Girl Meets The Real World

Girl Meets Crazy Hat

A regular person would stay home during a thunderstorm.

But since I hung out with Riley and Maya, being normal was not an option. So we had to take the subway during the biggest thunderstorm of the year- all because they wouldn't cancel school for a rain day.

As we entered the subway, I noticed the lady that always sat on the same bench wearing the same hat every day.

"There she is again," Riley said.
"Crazy Hat's always here," Maya added. Crazy Hat eyed some people as they walked in front of her bench like they were something strange.

"What do you think her deal is?" Riley wondered aloud. "Former movie star? Olympic figure skater?"

Maya and I nodded to ourselves. "Bum on the bench," I deduced. Riley pushed some wet hair out of her face.

"But look at how she looks at everyone," she said. Crazy Hat kept looking warily at the people who walked by her. "What goes on in a head like hers?"

I shrugged. "I guess we'll never know." Maya took it upon herself to find out. "Hey Crazy Hat- what goes on in your head?"

"Aaand the adventure begins," I muttered. Crazy Hat looked over at us.

"You and you and you. Come over here. I'm gonna teach you about life," she said. Maya willingly walked over and sat down but Riley stayed behind. I followed Maya.

"Can't," Riley said. "Stranger. If you want me to sit on the bench, I'm going to need three forms of identification." She held up three fingers. An officer behind us had overheard, because he assured Riley that she was alright.

"Okay, Copper," she grinned.
"That's Officer Copper to you," he told her gruffly. Riley came to sit while the officer talked to Crazy Hat.

"Mornin', Evelyn," he greeted. Oh, so that's her name, I thought. "Never gonna stop raining, is it?"

"That's okay, Eugene. These three little dollies are about to give me one of their designer ponchos," she said confidently. I pulled one of the bright green trash bags out of Riley's backpack.

"They're garbage bags," I explained. "You hafta cut a hole in the top." Officer Eugene smiled knowingly at me.

"Ah, so you can breathe." I shook my head. "So that the garbage man doesn't throw you out," I corrected.

Maya smirked. "That happened."
"I was yelling- he didn't care," Riley sighed.
"We rescued her from the truck," I grinned at the memory.

Evelyn looked at us strangely, but we didn't stop telling our garbage tale. "They chased me all the way to 33rd street. One of them even had to talk the driver into believing that I was actually in the garbage bag," Riley recalled.

Officer Eugene looked impressed. "Wow, now that is a friend. Me, I don't chase nobody for nothin'."

Maya looked up at the officer. "Well, what if I stole a banana?" She asked. Officer Eugene frowned.

"Then I'd be very disappointed in you," he warned. Maya dropped her gaze and looked shamefully at the floor. "Okay..."

Evelyn decided to speak up. "I have observed that you three are very good friends."

"Don't miss a thing, do ya Crazy Hat?" Maya deadpanned. "No I don't," Evelyn agreed.

"Now you're about to be late for school and I'm about to be late for addressing the United Nations!" She declared. Wait. How did she know about school? Eh, whatever.