Disclaimer: This may be my last disclaimer... I have a court date for violating a restraining order against Logan. But hey, Chase does too, so it's not all bad.
Once upon a time, there was this boy. He liked a bushy haired freak, who liked him back after like two months of beating around the bush. It was all well and good, until the message from the hospital arrived, and the time of dread approached. I didn't know who else to turn to, so I ran to my mother, hoping she would have the answers I needed. I left knowing that even if she didn't welcome her son, he would have his bushy haired freak to fall back on.
We've been on this train for what seems like days now, even though it's only been a few hours. Chase and I left PCA this morning, under the cover of dawn, because Chase thought it'd be to cliché to leave under the cover of darkness. Hopefully Quinn's elaborate plan to hide our disappearances will work. It seems workable, but then again, Quinnventions haven't always been the most reliable things in the world.
This was Quinn's plan. She was going to temporarily replace us with her experimental Chase and Logan androids. (Why she kept robots of her friends is a little creepy, and beyond my understanding.) The point is, they were equipped with an AI based on our personalities, and they were quite convincing if I did say so myself. I got all the reassurance I needed when the Logan-bot started arguing with Zoey, who by this point had returned to normal, for no apparent reason.
Chase wasn't so keen on the idea. He ran for the high hills, again, after seeing a second Chase in front of him. He did come back eventually, and began to style the Chase-bots' hair to achieve maximum bushiness.
After that, we grabbed our poorly packed bags, and they fell apart. Chase apparently is as good as packing as he is at basketball. So, with the backpacks that I packed, we made our way to the train station. Having my driver take me would be too risky. The drivers all reported directly to my stepmother now, and I couldn't have her trying to stop me. The wait for the train was unbearably long, but at the same time really humorous. Chase got bored and took out his new best friend, Mr. Guitar. He started to sing, and the passer-by's began to give us 'donations'. Chase made about three dollars in twenty minutes, and swore up and down he was the next Teddy Geiger.
The train finally arrived, and we managed to find an unoccupied cabin. Chase was fascinated by the fact that the train looked like the ones in the movies, and began to fitter with the lock until he broke it. I don't know why he was so giddy, but it was nice to have him as a distraction from my messed up world.
Chase had fallen asleep after an hour, and his head rested on my shoulder. I didn't need a pillow because of that, so we both just slept there in silence, until later that night, the train stopped. I didn't recognize where we were, but it was midnight, and trains don't stop in remote parts of California for no apparent reason.
The conductor came around the part of the train we were, yelling, "Last stop on the train! Last stop!"
"Last stop?! Where are we?!" I tried asking the conductor.
"Desert Springs. Now hurry and get your things. We need the train empty in a few minutes."
Desert Springs was not where the camp was. I turned around to see Chase coming out of the cabin, drowsy and disoriented.
"We're in Desert Springs."
"Oh, so we're here?"
"No, we're in Desert Springs." I repeated, putting a stronger emphasis on the word 'desert' this time.
Chase looked at me in that same way Quinn loved to look at me; that way that made me feel like the dumbest person in the world. If I wasn't flaming from fury at this point, that look set me on fire.
"Yeah, so we're at the place where the camp is. Let's go."
"No, Chase. The camp isn't here."
"But I thought you said the camp was in Desert Springs."
I was dumbfounded. I didn't think I heard correctly, so I dared to ask again, fearing that I already knew the answer.
"Chase, did you buy train tickets to Desert Springs when I sent you to the ticket booth?"
"Yeah, cause you said the camp was in Desert Spring."
If I didn't love this boy, I would have strangled him. I guess the lack of sleep and the stress of the situation was getting to me, because I felt like I couldn't control my anger anymore.
"No, Chase. I said the camp was in Devon Spring."
Chase's face fell, his eyes reflecting his confusion, until he realized his mistake was the reason for my anger, at which point his face became flushed as his arms fell to his side. He lowered his head with shame, and pitifully asked for my forgiveness.
"Oops… I'm sorry, Logan. I got so caught up in the trip, I guess… I didn't remember the name of the spring right…"
Chase grabbed my hand, tightening his grip as he came closer to me, almost whispering, "Forgive me?"
"How could I say no to that face?"
Chase's smile was enough to take away all my frustration. But that still didn't help our current situation, and the conductor had come back, with a death glare that would scare even Zoey.
"Alright you two, out of the train!" he yelled at us, grabbing us each by an arm, and proceeding to physically throw us out of the train. So now, we stood at the platform the train had stopped on, as the sky began to change from the tell tale blue of midnight to a softer, pinkish glow.
"I think it's gonna snow." Chase told me, walking ahead into the indoor waiting area the small station had.
"Yeah, it's too cold to stay out here."
"But it's not like we can stay at this train station all night, can we?"
I wondered if we could. In the movies they always kicked the homeless people out of the train station, and right now, homeless was a word that applied nicely to the two of us. Luckily, we managed to convince the employees there that we were waiting for the 6 am train to who knows where. They were a little suspicious as to why we were so early, but Chase took care of it by saying his watch was ahead six hours. The people here weren't too bright, because they bought that.
The next day, Chase is over by the candy counter in the station talking to some guy. I could only see the back of his head, but something looked familiar…
"Hey Logan! Come here!" Chase beckoned me.
I went over, and to my unfortunate surprise, I did recognize the person there. It was none other than Aiden.
