It's been no more than a week since he'd come to New York. His parents had initially disagreed with his decision about the move, but he made a good case about the world class universities in the United States and how throwing his lot in with the English speakers will help him to maintain his hold on the language. He'd listed reason after reason for why this was a good idea, conveniently leaving out by far not the biggest reason, but the most personal: Japan holds a lot of memories for him that he's not sure he can move on from until he moves on from the whole country.
They agreed that it was a good idea, not knowing that his transfer to the overseas university was already in the works and he was set to fly out the following day.
It's only been a week but he already feels like the change has been good for him. It's like a fresh start. There's no place he can point to and say that's where they spent the whole night fucking after they slipped out of that one party, or that shop is where they grabbed some coffee and accidentally spent a few hours just talking. No this place is completely free of him. There are no traces of his... Frankly, Jay's not even sure what they were to each other.
Life as an NYU student starts soon, so Jay's been trying to get to know the campus a little more. Get his bearings at his new school, in his new country, surrounded by all of these new people. And, of course, sample the offerings at the campus cafe.
Jay steps up to the counter and orders a macchiato for himself. It's been his drink of choice ever since it was first introduced to him. Caffeine enough to sustain him, milk to take the edge off of the bitterness without removing it entirely, a little creamy without feeling too heavy. How did he go from being otherwise indifferent to caffeinated beverages to affectionately monologuing about macchiato in his head? Actually, he already knows the answer to that.
Reaching out to take his coffee with his own heavily accented English, Jay pauses when he hears his name. No, it's more like he freezes. No one here knows his name yet aside from some faculty and he didn't see any of them when he walked in here. Besides, none of them have that strange tangle of accents that he can still hear whispering in his ear when he's trying to fall asleep at night.
Of all the places he could've gone after leaving Japan, he had to end up in the same place Jay did, didn't he?
Taking in a deep breath and trying desperately to keep his flood of emotions from his face, Jay puts on a friendly smile for the one who got away. No, the one who ran away.
"You know, I remember you being a lot smoother than that."
no subject
They agreed that it was a good idea, not knowing that his transfer to the overseas university was already in the works and he was set to fly out the following day.
It's only been a week but he already feels like the change has been good for him. It's like a fresh start. There's no place he can point to and say that's where they spent the whole night fucking after they slipped out of that one party, or that shop is where they grabbed some coffee and accidentally spent a few hours just talking. No this place is completely free of him. There are no traces of his... Frankly, Jay's not even sure what they were to each other.
Life as an NYU student starts soon, so Jay's been trying to get to know the campus a little more. Get his bearings at his new school, in his new country, surrounded by all of these new people. And, of course, sample the offerings at the campus cafe.
Jay steps up to the counter and orders a macchiato for himself. It's been his drink of choice ever since it was first introduced to him. Caffeine enough to sustain him, milk to take the edge off of the bitterness without removing it entirely, a little creamy without feeling too heavy. How did he go from being otherwise indifferent to caffeinated beverages to affectionately monologuing about macchiato in his head? Actually, he already knows the answer to that.
Reaching out to take his coffee with his own heavily accented English, Jay pauses when he hears his name. No, it's more like he freezes. No one here knows his name yet aside from some faculty and he didn't see any of them when he walked in here. Besides, none of them have that strange tangle of accents that he can still hear whispering in his ear when he's trying to fall asleep at night.
Of all the places he could've gone after leaving Japan, he had to end up in the same place Jay did, didn't he?
Taking in a deep breath and trying desperately to keep his flood of emotions from his face, Jay puts on a friendly smile for the one who got away. No, the one who ran away.
"You know, I remember you being a lot smoother than that."