𝑺𝑰𝑷𝑯𝑶𝑵, 𝑻. 𝑪𝑯𝑨𝑳𝑨𝑴𝑬𝑻 .・゜゜・

chapter one. amsterdam ave

︵‿︵‿୨♡୧‿︵‿︵

the bell rang after the day's last period, sounds of freedom filling the hallways of laguardia high as students left the room at the same pace they had entered the previous hour, leaving the musical theatre room looking anything but untouched. desks were crooked and chairs were still sat in a circle after the last script runthrough the junior class had just went through in order for the musical to be as perfect as it could possibly be. in between said wooden desks a blonde head of hair could be seen peeking through the small space between the wooden surfaces.

there sat june howard, desperately attempting to find a system within her own messy notes that she had clumsily dropped from her desk only a minute or so before. with a bookbag draped across her shoulder, a handful of pens clamped in her palm and books pressed against her chest, she had managed to lose control of everything she was holding, and the notebook filled with loose papers had opened within the grip she had thought was a tight one. while trying to gather the music notes and doodled papers, she lost track of her time. once she was finally finished putting the papers where they belonged, she stood back up on her feet, brushing off dust from her knees, but with no luck. the black stockings that were covering her legs underneath her red plaid skirt were now a shade of dimgrey where she had sat. with a short sigh, she stepped out of the musical theatre room and hurried towards her locker.

the young girl had a shift at the movie theatre in only a short 45 minutes, and there was no way she could afford losing another train and show up late to her after school job - it had happened one too many times, and her boss was fed up by it.

her feet took her in a pace that only determination could, and she reached her locker within what felt like no time. shortly after, her pens and notebooks were messily thrown into the metal cupboard and locked in a swift motion. she really had no time to lose, not while knowing her job was at stake. the train station was multiple blocks away, where broadway and amsterdam ave met, and although it was most likely an impossible mission to be able to reach the train in the seven last minutes she had, she still had some hope left in her that maybe, just maybe, she'd be able to jump on the train the last seconds. she just had to run for her life.

and so she did. with a pace that not even her pe teacher had seen before, she ran up amsterdam ave, passing boule & cherie where she would get herself a croissant the morning of her paychecks and hastily sliding between tourists in front of ehrlich wines & spirits where she could remember her dad buying a bottle of cheap prosecco for last year's new years eve. there were people everywhere. it was 3pm on a mid-may tuesday, and both tourists and locals were waiting to get in line for the broadway show that had premiered the previous friday.

during her attempt to slide in between all the strangers like a spy, she wasn't paying much attention to where she was going. all june knew to think about was her destination, which was now no more than a block and a half away from where she was running. picking up her speed even more, her bookbag, which had slipped off her shoulder and was now only held up by her bent elbow, occasionally being dragged along the asphalt on the sidewalk.

once the train station was within sight's reach, the front of her train was too. '1 south ferry' the train read, and june's eyes widened as she realized she might not be able to make it after all the hassle.

but june howard was not one to give up so easily.

she ran so fast she could feel wind blowing through her blonde locks, even on a day where the wind stood completely still and the sun was so bright that you'd get sunburnt within a matter of only minutes. hopeful and determined, she ran until her short legs could no longer take it. short of breath and with bright red cheeks she watched the train leave the station and her one chance of getting to her job was gone. it was clear that yet again, she'd show up late to work and cause her boss to work overtime purely due to her own stupidity. it was humiliating, especially considering it wasn't her first time, and it definitely wouldn't be her last.

after catching up on her breath and feeling her heartrate go back to normal, she turned her heels and began her journey back down amsterdam ave, only this time with her head hanging low. thin locks of her blonde hair hung in front of her forehead, causing her vision to be partly blocked. the dread of seeing her boss' disappointment another time had absolutely killed her usual energy, and as if she was a polar opposite to who she had been only minutes before, she walked in a slow pace. what excuse would she use this time?

little did she know that things wouldn't turn out the way she had imagined, because somehow a power above had heard her silent prayers.

as she was about to pass the starbucks on the start of the street where her school was located, she looked up, pushing the blonde locks that had been blocking her sight behind her ears. in front of her stepped a young male out from the door, an iced drink of some sort in his hand and a laguardia gym bag crossed his body from one side to the other. furrowing her eyebrows to try and recognize the boy, he turned his head her way, dark curls peeking out from underneath his cap. timothée chalamet.

timothée was only a year older than june. she had recognized him from the first day she had gone to laguardia. the boy who was a sophomore back then had helped her musical theatre teacher set up some props for the freshmen's first improv practice along with some other students from his grade, and ever since that day, she had kept noticing him in the hallways. the two had even talked a couple of times, but she doubted that he would ever recognize her from those small conversations.

"timothée?" she spoke up before she could even think. it was as if her brain had made a new plan for her without her own consent, because it was definitely out of character of her to speak to a guy she had crushed on for so long. but here she was - trying to conversate with him.

the tall, fair skinned boy was clearly perplexed by who had talked to him, but upon meeting the smaller girl's blue eyes, he took one earbud out. "what?" he asked, his eyebrows tensing into confusion.

"i was just wondering if you knew at what time the next train to hell's kitchen would leave?" she asked, still mad at herself for even doing such a thing. in fact, she wanted to facepalm herself until she got an everlasting migraine, but doing that in front of him definitely wouldn't help her attempt at not seeming like an absolute fool. "or a bus, anything works really.. as long as i can get to the amc empire before 3:45," she added.

he raised his eyebrows, looking up for a bit as he was thinking. "i don't know, i haven't checked. i think in half an hour?" he told her, although clearly questioning how truthful his own words were.

"half an hour?" she suddenly exclaimed, an increase in her voice's volume.

"you have anywhere to be?"

june pursed her lips, looking down at her feet, furrowing her eyebrows in annoyance of the sudden increase of her own volume. "i have to be at work really soon, and i'm terrified of coming in too late," she explained.

"split gas money?" timothée asked, causing june to tilt her head in confusion.

"what do you mean?" she brought herself to ask.

"i'm offering you a ride."

and so began the most awkward three dollar car ride of june howard's seventeen years of life. in between small talk about laguardia and new york, short and awkward silences would occur, but for the most part, they conversated as if they were friends that hadn't seen eachother for a while. timothée told her about an acting gig he had recently got that he was excited about, and she also learned that they had both grown up in the hell's kitchen area. he would spend his years in manhattan, and his summers outside of lyon. timothée spoke with such passion, as if acting was his true love. the blonde was mesmerized by his devotion for what he loved, and knew that one day, he would become something big in the industry purely due to the way he talked with such enthusiasm and intensity.

the two of them rode through the streets of manhattan toghether until the amc empire 25 was in reach of sight, where june politely thanked the older male for the ride and rushed herself into work.

thank you so much to those of you who have already voted and read the intro ++ for being so patient with this story. i'm aware that this part was pretty dry, but it'll pick up by the next chapter !!