𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗩𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 (𝙵𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝙱𝚡𝙱)

Track 57 | 𝗔 𝗗𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗴𝗲

"How often do you go into the city?"

"Well... not that often, but I still go."

Ari shrugged. 

Then it hit me, in that exact moment: Ari isn't at all the type to explore. He's never shown any true interest in seeing the world outside of where he's been, despite having been all over. And then I began to realize... he's never been interested because he's never been able to see himself making it anywhere far. Ari remained stuck in one place for so much of his life that the concept of going anywhere further was completely nonexistent to him.

It was a sad realization to have in the middle of a screeching, bustling train car.

"...We're gonna make an afternoon out of it," I told him, rubbing his shoulder. "New York City is insane. There's so many ways to spend time and money there. We'll do some fun stuff before the campus tour."

Ari looked up at me with a hopeful glimmer in his eyes, despite the tension in his face. He wasn't too keen on the plan, but he was willing to take a leap of faith if it meant I was there by his side.

"...Or we can just ditch the tour entirely," he cracked with a perky head tilt.

"No. We're going to that tour."

Ari sucked his teeth. "Worth a shot."

The tour was at six o'clock and we arrived near Union Square around 4:45, giving us plenty of time to do whatever. As we climbed up the stairs and emerged onto the smoky streets of New York City, I watched as a visible wave of enchantment washed over Ari completely. His eyes widened like two golf balls as he circled around himself, getting a full 360° view. 

He stood there in the eye of the storm like a gobsmacked tourist, knocked back again and again by heavy winds of rushed pedestrians carrying Starbucks cups, briefcases, photo cameras, mini-purses, and so much more. No two people were alike here. I found his astonishment adorable.

"You okay?" I laughed, touching his back gently.

"Wh—Yeah, I-I'm," Ari stammered, trying to get his thoughts in order. "Wow."

"Yeah, I know, right?" I had to raise my voice in order for him to hear me over all the sirens and shouting and revving vehicles. He reached for his hearing aid and spun the volume dial down by a substantial amount.

"It smells like weed," he laughed, finally unveiling that genuine smile I'd been aching to see again.

"Yeah, that's New York City for you." I grabbed his shoulder and held my arm out, presenting the concrete urban jungle to him with flare like it was a whole new world. "This would all technically be your campus, you know."

"All of it?"

"Yes, dude. All of it." I took a gander of my own. It's been a while since I last visited, but being here with Ari made me fall back in love with it all over again. I'd forgotten how important of a city it was. "I mean, you'd thrive here. There's a million things you can do in a day, imagine what four years would be like. This city is... like, a million cities. There's so much life in every corner. It's... everything and everyone, all together, all at once."

"EXCUSE ME!" Some random lady yelled at us, severely frightening Ari and me. We jumped back and allowed the grouchy woman to storm past, stomping heavily like a gorilla and leaving flaming footsteps in the ground behind her. 

"...And it's loud. It's really, really loud."

"No wonder they call it the city that never sleeps," Ari chuckled as we both collected ourselves.