticed his bus number, Grey hound bus number 845, parked about 10 yards from where he'd been searching. With an annoyed huff, he scurried over, dodging small children and tripping on a few people's luggage as he went.
By the time he reached the doors, the rain had started falling a bit harder, in large, swollen, and cold droplets.
"This bus goes to the uh…" He started, fumbling for the disintegrating map in his pocket. "Tacoma station right? This is the Sound transit express?"
"Yeah, hop on kid. Should be about half an hour." The bus driver grunted, jabbing his thumb back towards the seating. Jean hauled his suitcase up the wet steps and stood for a moment in the aisle, trying to decide where to sit. He met the eyes of a few people, and surprisingly enough they smiled back at him. He blushed a bit and decided to shove his luggage in the overhead cabin as quickly as possible and plop down in the nearest spot.
"Sheesh, you have ants in your pants or something?" A voice quipped, making Jean startle a bit.
"Wh-what?" He answered dumbly, again caught off guard by the way people acted here. In West Virginia, you'd be lucky enough to get as much as a 'hello' from a cashier, let alone get poked fun at by a complete stranger.
A cute complete stranger.
"You heard me! You were standin' there in the aisle like you've never seen a bus before and all of a sudden you slammed your ass right down next to me! If I hadn't moved my hand, you probably wouldve taken a few fingers." The girl laughed. Jean stared back at her a bit wide eyed before quickly turning away again. She had a light dusting of freckles on her slender olive skinned face, and brown eyes that practically wrapped you in their warmth.
"Well I mean, someone made weird eye contact with me so...I'd honestly prefer your hand to shady sam back there." He scoffed, crossing his arms and legs defensively. He glanced over at her to gauge a reaction, and it seemed as if she hadn't' stopped smirking since he sat down next to her.
"In that case, my name's Ymir." She chuckled; it wasn't quite dainty enough to be called a giggle. "If you're that eager, how bout you take me to dinner once in a while?"
Jean couldnt help but return the smile. "I'm Jean. Nice to meet you, Ymir.
Jean grabbed his things from the overhead and lugged it off of the cramped bus, thankful to have even the tiniest bit of fresh air after the long and damp bus ride. Man, was that uncomfortable. He had to sit in wet jeans that smelled of coffee on a dingy upholstered seat for what felt like forever, all while trying not to be bothered by the fact that his bus buddy was passed out and drooling on his shoulder. What was her problem? Was she seriously so comfortable leaning on a complete stranger like that? She must be the type to kick some serious as, he thought. There must be no reason for her to be nervous around others. Jean on the other hand, was trying his best not to breathe to deeply lest he wake her. When the bus finally did stop, she lifted her head and grogilly winked at Jean as if it were the most natural thing to do in such a situation, and when they were finally standing, she only pulled out a small rucksack and slung it over her shoulder. They were the only two to get off on the stop, and Jean was pretty thankful for that, in all honesty. He'd had just about enough of these strange Washington people for a few minutes, thanks.
"So, where you from Jared?"
"Jean. Well, I was born in France and lived there until I was six and then-"
"I asked where youre from, not your entire life story!" Ymir laughed, rolling her eyes as Jean blushed a bit in embarrassment. "You got Rosacia or something? Or are you just super white?"
"I'm super white, thank you." Jean answered, rubbing one of his pale cheeks irritatedly. "You're pretty straight forward, aren't you?" He asked, half wanting an answer and half wanting to find some way to sass her back. "And when exactly are you gonna stop trailing me? You gonna follow me home?"
A playful smirk spread on her lips as she hopped in front of the brunette, making him misstep and almost trip. "I'm askin' the questions here, bucko."
Jean snorted a bit as he regained his balance, a bit flustered and ready to get to his grandparents house already. The weather was muggy and rainy, but it was a different kind of rain. Instead of sticking to you like a second skin and sliding off of your face heavy and swollen, this rain accumulated on every surface and chilled you a bit before finally slipping off of your nose in small droplets and traveling down your cheeks in tiny, cold rivulets.
"If you must know, I'm from West Virginia. It's not really the most exciting place, but the booze is good." He huffed, adjusting the backpack on his shoulders. "The bus stop is over here right? There's so much transportation over here."
