Seth slid off the horse to the metal floor beside me and leaned against my horse. His position didn’t work. The horse moved up and down, jostling him with each move. He smirked at me and as much as he probably thought he looked silly, he actually looked adorable. Our eyes were locked and just as I moved to take his hand, the horse shifted him again. Seth gave up and wove his way back to the control panel. The spinning slowed to a stop.
“There’s a garbage can ten feet to the right,” I said.
“I am not going to barf. And I know where all the garbage cans are. I work here.” He held out his hand for me and I took it.
“That was fun.”
“We’re not done, Maddie.” He led me across the way to the train. Each car was lit with more lights.
“You are the best, Seth Nguyen.”
“Usually without trying, but this time it actually took work.”
I smiled.
He sat in the conductor seat. In the car behind his were blankets and pillows. “All aboard,” he said. “Let me remind you of a few rules. Standing in the train is permitted. And if you’d like to hang your arms and legs off the side, please do so.”
I sat down and he pulled the whistle three times. He lifted the walkie-talkie from its holder and spoke into it, causing an echo effect with his real voice. “Here on the night train you will see no animals; they are all asleep. The cows, the rabbits, the ducks, the goats, the emus, the anteaters, especially the anteaters. But that’s not what the night train is all about. The night train leads to a magical place where magical things happen.”
“What kind of magical things?” I asked. I’d had a smile on my face since the second he showed up on my front porch and my cheeks were starting to hurt.
“Magic cannot be explained. It can only be experienced.”
The train rounded a corner and I could barely make out the tunnel up ahead. Its opening was completely black, almost creepy. I thought maybe he would’ve lit the tunnel as well, but he hadn’t. As the train went through it, the lights Seth had decorated the train with glowed off the white cement walls. Then the train slowed and stopped right in the middle of the tunnel. Seth stepped over the side and walked to the caboose.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“What did I say about magic?”
“Okay, I’m waiting to experience it.”
He fiddled with something in the caboose and a bright blue light cut a path through the air above my head. I turned back toward the front, where I saw the light projected onto a sheet that was hanging from the far opening of the tunnel. I hadn’t seen the sheet there before. Had we not stopped, we would’ve gone right through it.
“Are we going to watch a movie?” I asked.
“Maybe.”
We had a projector at the zoo that was sometimes set up in the amphitheater. It showed educational movies. “About animals?” I asked.
“I guess you could call him a kind of animal … from a different planet.”
“What?”
Seth reached into the bag he’d brought and pulled out the biggest box of Reese’s Pieces I’d ever seen. “E.T.”
I laughed. “You are perfect.”
He blushed a little and climbed back into the front car, me still in the car behind him. The cars were small—kid-sized. They had two seats in each one, facing each other. So in order to watch the movie and both be facing the screen, we had to be in separate cars, but I so wanted to be in the same one as him. I wished we could sit side by side. He must’ve been thinking the same thing because he tipped his head back.
“I really didn’t think this through,” he said.
I reached forward and playfully swatted his shoulders.
The movie came onto the screen. I arranged the pillows and blankets in my own private car and got comfortable—I felt like I was in my cocoon in my room. This was by far the coolest way I’d ever watched a movie.
The movie was old, but charming. And E.T. was adorable. But with Seth in front of me, it was hard to pay attention. I was aware of every movement of his body down to the way he breathed. The movie was not even halfway over before I knew that if I was given a quiz on it when it ended, I’d fail miserably.
Seth turned slightly and said, “My grandma told me that if we watched a movie together, I could put my arm around you. I think my grandma might be smarter than me. She wouldn’t have set this up in a train no matter how magical.”
I put my foot up on the side, closer to him. Even if it was only my foot, I, too, felt the need for the distance between us to be minimized. “Does your grandma live with you?”
“Yes. She and my grandpa. It’s a multigenerational household. I know that’s weird.”
“That’s not weird. I don’t know why families don’t do that more here. I think it benefits everyone involved. It obviously made you awesome.”
“This is true. Plus, it saves money, for those of us worried about that.”
The mention of money made my insides twist. “Which is a lot of people. How is that going, anyway? Have you heard back from any scholarship applications?”
“Yes.”
“Really? That’s great.”
“I’ve only heard from the no group so far.”
“Oh. That’s not great. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s fine. Let’s not talk about money, it’s my least favorite subject.”
“Mine too.”
“Yeah, I’d imagine,” he said.
His statement confused me. I thought about asking him to clarify, but we were already treading on my least favorite ground. We both went quiet and turned our attention back to the movie. After a few more minutes, he reached over and rested his hand on my ankle. Every nerve in my leg lit up. I tried to control my breathing so it wouldn’t echo in the tunnel during the quiet parts of the movie.
“Oh, screw this,” Seth said, and stood, startling me. “I’m coming back there.” He stepped across the back of his car into mine. “Can I fit?” he asked.
“What if I put some pillows on the floor of the car between the seats, then you can sit on them?”
He nodded and I moved some pillows. I had wanted him closer but this was almost too close. By the time we settled into our places, he was on the ground, between my knees, his arms resting over either of my legs, his head leaning back against me. I was sure he could feel my heart pounding against the back of his head. I was surprised he could hear anything over its beating. Was I supposed to still watch this movie?
“This is worse, isn’t it?” he asked quietly.
I gave a breathy laugh.
“Are you into this movie?”
“I stopped paying attention after the first Reese’s Pieces reference.”
He turned around and looked at me. The light from the projector lit his face, his eyes. Those eyes seemed to be asking me a question and I wasn’t sure what it was, but my entire being was saying yes. I needed him closer. I reached forward but before my hands made contact with him, his were on my shoulders, pulling me toward him. Our lips collided. I gasped. His body pressed against mine, his arms wrapping tightly around my waist, stealing my breath. Our lips moved together and everything felt right. Seth was made to kiss me forever. I could live in this moment forever.
I threaded my fingers into his hair, deepening the kiss. The music from the movie rose in a crescendo around us, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“Yes, I can see how magic needs to be experienced and not explained,” I said against his lips.
He laughed and pulled away, sitting back on his heels.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
“Sorry, it’s hard to kiss you when I’m laughing.”
“Thanks for this, Seth. For all of it. You really do know how to right a wrong.”
He smiled. “Can I admit something?”
“Of course.”
“That was just my excuse to take you out.”
I fake gasped. “What? You’re kidding.”
“I know. It’s shocking. I shouldn’t have lied to you.” The sparkle in his eyes always lit up when he teased me.
But a pit was forming in my stomach. I had been lying to him. Really lying to him. Not some stupid excuse that we both knew wasn’t true, but a serious lie. I needed to tell him before this went any further.