Alysm (Banana Fish X OC)

Prologue

Ash was engrossed in his book at the New York Public Library when a group of rowdy teens walked in. He tried to only spare them a glance of annoyance, but a dark skinned girl with long curly hair, no taller than 5'5 smacked an older brunette boy on the back, signaling for him to be quiet.

The boy smiled sheepishly and nodded at the smaller girl's request, and the group of five split off in different directions in search of the things they needed.

Although the rest of the group was dressed in normal New York street styles, the curly haired girl stood out like a sore thumb with her large round glasses, green sweater adorned with white flowers and a long cream colored dress. Her curly hair fell loosely around her shoulders and stopped a little ways past her waist, and a bright smile was plastered on her face.

Ash tried to go back to his book, but he simply couldn't. Instead he found his eyes watching the girl as she scanned a bookshelf near his table, her brows furrowed and bottom lip poked out. 

'Hm, cute.' Ash thought.

He thought he was being discreet, but the girl's brown eyes caught his in an instant and she gave him a bright smile.

His breath hitched in his throat as he struggled to gain his composure. Ash quickly looked away and tried to find interest in his book, but he felt a pair of eyes watching him, as someone moved to sit across from him.

He looked up to see the young girl staring at him with a small smile on her face.

"Salinger, good choice," the girl whispered, looking at the book in Ash's hand.

Ash quirked his eyebrow and continued staring at the girl without saying anything.

"Sorry for interrupting your reading," she started sheepishly. "You caught my eye and anyone who enjoys Salinger is worth getting to know in my opinion," she finished.

Ash was hesitant to make conversation. On one hand, she looked sweet, innocent, pure. The way she dressed and wore a big smile on her face like a badge of honor rubbed him the wrong way. It seemed as if she was a movie character, not quite adjusted to the harsh reality of the real world.

On the other hand, her eyes were genuine and kind, but not naïve. It wasn't fair to assume that she was ignorant and blissful because her eyes told the tales of a thousand stars. Her eyes were screaming in a way that her soft demeanor seemed incapable of. It felt as if she was a caged bird.

"Well I would understand why you'd think that. Not many people appreciate his works. He's a literary genius," Ash replied, reluctantly giving into her wish for conversation.

The girl nodded and looked in the other direction, catching sight of one of the people from the group she walked in with. She sighed and stood up from her seated position and gave a small parting wave.

"I hope to see you around blondie. I can tell you come here often," she mused, walking away without waiting for a response.

Ash watched the sway of her hips as she gracefully walked over to a tall girl with short hair. He watched as she smiled brightly as she laid eyes upon her shorter friend and he sighed. The taller girl was obviously in love.

Realizing that he had been ignoring his responsibilities for long enough, he decided to pack up and leave the library. 

This did not go unnoticed by the girl seated with him before, as she saw that he had left his reading glasses on the table.

Politely excusing herself from her friend, she grabbed the glasses and speed walked out of the library, desperately searching for the blonde who she had yet to learn the name of.

"Excuse me!" she said, now running towards the blonde.

He looked at her with a raised eyebrow but caught sight of his glasses in her perfectly manicured hand. He almost wanted to scoff. She was a rich girl, blissfully unaware of the hardships of the common people in New York.

"You left your glasses. I just wanted to return them," she said, handing them over.

"By the way," she continued. "My name is Nicole. I never got yours,"

"Ash Lynx," he responded, giving her a neutral expression.

His nonchalant demeanor didn't stop Nicole from giving her infamous smile as she nodded her head. He realized that this girl didn't belong in the city. She wasn't made for the streets of New York. She belonged somewhere safer, away from the violence and gang activity.

Ash turned to walk away, but stopped for one last remark.

"Wherever you moved here from, you should go back. You aren't built for this city. I suggest you run now before it swallows you whole,"

Without giving Nicole a chance to respond, he walked away to attend to his other responsibilities leaving the young girl stunned and unable to respond.