"Hey Alfie!"

I stopped right there in my tracks. I knew who it was and it damn pissed me off. All I wanted was to leave this place as quick as possible without talking to anyone of these bastards.

I slowly turned my head toward the direction of the voice. My eyes narrowed when they fell upon the culprit. It was Francis. Apparently he did see me leaving. God I hated this moment. Why Couldn't I just leave with having to talk to this damn bastard?

"So… You really did get expelled huh," Francis stepped toward me casually. "I expected you to get expelled sooner to be honest". He puffed out the smoke that accumulated in his mouth from his cigarette.

I let go of my suitcase but I kept my baseball bat resting on my shoulder. "And what do I owe this pleasure?" I asked nonchalantly. I really just wanted to just walk away but I couldn't.

Francis chuckled a little, "Well I just wanted to see off my roommate. I am allowed to do that non?"

I rolled my eyes, "and what makes you think I want to see you?"

He slowly stepped closer and soon enough he was right in front of me. He placed his hand on my shoulder and with his other hand he raised the cigarette to his mouth. He then exhaled the smoke right into my face. Then the damn bastard had the gall to smile.

I frowned, "get your damn hand off my shoulder right now before I break it off."

He continued to smile but took his hand off my shoulder none the less. He tapped the cigarette and black ashes fell to the ground gracefully and then took another drag.

I stood there waiting for his to say something to give me an excuse to beat him with my bat but he just stood there. I was getting impatient with this guy and I really wanted to just walk away but I couldn't. Then I began to lose my temper, "Well you gonna say anything else!"

He still stood there and cracked a smile, "No". He took another drag

Goddamn this guy was pissing me off. "Well then can I leave already?" I practically yelled that

"Nothing's preventing you to leave."

"Your damn French ass is preventing me to leave!"

"How am I preventing you from leaving? You've just been standing there waiting for me to say something else and I haven't said anything else." Francis smirked.

I took my bat off my shoulders. I was ready to beat this guy to a pulp. "If you don't wanna end up in the hospital I suggest you stop talking to me and go back to the damn school!"

"But I wasn't talking."

"Goddamn it just shut up!"

Smirking he took another drag and blew the smoke toward me, "fine I'll leave. I wish you a nice Thanksgiving vacation mon ami".

I raised my bat and pointed it at him, "I'm not your friend you bastard."

He raised both hands defensively with a calm face, "fair enough". With that he turned around and strolled back toward the school.

I lowered my bat and grabbed my suitcase again. I made my way out of the gates and headed toward the train station. I was heading home to New York City. I could only imagine what my parents will say when they find out I've been expelled again. I smiled at the thought.

I was half way to the station and it soon became drastically colder. Despite my bomber jacket I was still cold. I stopped and pulled out some gloves and a Red Sox cap. The gloves helped my hands warm up. The cap really didn't do much but it was better than nothing. Even though I live in New York I'm a fan of the Red Sox. I think it's because the Yankees and the Sox are archrivals. Everyone here roots for the Yankees while I root for the Sox. I'm the opposite of every New Yorker. I didn't mind at all. I'm always the opposite of everyone. If someone loves something I'll hate it. And if someone criticizes something I'll support it. I guess that's my problem.

I soon found myself at the train station. There were few people there and I liked it that way. I sat down on an old bench and waited. It was about five minutes before the train was supposed to arrive; but in New York time it was about 15 minutes before the train was supposed to arrive. Delays happened every day in New York but you get used to it.

It took the train twenty minutes to arrive at the station. It rattled in and screeched to a stop. I didn't complain that it was late; I just gathered my stuff and got onto an empty cart. I was surprised I was the only one in this section of the train. No one was around me but I could see other people in the cart in front of me; there were maybe three people at most in that cart. I smiled. I liked being alone. I took a seat in the middle of the cart and placed my suitcase and bat to the left of me. As the train roared to life I had to hold on to my stuff as it jolted forward. We soon got up to speed and the ride was pretty smooth but quite noisy. If you're a New Yorker you get used to it though. The train made two stops before anyone got onto my cart.

I had my head back and my eyes closed when I heard someone sit down near me. I opened my eyes slightly to find an Asian boy sitting across from me. The only colors he seemed to be wearing were red and black. He has short dark hair and he wore a red had with a black rim and he tilted his hat down like he wanted to sleep or want people to think he was sleeping. I wanted to make conversation with him since I've been alone on this damn train for so long.

I leaned forward a bit and asked, "Hey I'm Alfred what's your name?"

He looked up slightly and looked a little annoyed and a bit menacing. However he seemed to perk up and replied, "My name is Yao."

"Very unique name you have there huh".

"It may be unique to you but in China it's just a regular name".

"So you're from China. That's cool".

He just stared at me and didn't reply. It was awkward to be honest. He just kept giving me this calculating look. I soon began looking around trying to find something else to talk about. After a minute or two Yao spoke up, "So which school did you get expelled from aru?"

I was shocked he figured that out, "How the hell did you know I got expelled?"

"Well no school has started their thanksgiving vacation and you are on a train all alone with suitcases. It really wasn't that hard to figure out".

Goddamn this kid was sharp. I was pretty impressed to be honest, "so that means you got expelled too right?"

"No I didn't get expelled from anything."

"Well then why are you on a train all alone?"

"Because I'm going to work aru."

"Where do you work?"

"At a soup kitchen."

I didn't reply to him right away and just slouched back onto the chair. Once he realized I wasn't gonna reply soon he took out a pack of cigarettes. You weren't supposed to smoke on the train but I wasn't going to stop him.

He stretched out the pack to me and said, "Want one aru?"

"Thanks," I muttered as I took one out of the carton. After he put the pack back into his back pocket and took out a lighter and put it up to the cigarette and shielded it with his other hand. The faint orange glow reflected against his pale skin; it was a bit hypnotic to be honest. He lifted his eyes to look into mine. His amber eyes glistened and the flame of the lighter seemed to dance in his iris. Before I knew it his lighter was placed under my cigarette and came to life.

"You were staring so I figured you needed a light aru".

I was a little embarrassed that he caught me staring but I was even more embarrassed that I was admiring a guy for his eyes. I shook it off and just took a drag of the cigarette. "Sorry about that. I wasn't aware that I was staring".

He crossed his legs and leaned back into the train chair, "it is fine aru".

We both were quiet after that. Neither of us talked, we just sat back and took drags of our cigarettes and watched the smoke slowly rise upwards. I wanted to say something but I didn't know what; I really liked this kid because he seemed to be one of the only people I can have a decent conversation with.

Soon enough the train thundered into a deserted station and the door screeched opened. And Yao slowly got up, "well this is my stop aru. It was nice meeting you Alfred".

As he turned I quickly reached out and grabbed his sleeve, "Wait!"

He turned back around shocked. I was shocked too; I didn't mean to sound so urgent. It didn't even cross my mind to grab him, it just happened involuntarily. I quickly let go of his sleeve and tried to regain my composure. "D-Do you have a number I can reach you at. You're one of the only decent people to have a good conversation with," I said a little too desperately.

He smirked, "I have a cell phone," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper, "here is the number aru".

"And why do you have a pre-written number already in your pocket?" I asked.

He simply laughed and just turned away and headed out onto the station platform. He was out of sight in a matter of seconds.