Coney Island Baby, New York City, 8:30 PM.

Reality in Motion - Tame Impala

"Dude, your shoes untied," Katie mentioned to Troy looking down at the worn out wooden floor and Troy's scuffed black Converse.

Troy's eyes hovered above his wet laces. "That fucking rain," muttered Troy bending down on one knee to lace up his shoe. "I hope Mark gets here on time. He really wanted to see these guys." Troy stretched as he looked over the audience captivated on their phones.

"He said he was on the L so..."

"Oh well, he's fucked."

Troy had been to Coney Island Baby only once before, but it was a nice, little venue for local bands around the area (or from Brooklyn). CIB comprised of a small narrow hallway (if you'd like) with a bar stretching down the length. The seating was covered with red velvet, and the lighting reminded Troy of a crappy Halloween haunted house, the kind someone created two days prior in their basement. But hey at least they had Corona.

Troy pulled his wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans and stretched it open, worried he wouldn't have enough money for booze later tonight.

$20 and an expired NJTransit ticket. He was good to go.

"I'm shocked you got away with that fake, Troy." A familiar voice sneered from behind both Katie and Troy. They both peered back to see a young, tall man with curly black hair and Lennon-like glasses gazing above them. Mark.

"What's up, you slut." Mark greeted Troy hugging him as Mark breathed in Troy's hair which while odd was normal between these two for a reason Katie had forgotten entirely.

"Dove Men?" asked Marked.

"Old Spice Swagger," replied Troy. "I can't tell yours?"

"It's called Ocean from Bath & Body Works." gleefully replied Mark. "Jess got it for my birthday."

"Well, aren't you a fancy boi." laughed Katie taking a sip from her Corona.

"So it worked for you?" inquired Mark point at Katie's beer.

"Nikki vouched for me."

"God, I thought she only knew everyone in Bushwick. Is she here?"

"Unfortunately no. She's taking care of her roommate she got attacked this morning." Katie mentioned as the lights slowly began to dim. "Apparently while she was giving a tour of campus and then this like girl passing her group heard this guy walking by making fun of how small she was and straight out beat him.

"And she got hit for that?" asked Troy confused

"Honestly, I have no clue. I'll text her later about it.

"Hello everyone thank you for..."

Apartment 5A, Upper East Side, 9:34 PM.

This Must Be the Place - Talking Heads

The trio slowly made their into the apartment building as the warmth of the heater above them struck every frozen nerve in their bodies,

"Why do people do Cranberry covers?" moaned Katie as she flipped her parka off her head and tossing it on the wall rack next to the door.

"Because Zombie is super easy to sing," Mark replied as he pulled his phone out viewing the photos he'd taken from the night.

"Do you wanna just stay here to smoke this? I really don't feel like going to the park in this weather," asked Troy pulling a crudely rolled joint out of his pocket; something that both Mark and Katie noticed immediately. "Alright, I know, okay? At least I tried, damn it."

"Yeah, at LEAST you tried." Laughed Katie plucking the joint from Troy as she made their way from the kitchen across to the living room.

"We're gonna be okay here right?" asked Mark a bit timid looking up from his photos.

"I really don't know why you asked that every time we do this. The alarms don't work here."

"Because I'm a nervous fack. That's why."

Troy pulled his black jacket off and threw it on the table in the kitchen as he joined Katie and Mark on the couch.

The apartment was Troy and Mark's since the end of their freshmen year at Pace. It was a tiny apartment with a small kitchen area that connected to a small area that they dubbed their living room with a crappy blue couch they found thrown out by someone else living in their building, a bean bag, a stolen coffee table from Starbucks, and a tv on top of a vintage storage chest. A large Manchester City flag flew above the couch as their crappy white fan blew back and forth.

"Should we order something before we smoke this?" asked Katie just about to lit the joint with her lighter.

"Oh, good call," replied Troy looking at his phone. "What are you guys feeling?"

"I could kill for Indian?" suggested Mark pursing his lips like Elon Musk smoking a joint.

"No, just let's just do pizza," Katie recommended as she lit the joint taking the first hit. Troy watched feeling a bit annoyed seeing as he had rolled the joint, even though it was rolled terribly.

