It didn't take him long to find the dining car. Like the other cars he had passed, it had two rows of seats with a narrow aisle between them. The only real difference was the covered tables arranged between the seats and the snack bar at the back. Making his way past the few passengers enjoying a midmorning brunch he went straight to the back. There he found a wide variety of snacks. He ended up choosing a strawberry danish, he preferred cherry or lemon, but strawberry was an acceptable alternative.
After paying the inflated price, he sat at one of the dining tables, facing the front of the train. As he ate his danish and looked out the window he started thinking, always a dangerous pastime. He'd been in and out of foster homes for as long as he could remember. He'd lived in all sorts of homes with all sorts of different people from all over the country, some of them nice, some less so. Despite all the differences between them, the story was the same every time. He'd be living in the home with his foster parents (or parent in some cases) something strange would happen, and within a week Mike, or some other agent, would show up and take him to a different home.
It didn't matter how long he had stayed at the home, the instant that a strange encounter occurred it was a sign that his time there was up. There were a few times when he was the only witness to the strangeness, like when he accidentally shattered Mrs. Skimmer's favorite vase only for it to put itself back together again like a reverse timelapse before his eyes. He hadn't told anybody about that and yet, three days later, Mike was there to take him away.
The most recent incident happened a week ago. He'd been living with a young couple that went by the last name of Meyer. He had gone out to the skate park nearby with his bike and planned to hang out around there for a while. It had been rather overcast but it was still rather warm so he hadn't even thought about bringing a jacket. The park hadn't been very busy at the time, probably cause of the weather. Though there had been a few guys there, and Jack had mentally groaned. He had recognized one of them, and the two stooges that hung out with him.
His name was Ruphus Coldway. He was that nasty mix of not only being good-looking, but also good at just about whatever he tried, and knowing it. He was the son of some random couple with too much money, and he went to Jack's school. Not only that, but he was in the same grade. Now, Jack didn't make an effort to stand out, he never saw the point. With him constantly moving he tried to avoid making friends or enemies. His policy had always been to keep his head down and just get through class. Now, keep in mind, that didn't mean he let people walk all over him, it just meant that he tried to avoid trouble.
Ruphus was a certified grade A- prick, Jack had known that by the end of his first day at the new high school. However, he'd managed to mostly stay below his radar until that day. Initially, the plan had been just to have some fun at the park with his bike on the opposite side of Ruphus. However, it seemed that on that day Ruphus was in a mood to cause some trouble, and Jack was one of the only other people there.