Sway

Friday Nights

New York.

The poster city for all things entertainment and liveliness. The location where people travel to feel a sense of thrill, or, to start a new beginning. It's the city displayed on billboards sponsoring huge festivals or marathons. It's the place where raw talent finds connections and becomes success.

New York City, is everything.

As I stood outside of the LaGuardia airport, I searched around for the person I'd been dying to see all year. He'd most likely be wearing some insanely colorful getup and walking as if the sidewalks were his runway. Shoulders back, head high, and a pearly white smile stretching from ear to ear.

Considering it was late May, the temperature in New York was reaching upwards of 70 degrees. I moved aside and set my luggage against the wall, peeling the leather jacket off of my arms and hanging it on the handle of the suitcase. As I leaned down, two large hands covered my eyes and someone's manhood bumped me from behind. I didn't even have to look to know it was Phineous. I yanked his hands away from my face and turned to see him. He looked the same as he did years ago in high school, except now he wasn't afraid to be out. His dark hair combed to the right and slicked with shiny gel, bright green eyes outlined by an array of sparkly eye shadow, and leather pants squeezing every inch of his lower half. 

"You don't change, do you?!" I nearly jumped into his arms as I pulled him into a much needed hug. We stayed that way for a moment, until he started sniffing my hair while his head rested on my shoulder.

"Are you using dry shampoo, Tal?!" His strong British accent always sounded totally different in person than it did all those times we talked on the phone. He held onto my shoulders and leaned back in shock at the thought of me spraying my hair with shampoo.

I rolled my eyes, "I didn't have time to wash my hair Phineous!"

He just laughed and shook me by the shoulders, "Dry shampoo!? Last time I saw you, you were making fun of people who spray their hair with fake shampoo! Who even are you?"

"Just because you don't change doesn't me I don't."

He stopped shaking my shoulders and took in what I said. His piercing green orbs stared into my face, "you're right, you have changed. I don't know how exactly, but, I feel it."

Considering we were still standing outside of the airport, I decided to cut the touchy feely moment short. "Yeah well, we've got plenty of time to catch up, so don't worry. But right now your best friend... is starving!"

He laughed his famous laugh that I used to compare to that of the Joker, and started pulling my suitcase down the sidewalk. "Where would you like to eat at 9PM in New York City? You have choices galore my darling!"

As I walked beside him, I couldn't contain my smile. The happiness I felt inside was something I had yearned for all year long. I tried to fabricate it as I focused on law school, studying, and laughing with Brianna and Thatcher. But nothing really ever compared to this — to being in my favorite place, with my favorite person. Out of pure excitement for what the next couple of months had in store, I wrapped my arm around his torso and squeezed a little.

"I want a burger! Something that's not dry as fuck, that seems to be the only kind of food that's cooked in Indiana!"

"A burger it is!" He snapped his fingers and kept walking.

Once we finally reached the edge of the sidewalk, tons of yellow cabs and Uber drivers appeared, waited for their next pick up. Phineous pushed past the crowd and I struggled to keep up, it was always a shock when I came back to New York after being in such a reserved town for so long. Indiana was all green and traditional, the total opposite of the city. I was relieved when I saw he had gotten us a cab and was stuffing my suitcase inside the trunk,

"You coming or what?" I scooted my butt into the cab and Phineous did the same, he also told the driver an address that I was entirely unfamiliar with.

"Look at you, memorizing the entire address for a burger shack?" I knew he'd lived here for several years now, but he was never one to prioritize memorizing restaurant locations.

He gave me a 'are you crazy' look, "Talia, now you know damn well I can't memorize anything but my own address!"

I laughed at the look on his face, "Well excuse me for thinking you heard me when I asked for a burger!"

"Oh I heard you, but I also saw your outfit and made the executive decision to go to my place first so I can sexify you... 'Cause tonight, we're doing much more than eating burgers baby!"

All I could do was laugh, I knew I'd never win an argument with him when it came to fashion. My eyes turned to look out of the window, I watched as the night began to transform the NY atmosphere. The drivers got angrier as they tried to merge into impossible traffic, less people were dressed in suits and more in short skirts or tight fitted shirts. The buildings lit up the sky in every direction and probably the most phenomenal part about all of it was the noise. It was this fantastic mix of life and action, all colliding to form a breathtaking symphony. My head rested against the seat while I sucked in the various sounds. I could find a beat, a rhythm. Whether it be from the trains screeching underground, or the yelling of an old man outside of his brick building. There was just so much to take in, so much to hear.