Chapter 3. Part 3?

We were lucky to catch the train, if we had been fifteen minutes later we would have missed it. This train was a little more pricey, as you could tell from the interior. The seats were more comfortable, as so the entire insides. I had once again used my dads debit card, luckily we had until the end of the month till he would notice anytime. I looked up the calender on my phone, it was Sunday the 12th, so we had atleast a couple spare weeks. As I boarded the train I decided to take a nice nap, as I advised Calvin of this as well. I did not know what the future held for this epic road trip.

I dozed off for a couple hours, or so Calvin told me when I awoke from my deep trance. I vaguely remember my dream though, which is strange since I rarely remember dreams. The dream was more or less a blast from my childhood past. It was at the carnival that came into Gloucester years ago. The bight candy striped reds and custard yellows were mesmerizing, just as much as the large tents the colours appeared on. The pink candy cotton booths blended with the crisp autumn leaves on the trees beside them as you could hear the sharp minor keys of the carnival jingles in the distance, The dirt roads provided numerous dust storm as everyone ran around, sweets in hand. 

It was for my birthday, which was October twenty-seventh. I never minded my birthday to much, it was a nice distance between Easter for Christmas. My mum had asked if I wanted too throw a party, I politely declined her invitation, and in place of that I invited Calvin to the carnival with me. We were ten, young, and I poorly dressed. Till this day I blame my mother for dressing me in ugly bright pink and green button downs with forest green stockings, which will forever be stuck in the polaroid picture by my white door

The dream was somewhat pleasant since it was almost identical to my god awful past. The tiny ginger faced boy, who had more freckles plastered over his face then now, waited me with his navy sweater, scarf round his neck. He had always dressed well I guess, a natural talent he had. Trust me, its a talent if you are male and can dress like you actually care. When my mum and I had arrived in the old navy blue Volkswagen I looked out the tinted window to see him there, waiting for me. As I got out of the car he ran towards my direction and gave me a huge bear hug. As I was ten, I was soon to detest this hug and was embarrassed because my mum was there. Though inside it was a nice feeling, hugs are ALWAYS a warm radiant feeling of love, despite the current mood you are in.

“Are you ready for those big swing thingies.” His deep green eyes looked toward the north, I assumed the swings were that way, I could see the excitement in his eyes, they were gleaming. It wasn’t much of a dream, it mostly consisted of the two of us on the grounds, having fun on the ornate rides, eating tons of chips. But to me, there was a reason I dreamt this. At that carnival I was walking up one many steps leading to the tent that held some “exotic” animals. I tripped, and sprained my ankle as I proceeded to cry profusely. Calvin had not noticed until he had heard my rather loud shrieks. Before I could say help I felt a pair of warm soft hands pick me off of the crisp ground. when I wiped away the frigid tears I saw that ginger boy. I asked him a simple question at that moment.

“Will you be my best friend?”

I guessed maybe my small mind needed a frank reminder that he was there for me. I had always been one of those people that needed constant reminding that so in so was still there for me and did not hate me. I was a little over caring at the times I need not be, and the times I did need to be I was not. Luckily Calvin was a forgiving person. I was glad I had that dream as I looked at Calvin while exiting the Temple Meads Station. The glossy interior floor refracted the orange and white lights above, making a starry scene. I could hear the dozens of high heels being worn at the station as it echoed all the way to the glass and steel roof. I looked up to see the three rows of glass revealed a usual bleak scene.

“Hm, another place, I am tired as hell right about now. You know what would be lovely, a nice relaxing nap in a hotel. It would be brill. I say we should find some place before I snap and call you a whore several times till you resist and go on and find one! ” He was obviously a little moody and on edge, but I need not push him anymore. He had helped me with so many things, so this was more important right now.

“Fine, lets find one, but if so I am the one that gets to call you the whore. Since I am paying and all and since your lazy.”

“Deal.” He responded happily, his mood brightened instantaneously. It made me feel somewhat of a humanitarian, Im outrageous.

“Deal.” I turned a 180 and stuck out my pale hand. It was shortly greeted by a shake and a nudge. I took notice of our skin tones, he was still somehow darker. It was impossible for me to ever get darker, I gave up hope, though still jealous. We walked out of the cold station together. We exited the doors as soon as I heard a single word that made me smile ear to ear.

“Whore.”

Temple Meads was incredible. It reminded me of Hogwarts, which made me somewhat happy. Its unique clock tower and medieval decorating made me reminisce of my childhood novels. As I read the time on its over decorated clock, the time was 18:00. We hadn’t much time till the sun sat down below our weary earth. It started raining, my first reaction was”great”, Calvin’s first reaction was “Fucking Hell.” Guys are incredibly classy of a breed. He quickly pulled out a grey and blue gingham umbrella from his bag and shielded both our heads from the drizzle around us. I felt slightly romantic at that moment in time, which was a bit unpredicted on my part. I have never felt that way before now, maybe it was just the thoughts and surroundings that provoked this. I quickly reminded myself that I should not be thinking that way and to stop, so I continued to try. We did a slight jog past the streets, seeing everyone quickly pull out their umbrellas as I looked both ways before crossing. It was getting dark, dusk was about over.