"I second that." Troy quickly remarked raising his hand.

"God, you assholes ALWAYS want to do pizza." Mark rolled his eyes as he took the joint from Katie and laid back in the couch.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Nikki?" asked Katie attempting to blow the smoke away.

"Yeah, open up." a reply was heard from behind the door. Troy jumped off the couch and opened the door.

"Hey." smiled Nikki hugging Troy as he closed the door behind her. She took off her colorful windbreaker and threw it on top of his jacket.

"Are we doing pizza?" Nikki asked making her way to Troy's seat and stealing it from him as he still stood at the door in disbelief.

45 MINUTES LATER.

All Caps - Madvillain, Madlib & MF DOOM

"I am not watching Air Bud again, Mark." groaned Troy as he sat back in the uncomfortable kitchen seat he dragged over.

"You're just ignorant and don't want to see a dog succeed in a sport," replied Mark as he passed the joint to Nikki who sat pretzel style on the couch.

"Troy, there is nothing in the rulebook that says that dogs can't play soccer," exclaimed Katie laughing too hard at what she'd said.

"Listen, I just can't watch Air Bud for a fif-"

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

"Jesus fuck," Nikki said startled almost dropping the joint. "I fucking hate your doorbell.."

"Yeah, same." Troy got up and pushed the speaker button. He'd forgotten that the intercom system was busted since Wednesday. "Fuck, okay who's going down there to-" By the time Troy turned around, all three had their fingers on their noses.

"Don't worry, Air Bud will be on by the time you're back up, fucker." Mark gleefully picked up the remote as the Netflix sound boomed from the tv.

Troy groaned and put his Converse back on and grabbed his keys off the counter and made his way down the hallway to the elevator. He was pretty high, but he was always the one picked to go down and grab food since he always looked the least stoned. He reached the elevator and stepped in as he pressed the main floor.

Troy made his way out of the elevator and across the lobby to open the door to a man on a bike holding his pizza.

"Thanks appreciate it, man." Troy smiled as he handed the man the cash. The man nodded.

"ママ、私はすでにあなたに言った。私はショーが好きだった!"

Troy's ears perked as he heard the loud voice wondering where the hell it was coming from. He looked across the street to at the much more lavished apartment building that had just been completed, towering over all the other buildings on the block and standing out with its luxurious modern finishes.

The voice had belonged to a tiny girl with curly orange hair who was accompanied by her mom. She wore a green button-down shirt and a brown button up skirt with matching high boots. Her mother(?) wore a purple sweater with simple black dress pants. It almost sounded as if they were fighting, but Troy couldn't tell. He stood there as the black cab that had dropped them off drove off to the light at the end of the street. The two of them rushed into the building to avoid the dismal conditions, however as the door behind them close, Troy noticed something on the ground fluttering near the sideway; a Playbill?

Yeah, it was a Playbill.

Troy placed the pizza on his hip as he carefully walked across the street to avoid slipping and ruining the precious pie. He carefully picked up the playbill to exam it further. I was slightly ruined by the wet snow on the ground, but Troy wiped off any residue on his pants. He looked at the front to find a green witch grinning at him. It was a Playbill for Wicked.

"Aw, she saw Wicked," Troy said smiling flipping through the pages. He saw it once when he was a kid, he wasn't really into theatre, but almost everyone saw Wicked at least once in their lives. He probably should return this to the guy in the lobby of this apartment so the girl could get it from him. He wondered how upset she must have been by now realizi-

"ねえ、あなたはばかだ!"

"Wha-" wondered Troy looking up to see the girl from earlier eying him down from across the street in standoff positions.

Then he noticed her wooden sword.

"HEY," shouted Troy pointing at the girl. "D-DON'T EVEN TRY THAT SHIT."

"それは私のものです!" yelled the girl rushing off the sidewalk and into the street. Her eyes pierced the environment with a fire that sparked with each step she took. Her voice breaking the silence of the night as he rushed into battle with Troy who had accepted the idea that he was going to half to fight this bitch while holding a pizza.

Well, until she slipped on the ice and fell on her face.

Troy bite his lip wanting to hold back the laughter but eventually let it out. He slowly walked back into the street in front of the girl. He made sure to step on her sword or whatever so she couldn't use it.

