My excitement was almost unbearable on the next day. Michael's class seemed to drag to no end. He was looking at our chosen photos and was taken forever with each student. Unlucky could be my second name, because he'd made a list and my name was the last. I'd carried my small suitcase with me because as soon as the class finished, I'd be off to New York to see my best-friend.
Tired of waiting, I glanced up at the red-haired guy. Michael was still talking with Tyrell. They'd been conversing over the last twenty minutes. Where his pictures so blatantly brilliant or the opposite? Ugh. I slumped on my seat, placing the phone on the desk ahead of me. This sucks. Especially, because after him, it was Chris' turn. His name had been scribbled right on top of mine.
The sound of a rough chuckle made me snap my head at the source. Chris' green eyes glinted amused. "I'll let you go in front of me, if you stop tapping your feet." We hadn't been able to talk because he was working on something for the movie in his laptop.
Suppressing a smile, I pressed my lips together. "I'm not being annoying." He raised an eyebrow. My lips tugged up. Gosh, I love those eyebrows. They were full and well defined. Seriously, it wasn't fair to every girl out there, who plucked theirs to make them look polished. "I'm not," I added stubbornly.
"Still, I'm feeling benign." He winked at me. "You can go ahead of me."
My eyes casted down, to the manila folder lying on his table. "Can I see them?"
He rolled his jaw for a moment, thinking it through. "Okay." He passed me the folder but Michael called his name. We both glanced at our teacher. "Michael, if you don't mind, I'm letting Farah pass ahead of me."
Michael shrugged. "Yeah, okay, whatever." He gestured me to go to him and I complied.
"Thank you," I brushed my hand on top of Chris after I stood up. My heart flipped at the crookedly-boyish smile he showed me.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He bobbed his head, staring at me with burning eyes.
I can't wait.
Michael studied my photos from every possible angle. Seriously. He tilted his head several times and raised the photo to see it better under the light. With each picture.
No wonder he'd taken forever to go through everyone's work. Finally, he chose the one from the library. Not the one I wanted him to. He liked the one I thought was plain. Yet, I'd brought it because I'd aced the macro effect. I'd focused the lenses in a single red book from one of the rows. It was pretty because in the background, you could see a part of the library, along with the iconic green-lamps.
He was holding the photo in his hands, when he glanced at me. "This is the best shot, Farah. You captured a writer's essence here." I glanced down. I could only see a bright red cover. "You made this book stand out, just as writers make the effort to make their stories unique." I blinked at him. Okay? "I loved the fact that it was red. It makes a statement," he added placing the photo on the table. "This is going to be on the exposition." He sounded quite pleased with himself.
"Thank you." I didn't know what else to say. I'd fixated the camera's lens randomly.
He nodded. "You did quite well for an amateur, Farah. I'm glad you took advantage of this class. You really outdid yourself."
I scratched the back of my neck, before swallowing hard. The only thing that had stuck with me was the macro thing. Nothing more, and it was a pretty basic notion. Something that you could learn by yourself. In that moment, a pang of guilt played in my chest. My parents had spent money in a course where I'd learned nothing, really.
Satisfied with himself, he patted me on the shoulder before sending me away. Remorseful, I grimaced inwardly as I stood up. But then, my eyes locked with Chris' and my whole body felt warm.
Being with Chris had been worth it all.
Cassie was waiting for me at the bus terminal. Her blue eyes were glinting excitedly and I just knew that she had been giddy all day, just like me. I was so impatient to get off, but there was an old couple in front of me, and I had to wait for them to get out first. When they finally did, I pretty much hopped out. Cassie squealed and we hugged each other, as if we hadn't seen in years. In best friend's terms, it was.
"I can't believe you're here!" she beamed at me.
"I know!" We were holding hands and jumping up and down like little girls. The old woman I'd been forced to patiently wait on before, smiled at us. Together, we collected my suitcase and made our way down the subway, to get to her apartment.
It was situated in the skirts of the city. It took two subway rides to get there, but we didn't care. We were both talking at the same time and laughing at each other. Cassie mentioned that we needed to leave the suitcase there and then plan where to go. I kind of had my heart set on New York University. I loved the location and the history behind it. I googled it last night and I'd already looked at the course's catalog. It seemed everything I'd ever dreamed off and more. I just needed to make sure to get all the information. necessary for the college transfer. I also wanted to see how to apply for a scholarship. I needed to lessen my parent's economic burden.
