Train

“I have a present for you,” I said to Eric, sitting down on the edge of the bed on Boxing Day morning. He sat up, rubbing his eyes. The covers fell down off his shoulders to his waist, revealing an unclothed chest and very nice abs. “You’re wearing pants under there, right?”

He stared at me for a minute and laughed. “Yes, I’m wearing pants,” he assured me, leaning back on his elbows. “What time is it?”

“Six.”

“Are you nuts? Why are we up so early?” he asked, shaking his head.

“Because if it wasn’t me waking you, it would be the twins,” I replied, thrusting the envelope at him. He looked confused. “Open it,” I laughed.

He pushed himself back up again and slid his finger under the opening, tearing apart the two layers of paper. When he had it open, his eyes widened as he pulled out the money my family had stuffed in there the night before. When I had told them that Eric’s family lived in California and he didn’t have enough to take a plane there to see them on Christmas, they immediately pulled out their wallets and purses and started digging through it to see what they could donate. And we had come up with just over one thousand while he slept just upstairs with not a clue in the world.

“What the—” he began, stuttering over his words. “How did you—I mean, why would you—”

“When I told my parents that you were stuck in a country where you really have no one to stay with, they got all sympathetic and emotional. And they wanted to help out so this is from all of us,” I said. “You can go back to California and back with this. It’ll take you anywhere. Even if you don’t want to go see your family or you want to visit any relatives in Canada or just somewhere closer, then you can.”

“Shay—”

“Don’t even think about giving that back to me,” I laughed, putting my hands out and shaking my head. “It’s yours for the spending. We just don’t want to see you spend your Christmas vacation alone.”



Eric had a small bag packed together to take on the plane, but he hadn’t told us where he was going. I knew he was adventurous, so he could have been going to Egypt for all I knew but I had an idea that he was going to California to see his family. If he could make it there for New Years Eve, I was going to count him lucky. The airplane apparently had limited seating on whatever flight he was taking but he had managed to squeeze himself on one, but on the thirtieth of December at two in the afternoon, he was waiting anxiously at the door, rubbing his hands together. I had found him there when I came down the stairs to say goodbye, and laughed lightly.

“Excited to travel?” I asked.

“Absolutely,” he grinned, taking my hands. “Tell your parents thank you for me?”

“I will,” I promised. I knew Eric would have, had they not been stuck at work for the day but since they were, he had left them a “Thank You and Happy New Year” card on the kitchen table. And yet he still wanted the reassurance that they would get the thankfulness they deserved even though the card really wasn’t going anywhere. A taxi horn honked from outside and Eric took a deep breath and opened the door, glancing outside and giving the driver a wave to let him know he was coming.

Then he turned and kissed me long and hard, causing the antsy butterflies to fly around inside of my stomach. I laughed, and gave him a pat on the chest. “Don’t be a stranger, okay?” I said, turning him around to face the bitterly cold day waiting for him just past the doorway. “Come visit anytime, and I’ll see you when we get back from Christmas break.”

“See you in the new year,” he said with a wink, walking to the taxi.

“Hey Eric,” I called to him and he looked at me over his shoulder. “Where are you headed?”

Then he smiled, and said, “Home.”