Haley With the Hazel Eyes

Chapter One: As Usual

A/N: I know you guys are used to a breakneck pace from me, but my life isn't conducive to that anymore. I've had major family upheavals, and moved from coast to coast to coast in the past year. Anyway, I'll update when I can, so please be patient, okay? I'm also trying to stretch a little, get back to my Pete & Daisy pace of writing, where the characters are a little more developed, the plot a little denser. Lately I've been writing novella style stuff, and I really want to write a long, convoluted story. So, bear with me, yeah?

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Why was dining hall food so yuck?

Haley grimaced as she took another bite of her lasagne. Around her, the NYU cafeteria buzzed with conversation as the students caught up with each other's lives, made plans for the weekend, and generally made a loud, happy noise.

"Oh, come on, the food's not that bad." Molly smiled at Haley, correctly reading her mind and facial expression.

"Please, it tastes like pressed toad," Haley responded, listlessly poking her fork in her food, as if trying to stab it to death.

"And how do you know what pressed toad tastes like, anyway?" Molly countered, flicking her hair out of her eyes.

"Call it a wild guess." Haley smiled at her friend. "Still, I suppose it does have nutrition and calories, so I'd better eat it." She resolutely took another bite of the loathsome lasagne.

Molly leaned forward and forked a bite of Haley's lasagne to her mouth.

"Gah," she said, her mouth full of food. "You're right, tastes like hot garbage."

"How's yours?" Haley asked, gesturing toward Molly's hamburger.

"Not much better," Molly admitted. "Like you said, though, it's sustenance." She picked up her burger and took a bite.

"So, any glimmers for summer housing?" Molly asked, changing the subject.

Haley shook her head, blonde hair swishing. "In a little over two months, I'll officially be homeless," she told her friend. "Even with my scholarship and jobs, there's just no way to live in New York City."

"Maybe you could look in Brooklyn or Queens?" Molly suggested.

"Brooklyn and Queens are part of New York City, Chief," Haley informed Molly with a laugh.

"Staten Island?"

"Ditto." Haley shook her head again, continuing to laugh. "Plus, I think I'd die if I had to live on Staten Island, ugh."

"Really?" Molly looked surprised.

"That's why it's known as 'the five boroughs,' dingbat," Haley told her. "Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island all combine to make up New York City. You, my friend, are guilty of what most Manhattanites do, which is conflating Manhattan only with New York City."

"Well, it might as well be," Molly countered, picking up her milk and taking a drink. "I mean, no one wants to live anywhere else, do they?" To Molly, Manhattan was the center of the universe and always would be.

"Tell that to the people entering the housing lotteries to get into those new buildings in DUMBO," Haley said, shaking her head yet again.

"DUMBO?"

"Yeah, you know, the District Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass?" How did convos with Molly go off the rails so quickly? The last thing Haley wanted was to get into a philosophical discussion with Molly Whittaker on New York City geography.

"Anyway," Molly said, "sorry you don't have any place to stay this summer."

"Me too," Haley said glumly. She twirled her straw in her soda to see if there was any left.