Between Departure and Arrival - Follow Claire

Author's note: Hey guys, this is a new branch/thread I'm starting that will focus on Claire in college. This thread will show some backstory and a new perspective on a few things. I will use the college-aged adults for this story which you can find in a new page inside the characters page. I will stop boring you now, hope you enjoy this story as much as Blake's.

Claire lifted her hand in a quick wave as Blake’s car rolled away. She watched the taillights disappear into the pale morning fog.

She turned around and walked to the station, the cold biting her cheeks.

Walking into the station, she looked around the platform. It was mostly empty except for a few people here and there. A guy, no older than 30 in a suit, probably going to work, a forty something year old sitting on a bench and an older man sipping coffee from a paper cup.

She looked at the clock and saw that there were 10 minutes left for the train’s arrival.

Claire pulled her coat tighter and shifted her bag higher on her shoulder. Ten minutes. Enough time to think, which wasn’t necessarily a good thing. The platform smelled faintly of damp stone and coffee, the quiet broken only by the occasional shuffle of footsteps.

She let her gaze drift toward the far end of the station, where the fog curled low over the tracks. Somewhere down there, the train was cutting through the countryside, carrying other people away from other places. Soon, it would carry her too.

“Claire?”

The voice came from her left. She turned and spotted Cole Donovan leaning against a post, hands deep in his jacket pockets. His hair was predictably a mess, and there was something in his expression—half surprise, half amusement—that made it hard to tell whether he was actually glad to see her.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” she said.

“I was visiting the city, came with some friends, but they are leaving tomorrow.” He glanced down at the ticket in his hand, then back at her. “Looks like we’re in the same car. Small world, huh?”

The loudspeaker overhead crackled to life, the announcement almost lost to the low, distant wail of the approaching train.

She went over to the edge of the platform, waiting for the people to get off. After everyone got out she entered and went to the middle of the car, where her seat was located.

She sat down in it after placing her bag on the overhead rack. Through the window, she could see the empty platform, the big clock counting seconds.

A moment later, Cole stepped into the aisle, scanning the row numbers. He stopped beside her seat, lifting a brow.

“Right across from you,” he said, sliding his bag into the compartment above before taking his place.

The train lurched forward with a soft jolt, the hum of the tracks beginning to rise beneath them. Claire settled her gaze on the passing platform, watching the station slowly slide away. Resin Grove shrank into the fog until it was nothing but a blur of brick and shadow.

“So,” Cole said, leaning back, “how long’s the trip? Forty five minutes?

“Something like that, but closer to an hour with the stops” she murmured.

He nodded, tapping a rhythm on the armrest. “Plenty of time to get sick of me.”

She gave him a faint smile before turning back to the window. The fields were already opening up beyond the town limits, frost glinting faintly in the early light. Cole fell quiet, and soon the only sounds were the low rumble of the train and the steady rush of wheels against steel.

“So, you’ve got a friend leading the basketball team, right? Miles?”

Claire nodded, her gaze drifting back to the window. “Yeah, he’s the captain. Takes it pretty seriously.”

Cole gave a knowing smile. “Being captain… it’s a lot more than just calling plays or rallying the team. Pressure from every angle — coaches, teammates, even the whole school watching.”

She sighed softly. “I see it with my brother Blake too. He’s the captain of the basketball team in his class, the expectations pile on. It’s like they carry the whole team’s hopes.”

Cole leaned back, tapping his fingers against the armrest. “It’s a tough role. You’re supposed to be strong for everyone, but you get little room to show when you’re struggling.”

Claire’s fingers clenched the fabric of her sleeve. “Exactly. And when things go wrong, it’s always the captains who get the blame.”

“Yeah,” Cole said quietly, “but it’s also why they matter. They’re the glue, the ones who keep the team from falling apart when the heat is on.”

Claire gave a small, almost **** smile. “Sometimes I wonder how much they can really hold before it all breaks.”

Cole shifted in his seat, a sly grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“You know, speaking of captains and all that, Adrian—Max’s brother—the reserve QB, is a real piece of work.”

Claire’s eyes flicked toward him, curiosity piqued despite herself.

“Yeah? What about him?”

Cole shrugged, shaking his head.

“Always stirring up something, acting like he’s the king of the world even though he barely gets any playtime. And I hear he still hasn’t gotten over that whole prom thing.”

Claire’s cheeks warmed, but she kept her tone steady.

“You mean rejecting him?”

“Bingo,” Cole said with a laugh. “That didn’t sit well with the whole Lui family.”

“He’s way too full of himself.” Claire said

Cole laughed “That, I have to agree, Adrian piqued in high school and you took it all away right before the end of his senior year.”

She laughed, “I didn’t take anything away, it’s just that his brain stopped imagining things”

The train rocked gently as it sped through the countryside, the conversation settling into a quiet space filled with more unsaid things than spoken.

Claire reached into her bag and pulled out her laptop, the familiar weight settling comfortably in her hands. The screen lit up, casting a soft glow over her focused face as she opened the assignment file for her psychology class. The gentle hum of the train seemed to fade around her as she typed the first few sentences, letting the rhythm of her thoughts blend with the steady clatter of the tracks.

Cole watched her for a moment, a quiet respect in his eyes. “Always working, huh?”

She glanced up briefly, a small smile tugging at her lips. “Yeah, gotta stay ahead. College doesn’t wait.”

As the landscape slipped past the window, Claire lost herself in her work, the earlier conversation lingering in the back of her mind but pushed aside by the urgency of deadlines and the need to keep moving forward.