Welcome to Trainwrecks, a free-to-read fiction serial that follows a group of six Seattle-adjacent friends from the year 2004 to the year 2015. Join Luna Cruz, Sebastian Velasquez, Dimitri and Victoria Hale, Duke Kingston, and Jasmine Nolan as they stumble their way from adolescence to adulthood, falling in love, making mistakes, overcoming their pasts, and staying together through it all.
For series introduction, character profiles, relationship charts, and general orientation, check out the Table of Contents!
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After much chatter and several phone calls, Victoria was allowed to host a sleepover. She felt it was a teenage rite of passage, and having now been to one before, she was eager to try her hand at throwing a slumber party herself. But since her mother’s house wasn’t fit for guests and Jasmine’s parents didn’t feel comfortable with their daughter spending the night in a bachelor’s home, it was Auntie Leila who volunteered to let the girls crash at her place. “I love company,” she said. “It would be my pleasure.”
Auntie Leila lived in a house in the Kennydale neighborhood of Renton and had one of the most famous gardens in the city. She’d cultivated a small paradise in her backyard, with vegetables on one side and flowers on the other, a picnic table for sitting and enjoying nice days, and a shed full of gardening tools in the back corner. It used to make Victoria sad that her aunt had no one to share her beautiful garden with, but when she’d learned it was by choice, she’d felt better about it.
“I never had any interest in relationships,” her aunt had told her. “When my friends were all going boy crazy, the only thing I was interested in was my studies. And then your mom was such a handful, I wouldn’t have known how to bring a man into her life anyway.”
“Auntie Leila’s such a badass,” Luna said as they pored over old photographs in what used to be Makoto’s room. She, Victoria, and Jasmine were sprawled on the guest bed, surrounded by photo albums. “Imagine raising your mom. Look at her!” She pointed to a photograph of Makoto in the 70s: studded leather jacket, half-shaved head, multiple ear piercings, and combat boots that must have weighed five pounds each. There was a chaotic gleam in her eyes that reminded Victoria of Dimitri.
“Is that your mum?” she asked, pointing to a picture of a much younger Whitney Cruz in a mustard yellow sweater and bellbottoms.
“Yup! Best friends then, best friends now.” The two of them couldn’t have been more different from each other, and yet there they were, eating ice cream on the beach together, all smiles. Victoria hoped her friendship with Luna would last just as long.
Jasmine had another album in her lap. “Whoa, who are these babes?” she asked.
Victoria peered over her shoulder. “Those are my father’s aunts. Carmine, Sophia, Priya, Madeleine, Gita, and Parminder. Seven sisters, with my grandmother Freya born fourth.”
“Gosh, they’re so pretty!” Luna cried.
“Apparently, my grandmother was the prettiest of them all. My aunts always sighed about how I could have been her twin. But they never told me much else about her.”
“Why not?” Jasmine asked.
Victoria turned the page, and there, right in the center, was a black and white photograph of her grandmother in a sari, smirking at the camera as if she were hiding some terrible secret. “Because she was crazy,” she said. “She almost stabbed my father to death, you know. He has a scar.” She patted a spot on her own chest, just beneath her clavicle. “He came to live in the States with his father and stepmum after that. A few years later, he moved up to Washington for school, and that’s where he met my mum.”
Luna and Jasmine stared at her. “Wow,” Jasmine said. “My parents met at a Chinese New Year celebration.”
“Mine met at summer camp. Auntie Mako says it was like the movie Dirty Dancing, but I’ve never seen it, so I don’t know what that means.”
“It means they were super horny,” Jasmine supplied.
“Eww!” Luna shrieked, flipping onto her back and kicking her legs. “Never mind. I don’t need to know anything else.”
Jasmine grinned. “Hey Luna, guess how you were conceived?”
“Jasmine! Honestly,” Victoria said, but she couldn’t contain her laughter.
“Your parents had sex. They still have sex. They do it for fun. They’ve probably done it in every room of your house.”
Luna stuck her fingers in her ears. “La-la-la I can’t hear you!”
Victoria shut the photo album and placed it in a pile with the others. She drew her legs up to her chest and smoothed her long skirt down over them. “Girls,” she said, “there’s something I wanted to talk with you about.” Her heartbeat quickened. Warmth spread across her face. Her real reason for hosting this sleepover was at hand, and she willed herself to be brave. These were her friends. She could talk to them about anything.
“If it’s as shocking as the fact that your grandma tried to kill your dad, I may need a drink first,” Jasmine warned her.
