Perfect Strangers (Language, Violence and Big-Kid Stuff)

[[Desolate Divine]]

Chapter 4
After an hour of sitting on the couch, flicking through channels, and finding myself bored out of my mind, I finally snapped. I went to my room and got changed into something I could bear to be seen in public in, before opening up my laptop and googling what public transport was like around here. Sure enough, I was able to find a bus to Greensborough, and from there, a train into the city. With or without a guide, I wanted to learn more.

I grabbed my bag and my phone, before making my way out the front door, following the directions to the nearest bus stop.

Had I not know exactly where to look, I may have missed it. Whilst I was expecting to see a full on shelter and seats, instead it was just a pole with a small sign with the route number. I was thankful it wasn’t raining.

Roughly ten minutes later, the bus arrived. I waved an arm to flag it down, and after it stopped and lowered, I climbed on, approaching the driver with a ten dollar note.

“Hey, I’d like a ticket to Greensborough please?” I asked.

“Sorry, you can’t buy tickets on the bus?” The driver replied.

I felt my stomach sink. My first time trying to be independent since being home, and I barely made it past the end of my street

“Really? How am I supposed to get a ticket then?” I asked.

“Train stations and certain stores sell cards that you load up with money there, and scan on that machine.” the bus driver explained, gesturing to the green box on the pole by the door, “You must be new around here?”

“You could say that…” I muttered.

“Look, I’ll let you ride for free, just make sure you get a card as soon as possible.” The driver said, “The fines are pretty unreasonable for getting caught without one.”

So my adventure for the day wasn’t ruined. But the journey wasn’t over yet. I still had to get one of these cards, and make my way into the city.

I thanked the driver, then took a seat about halfway up the bus, near the middle door, before pulling out some earphones and plugging them into my still freshly-restored phone. In the days after coming back home, I went through my CD collection and ripped a few of the albums that appealed to me into digital format and put them on my phone. Even when I was spending time on the bus, I still had a whole life to figure out.

I opened the music app, and swiped down to an album with an interesting cover, finding one by a band called ‘State Champs’.

Around The World And Back

I tapped on the first track, and instantly, I heard loud, aggressive guitars and punchy drums. And surprisingly, I really liked it.

From then on, I zoned out somewhat, keeping an eye on the display at the front that showed the next stop, for the next fifteen minutes.

I wasn’t sure why I wanted to go to the city. I guess that it is far enough away and that little bit out of reach to make it an accomplishment. Whilst I do appreciate people helping me, I am not helpless. I can make my own way, even if Tom thinks he and everyone else needs to protect me.

I glanced up at the display and noticed it change to Greensborough Railway Station. I pressed the button on the wall next to me, signalling the driver to stop. After a few minutes the bus stopped and I stepped out onto the footpath next to a busy street. A few metres away from me was a fence, with a steep drop on the other side, with train tracks at the bottom.

I made my way to the walkway that crossed over the train tracks, then down to the platforms. I soon found myself in a small building, making my way to the counter. Behind some thick perspex was a middle aged women who really didn’t look like she wanted to be there.

“Could I please buy one of the public transport cards?” I asked.

“You mean a Myki?” the woman asked, sounding irritated.

“Is that what the public transport card is called?” I asked.

“Yes.” the woman responded.

“Then yes, I’d like a Myki.” I replied, somewhat irritably. She knew what I wanted yet felt like wasting my time anyway.

“No need for the attitude.” she replied sourly, taking the ten dollar note from my hand, and handing my a small grey card, “Your change is credit on this.”

“Thanks.” I replied, before making my way outside to the platform. I held this new card against one of the readers, causing it to beep, before making my way to a seat, and waiting for a train.

When the train arrived, I wasn’t surprised at how empty it was. It was early afternoon on a weekday, and everyone was either at school or work. Still, better this than an overly crowded train.

I plugged my earphones back in and zoned out, occasionally taking in things around me such as the station names, especially the ridiculous ones like Dennis, but mostly just thinking about everything. Especially how I will have to adjust. I mean most people base their decisions off of their past experiences. But how do I do that now?

After about forty minutes or so on the train, I finally found myself at Melbourne Central Station. I stepped off the train and found myself on an underground platform, and made my way to the nearest escalator to take me upstairs.

I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting when I reached the top, but it wasn’t this. Nearby were gates that I assume only opened after scanning a ticket and beyond that was dozens of stores, making up a small food court with everything from fast food to international cuisine, as well as other stores nearby such as newsagents, clothing stores, and even electronics stores. There were people everywhere, of dozens of different nationalities.

I grabbed lunch from an Indian store in the food court, before making my way through one of the hallways towards an elevator that took me to the surface.

I had watched a few movies since coming home, and one place in them was New York. For some reason, when I saw the city on the skyline from Mason’s roof, and imagined it on my way here, I thought it’d be similar, but it wasn’t. In a good way.

There were anywhere near as many skyscrapers. There were a few but most of the buildings weren’t anywhere near as high. The streets were filled with cars and trams, but there was no beeping of horns. The streets were busy, but they didn’t seem intimidating. The whole place seemed friendlier. I couldn’t help but notice all the unique little stores that gave the whole place some colour, instead of it being the grey cityscape that the assumption of it tended to be.

I noticed, further down the street I was walking down, a large yellow sign, that I recognized as the same as the electronics shop Mason took me to in Greensborough the day before. The one that he said I probably kept the CD department open in.

I made my way into there, curious to see the difference between a suburban and city store. This one had multiple levels, and seemed to be at a right angle, with an entrance on the two intersecting streets. It seemed as if they wanted to open this store here, and just did everything they could to make it fit.

