Down World by Rebecca Phelps (beach read TXT) 📗

“Yes,” I said, but then I remembered about my phone. “I have to leave my phone off. But I’ll text you from Brady’s phone when we know something.”

I started to walk away, following Brady onto the train, but then stopped and ran back to Kieren at the last minute. I threw myself into his arms for one last hug. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I whispered to him.

He held me for a moment, like he had done in his rec room.

“Promise me.”

“I promise,” he whispered back. His hand swept a piece of hair off my cheek, and I had time for one more look into his deeply sad eyes before running to meet Brady on the train. We made it on just in time, with the doors closing right behind us.

Brady and I took our seats, and I stared out the large picture windows, at Kieren standing alone on the platform. And as the train pulled out of the station, and his figure grew smaller and smaller, I was struck by the crazy cycles of life.

I had become the girl on the train.

Brady was polite but withdrawn the whole ride. I stared transfixed out the window, watching as we wound through forests I had never seen, towns I didn’t know existed, and miles and miles of the nothingness that lay between them. Every now and then, when I saw something completely new, I would tug on his sleeve to get his attention. And he would look for a moment and smile at me, before turning back to his phone or a book he was reading.

Up and down the train, I saw only children and myself staring out the windows. The adults were busy, like Brady. And I realized that maybe in some ways I was still one of the children, and Brady had already crossed over to the other side of whatever it was that happened when you no longer stared out windows, wondering who was out there.

For lunch, I pulled out a couple of granola bars, and Brady shared some PB&J sandwiches he had thought to pack. That was it for the food. I had wanted to bring a bunch of canned soup and stuff, but couldn’t figure out how to get it into my suitcase without my father noticing.

By the time the train pulled into the station, I guessed it was about 10 p.m. I was hungry again and very tired. Brady offered to carry my suitcase for me, but I refused. I had to show him that I wasn’t completely incompetent.

He used his phone to guide us to the hostel, which was thankfully only a few blocks away. Again, I stood back from the counter while he explained to the teenage boy who worked there that I was his kid sister, and he had reserved us two beds. I started to get goosebumps when he said it. I had never stayed in a hostel before and didn’t really understand if the beds were going to be in the same room or not. But as it turned out, this hostel was more like a military barrack. Each large room had four bunk beds in it, and boys and girls stayed in different wings, with a common room full of computers and vending machines between them.

We stopped briefly in the common room so I could email my dad from the private account Christy had set up and tell him that I had gotten to camp fine and was sleeping on the top of a bunk bed shared with another nice girl. I then emailed Christy to tell her we were okay.

Brady and I got a couple of Cup Noodles out of the vending machine and stood silently while they heated in the microwave. When we sat down to eat, I guess he could tell I was nervous. I really had no idea where I was, and no real clear plan for the next day. We had some vague directions of where to find the Mystics, but we didn’t even know what they looked like. I should have been panicking, but I think I was too tired.

“You okay?” Brady asked, watching me stare at my noodles.

“What if we don’t find them?”

“We will,” he answered a little too quickly, as though he had already been asking himself the same question.

“And what if they can’t help?”

He nodded and ate his noodles. “Then we’ll think of something else.”

When we split up to go to our own wings and find our beds, I felt like I was being pulled apart from my conjoined twin. I realized that the only reason I had been keeping it together was because Brady had been next to me. And now I would be completely alone for the rest of the night.

Well, not completely.

I walked into the room and nodded at the half dozen other girls already in there. Only one nodded back, and then looked back at her phone. All but two of them were doing the same thing, and those two seemed to be engaged in a very private conversation. I ducked into the bathroom to brush my teeth, and then climbed up onto the top of the one bed that didn’t seem to be taken. The light was still on, and the girls were still talking, but I didn’t care. I was grateful that a wave of exhaustion was taking over me, wiping my mind clear of the million thoughts and fears that had been plaguing me. My last thought was that I had forgotten to text Kieren. I opened my eyes momentarily, but then shut them again. I fell into a deep sleep, and dreamed I was standing alone in a cold and empty field.

When my eyes opened in the morning, it took me a full second to remember where I was, and I almost rolled right out of the bunk. I climbed down, a harsh early-morning light coming through the windows, and tried not to wake the other girls as I