"Oh, so you're a regular southern ray of sunshine eh?" Ymir asked, her eyebrows raised quizzically. "I'm gonna have to call you sunshine from now on kid, and you're gonna brighten things up for me alright?" Ymir answered, turning the corner to the bus stop. The seats were wet, but otherwise unoccupied. Jean slumped into the hard plastic bench and sighed deeply.
"So..." He began, rotating his arm a bit in order to work out any kinks he might have created from carrying his back pack for such a long time. "Where are you staying? Close to here or something? I wouldn't exactly follow a stranger to their doorstep, but you seem like you're on the way to doing just that huh?" He joked, offering a smile.
"I live everywhere." Ymir answered dryly, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean you live every where?" Jean asked, surprised at the plain answer. He was thinking she was upper middle class as well, but Ymir herself was somewhat of an enigma.
"I don't have a place to stay. I squat where ever I can, and make money selling oregano and other fine Italian seasonings to idiot 6th graders who think they're getting the good shit from some home grown Californian." She laughed, almost boasting. Jean couldn't help but snicker as well, but his laughter dissipated as he realized that Ymir was basically bumming it on the streets of Seattle.
"I mean, don't you have a friend you can room with? There's no way you actually live in this place with no roof over your head. What are you, poor?" He jeered, arching a brow inquisitively.
Ymir's face fell flat at that, and Jean regretted opening his mouth. He tended to spew stupid shit pretty often, and this was a prime example.
"Yeah sunshine, I am pretty poor. Shit gets rough when you live on the bad end of town. My ma got busted on a few drug charges and I've been on my own for about eight months now." She scoffed, throwing a miffed look over at Jean before turning her face up towards the gray, precipitating sky.
"You ain't got much choice sometimes. It's either you gotta live on the cusp of survival, or make your own life. I chose to make my own life, and boy am I livin' it." She said, a bit more excitedly. Her eyes lit up and seemed to pierce the dreary atmosphere, and it made Jean's heart flutter a bit. Damn, she was a bit of an ass hole but she sure was cute. "I get to take public transport all over the place, and meet all sorts of people. They help me out along the way, and I help their junky asses to get their goods. I'm pretty taken care of out here. Better than my mom could ever do." She sighed, crossing her arms behind her head and sliding her eyes closed nonchalantly.
"What about your father?" Jean asked, unable to help himself of his curiosity. Ymir was probably one of the most interesting people he'd met in a while. It wasn't every day you got to meet a hot hobo. He was keeping this experienced logged some how as soon as he could find a pen and paper. When he got back to ol' Virginny, there was no way he was forgetting to tell his buddies back home about this.
"My Pa was never really in my life. He was a drunk, and my Ma was a drug addict. I picked up the lovely habits from them, obviously. I'm not an utter idiot like them though. I'm at least makin' a damn profit." She answered, bouncing her leg a bit to keep herself moving.
Before Jean could ask any more questions, the familiar sound of the large silver gray bus rang in his ears as his last bus pulled to a stop. One more ride and he'd be home free! He could kick off his gross shoes that were totally soaked through at this point, shower and a huge meal from his grandparents. "Ugh, thank God..." He muttered, hoisting his bag over his shoulder with a small wince. "My shoulder is killing me. Can you toss me my other bag—Ymir?" Jean asked with a hint of confusion in his voice as he noticed Ymir gone from her spot on the bench. He hopped down the steps to pick up his own bags, and noticed Ymir already half way down the sidewalk.
"Hey! Where are you going?" He called out, and heard the bus driver snort a bit in annoyance; he was the only one not on the bus and ready to go at this point, which wouldnt surprise him because everyone moved at warp speed around here.
"I'll see you again some day Sunshine! I have a bit of product to sell! Life of an entrepreneur, y'see!" She yelled back, waving her arm energetically. "You'll see me around!"
Jean waved back as well for as long as he could before the bus driver revved his engine a bit. He quickly chose a seat and stuffed his bags into the seat next to him. After about two seconds of thought he sprung up from his seat and pulled the window down, displacing a few static rain drops.
"You'll see me again too! Just look for the whitest kid in the room, alright?" He called after Ymir, unsure of whether of not she heard him. Once she was completely out of sight, he finally sat down, a dopey smirk on his face.
Maybe this year wouldn't be so bad after all.