𝐌𝐄𝐍𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄 | 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬

🌹 Waiting By The Railway

Author's Note: This story was created from the merge of two drafts - one dated "April 14, 2011" and the other "February 20, 2014". There were bits and pieces of childhood movies + TV series I grew up on - Motocrossed, Boy Meets World, Hugo - that served as inspiration. It still seems a bit unfinished so I could always come back and write more but we'll see. It's short but I hope you enjoy it anyway <3

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My long ginger tresses cascaded down my back in waves, twisting this way and that as I turned my head impatiently. Surely, the train would be here soon. How could it be running late? Or was I just running late and possibly had missed it altogether? Glancing down at my watch in a panic, I could see I was indeed on time. Thank goodness.

"Andy, quit worrying. It'll turn out alright. It's gonna be good, you'll see," my best friend, Rowan, reassured me.

Strands of dirty blond hair fell across his forehead, slightly obscuring his jade-green gaze as he leaned back in his seat on the bench along the wall. Which incidentally is probably where I should have been instead of pacing the length of the train station like a lunatic.

Riley, who sat on the other side of his twin brother, rolled his eyes at this statement, the tiny mole at the corner of his mouth - the only thing that set the two apart - twitching with the tug of a smirk, "Don't lie to the girl. We don't actually know that for a fact. He could be another Michael Myers for all we know,"

My hair whipped across my shoulders as I snapped my head in his direction, "Would you just shut up? Stop being so pessimistic, Riles. This is a good thing...I think,"

"You think? But you don't know. Which is why you should approach this with caution. He may be blood but he's still a stranger. It's all I'm saying," he said, holding his hands up briefly in a "don't-shoot" gesture.

Rowan made a face, clearly disagreeing with his brother's negative attitude but nevertheless concurred, "I hate to say he's right, Andy. But we don't know for a fact that he's a good person. I know you want him to be and for your sake, I hope he is. But you do need to tread carefully with this situation. Don't put all of your trust in him just yet. Not until he earns it,"

"But he's my brother!" I said, feeling a surge of anger at the unsaid accusations that lingered between us just as the massive clock on the wall behind me struck 12.

It was true that I didn't truly know him. In fact, I had only learned of his existence a couple of months ago when my mother finally broke down and told me. I never knew she had given up a baby for adoption. But apparently, the stress and fear of becoming a single teen mom was too much for her. It didn't help that her parents disapproved of her young age and subsequently pushed her into the decision. Not long after, she was pushed into yet another bad decision - a marriage to a much older man at her parents' behest. There she found unhappiness - apart from the joy of my birth, of course - and several years later, they divorced.

Dad was always a bit estranged so once they busted up, he split and I haven't seen him since. It's always just been me and mom as long as I could remember. But now...now I have a brother out there somewhere. And thankfully, I had been able to get in contact with him. I was supposed to meet him in Chicago for the holiday season and I was beyond excited. However, he had had some incidents with the law, so it seems, which is why my best friends decided to accompany me for "safety reasons".

"Half-brother," Riley corrected, pointing a finger at me.

"He's still my family." I shot back, eyebrows arched in defiance.

Riley just shrugged in response, sharing a look with his twin as finally, the train pulled into the station. Despite the tension in the air, I could feel my chest swell with excitement. This was it. I was finally going to meet my long-lost brother. Suddenly, I wondered what he would be like - would we have both inherited the same fiery red hair from our mother? Would he be protective and bossy as older brothers in fictional books and movies seemed to be? But most of all, would he like me?

As the conductor herded the three of us into the train and the doors slid shut, fluffy white snowflakes began to sprinkle down from the bright blue sky. This would be a new beginning, a new day. Everything I had ever known was about to change in a profound way. And I couldn't be more excited for it.

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