“We need to find a place to dry off and sit before my hair gets wet!” Calvin screamed overtop of the overbearing sounds of nature as the rain picked up to a good tempo.

“You’re such a girl!” I screamed back to his face, though clearly I was right beside him. I enjoyed calling each other names. The brick paved street was starting to get more and more rain it, as the oil and the water mixed to create a collection of colours beside the curb. All the neon lights of cars, pubs, storefronts, they all reflected the lights off the street, it was a beautiful sight as of any. I could only imagine what this kind of site would be like in London, around Piccadilly. Just the thinking about it made me dazzled with wonder.

“Here, here! I call this place, I don’t care how much it is. I want a nice duvet and a bathroom to shower in and everything!” He ran toward the building to the west of the sidewalk we were on. The facade had a nice modern feel as the neon white lights spelled out “City Inn”. I could tell this was going to be a pretty penny, but at the time it was to dark and miserable outside to care any longer.

I walked in as Calvin was already at the counter asking for a room. The lobby had a clean cut vibe, it was a fresh modern feel. It was rather easy to unwind in the unhurried ease of lobby. Its fresh white walls seemed to balance out the bleak outside as the studio spotlights gave ambiance to even the darkest corners of the room. The staircase was the centerpiece of the lobby, it was in the middle of the white reflective floor way. The stairs were unsupported as the steps were sterile, it seemed a staircase to heaven in this situation. I walked up to the counter with him, as we booked a room, I gave the clerk my blue debit card, she punched in numbers and such on the computer as I gazed at her. She was a rather lovely woman, her dark eyes and chocolate shaded hair matched perfectly with the abstract painting behind her. She told us a thank you as we hurried to our room.

“I am now going to not ask how much money this place was before I enter, as I am sure judging by the fact this place has abstract paintings it is surely expensive.” As I gave a mildly sarcastic tone, though I really was serious about not wanting to know.

“Fine, and I will not tell you how much it was, except it was totally around 100 pounds.” He winced as I faked punched him. He continued to shine his bright smile when we opened our third story room.

We gave a awe, currently no words could describe how we felt at that moment. The room was incredibly luxurious as was knowing we had a nice place to hide from the rain. The room had a light birch wood theme, as a floor to ceiling window covered two thirds of the front wall. It showed the sparkling city lights, we could see hundreds upon hundreds of meters of rain, cars, and street lights. The bed was a King size, both sides had symmetrical tables balancing each side of the room as nickel covered lamps shined brightly on each side with there dark cream coloured shades. On the right side of the wide room was a modern birch desk, as Calvin and I quickly sat our backpacks on it.

“Wow..” He said slowly, as if it to make sure I had not heard what he said the first time. He unwrapped his moisture covered scarf and layed it down on the floor.

“Wow.” I replied back, as we quickly turned to face each other. We both smiled to each other, we had just noticed how amazing this adventure was beginning to be.As well as quickly distracting me, if not for long, the hard realization of the true goal of why we were here in Bristol. We both kicked off our shoes and jumped right on to the bed, the foam gently sat us down. We both stared at the white ceiling for ages. 

“Is this amazing or is it not!” I whispered. I whipped my head around to see that Calvin was sound asleep. His eyes were peacefully shut. I just sat there, beside him. I rested my head beside his, his soft glow helped calm my nerves.

I could not sleep however, my mind was racing on what could be happening right now in my mums position. I reached over to the birch sidetable as I flicked on the lamp. My eyes reajusted to the light as my hands reached for the alarm clock. It read Two am, but that time was irrelavent to my mind. I quickly grabbed a raincoat I had packed and was soon back out into the pouring rain. I knew judging by my mums last purchase which was at a Costcutter, that I had a far walk to go. I began walking past several streets. The dark skies had nearly engulfed the street lamps, as most store lights were shut off at this time of night. The rain splashed as I accidentally stepped into a pothole, not seeing where I was going with complete accuracy. I could hear the cold, fearless wind rattle the flagpoles as heavy rain pounced upon everything in its site as I quickly turned the dark corner.

“Hey there little missy.” A deep voiced gave, as a tall dark man pounced out of the shadows. He stared deep fully into my eyes as to show no emotion as his greasy hair was moved by the wind. 

“Excuse me sir, I was just getting on my way.” As I walked the other way. Soon to be another short haired man popped out of the shadows, pushing me onto the ground. The cold hard pavement provided little comfort as I was scared for my very life at this moment. 

“Now missy, we just want to spend a little time to get ta know ya, see us partna’s been rather lonely lately.”

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