It took us around twenty minutes to reach her building. It had an industrial air. Her apartment was on the third floor and everything seemed really edgy. Cassie was smiling as she unlocked the front metal door, large enough to fit two persons and welcomed me to her home.
We walked through the threshold and even though I'd seen the place through pictures or video-chat, I couldn't help but admire it. All the walls were covered in bricks, set in different shades of beige. The whole ceiling was covered with aluminum tubes from the air conditioning or the electric tubing. It was an open-space room. They didn't have much furniture, just a couple of dark gray sofas and a flat-screen TV on the corner. But the place was naturally lit by two large windows on our right. On the other side, there was a little hallway that led to what I assumed, were the rooms. Right in front of us was a large wooden table and a small modern kitchen.
I left my suitcase on the floor. "I love your place, Cass."
Grinning, she grabbed an elastic band from the table and out pulled up her long hair in a peppy ponytail. "Thank you. We found it on craigslist. We were quite lucky, too." She gestured me to follow her, "Come on, I'll show you to your room."
We stepped through the tiny hallway. There were only three doors. "This is the bathroom," she signaled to the one in the middle. "That's my room," she gestured to the left but opened the door to her right. "And this is yours." It was small, with a queen size bed placed parallel to the window. Little specks of dust twirled through the sun rays. "Sorry, it isn't much. We rarely use this. Nate's mom stays in a hotel whenever she comes to visit."
Plopping the suitcase on the bed, I turned to her. "It's perfect, Cassie. Don't sweat it." My brows furrowed as I glanced around the empty room. "Where is Chris staying?"
Cassie raised an eyebrow. "I thought you could share the room," she commented in a sly tone.
My cheeks blushed. "Cassie! For real!"
She burst out laughing. "He'll probably crash in one of the sofa's out there. I wouldn't mind if you two ended up here." I rolled my eyes as she wriggled her eyebrows. "I'll just ask you to be quiet and all—" she yelped, raising her hands as I threw a pillow at her. She threw it back, before straightening her hair. She glared at me for a second before shaking her head. "Come on, NYU is not close. Nate is meeting us later for dinner in a Greek restaurant close by. Plus, there are a bunch of things to see there!"
She wasn't kidding. It took us almost an hour to get to central park. The streets were even more packed than in Boston. People seemed to be in a rush all the time. They also looked posher than anywhere else I'd been to. Californians were pretty much laid back, most of them, anyway.
When we reached the main entrance of the University, it was as if my bottom lip almost touched the floor as I gaped at everything. Cassie teased me that I'd probably swallow a fly like that. In my defense, it was impressive as hell. There was a grand crystal dome right at the entrance. Purple flags with the university's initials were dancing with the breeze on the adjacent buildings. My heart started to flutter as my eyes roamed all around, trying to absorb every little detail.
I need to get in here.
I'd loved Berkeley, but New York University felt right. There were no if, no doubts, no concerns. Deep inside of me, I knew that this should have been the place I had to apply in the first place. However, I'd been obsessed with Berkeley all my life to notice anything else.
The woman under the Admission's office was approachable and nice. She answered to all my questions and gave me various brochures with useful information about the university, how to apply, etc. I mentioned the scholarship, to which she gave me yet another pamphlet and the email of another person that might help me out.
Sadly, we didn't have much free time to go sightseeing. Nathan was already waiting for us at the Greek restaurant Cassie had mentioned before. He was not alone. His friend Diego was there, sporting that playful, laced with mischief, smile. The food was delicious, and the company was much fun. Diego knew how to make a girl laugh. He was always playful, and most of the time, a complete flirt. It seemed to be his natural state, and it wasn't annoying at all, quite the contrary.
After dinner, we strolled around the streets, sightseeing a few monuments. Not much, because it was pretty dark and I was exhausted. We said goodbye to Diego and took the subway back home.
That night, as I laid in bed staring at the moonlight through the window, my heart felt tight with different emotions swirling through me. I was excited to move to New York. I'd be closer to my family and the university seemed like a dream come true. Yet, I couldn't help but worry about Chris.
What would he think about it?
Taking a deep breath, I thought about what Mom had said. I needed to make this decision for me, and unlike when I moved to California, this felt right.
With Chris or without him.
Thank you for reading me!