"Uh, do you speak Engli-" asked Troy still slightly freaked out.

"YEAH. I DO." the girl exclaimed. "THAT." She pointed at the Playbill in Troy's other hand.

"Yeah, I know. It's yours. I literally was going to go over and hand this in your lobby. Until you..."

"WELL YOU SHOULDN'T HAV-"

"I don't care. Seriously, take this and just let me be. Please?" Troy interrupted flying the Playbill in her face. He looked down at her legs and noticed a cut on her knee.

She swiped the Playbill from his hands so quickly Troy hadn't even noticed as she attempted to get up while trying to hold back her pain.

"Uh, do you need a band-aid or something?" asked Troy making some space for her as she picked herself up. The girl gave Troy a look of disgust and marched back into her apartment building with her sword and Playbill in hand.

Troy watched from the middle of the street as he disappeared through the doors and into the elevator giving him one last glan-

"TROY, YOU FUCK. GET UP HERE WITH MY PIZZA." screamed Mark out of their fifth-floor window at Troy in the middle of the street.

FIVE MINUTES LATER.

The Picture - Ty Segall

Troy sighed as he threw his jacket and keys on the counter and placed the pizza on the table in front of his roommate and friends.

"How long were you down there? What the hell happened?" asked Nikki as she popped the box open and took the first piece.

"Don't fucking ask me." sighed Troy sinking back in his crappy seat as the heat consumed his body.

Mark shrugged and looked back at the tv. "Oh, shit. This is the scene where Air Bud proves the other team wrong."

"Isn't that every movie?" Katie mentioned as she passed the joint to Troy.

"Please don't ruin this for me. You have no idea how much this movie means to me, goddamnit."

"Nikki, you still need to tell us about this girl!"

Nikki perked up in her seat on the couch and smiled as she was mentioned.

"Listen, my roommate got slaughtered by this girls punch. Okay so they're in the middle of giving a tour of campus, and they're in the middle of the park, right? So apparently this prospective kid sees this girl looking at the fountain and made some sort of joke or something thinking she didn't hear him. But she DOES, and she literally turns around and kicks this kid straight in the groin. So he goes down, and my roommate does the responsible thing and runs over to see if he's okay and as she turns around to see who'd hurt him, she gets a fist right in her jaw. She this girl was like just 5 feet. Well, anyways the dude had to be rushed to ER."

Troy gulped. He could feel a tingle strike his very core as Nikki spoke.

No, there was no in hell he ran into the same girl. Almost 9 million people are living in NYC. There is no way in hell it was the same girl.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Oh, sweet Jesus," muttered Troy feeling his skin grow pale. He immediately hopped over Nikki and Mark on the couch, hiding behind it out of pure fear of what stood behind their door.

"Oh, okay," Mark said calmly "Not going to ask what that was about." Mark made his way to the door opening it.

Troy covered his mouth holding in his breath from exposing him.

"Yeah, uh he's not here.." Mark could be heard saying to the figure in the doorframe.

"NAH, HE'S OVER HERE!" shouted Katie sticking out her tongue and tugging on Troy's hair as he yelped in pain.

Troy stood up to see just what he expected; that goddamn girl.

AN AWKWARD WALK TO THE ELEVATOR LATER.

Epiphany Fields - scntfc

It turned out that she did need the bandaid, but she felt like Troy owed her the band-aid as retribution for forcing her to fall on ice all by herself. A choice she made. But, hey. Retribution.

And, boy, was it an awkward elevator ride.

"Uh, so you speak Japanese?" Troy coughed up as he looked straightforward at the elevator.

"Yup." the girl replied short.

"And uh, I guess this is your first time in New York?"

"Yes."

"So uh, how do you like living her"

"Please, just stop."

"Yeah, I know."

They both exited the elevator and walked across the lobby.

She sighed as Troy held the door open for her. God, she so damn short.

"Did you enjoy Wicked?"

"What?"

"Wicked, you saw Wicked, right?"

"Oh, uh, yes. It was nice."

"Yeah, I was so excited when I saw it around your age too." Smiled Troy as they made their way down the steps.

The girl stopped in her footsteps.

