Last Train to London

Coralynn Matthews waited anxiously on the platform. She hated trains. She hated train stations. She hated the hideously confusing timetables. She hated the crowds and the smell and the noise.

She heard the sound of the train pulling into the station and gripped her trolley even harder in her white-knuckled hands.

The people around her started surging forward and she was propelled along with them. She let it happen.

An older man wearing the navy blue uniform of the train staff came up to her.

"I can take your trolley, miss," he said. Coralynn bit her lip, then glanced at the door to the train. The trolley definitely wouldn't fit through it.

"Right, thanks so much," she said nervously, and gave the man her trolley. He wheeled it off to the baggage car.

"Get in the bloody train, girl, you're holdin' up the line, you are!" someone shouted. She winced and ducked through the door.

Inside the train was a bit better. It was quieter and less crowded, with everyone in their seats. And it smelled nicer.

Coralynn hurried down the aisle to an empty seat and sat down, hugging her bag to her chest. She checked her mobile and sighed. Naturally the train would be running late. Her mobile buzzed.

- C, where r u? R u on ur way? U cant b late 4 ur auditon! It was a text from her dad, who lived in London.

- Dad, I know. The train's just leaving. I'll be there in like 4 hours. My audition's tomorrow, anyways.

- Call me as soon as u get into King's Cross, savvy?

- Dad, no one says savvy anymore. But ok.

She shut her mobile and leaned her head back on the seat. She closed her eyes and waited for the train to begin moving.

A few minutes later, just as the train pulled out of the station, Coralynn felt someone sit down in the seat across from her. She opened her eyes and stared at the someone. It was a boy, about her age or possibly a bit older. He had short black hair and glasses, and he was tall and very thin. She smiled awkwardly at the boy. She had ridden trains before, and sitting by strangers was always a bit uncomfortable. But it had to be done.

"Sorry," the boy stammered. "It's just there's not anywhere else. Er, I mean, everywhere else is full. Sorry. I should've asked but you looked like you were sleeping. Sorry." He looked extremely uncomfortable, even more uncomfortable than she felt. He fidgeted nervously with the zip of his green mackintosh.

"No, it's alright," Coralynn told him. "I'm Coralynn."

"Erm, I'm Kiernan. Nice to meet you, er, Coralynn."

"Nice to meet you, as well."

They looked at each other. Coralynn smiled at him, then unzipped her bag and pulled out a book.

"Er, what are you reading? If you don't mind me asking?" Kiernan asked.

"No, it's alright. It's a ballet book. It's all about the Royal Ballet School. I've got an audition there tomorrow," she told him. His eyes got wide.

"An audition? Wow, that's brilliant!" he said. Coralynn smiled and nodded.

"Yeah. It's all I've ever wanted, really. I've been dancing in Edinburgh since I was three, at the Edinburgh Dance Academy. It's all I do. It drives my mum mad. She loves it too, but it drives her mad. I'm constantly dancing. In my school in Edinburgh, my teachers were always cross at me because I would pirouette down the corridors and all that sort of thing. " Kiernan, who looked much more comfortable than he had just a few minutes before, laughed. Coralynn blushed.

"So that's why you're going to London. You got run out of town by your teachers. You probably knocked down the people at school with your flailing ballerina legs!" Kiernan teased. She burst into laughter.

"Right, Kiernan, firstly, ballerinas do not flail. I do not flail. And I did not get chased out of town by my teachers! Are you mad?" she snickered.

"A bit, yes," he told her. They smiled at each other.

"So why are you going to London?" Coralynn inquired.

"Wedding," Kiernan sighed. He stuck his tongue out in disgust. "My mum's. My parents are split up. I live with my dad and my stepmum in Edinburgh."

"That's so weird, I live with my mum in Edinburgh and my dad lives in London," Coralynn told him. He shrugged.

"That is a bit weird."

They talked for another hour or so without stopping. There was none of the awkwardness that had stained the first few minutes of their conversation. Coralynn told Kiernan all about dancing, and he told her about the youth engineering programme that he did back home. They complained about school, and chores, and compared the contents of their iPods. Then Kiernan apologetically said he had to read a book for school.

"Summer assignment. It's so stupid. I hate Dickens," he grumbled.

"I love Dickens!" Coralynn said indignantly. Kiernan rolled his eyes.

"Right. Well, you read your ballet book and I'll read my boring one for an hour, and then we can talk more, alright?" Coralynn nodded. Kiernan dug out a thick paperback book and opened it with a resigned look on his face. They both read quietly for a while. Coralynn finished her chapter, then glanced up at Kiernan. Her heart skipped a beat. How had she not noticed it before?