Bree opened her eyes and climbed out of her bed. She checked her alarm clock. She'd woken up three minutes before it would go off, as usual. She took a shower and got dressed in her work uniform, the usual coffee shop attire. She walked out of her apartment and climbed into her car. She drove toward her coffee shop, but something made her pause.

An irresistible urge overtook her, one sentence echoing through her mind. Meet me at the beach. She suddenly turned her car around, scaring the minivan behind her. She drove towards her old school campus, seemingly on in a trance. Her car began to sputter as she drove past Vanderbilt Avenue. It escalated to a soft roar by the time she reached the end of Porcelli Parkway. Bree parked in the grass next to the road so she could climb out of her car to see what the problem was. She opened up the hood of the car and a massive gust of steam blew into her face, making her eyes water.

She sat down and called a tow truck for her car. The truck finally arrived and she started to walk to the nearest train station. She called ahead and bought a ticket ahead of time. She ran most of the way, finally reaching the train a full minute before it left. She noticed another passenger was running late. He looked to be about her age, with strawberry blonde hair and a slightly bewildered expression. He was cute. Bree sat down and looked out the window, waiting for the train to pull out of the station.

She must have nodded off, because by the time she'd woken up, the train was empty and they had arrived at the beach. She climbed off the train, looking around the picturesque little town. She spotted her old high school in the distance, but it had closed years ago. Now it just stood there, ramshackle and abandoned. Bree snapped out of her thoughts and walked down to the beach. The blond boy was there, walking along the dunes. He looked at her, but quickly looked away when he noticed she had seen him. He was shy... interesting.

She headed to a little cafe to get a warm drink. She ordered a cup of coffee and slipped her notebook out of her bag. She started to write down her misadventures she had gone through when she realized that the blond boy was in the cafe, staring at her.

Bree smiled and raised her cup in a toast. He turned beet red and looked down at a notebook of his own. She wondered if he had ever tried writing. He drank down the last of his coffee and paid the bill. He walked outside, the frosty air blowing into the restaurant. She paid her bill and checked her watch. The train would pull back into the station any minute now.

She got up and started walking back toward her train. It was freezing outside, so she blew on her hands in an attempt to keep them warm. Bree looked up to see the same blond boy from earlier. He quickly turned away, looking at the movie theatre across the street. Bree smirked. He was playing hard to get. She walked closer, waving at him. He glanced at her and waved, quickly looking back at his feet. He aimlessly kicked a loose pebble onto the tracks.

Her train pulled into the station, mostly empty. One or two people climbed off the train, but it seemed like nobody was heading to the beach today, probably because of the cold weather. The blond boy sat down in a row by the door. Bree sat down a few rows away, where she had sat before. Stupid! She could have sat down next to him. Now she had to move over to his row somehow. She quickly dug through her bag, looking for an excuse to move. Bree glanced at the blond boy. She took a deep breath and decided to go for it.

"Hi." Bree said, switching her bag to her other hand.

The blond boy looked up, surprised.

"I'm sorry?" He asked, slightly confused.

This was not going well.

"I just said hi." Bree said, with an awkward smile.

"Oh, hi. Hello." He said, waving.

Bree got out of her seat and walked over to where he was sitting.

"You care if I sit closer?" Bree asked, pointing to the row in front of him.

He shrugged, moving his bag out of the way and sliding it underneath the seats. Bree slid into the row in front of him, turning and facing him so she could talk to him face to face.

"How far are you going?" Bree asked.

"Uh, Rockville Center." He replied, staring down at his notebook.

"Me too!" Bree exclaimed.

"Wow, really?" He said.

"What are the odds?" Bree said, glancing down at his notebook.

They sat there for a minute, silence filling the compartment. Bree looked around the train, desperately trying to think of something to say.

"Do I know you?" Bree asked, thoughtfully rubbing her chin.

The blond boy looked up at her quizzically, studying her face. Maybe she'd sold him coffee?

"Do you ever get coffee at Kinnaman's?" Bree asked.

He nodded, sitting back in his chair.

"That's it. I've seen you there, man. I've been working there for like, five years now." Bree said.

"Huh... I think I would have remembered you." He muttered thoughtfully.

"My name's Breanne Clementine Campbell, by the way." Bree said.

"I'm Conner." Conner responded, shaking her hand.

"Hi Conner. No jokes about my name." Bree said.

"I don't know any jokes about your name." Conner said, putting away his pen.

"Like the song." Bree said.

"I don't know any songs about Breanne." Conner said, shaking his head.

"Breanne? No, Clementine. What are you, nuts?" Bree asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's been suggested." Conner said.

"Huckleberry Hound. Oh my darling, oh my darling? Ringing any bells?" Bree asked playfully.

Conner smiled, shaking his head.

"Jesus, are you gonna make me sing it? Oh my darling, oh my darling, oh my darling Clementine. You are gone and lost forever, dreadful sorry, Clementine." Bree sang.

"You have an amazing voice, but no, I'm sorry. I've never heard of Huckleberry Hound." Conner answered.

"Well, I prefer to go by Bree anyway." Bree said.

"That's also a great name. It means honorable, right?" Conner asked.

"Although it hardly fits. I'm a backstabbing pathological liar." Bree said, with a smile.

"See, I wouldn't think that about you." Conner said.

"Why wouldn't you think that about me?" Bree asked.

"I don't know... you seem nice." Conner said.

"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to trust strangers?" Bree said, laughing.

"You don't feel like a stranger." Conner said thoughtfully.

Bree's heart fluttered and her eyes widened. For a moment he almost looked... familiar. She stared more closely at him, examining his face with her eyes, trying to figure out how she knew him. It definitely wasn't just coffee. It was... something else. The train lurched to a stop, bringing them back to their senses. Bree reached into her bag and pulled out a napkin from the cafe. She scribbled her phone number on the napkin with her pen and handed it to Conner.

"See you around, Conner." Bree said.

She grabbed her bag and climbed off the train, headed home.