The Edge Of Yesterday

Chapter 1

June 1984

I stared out of the van window, taking in the view. Everything I could see outside was new and exciting. I had never been to New York before, but from what I could see, it was nothing like the quiet suburbs that I had been brought up in. It was nice. 

Nice was an understatement. It looked amazing, full of opportunity and new chances at life. It was a place where I could start my life over on a new, blank page. 

I was seeing things through rose-colored lenses. Back then, New York was infamous for its high crime rate and drug problem back then. It was full of gangsters, and the streets were littered with crack vials and the glass from broken car windows where addicts had stolen tape decks to sell. 

But I decided to look past all of that. It was far away from where I had come from, andI had to take advantage of that and being able to start over.

"Well, we've made it here safely," I told Alex, as I wrapped my arms around my knees. I was sitting in an uncomfortably awkward position, and was surrounded by a sea of cardboard boxes, so I barely had space to sit. Any wrong move would've most likely resulted in a box hitting me on the head. 

Alex smiled cheekily. "No more boring old suburbs!" he declared. "We'll have the best time of our life."

Oh, Alex. To him, everything was "the best time of his life." Even something as simple as going to the store to buy a bar of chocolate and some beer was the best thing he had ever done. But I admired how the smallest things could bring him joy. It was something I should've picked up from him.

There was a loud, rattling noise and Alex went stone-still, his eyes darting in different directions. He was sitting in an even more awkward position than I was, right on top of an unstable stack of boxes.; if he had made a wrong movement, that would result in an avalanche of boxes, which would definitely hit the both of us. 

I continued staring out of the window, taking the whole damn thing in. I observed all the people walking down the street, living their lives. I noticed all the cars, all the convenience stores selling random things, all the buildings and alleyways, and other little details, like the cracks in the sidewalk and the flowers in windows. 

I wondered what the apartment we were going to live in would be like. It probably wasn't going to be large, but I've always been fine with living in small spaces; having to share one with my best friend wouldn't be bad at all. Hopefully, it wasn't infested with insects.

 I've never had a problem with bugs, but living in a place infested with them isn't exactly ideal. Alex, on the other hand, was terrified of them. He'd shriek at the sight of a cockroach, or run off as quickly as possible if he heard a bee buzzing.

"You'll like the apartment. It's just right for us." Alex said, as if he had read my mind.

"I'll take your word for it."

I wrapped my arms tighter around my knees, going back to staring out of the window. We had been stuck in the same spot for about 20 minutes, and it didn't look like we would be moving any time soon.

"Is traffic here always this bad?" I asked, tucking a strand of my hair behind my ears.

Alex clicked his tongue, which was something he'd do whenever he got annoyed or disappointed. "I hope not."

There was a sudden jerk and the van began moving again. A box slid, hitting Alex right on his head.

"Alex! I gasped. "Are you ok?"

"God dammit." he yelped.

"Alex!"

"Don't worry, don't worry, it wasn't that heavy." Alex rubbed his head. The box that hit him had fallen open, and some of my clothes were falling out of it. "At least I'm still alive."