Victoria shook her head. “No, it’s not quite that…” She lowered her chin to her knees and drew a circle on the comforter with her index finger. “I think… I might… have a crush on Duke…”
Luna looked like a rocket about to take off. “You think or you know?”
“You might or you do?” Jasmine asked.
She hid her face from them. “I know. I do.”
“Okay,” Jasmine said, “you can freak out now.”
“Aaaah!” Luna squealed so loud that Victoria’s ears rang. But before she could complain, Luna took her by the shoulders and shook her vigorously. “What are you being so shy about? This is wonderful!”
“How is it wonderful?” Victoria demanded.
Jasmine lay back in bed and stretched out like a sunbathing cat. “Because Duke has a huge crush on you.”
“Ginormous,” Luna confirmed.
Victoria looked between the two of them, her expression a mixture of agony and suspicion. “What?” Sure, she and Duke had been talking a lot more, and enjoying each other’s company with minimal disagreements, and staying up late chatting about music, but that didn’t mean he had a crush on her. Did it?
“Why do you think he got you a flowergram on Valentine’s Day?” Luna rolled her eyes. “It’s not because he wanted to be friends with you—even though he did. It’s because he’s an idiot and he doesn’t know how to talk about his feelings.”
“Huge idiot,” Jasmine said. “Cute though.”
Victoria’s mouth opened and closed as she tried to put words to her thoughts. Duke liked her. Duke liked her? Her feelings weren’t unrequited? The numerous afternoons she’d spent in quiet agony wondering if he’d ever feel the same way about her had been all for naught? “Hang on,” she said, “how long has this been going on?”
“Since Christmas at least.” Luna waved her hand.
“Since Christmas?” Victoria nearly shrieked.
Jasmine nodded. “The boy has suffered.”
Mortification consumed Victoria’s body. “He’s liked me since Christmas and you two never thought to mention it to me?”
Luna wrapped her arms around her. “I’m sorry! He’s my best friend. I didn’t want him to be heartbroken in case you decided you hated his guts after all.” She stuck her bottom lip out. “Forgive me?”
Jasmine sat up again. “No time for forgiveness. We need to make our girl so ravishing for Duke’s birthday party that if he doesn’t confess to her on the spot, I will personally drown him.” She made a frame around Victoria’s face with her fingers. “Luckily, you are so stinkin’ pretty that we don’t need to do much. Some lip gloss and mascara and you’ll be fine.”
“Lip gloss instead of lipstick?” Luna asked.
Jasmine gave her a look. “Lipstick is for sex. Lip gloss is for kissing. No, I will not elaborate.” She pushed Victoria’s hair to one side. “You’ll need a flower. I’m going to go ask Auntie Leila which ear you should wear it over.”
“No!” Victoria cried, but Jasmine had already run out of the room.
Luna, who still had her arms around Victoria’s shoulders, gave her another shake. “Relax, you’re in good hands! Tell your dad we’re going shopping this weekend and come prepared to try on everything in the mall. I’m serious. We are not leaving until we’ve found you the perfect pool party outfit.”
Victoria nodded, slightly stupefied. A boy liked her. The boy she had a crush on liked her back. He’d liked her for a long time—since Christmas at least. Never mind that she’d spent most of that time being a heinous bitch to him. He liked her. He’d liked her even before she had been kind to him, before they had become friends, which meant that at her lowest point behavior-wise he’d found something special about her. “Oh God,” she said. “I’m so nervous…”
Luna pulled her into a tight hug. “Listen, the hard part is already done. All you need to do is get him to confess.”
“And then smooch him,” Jasmine said as she flounced back into the room.
Victoria paled. “But I’ve never—”
“It’s not rocket science, I promise. Just deliver your mouth to his mouth and your body will figure out the rest.” Jasmine smashed her hands together as if they were two sock puppets engaged in a passionate rendezvous.
“Remind me of that when it’s my turn to kiss a boy,” Luna said with a wistful sigh.
Victoria endured her fair share of teasing the rest of the night, but she took it in stride. Crush-related teasing was Sleepover 101; they only did it because they were excited for her. And she was excited, too. Beneath all her nerves, she couldn’t wait until the next time she saw Duke, to see if she could catch a glimpse of his crush on her before words were even exchanged.
And hopefully not throw up in the process.
Author’s Note: My longest yeah boi ever. Duke’s suffering may finally be at an end!! Can you imagine having a crush on a girl who won’t give you the time of day? My husband can relate.
Next week is the final week of Trainwrecks: Season 1 (2004-2005)! The Friday post will be a season wrap-up “party” with a short preview for Season 2. Stay tuned!
Girls night! very fun, love their plotting :)
No words. Only hype :D