The love of your life.

With your suitcase in hand, you head to the station. When you arrive you walk through and almost stop to marvel at all of the paintings on the walls of old rock and roll bands and blues singers from the 1950's. However, you remember you can't miss the train. "Train 47 leaving from Chicago to Washington D.C is boarding." You almost run towards your train. Luckily you make it there in time and you hand the conductor your ticket, walk up the steps, and look for your seat. You're seated next to a woman with a cute curly thick-haired child. You ask her if you can have the window seat and she politely obliges. You take a seat and check your watch, anxiously waiting for the train to leave the station. You try to call her but she doesn't answer, once again. In your mind you think, I wonder why she hasn't been answering my calls or returning my messages. "Are you heading home to visit family for the holidays?" the woman next to you asks. "Something like that." you respond. You turn towards the window so the woman with the kid won't talk to you anymore. You try to focus on what it will be like to see her and what she will think of you. You wonder if she cut her hair like she always said she would. You begin to doze off thinking about what she's doing at this very moment.

You exit the train and catch a cab. You tell the man driving to take you to 8987 Sussex avenue on 29th street. "Wait! Stop!" you say as the cab passes a grocery store. You hop out of the car, run into the store, and pick up some red tulips. These were always her favorite you think. As you pay for the tulips you can't stop smiling. "Why you so happy?" The older woman behind the register asks. "You in love." she smiles. "Ain't you?" she asks. "You look up at her with the cash in your hand and your smile stretches wider than it ever has before. Your not sure if you have ever said you loved her out loud before. "I am." you say as you glance down at your hands and back up towards the older woman. She smiles then says "Make sure you tell her that." and winks. You walk out of the store, hop back in the cab, and head to her house. You were surprised you remembered her address, but since you used to go there almost everyday after school you realize it shouldn't be much of a surprise. The voice of your mother saying "Old habits die hard." echoes in your brain. The car pulls up and you hand the cab driver some cash and walk towards the front door. You exhale to calm your nerves and knock on the door. Suddenly something pulls you backwards by your hair and you fall. You wake up on the train to the child next to you tugging at your hair and his mother trying to pull his hands off of you. "I'm so sorry. He can be really rough sometimes." the mother says in a soft tone. "I see that." you say slightly irritated that your dream was ruined and you know you won't be able to dream those events again. You see the woman whisper to her son while her eyes stay on you. "Mister, I'm sorry." the kid says while looking down at his hands. You sigh and give a half smile as you say "It's alright." "Mister, what do you do?" the child asks. You reply "I'm a science teacher at a high school in Chicago." The child sighs and says " I meant for fun, but if you like science then what is the name of our galaxy?" the kid asks with a raised eyebrow, almost betting you don't know the answer. "I like to read, write and take walks in the park. Also we live in the Milky Way galaxy." you say trying not to sound like a know-it-all. "Ok, that one was too easy, how many planets are in our solar system? The kid asks with the same raised eyebrow he had when he asked you the first question. "We have 8, since Pluto is a dwarf planet." The kid stares at you, somewhat amazed. "Ok, maybe you are a real science teacher. When I come back I will have to quiz you harder." the boy narrows his eyes and then gasps and says "I know! I will ask you about the stars when I come back from the bathroom." He looks at his mom and whispers in her ear, then they both get up and walk towards the back of the train. You turn towards the window and start thinking. An image pops in your head of you and her under the stars one night. You try to make the image as clear as possible but the memory is a little foggy. "I think I should cut my hair." she says turning her head so now her cheek is pressed up against the hood of the car. "You will look good to me no matter what." you reply. "Even if I was bald?" she says with a chuckle. "Of course, especially if you were bald, it would show off your pretty eyes." you turn to face her so now your face is pressed up against the hood of the car whilst your legs slightly dangle off the car. You can feel the heat from the headlights on your bare feet. "I love you, you know that." she says. You glance at her, totally surprised by what your hearing "What?" you say. "You don't need to say it back. Please don't say it back unless you are a hundred percent sure you mean it." she says. You look back up at the stars and say "How can you be sure you mean it?" you ask. "I can tell by the way you make me feel." Your body shakes with the vibrations from the mother and son seated next to you, plopping down in their seats. "Are you okay?" the mother asks "You look as if you were deep in thought." "I'm fine." In your mind you think, the next time I see her I will let her know I love her and that I mean it. "So, Mr. Science teacher, how many stars are visible from Earth?" the kid asks. "Maybe you should stop asking the man so many questions honey, he probably wants to just sit and think or be alone with his own thoughts ok?" the mother says this and frames it as a question but it somewhat sounds like a command. "But mommy I'm bored." the boy wines. "I promise we are almost there, want to take a nap?" the mother says and again she says it like a question but it sounds like a command. You look back to the window, an image of her front door flashes in your mind. "Ladies first." you say. She walks in front of you through the door. Her mom greets you and asks to take your coat but it sounds more like a command then a question. You follow them to the kitchen and pull out chairs for both of them. Her mother sits across from her, next to her father. "So Julia how is school going, I saw that you finally bumped up your C in chemistry?" her father says. "Yes sir, I am starting to love school and chemistry...among other things." Her mother smiles with her teeth and her eyes. "Do I hear wedding bells?" Julia's mother says, her father looks at his wife as if there is a bad taste in his mouth although he hasn't put anything in his mouth yet. Julia nudges you under the table. She continues to nudge you harder and harder until you wake up. You are back on the train. The woman next to you has been pushing your shoulder gently to wake you up. When your eyes meet she smiles at you and says "We're here." She picks up her son and grabs her baggage. They walk down the aisle toward the exit door on the train. You wipe your eyes and yawn. You stand up, stretch, and grab your suitcase. You walk off the train and wave goodbye to the little boy who is looking back at you exiting the train. You walk through the station, closing up your long jacket so as to stop the night air from nipping at your neck. You see a flower stand near the exit of the train station You buy some red tulips and walk out of the station. You hail a cab and tell the driver to go to 8987 Sussex avenue on 29th street. You bounce your left leg up and down anxiously in the backseat. You stare out the window at all of the bright lights on the buildings you are passing. You can't help but smile, she's so close you think.. almost aloud. Before you know it the driver pulls in front of her house. "Just like I remembered" you mumble. You pay the driver and walk up the three little steps you forgot lead to the porch. You knock on the door. A nervous bead of sweat drips down your forehead. You sniff the area near the armpit of your jacket to make sure she won't smell anything foul when you hug. While you adjust your jacket you hear someone coming down the stairs of the home. This is it you think. A red headed woman answers the door with two children on her hip. She's more beautiful than you remember. "Hi, um who are you?" she asks. "You.. you don't remember me?" You say completely bewildered. "Am I supposed to?" she asks. As soon as she finished her question, a large man walks up behind her swaddling a baby. "What do you need sir?" the man asks. After shooting the man a look, you ignore his question and look back at the woman in front of you. "Julia.. how could you not remember me... you told me you would always love me." You say still perplexed and slightly saddened at the sight of this new life she has. A tear streams down the woman's face. The man behind her stares at her with sad eyes and then glances at you with pure anger in his heart. "What kind of sick joke is this!" the man shouts. "Everyone in town knows her sister is dead!" " You mumble the words "dead" and "sister?" under your breath but it doesn't seem like the words were able to escape your lips. "No, babe it's fine, he's um.. he's from out of town." the woman says to the man, whilst almost choking on her own words. With puddled eyes she glances up at you, which causes you to shed a tear, and says "Your the love of her life aren't you. My sister, Julia, always talked about you. Your name was the last one to leave her lips on her deathbed.