Chapter 26
Her goal was in arm's reach, almost touchable, yet it was moving away from her grasp. And the more seconds were passing the faster it would get away.
Mobilizing all her strength, Rachel tried to overcome her mental border. Her muscles were burning and almost failing her service until she managed to grab the rail of the speeding wagon and pulled herself up the moving freight train.
Once aboard the cargo-wagon, she dropped onto the wooden floor, her big backpack holding her body upright while taking deep breaths as she tried to come down from her sprint. Before the accident, it would've been no problem for the young girl to perform such a short sprint, but after breaking one leg and one arm, it had taken her months to heal properly and even more time to regain the lost strength and stamina.
"Lil' advice…" it suddenly chimed from behind, startling the young teenager. With a loud gasp she spun around and saw a girl, standing between a few wooden crates. "...hop on the train right before it's about to leave the depot, 'cause by then, nobody's watchin' it anymore and it's still slow enough to easily board it."
Entirely befuddled, Rachel just stared at the unknown passenger, not knowing what to say, which caused the other girl to chuckle in amusement. She seemed to be around her age, maybe a bit younger, but she had a broader stature and wore mainly rundown clothes, consisting of some jeans-shorts and plain t-shirt. Her haircut was something extraordinary: her sides were cut very short, while she had kept the middle part a bit longer, ending in a bunch of dreadlocks, and on top of that, it was entirely dyed purple.
"Good gosh, don't be so shocked, Newby. We all started green. Now, c'mon into my crip, lunch's almost ready!"
While the other girl vanished behind the crates, Rachel needed another few moments to shake off her first surprise. Eventually, she got up with a groan and followed. Behind this stack of crates was what seemed to be the girl's living space. A sleeping bag, an old trekking bag, a few books, a guitar and a running camping cooker with a pot on it.
"C'mon, sit! I won't bite!" she urged while stirring the steaming meal with a spoon, once more giving her an inviting smile.
Nodding in appreciation, Rachel unshouldered her backpack and replied "Uh, thanks!"
"Hope you like some instant noodles. Got a mug or somethin'?"
"Uh, no. I, um…" said the blonde timidly, now realizing that she hadn't planned that far to bring some dishes. But again, the other girl just chuckled and shook her head.
"Fuck, this must be your first trip. Just wait a sec, think I got my mug and a spoon here somewhere." With wide open eyes, Rachel witnessed how the young girl rummaged through her backpack, throwing some of its content wildly on the floor. Underwear, a bunch of other clothes, books and an old MP3-stick. Everything rundown like its owner.
"Ah, here we go!" she finally cheered, bringing forth the dishes and then filling them with hot noodles, reaching the mug to Rachel, saying "Bon appetite!"
Once again, Rachel didn't know what to answer. She just got invited to lunch by a strange girl without any reason, besides that they had the same idea to board this wagon, though the girl seemed to be way more experienced than she was.
"The name's Lucy, by the way," she said between two bites, reaching Rachel a hand.
"Rachel," the blonde returned, shaking it. Both then ate in silence, only the sound of the rails chiming through the freight car.
Lucy was the first one to finish, signing it with a loud belch. She then got up and took a look over the crates before she said "Okay, looks like the air is clear. You can join me when you're finished."
Giving Rachel another friendly smile, the younger girl walked past the crates. Being not that hungry anymore, she put the still half-full mug aside and followed Lucy, finding her sitting at the entrance, her legs hanging over the ledge as she was smoking a cigarette, watching the landscape passing by. Not knowing what else to do, she joined her by sitting down beside her. Suddenly, she got the cigarette right in front of her face, which took her aback and let her gaze quizzically at the other girl.
"Want a hit?" she asked nonchalantly, causing Rachel to let her sight wander between the cigarette and Lucy multiple times before finally putting the pieces together.
"I-is that weed?" was her surprised question that got answered with a short "Yup!"
Rachel watched the blunt in front of her for some time, inhaled the strange smell and asked herself, if she should try it. Many students her age at Blackwell were already smoking pot on a regular basis, yet she always refused it, because of her mother's past. But right now she remembered how some people had told her how relaxing it was and that it could help against psychological issues, like anxieties. Would this be the answer to her problems? The kick that she needed to endure all those horrible events? To forget her guilt for just a short moment?
Eventually, she reached for it, guided the smoking joint towards her lips and took a deep inhale, hoping to find the promised relaxation. But instead of getting high, she only felt the need to cough her lungs out. Luckily, Lucy was with her, petting her back until the blonde had calmed down enough.
"This always happens the first time," she said, taking over the blunt and another draft. "You'll get used to it over time."
Rachel could be stubborn, very stubborn to be exact, and not getting what she had wished mostly drove her mad. She wanted to be high, but all she had gotten was a slightly sore throat. So, in frustration she reached for the blunt again and inhaled once more, causing her to cough once more, but it wasn't as heavy as before. So, she took another draft and another until she was feeling the desired effects. It was like her mind was floating in a big ocean, entirely free and without any boundaries. Having found this inner peace now, Rachel laid down on her back and closed her eyes, finally feeling completely relaxed.
Hours passed, the landscape changed and eventually, day turned into night.
