Constant-Alec Benjamin

Equating.

He dropped everything on the floor and stared at the man in front of him in complete and utter disbelief. The man shrugged his shoulders and disappeared behind the counter and Alec wished he could do the same. As he sat down on the floor with millions of thought echoing in his brain threatening tears in the corner of his eyes, he did the first thing that came to his mind. He called his mother. And then he bawled. Because was his music this worthless that it wasn't even worth one measly sandwich.

Unbeknownst to him a young girl in a pale silk dress observed him from the corner of her eye. She knew it was wrong to stare at him, and to eavesdrop, but it seemed like he was everywhere. He was in her classes at UCSF, and then he had disappeared. Maybe she did admire the quiet boy who sat in front of her in her General Chemistry class. As she listened to his quiet sobs, her questions were answered. He was a drop out. That explained why he stopped showing to class. And all the random music playing the streets. She saw him asking people to sing for them twice, and both times she wished he'd ask her. 

His music was worth more than a sandwich. And as she realized that anger coursed through her veins. She made her way to the counter and bought a sandwich, a drink, and a cookie alongside that. Then she removed a pen and a piece of note paper from her bag. She wrote him a note saying how she though his music was absolutely phenomenal, and how a sandwich wasn't an equal trade. She dropped the food and the note next to him as he was still on the phone. He looked up, about to object, but she wasn't staring at him. 

She was staring at the man who had rejected his coupon. She smiled at him. Alec was confused. Then she brought her fist back, and through it forward so that it connected with the guy's jaw. As he doubled back in pain behind the counter, she blew on her bleeding knuckles. 

Then she stared him in the eyes and said something he'd never forget, "You should've never even started to compare a piece of you to something that has nothing but nutritional value".

At that moment he wanted to write a song. But he never got around to it as the girl with the pale blue silk dress disappeared amongst the crowd of people in Deli, and on to the street. Her arms, he had noticed were covered with biology notes and her bag littered with ink stains. Her messy black curls were in this weird braid that didn't even pull back most of them. 

But he couldn't forget her voice. 

Which is why when he saw her 3 years later, he immediately knew who it was.