By now, the resonating chime of the closing doors had ceased, and as they shut, the train began to move.The boy flashed another charismatic grin and aimed it in the direction of the girl. “Denmark Hill is the next stop; we could be in Camberwell within five minutes.” His voice quivered slightly on the last few syllables of his sentence, and his usual air of confidence briefly faded. He then leaned towards the girl and stared at her. “Don’t you think I should have a say in this?” The boy’s open palm found its way to his girlfriend’s warm thigh. Her only sign of acknowledgement of the boy’s touch was to turn slightly to the left and gaze out of the window at the blurred scenery. The girl’s already flushed cheeks turned an even darker shade of red as a strange, alien sensation came crashing over her. A single, undesired, glistening tear gathered at the corner of her eye. “No,” she answered. A more forceful enunciation had been hoped for but that small quiet syllable was all she could muster. “No, this has nothing to do with you.” The boy’s hand recoiled, excluded and hurt, the half burnt-down cigarette balanced delicately in between his middle- and fore- fingers.The girl’s knees clamped together, defiantly opposing the swelling tear forming at the corner of her eye. The oncoming station was announced proudly to the passengers, but the controller’s voice fell on deaf ears as, by now, the girl had become so absorbed in the uneaten apple in her hands and the gentle rocking of the carriage that hardly anything could distract her from the motion. By then, the chiming of the doors had resumed, this time signalling their opening. The boy fell to the sodden floor of the
37 17
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs