first meeting

It’s almost dark when her train stops in Bodhum, the sun rapidly lowering behind the horizon, tinting the sky in different hues of orange and pink. When she steps out of it, she’s looking everywhere around her, taking in all the new sights, new people, new sounds.

Riona is standing in the middle of the platform when she’s shoved by a random other passenger who tells her to ‘move, girl!’. With a quick nod, she starts walking, following the large crowd getting out of the station, most of which seems to be headed in the same direction.

It doesn’t take her long to reach the festival, her eyes widening at the image of the stalls lining the beach and so many people walking between them.

The girl walks along with the crowd, her eyes feeling almost overwhelmed by how many new things she’s seeing, and it’s not long before she has to stop and sit down. She quickly buys a drink from a food stall and sits close to it, on the very edge of the beach, where concrete turns into sand.

Her spot doesn’t seem to be the best, however, as she’s almost kicked and stepped on by many of the passersby, and she quickly moves away from it, looking for another place to sit down and relax a bit before the fireworks begin.

She doesn’t find a spot to sit, but that’s because something catches her attention - a family, who seems to be getting along up until a boy who seems around her age snaps at his mother and leaves her side.

Riona’s eyes follow the boy and she feels compelled to go see him. It only takes her a few seconds to reach his spot and sit down in the sand, right next to him, before handing him the drink she bought a few minutes ago. 

"Here. You look like you could use a sugary pick-me-up”, she says simply, looking at him. He seems a bit confused as to why this stranger just sat next to him and gave him something, and suspiciously eyes the drink at first.

"...you're kidding, right?", he asks in reply, taking the can into his hand nonetheless, yet still not opening it to drink it. Just holding it, waiting for the girl to explain herself, probably. 

"Couldn't hurt. 'Sides, if the sugar doesn't help, maybe talking to someone will?" Riona replies, shrugging, acting as if talking to a total stranger is a normal occurrence for her. "I know I'm just a stranger, but...maybe that's better? You'll probably never see me again, so you can vent all you like."

The boy reluctantly nods at her words, sighing and finally opening the can to take a small swig of the drink, a happy sigh slipping past his lips as he does so.

"...I guess you have a point”, he says suddenly. He pauses for a moment before adding. "...my name's Hope, by the way. And you are?..."

The girl smiles at him, extending her hand for him to shake. 

"Riona. Nice to meet you”, she replies, her smile widening when he takes her hand in his and awkwardly shakes it. “So! What’s got you all mopey? Shouldn’t you be glad to be here?”

Hope looks away, his eyes focusing on the people lining the beach. He sighs before replying to Riona’s question.

“It’s just a family issue…” he seems to hesitate, possibly not wanting to give out too much personal information, but the shake of his head seems to indicate that he remembered the fact that this is a one-time encounter, and he continues. “Mom just told me that my father would be joining us to look at the fireworks. But, I… I don’t have the best relationship with him.”

Another pause. Another sigh.

“And… He probably just told her he’d be coming here, but knowing him, Mom will be disappointed again when he doesn’t show up”, he adds, shrugging, as if this isn’t an issue that bothers him.

Riona shoots the boy a sympathetic glance, but doesn’t urge him to continue. She can tell it’s a sore subject, and while she could ask questions about it since they won’t see each other again, she doesn’t want her newfound friend for the night to leave her alone now.

She’s trying to find a way to bring up a new, more casual subject of discussion when Hope speaks up.

“Anyways. Enough about me. Where’s your family?”

A small, almost pained smile stretches the girl’s lips.

“Not here”, she replies. “I came here alone.”

At those words, the boy turns towards her to face her fully, a questioning glance in his eyes.

“Really? Do you live in this city, then?”

Riona shakes her head, thinking of not adding anything to her wordless answer for a moment before replying.

“I don’t. I’m from a small city that’s around three hours away by train, you probably haven’t heard of it.”

She punctuates her sentence with a shrug, not wanting to add more to it. Hope simply nods, understanding that the reluctance to talk more about it means that her place of origin, and probably her family as well, is a topic to avoid.

The boy is about to ask her another question, completely unrelated to his previous one, but Riona speaks up first.

“It’s fully dark now”, she states simply, and a small twinkle of excitement shines in her eyes. “The fireworks will start soon!”

Hope nods, and almost as soon as he does so, a loud noise drowns out any ambient noises, and a flash of light brightens up the sky. The show has started. He’s about to turn around to look at the colorful display but one look at Riona stops him from doing just that.

She’s pretty. Her eyes are open wide, and she’s totally focused on the fireworks, mouth open in a big, amazed smile. The different, colorful lights illuminate her face and Hope’s breath is almost taken away.

He spends almost the whole show looking at her, glancing up at the sky from time to time, though he’s more interested in the pretty girl’s face than in the fireworks display that he’s seen in the past. He’s so focused on her that he almost doesn’t realize when it’s done.

A quick shake of his head allows him to regain his composure before Riona notices him staring at her. He’s glad he did that, because she turns to him - one more second and he would’ve been caught.

“That was awesome!” she exclaims, the smile on her face still there, her eyes still twinkling with amazement. “The colors, the pretty lights, everything! And the finale! So many-”

“Hope.”

Riona’s excited rambling is cut short by a woman’s voice, and both teens look up. Standing in front of them is Hope’s mother - the woman Riona saw with him earlier. She seems a bit sad, and very tired.

“Hope, it’s time to go home”, she says simply.

The boy sighs and nods, turning to Riona before getting up.

“Thanks for hanging out with me during the show, it was nice talking to you”, he says, a small tinge of disappointment in his voice. He doesn’t want to go, there’s so much he’d like to talk about with this interesting girl.

Once he’s up, Hope looks down at Riona’s still-sitting form, only to see her smiling gently up at him.

“I’m glad we got to talk, too”, she says. “It was nice meeting you, Hope. It’s a shame we won’t see each other again.”

Hope’s arm is pulled by his mother, and he has to start walking, not being given any time to stay with the girl anymore. It doesn’t stop him from turning around once he’s a few meters away, and yelling at her:

"Even if we don't see each other again… It was nice meeting you too, Riona!"