West 76th Street - H.S

Chapter 1.

A/N: Welcome to a story I never thought I'd write. Welcome to a story with a genre that is very unique and never done by me. Welcome to West 76th Street, and buckle up... This is just the freaking beginning.

CADENCE:

I've never been an overly affectionate person. That's part of the reason why I felt as though New York would be the perfect place to wait out this part of my life... That's what this feels like. A waiting period for the next big thing to come along.. Except instead of a four wall waiting room with trashy out of date magazines to look through I have an entire city full of people who don't care that I'm here. That's what it is.. It's the lack of affection that New York gives me.

    You go anywhere in the south, and sometimes it feels like a great big hug. It's suffocating. You go out in the midwest, it's not that they don't care, they just have no idea you're there.. There's far too much space.. But once they find out, they truly never leave you alone, they have to know everything. Then there's the west coast.. Everyone on the west coast cares about one thing and that's themselves.. Same as New York I guess.. But the difference is that no one in New York pretends. On the west coast it feels so fabricated, every little thing.

    I enjoy this city because it didn't embrace me when I arrived, it didn't welcome me. It practically ignored me, and if I wasn't rolling in his money... Well then I probably never would have come here. I never would have purchased this bookstore, I never would have gotten a nice apartment. I never would have left North Carolina..

    "Cadence.." I look to my side, seeing Alex, the small brown skinned girl that works here as well. She's sweet, and quiet. Only when she's working.. If I spark a conversation on something she likes, she can hardly keep her mouth shut, and it's entertaining.. It's endearing. She has braids all the way down her back, and she always wears pretty gold eyeshadow.

    "Alex." I smile, and say her name back. I remember when I first met her after I moved here she told me her full name was Alexandra, but she goes by Alex. She also told me that her name means defender. I don't know why she told me that, but she is a protective person. Every friend group has a protector.. The mom of the group. That's the energy Alex gives me.. She protects. She's kind, but will step up for the ones she loves.. Of course I don't know this from personal experience, but from what she's shown me at work, she just seems like the type.

    "He's out again." I look towards the window of the quiet bookstore. I'm on the second floor, and there's a beautiful courtyard view from here. Ivy's crawling up the New York buildings that surround us, and trees covering where the courtyard would be that way people like me and Alex can't see below.. But we can see him. Alex noticed me watching only a few weeks ago.. He's not aggressive.. I can tell he's not the type, but he gets mad easily.. He's not happy, that's obvious.. But he's oddly pretty, the kind of pretty you don't normally see in men. He has a certain femininity to him, and that's just what I see from afar.

    Every day, across from our window, farther out I can see a balcony to an apartment.. I know he's a bit further up but the angle from our bookstore window is perfect.. Almost like I was made to look. I can't imagine what his job may be.. Something respectable.. Something you'd be proud to show off. That's how he's got such a beautiful apartment. There's furniture out there, and there's pretty plants surrounding. I've seen him cater to the plants at times, and others I've seen him eat a meal outside. He's always smoking a cigarette, which isn't something I find attractive, but it seems out of place with him... I see him smoke a lot. But most prominently I see him on the phone, arguing. Unhappy, stressed, and confused. I can't hear him. I have no idea what he sounds like.. I don't even know his name.

    Brunette, tall, and muscular. He's wearing clean clothes, pressed, and fresh. He's got shorter hair, but if it grew out I assume it would be curly by the way it looks. I can't make out all of his features.. The color of his eyes, the shape of his lips. I'm not obsessed with him, I'm obsessed with the thought of him.. Imagining everything with him.. I imagine light eyes, and a kind smile.. I can't place his voice yet, but I know it would be welcoming.