"Aiden? What are you doing here?" I tried to ask as nicely as my voice could carry the message. It's not that I wasn't happy to see him…. Okay I wasn't, but that was no excuse to be mean to him either. It wasn't his fault his ex-girlfriend was a psychopath bent on making my life miserable.
Aiden looked a little hurt, so I figured my voice hadn't carried as pleasantly as I hoped.
"Aiden lives in Devon Springs. He got the tickets messed up too."
"Yeah, I thought I was the only person who could make that mistake."
Chase then hit him gently in the shoulder and they started to giggle. I don't know why, but I could feel my eye begin to twitch as my fist began to curl into itself. Chase was never that affectionate towards anyone he just met. Contrary to popular belief, he's really shy. It took me three weeks to get him to look me in the eyes while talking to me; and it took both me and Michael almost a year to get him to start a conversation instead of just join in after five minutes. He had come out of his shell a little more since the girls came to PCA, but this was just… weird. I could feel something was amiss.
"I told Aiden he could come with us to Devon Spring. We can't just leave him on his own with all these hobos here. Is that okay with you?"
My mind tried to wrap itself around what had just come out of Chase's mouth. I had the biggest inclination to quote Miley Cyrus and say 'bushy haired idiot say what?', but all that came out through my now gritted teeth was "Sure, I don't mind."
"Great! So… how exactly are we getting to Devon Springs?"
"What do you mean, Aiden? Can't we just get on another train there?"
"Not really Chase. You see, we're really far off. Devon Spring is only about twenty miles from Vancouver."
"And where is Vancouver, Aiden?"
"In British Columbia, Chase."
"Why are you two talking like that?!" I was mad again, and having a hard time controlling it. It's not my fault though. Anyone would be a little on edge with so much on their plate. Right?
"Sorry Logan. We were just trying to lighten the mood. I know how upset you must be." Chase started. He held my hands in his as he spoke, and his touch apparently had the same effect as his eyes. I was a little calmer now, and then I looked back at Aiden. It didn't make any sense to me. Aiden lived in Malibu last year, and now all of a sudden he moves to Devon Springs? And if he did move to Devon Springs, why would he travel all the way to PCA just to see me. I couldn't get this unsettling feeling out of my mind.
Chase and Logan walked ahead of me as we ventured into town after being told that the only way to get to Devon Springs was to walk ten miles down the road to a city called Harrison and take the train to Seattle from there. This was turning out to me more work than I had anticipated, and it wasn't like I had unlimited funds anymore either. A train ride across two states was going to devastate my cash reserve, and I couldn't use my credit cards without my stepmother finding out about it. That was the last thing I wanted, because I knew she'd try to stop me. And now, I had Aiden to worry about too. Regardless of how inconvenient his presence might be, Chase already invited him along, and I wasn't about to just leave him on his own. He wasn't a bad kid, just one that I wanted to keep my eye on for now.
"Hurry up Logan!" Chase yelled back at me, Aiden then stopping a few steps ahead of him. They looked so much alike. They could pass off as brothers if Aiden wasn't my height and had bushy hair instead of flowing red hair. "Yeah, I'm coming."
Aiden was walking a few steps ahead, seemingly trying to give me and Chase some space, which I appreciated, because I could use this time to talk about him.
"Chase?"
"What up?"
"You seem to be really friendly with Aiden."
"Yeah, he came up to us about an hour before you woke up. He didn't know where he was and confused us for locals until he saw you, and then he remembered meeting me back at PCA. We started talking and he told me about how he made the same mistake as me when he was buying his ticket home."
"Yeah… home…"
"Yeah. He told me his parents moved to Devon Springs after your father's wedding. Apparently Zoey was giving him a hard time too, and he was really close to doing something stupid."
"What do you mean 'something stupid'?"
"I mean he was… well…" He was looking down at my wrists, which were now healed, bandage free, and cold, because there wasn't a need to wear the wristbands anymore.
"You mean he tried to…?"
"Yeah. It was really bad, so his parents wanted to give him a fresh start in a new place."
So, Zoey had gotten not only to me, but to him too. But he ran, leaving me as the only available target. No wonder he feels so guilty. It's not really his fault, but it's really easy to look at it that way.
We'd been walking for what seemed like an eternity now. It was almost sunset, and the snow on the ground had begun to melt, leaving some very slippery slush to be dealt with. After the sixth or seventh mile though, all that was left were a few puddles. I was really tired, and Aiden hadn't spoken at all since we left Desert Springs. He was seemingly lost in thought about something, and he only looked back once in a while, throwing a sad smile our way. The sun was setting, and I couldn't go on anymore. "I miss the train…" I thought out loud, not remembering I had an audience.
We were close enough to see the city now. My knees were about to give in, and I was bound to fall, but something held me up before I crashed. It was Chase, and he was kneeling down before me with his back to my front.
"Come on." He said.
"What?"
"I'll be the train for a while."
Chase carried me the rest of the way there, with Aiden in front, and my face matching the color of the sky during the sunset.
A/N: OMJ, I am sooooooo sorry that it took forever for me to update. I was all over the place, like Chase in that chapter a while ago. I'll try to get this up to you guys sooner from now on. So, how does everyone feel about Aiden? Do you feel bad for him, or hate him, or not trust him? I really wanna know, because it could go any way right now. So who do you think he really is? I bet you'll never guess, cause even I was like 'OMJ!' when I wrote it out.