To Be Young And In Love In New York City

Chapter 7: "It's Illegal To Date Your Professor?"

Cold wind gusted through Niki's curly, black hair, messing up its position and making it fly. New York City was cold that night; Niki pulled her jacket closer to her body and rested her hands on Jay's waist. Taking a swift turn, his motorcycle roared through the streets, sending chills down her spine; whether they were from the cold or the speed was unknown to her.

The concert turned out to be a blast; you could tell by how Niki couldn't stop squealing after it had ended. Jay laughed at her but Niki knew deep down that he wanted to do the same thing. The only disappointing thing was that the band didn't perform Niki and Jay's favourite song, Slow Rain, but the ending part of the concert where the band just played their songs and danced with the crowd with confetti barging out of machines and falling on them like rain made up for it.

They also managed to grab some merchandise; hoodies, t-shirts, caps, and temporary tattoos with the band's symbol and name on them. After stuffing their purchases into Jay's backpack, they walked out of the building and down a street where Jay had parked his motorcycle. He explained to her that parking in the lot would lead to nothing but wastage of time and loss of patience.

"You'd be surprised to know how much time you can save by parking just a little further away from the concert hall," He added.

"Isn't it beautiful tonight?" Niki commented when they reached the place where the motorcycle was parked. Jay grabbed his helmet and looked up, his eyes landing on the skyscrapers far away from them, glimmering against the night sky.

It was indeed beautiful, after all, it was New York City, a place no one could ever get used to.

Something flashed in Jay's eyes as if he had realized something. He blinked several times and slowly turned his head to Niki. "Do you....do you want to get a better view?"

"From where?"

"From a place I know, it's pretty close by."

She grabbed the second helmet and placed it on her head. "Sure."

"Hop on, then."

So there they were, both seated on Jay's motorcycle, Niki's hands on Jay's waist and his gripping the handle as he skillfully dodged each vehicle, moving further onto the road. Ten minutes later, the motorcycle pulled over in front of an old building. Niki slid down from the vehicle and looked up at the building, mentally counting the number of floors.

Fifteen.

"What is this place?" She asked, taking off her helmet and handing it to Jay.

He shrugged. "I'm not sure but we're not supposed to be here, so you're gonna have to be really quiet when we go in."

Niki arched an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

Jay smiled. "Don't worry, I've done this a thousand times."

She smirked. "Didn't quite take you for a bad boy, Jay."

He chuckled, pushing his hair back. "I'm not a bad boy, I just really like this place. Now come on, let's go in. Remember, be really quiet and don't touch anything."

He cautiously opened a little gray door and let Niki and himself in. It was dark inside, next to nothing visible except a chair and the area leading up to it from a window that was channeling orange light on to it. Jay gripped Niki's shoulder and gently pulled her along as he hobbled around. Niki didn't understand how he had sense of direction in such darkness but knew that it wasn't the right time to question him.

"Do we have to climb fifteen floors?" She whispered, as she took watchful steps in the direction he was guiding her.

"Of course not," He whispered back, extending out his hand to silently pat random objects until it found what he was looking for: a door. His hand slid down and landed on a door knob. Heaving a sigh of relief, he opened the door. Nudging Niki in, he closed the door behind them and reached for his phone. Flashlight shone, causing Niki to squint as she rapidly blinked, forcing her eyes to adjust to the light. When they did, she made sense of where they were standing. It was an elevator; an old one, with cow webs hanging on the edges and dust particles dancing in the air. Niki wrinkled her nose as the dust flew into her nose and let out a small cough.