Rachel and Lucy were sitting at the door again, watching the night sky, side by side. An almost romantic moment. A moment Rachel would've loved to share with Max. But Max wasn't here, which frustrated her again and literally forced her to take another deep inhale from the second joint both girls were smoking, just to kill the emotional pain. Once more the young teenage girl entered the realm of calm and relaxation.
"I love stars," started Rachel a conversation, reaching her new friend the joint as she enjoyed the rush. "All those million sparkling dots; so small and so far away. You believe in fate?"
With a loud scoff, Lucy took the burning blunt and smoked. "I dunno. Was too busy with my shit-pile of life than thinking about fate. Do you believe in it?"
"Hmm…" hummed the blonde in confirmation, smoking again. "I believe that stars and fate are bonded together. If you can read the stars, you can find out your fate."
"You mean like horoscopes 'n' shit?"
"Yeah. I think that our destiny is written all up there. We just have to grab it and then…"
Frowning at Rachel, who had just stretched one arm out, trying to catch some stars, Lucy sat up and joked "Good gosh, Rach, you're fuckin' high like the Empire State Building. No pot for you anymore tonight!"
Rachel didn't know why, but she suddenly had the need to giggle upon this comment, which grew with every second into a full, uncontrollable laughter and eventually changed into quiet, yet intense sobs as all those negative memories and the guilt flooded back into the blonde's mind. Lucy knew those effects, had witnessed them often enough, and all she could do was to sooth her friend by pulling her close and giving her soft strokes over her head.
"I miss him so much," whimpered the sixteen-years-old, cuddling even closer to the purple-haired hobo-girl. "I never wanted this. I just wanted to get away. To leave this shit behind."
"Yeah," replied Lucy with a slight scoff. "Sometimes, getting the fuck away is the only solution. I bailed home just a few months ago after my meth-addicted father and dumbass brother had beaten up my boyfriend…just because he was black. And mom…she just did squat, like always. Fuck family!"
"I actually miss my mom…and Max." Now having calmed down enough, Rachel sat up again and wiped her arm over her tear-smeared face. "That's why I'm here. I wanna get to 'em. I wanna get home."
"And I thought you rich kids travel by plane or even with your own cars. But like a hobo...that's new to me."
Rachel heard the snarky undertone, because it was actually hard to miss. Lucy made no effort to hide what she was thinking of the upper class of society. But should she be mad about this? Rundown clothes, a ripped backpack, old books, even the other girl's entire style told everyone right away that she didn't originate from a wealthy household, more the contrary was the case. And it was no surprise that the lower class of society would always ogle the upper class with suspicion and vice versa. The problem was, however, that Rachel - despite her modern and expensive clothes and equipment - never saw herself belonging to the upper class. She never wanted to, even back when she had been living with her father.
"To be honest," she eventually answered, her gaze once more fixed at the far away stars. "I'm actually not allowed to visit my mom and my boyfriend. My dad... He's the DA in Long Beach and a total asshole. He knows people. Is connected to the police. Planes, trains 'n' stuff are easy to track. He would find me and drag me back in no time, before I'd be even able to reach Arcadia Bay. So, I remembered a book 'bout people who travel the country like this and now I'm here."
"And?" the hobo-girl then returned, taking one last draft from the joint before throwing the rest out of the open door. "Is it as romantic as they describe it in those freakin' books?"
"I dunno," was Rachel's answer as she was pondering about it. "It's...different. Not like I imagined it." And then she looked intensively at Lucy. "Though the company's already pretty cool. Never thought I'd meet someone as awesome as you."
"Shit!" giggled the purple-haired girl back, averting her sight from the blonde's as a faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "You better stop kissin' my ass or you'd have to invite me for a date and then fuck me senseless."
Once again the wagon was filled with joyful laughter which lasted several minutes, until both got serious again. This time it was Lucy who started a new conversation.
"I wouldn't mind though, y'know. You 'n' me, under the stars. Havin' some fun. No strings attached."
Now realizing what her friend had dreamily yet seriously suggested, Rachel's head turned beet-red, and she was just glad that the present obscurity hid most of it.
"I...I dunno. I, uh...I've never done it with another girl, and, um...I-I actually have a boyfriend, and…"
"If you made a decision, you know where to find me. I'm gonna hit the sack now. G'night!"
Befuddled, Rachel watched how Lucy had just aborted their conversation and vanished behind the crates, probably cuddling into her sleeping bag.
Did she really mean it? Had she just seriously suggested to have sex? Yes, Rachel sometimes felt attracted to certain women and had more than once tried to imagine a sexual situation with the same sex, but was this real or just some adolescent hormones, going rampage? Was this the chance to find out what her groove was?
The young teenage girl kept on pondering for some more moments, until she decided to don't follow Lucy. On the contrary, she stayed at the door, her sight fixed on the night's sky as her mind was filled with a bunch of memories that she'd have loved to forget at the moment. She began to think about her mom, wondering how she would react upon her sudden and entirely surprising arrival, and she thought about Max. Would he wake up as soon as he heard her voice? Would she be able to guide him back to life? Or would her appearance just make anything worse?
She actually didn't know and felt lost again. Her future and therefore her fate was unclear to her, like by clouds covered stars. And though nonetheless she felt desperate and alone, looked at the sky once more and whispered to the stars: "Max, please wake up! I need you."