Maybe it was fate. Or maybe just a weird coincidence. Whatever it was, he knew he would never be the same when the strange girl sat down next to him. The sickly-green tiles of the walls reflected the dim lights in the ceiling, and unreadable graffiti glared at them from the walls. She was panting as she sat down, as if she’d run from somewhere. Finn gave her a sideways glance but said nothing. She wore a black cocktail dress with six-inch heels,and thick eyeliner rimmed her eyes. Her blonde hair hung halfway down her back in waves. He supposed he looked drab sitting next to her,in his faded leather jacket, graphic t-shirt, and jeans.
The second thing he noticed was her shivering. It was twenty degrees out there . What was she doing without a sweater or something? He shrugged off his jacket and extended it to her.
She met his eyes. She looked at the jacket for a full five seconds, then shook her head.
“No, thanks,” she said, her voicelike velvet. “I’m good.”
“You sure?” Finn asked.
She nodded.
“Oh. Okay.” He turned back to the tracks , still holding his jacket in his hands. After a moment of silence, she cleared her throat and said,
“Nikki.”
“Hm?”
“I’m Nikki,” she said.
“Oh.” He sat straighter against the wall. “Finn.”
She smiled. “So where you from, Finn?”
He blinked. “Sorry?”
“Where are you from?”
He shifted. “Oh. Um, nowhere really. Doesn’t matter, does it?”
She nodded as if she understood, though her eyes said she didn’t. She crossed her legs and said, “Just came here from Dallas, actually. Pretty long way, huh? My mom thinks I’m crazy for coming up here. A good Southern girl like me wouldn’t last long in the cold, she said.”
Finn shrugged. He wondered the same thing. What was she doing all the way up here? He shifted and looked away from her gaze. There was something piercing about her eyes that made him shiver.
“I’m sorry, am I bothering you?”
The question made him look back up. “Oh, no.” He shook his head. “Not at all.”
She smiled again, then turned to the tracks and leaned back against the wall.
“Do you talk to strangers often?”
She blinked and pursed her lips. “No, I suppose not. But I like you.”
His heart skipped a beat, and he felt his face flush. Who the hell was this girl, anyway? Who just said shit like that? He shivered.
His next words surprised him. “You were at Mack’s, weren’t you? I uh, saw you at the bar. Not to be creepy.” What was he doing? Why was he still talking to her?
“Yeah, that was me.” She straightened. “I saw you too. I’m not creepy either, I swear.” She chuckled. “But you were the only one drinking alone.”
He nodded. That was true. Drinking with other people was too distracting. “What happened to your friends?”
She looked away. “They,um, left.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, how long have we been here?” she asked. “Isn’t the train coming soon?”
He looked at his watch. “Um, like three minutes? Almost four now.”
“Seriously? Feels longer.”
He smirked. “Yeah.”
“Hey…” She turned towards him. “Have we met? Sorry, I just thought…”
“No, I get it. I guess you’re a little…”
“Familiar?” She finished for him. He nodded. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Her nails were painted cerulean blue. She nibbled on a nail and asked, “So where’s your stop?”
“Clinton. You?”
“Same.”
She was lying, but he didn’t say anything.
“Hey…would it be too late to ask for that jacket?”
He smiled wide. “Nah. Take it.” He handed it over, and she slipped it on. It looked good on her.
“Sorry, it’s just super cold.”
“No, you’re right. It is cold. Nikki.”
Her name felt like cinnamon sugar on his tongue.