"How old do you think I am?" she exclaimed seeming pretty angry.

"Uh...not thirteen?"

BAM.

"I'M EIGHTEEN, YOU ASS." She yelled as she massaged her knuckles after popping Troy in the stomach.

"Okay...okay...sorry..." Troy puffed out as he tried to suck in the blow she gave him.

She gave him a glance as he looked up at her which for some reason made her cheeks grow red. She immediately regained her posture and walked ahead of him.

"Hold up," Troy called her out as he tried to catch up. "God, you've got a punch...can you at least tell me your name."

The girl stopped in her tracks, prompting Troy to do the same.

"Taiga." she sighed turning around to face him.

"Troy." he extended his hand.

The two of them shook hands as awkwardly as possible. It was uncomfortable for everyone. Including you.

"How's your knee," asked Troy as the two continued to keep walking.

"Is that seriously your question?"

"Yeah, I mean, it looked like you fell pretty hard.

"It stings. I just need this band-aid."

"Can you walk two blocks?"

She nodded as they crossed the street.

"So, are you Japanese?"

"Yeah."

"Well, your English is impeccable." Troy complimented her as they made the CVS store shined a block away.

"Thank you." She replied as they waited for the cars passing by to come to a halt. "It smelt bad in your apartment."

"Oh, uh, yeah."

"Were you all cooking?"

"I was holding a pizza when you attacked me."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot."

The two finally crossed into the CVS and wandered through the medical area looking for band-aids.

"So, you're like on vacation too, right?" asked Troy as he pulled a pack of bandaids off the rack.

"Uh, yeah sort of," Taiga replied looking down at her feet.

"Well, you picked the right place to visit. Visit the WTC yet?"

"WTC?"

"World Trade Center."

"Oh, not yet." She replied acting awkward as they both approached the girl at the counter.

"If you're doing any of the touristy stuff, make sure to do that. The wait can be a bit annoying, but it's worth it." Troy explained as he paid for her band-aids, handing them to her as the girl rung him up.

The two of them left the store and crossed the street together as the walk sign turned on.

"Thank you for these." Taiga thanked Troy as they both crossed.

"Least I can do for you?" Troy responded confused as to why he even needed to buy a girl who attempted to attack him band-aids in the first place. But whatever, it wasn't that much.

"So, do you have any friends or family with you here in the city?"

Taiga nodded no.

"No friends, just me and my mom."

"Oh, that's nice."

As the two finally made it to their street, Taiga gave a slight bow in front Troy. "Thank you for the band-aids."

"Don't worry about it, dude." Troy smiled and looked up the apartment building.

"Jesus Christ, this building is massive."

"That was my first thought when I saw the city."

"Yeah, I bet it looks different the first time you see it."

"You're from here originally?"

"Yeah, Brooklyn formerly."

"So you're not from New York?

"No, yes I am."

"What," Taiga asked annoyed and perplexed.

"Okay, so look." Troy held his hand and extended his fingers out for her to look. "So this whole hand is New York, but it's made up of five boroughs; Manhattan, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens, and Staten Island. But we don't really count the last one."

"Why?"

"That's not important. But anyways, my family lives in Brooklyn and but I live here for school."

Taiga nodded trying to understand. She was still unclear about Staten Island though.

"Anyways, I bet you're exhausted and aching to put those on. So, uh it was nice meeting you, Taiga." Troy extended his hand once more but this time in the form of a fist bump. Taiga smiled back at him and bumped it.

"Thanks, Troy."

"Now if you don't mind, I'll be heading back up to watch Air Bud." Troy started making his way across the street.

"What's Air Bud?" Taiga asked before Troy could take another step.

"You've never seen Air Bud?"

"No, what is it."

Troy nodded and held up a finger at Taiga (which personally offended and enraged the girl) and looked up at the window.

"HEY MARK"

Mark opened up the window and peered below the street.

"WHAT"

"SHE'S NEVER SEEN AIR BUD BEFORE."

"OH SHIT. BRING HER UP." Mark popped his head back in and closed the window. Troy looked back at her.

"Would you like to watch a movie about a dog who plays soccer with a bunch of kids?" Troy asked Taiga whose eyes lit up the moment he said dog.

Thanks.