I browsed through the CD sections, looking at artists that I recognized from my own collection, and wasn’t surprised to see that they had nothing stocked from those artists that I didn’t have. Mason was right. I really did like my CDs.

I made my way to the exit, and walked further down the street. I stopped by a busker, to listen for a second. He was tall with red hair, wearing tight jeans and a button up shirt, playing a shiny acoustic guitar and singing. However the more I watched, the more familiar he seemed to be. This was a first. Not even my mother was familiar to me. Everything was new. But I had seen him before somewhere. Maybe before the crash.

Once he finished his song, he looked up and seemed to recognize me. I was right.

“Emily? How are you?” He asked.

“I’m sorry have we met?” I asked. This guy was still a stranger to me.

“Very funny.” He replied.

“I’m sorry, you probably don’t know this but I had a car accident.” I replied, “All my memory from before then is gone.”

“I’m sorry.” the busker replied, somewhat shocked, “I’m Aaron. Aaron Turner. We used to be good friends.”

That’s it. He wasn’t familiar from before the crash. I saw that photo of him on my old profile. My ex. The one who cheated on me. I faked a smile, whilst half wondering why he didn’t introduce himself as that, half knowing it was probably so he could take advantage of me not remembering what happened.

“Right. And how did we know each other?” I asked, hoping to put him on the spot.

“We went to school together. I was the year level above you.” Aaron replied, “But now that we’ve bumped into each other it’d be nice to catch up sometime.”

I’d rather have another car crash.

“We’ll see. I am still trying to figure everything out.” I replied, whilst thinking of a way out. “I’m sorry I can't stick around, but I’m supposed to be meeting a friend nearby and I’m running late. So I’ll see you around.”

I made my way down the street, not looking back. I’m glad that Mason told me about him, because chances are, I might have actually fallen for that s***.

As I walked, I pulled out my phone and opened the messenger app, finding my last conversation with Mason.

”You would not believe who I just ran into…”

I pressed send, and straight after felt myself collide into someone walking out of a shop on the corner of the street I was walking around, as his own phone in his hand made a noise.

“Sorry…” I said, looking up, as my jaw nearly dropped. Mason.

Mason looked at me then looked at the phone, reading the message I just sent him.

“Me. I reckon you just ran into me.” He said, with a slight grin.

“Well you aren’t wrong, but no, I wish I was talking about you.” I replied, “Aaron.”

I noticed Mason’s mood drop in the space of a heartbeat.

“What did he say?” Mason asked, sounding worried.

“He recognized me and spoke to me first. I didn’t know who it was until I told him that I had no memory, and he introduced himself, and I remembered the name.” I replied, “Get this. The smug b****** said we were good friends. Conveniently left out that he was my cheating ex. Even said we should catch up.”

“He probably realizes that he hasn’t had anyone since, and probably thinks that he can get with you again.” Mason responded coldly. It was obvious Mason hated the guy with a passion.

“So what’re you doing here?” I asked, to which Mason just gestured at the sign for the shop he just walked out of.

Michael’s Cameras

“Getting some new gear?” I asked.

“I was hoping to, but this shop always overcharges. Was hoping to talk them into charging a more respectable price for the gear, and offered to promote them, seeing as I have a large audience in Melbourne.” Mason replied, “But they didn’t go for it. Their loss. But what about you? Why are you here?”

“I’m not quite sure to be honest.” I replied, “I guess that I wanted to go do something, and wanted to prove that I can be a bit more independant.”

“Prove to who exactly?” Mason asked.

“Myself. My brother.” I replied.

“Tom?” Mason asked.

“Yeah. He came around today and tried babying me.” I replied, “It really p***** me off, so I decided to go do something a little out of my reach. And so far it has been pretty good.”

“Fair enough.” Mason replied, “But you know he is probably just looking out for you right? I mean, when we were in school, he didn’t like you being friends with me, because of how much trouble I seemed to get into. Which is fair enough. I wouldn’t have liked my little sister hanging around someone like me.”

“He doesn’t know you.” I replied, “Anyway, what are you doing now?”

“Well I was planning on heading home, before I bumped into you that is.” Mason replied, “I have nowhere to be. What about you?”

“Neither. I’m just here trying to figure stuff out, but am out of ideas.” I replied, “We could go get a drink?”

“It’s 4 in the afternoon…” Mason said, slightly shocked.

“It’s also midnight somewhere, and I have no idea where I am going.” I laughed, “Besides, you probably know me more than I do right now. Where do I like going?”

Mason was silent for a second.

“There is only one place around here I can think of. A bar in Melbourne Central. You used to go there pretty regularly. But that was also the place where you found out Aaron cheated on you…” Mason explained.

“Well f*** Aaron.” I exclaimed, getting dirty looks from one or two people nearby, “Seriously, I wanna enjoy myself, and I don’t wanna let some ginger d*****bag who I don’t even remember, stop me from doing that.”

“Let’s go there then.” Mason said with a grin.

We began walking back down the street I had just come from, and as we drew closer to where I saw Aaron, I was hoping he had packed up and moved on. However when he came into sight, I knew he hadn’t.

“Act natural.” I said to Mason, before sliding a lot closer to him, and pulling his arm over my shoulder. If Mason didn’t like Aaron, chances are the feeling was mutual, and I wanted to give this lying p**** something to notice.

Mason was confused for a few seconds until he saw Aaron, and put the pieces together. As we walked past I glanced over at Aaron just to see the look on his face. If looks could kill, we’d both be dead.

Once he was out of earshot, I finally spoke.

“A**hole.” I muttered.

Mason didn’t say anything, but instead, just laughed, not moving his arm from when we were faking it, but I didn’t mind. I felt safe there anyway.