Unable to sit still any longer, Dylan left the train compartment that he was sharing with a wealthy businessman and paced up and down the hallway. It was still going to be another hour until the monorail reached Camern City
He had not been able to sleep well since leaving his father’s office, but he knew that was no excuse to be rude to other people. He was just so incredibly restless and the nearly day-long monorail trip was not helping his mood. He disliked being cooped up and it was taking all of his will power to not pick fights with random people.
That was probably what annoyed him the most. Dylan prided himself in not being easily annoyed and now it seemed like the strangest things were grating on his nerves. The only thing that made sense was that he was probably still on edge from visiting his father. Grimacing, Dylan suppressed a shiver.
“Is your compartment too cold, sir?”
Dylan backed up into the wall in order to keep himself from going through the ceiling. The steward had a nice, quiet demeanor of long-suffering patience that came from dealing with irate travelers. The uniformed steward was a polite and concerned person, and for some reason that unnerved Dylan.
“Everything’s fine,” Dylan forced himself to say. “I just needed to stretch my legs.”
“Can I get you anything?” the steward asked.
“No thank you.” Dylan tried to remember to breathe slowly because he had not logical reason to be agitated.
“Are you quite sure there’s nothing I can do for you?”
“No,” Dylan said forcefully. “I am fine.”
The steward took the hint. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to page. Enjoy the rest of your trip.”
Dylan sighed as he watched the steward leave. This was possibly the worst mood to start the school year with, and he blamed his father entirely. It felt better to blame someone else for his sour mood, but Dylan knew he could not let it last. His mom and step-dad would give him no sympathy. After all, they had raised him to keep his bad moods to himself. They joked that it was training to become an actor.
He took a few deep breaths and let his heart rate calm down. He slowly walked back toward his compartment, suppressing the claustrophobic urge to think of the place as little more than a closet. It was not that Dylan was claustrophobic, but he just preferred windows and being outdoors; or at least as out doors and in the open as possible when living in an enclosed city. Going outside the city walls was just insane without proper equipment and authorization.
The black haired teen sat back against the corner and stared blankly at the screen that displayed nothing but stock numbers alongside red and green arrows. Dylan remembered Grandma and Grandpa Barlow walk about riding the trains as children. They would stare through the now-covered windows and watch a dead world pass them by.
Dylan decided he would prefer a dead world to the stock market. But no one knew what the outside looked like anymore, and it seemed like no one cared anymore. With a yawn, Dylan let those thoughts carry him into sleep.
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