rollercoaster || j.b.

chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Paisley Bradshaw?"

"Here," I shyly smiled as I took my seat in my last class of the day. I was a freshman in college at NYU and I absolutely loved it here and in New York in general. It was so different from Mississippi, where I grew up. My obsession with New York was inevitable. I knew I wanted to be a writer from the age of 14, so that's how I got here. I knew New York was where writers were born and I was ready to be born.

"Please take out your brief essays from the weekend," my professor, Mr. Reed, said, "and be prepared to share them." I grabbed my essay from my binder and quickly skimmed it, making sure everything was in place. This was the first presentation of the semester and I was surprisingly calm, and if anything, eager. Our assignment was to write about our passion. Mine so happened to be dance. Besides my writing, dancing seemed to be the only thing that could get my mind off of anything and everything. It was my main outlet for stress.

"Paisley, you're up," Professor Reed said, peeking at me from behind the rim of his glasses. As I moved to the front of the room, I smoothed out the back of my dress.

"Uh, hi. My name is Paisley Bradshaw and I wrote my essay over my passion, which is dance. Dance may seem like a pretty cliché topic, but it's one of the best things that's ever happened to me. Dancing is an expressive form to many people, but to me, it works as a stress reliever to clear all my thoughts. It's not just a hobby that I do for fun. Each time I step on the floor, I think of something that stresses me out or something deep down that pains me and I dance until I get all of the pain and hurt out of my system. Truthfully, I don't know where the pain and hurt comes from, but it's there. When I don't have the will to write my feelings, I dance. When I don't have the courage to talk to someone, I dance. If I didn't have dance, my emotions would be jumbled into a confused ball of lost faith that I wouldn't know how to control. In the end, dance is the only way for me to express my thoughts and emotions without being judged and ending up embarrassed. After all, the dance floor never tells." A roar of applause filled the room, as I sunk my eyes to the floor and smiled. I did a small wave and walked back to my seat.

"Incredible job Paisley. Okay, Matthew Weaver, I believe you're up." Professor Reed said. During the rest of the presentations, I zoned out and doodled on my paper, totally lost in my own thoughts.

|||

The breeze nipped at my cheeks as I walked back to my apartment. My building was only three blocks from NYU, but as it was the second week of January, it was quite chilly. As I entered the building, I glanced around and quickly noticed multiple cardboard boxes. Either someone was moving in or someone was moving out. I pushed the up button on the elevator. I was about to push the floor 8 button when I heard a voice. Whipping my head to peak out of the door, the voice became more clear.

"Hey! Hold the door! Please!" With the pleads, I held the door as a boy about my age stepped in with two boxes.

"Thanks, I'm Justin," the boy introduced himself. His chocolate eyes immediately caught my attention, but they were nothing compared to his voice. It was so soft and gentle. I already couldn't even imagine him ever being upset.

"Oh, uh, you're welcome. I'm Paisley," I replied as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Cute name," he smiled, pressing the floor 7 button.

"Wait, are you moving in? Are those all your boxes in the lobby?" I asked, my curiosity getting the best of me.

"Yeah, I just moved to New York from Canada. What about you? Do you live in the building?" he asked, gazing at me.

"Oh, yeah actually. Floor 8. Right above yours," I chuckled. The door opened as we reached the seventh level.

"Neat, well I'll see you around Paisley," He said, adding a wink before the elevator doors slid closed. I could feel the slight blush that tented my cheeks. I got off on my floor and went to my apartment, room 88B. Justin's soft voice and sparkling eyes showered my thoughts as I flipped through the tv channels. All I knew is that I definitely felt a strange attraction to my new neighbor and I couldn't help but think maybe he felt that way too.