"Yes, Mum, I've arrived." Deryn sighs into her phone. She adjusts it, clamping it between her shoulder and her ear so her hands are free to carry her suitcase down the train's steps. "The train's just pulled into the station." She checks her watch. "Alek should be here any minute now."
Deryn can hear her mum fretting on the other end of the line. "I'm not sure this is such a good idea now," she says. "Deryn, this can't be safe. What was I thinking? You're only sixteen!"
"I am sixteen. I'm old enough to be independent," she reminds her mother. Dragging her suitcase behind her, Deryn weaves her way through the crowd, muttering apologies. Alek had said to meet him at the ticket booth at the end of the station.
"You have no idea who this boy is," her mother chides. "He could be forty!"
"He's not forty, Mum." Deryn rolls her eyes, but her mother only means well for her. "I'll keep talking to you until I see him, okay?"
She pulls the brim of her hat down, just over her eyes. The ticket booth is approaching, and the only person she sees is tall, grey-haired and with facial hair to match. With a sinking heart, Deryn is suddenly worried, for the first time, that her mother was right.
Then a shorter boy steps out from behind him, and she lets out a breath of relief. "It's alright, Mum," Deryn says into the mouthpiece. "I see him."
"Great. Call me back later, okay? I love you."
"Sure. Love you, too," she says, distractedly, and snaps the phone shut. She drops it in her pocket.
The closer Deryn gets, the more nervous she gets. She's never seen Alek properly – they hadn't really exchanged photos of themselves over email. She only knows him by his vague profile picture, that really hasn't helped her envision him.
And he's never seen her, either. She'd done it on purpose, thinking she'd never actually meet him in real life. How was she supposed to have known he would invite her to a Flying Electras concert?
Deryn hasn't decided to wear anything too feminine today, and she applauds herself for thinking about that this morning. She feels strangely nervous all of a sudden, then berates herself for thinking it's strange.
Of course she's nervous; only someone as stupid as herself could go and fall for a boy over the internet.
She finally stops in front of the two men, heart pounding. "Hi," says Deryn. "Are you Alek?"
The boy's eyes – they were so green – light up. "You're Dylan?" he asks. His English is flawless, but she can detect his Austrian accent in his words.
"Aye," she says, taking off her hat. "It's Deryn, actually."