It was my first breath,my first look,my first smell and my first feel of New York.

Pure energy coursed through me as I walked with the large group of NYU all wore the traditional purple of the uni not excluding me. I wore a not particularly flattering men's medium(considering that's all they had in stock-even men must like to wear women's sizes) and simple black shorts. It was a pretty humid day and the sun was out just like it always was back in California. I tied my hair back in a loose ponytail and tried to listen to the tour guide,but it was a proven fact that I was a terrible multitasker. Besides,the sights told you everything you needed to know. We were in Central Park-pretty much smack dab in the middle-and shuffling along at a snail's debilitated grandma's pace. Not to mention that the tour guide's voice reminded me of the buzz of a hot summer's day in my desert hometown. Not my favorite sound. So I took to just looking around and sometimes straying,although not too far. The Park was HUGE. And SO green. It was such a pretty place-all the movies really didn't do it justice. It was exactly like I thought it would be but not,at the same time. There were vendors and people walking,fountains and artists,beautiful scenery and wide skies that you couldn't even see the skyscrapers. I loved it. Finally we arrived at the castle in the middle of the Park. The pond was beautiful as was the castle. It was sort of like walking into a modern fairy tale. The tour guide droned on as we slid along. At this point,I don't even think drowning him out would work to stop the boredom. I was on the verge of tears when I heard loud hip hop music and people cheering. My interest was instantly piqued. And it seemed like my fellow NYUians shared my curiousity. We all crowded towards the sound despite the protests of Sir Bores-A-Lot. I found myself pressed against chests and backs and arms alike,but I could hear the music and the people get closer and louder.A burning curiousity got a hold on me and I pushed through the sea of onlookers until I found myself at the frontlines.

What I saw surprised me.

Dancing.

Dancers.

A large boombox sat perched on a table pumping out the latest underground hip hop song and not three feet away,a lithe man with swinging dreadlocks and neon-green shoes moved in sharp turns and quick foot movements. I watched with wide eyes as he swung his arms with the deliriously fast words and stomping his feet in time to the pumping beat. All around me,people whooped and cheered,booed and hissed,called out his name or called names.

I've never seen anything like this.

It was incredible.

I continued to watch with avid interest until he stopped with the music. And even then,it seemed like his body hadn't had enough. A wide smile was on his face,his eyes covered with dark shades and he looked amazingly ecstatic like he had just won an award. The crowd cheered,roared and I found myself whooping as well. A big grin threatened to split my face right in half as I watched the dancer do one last turn. Suddenly,I felt a small shiver run up my spine. I looked up and my gaze clashed with ferally yellow eyes. I froze as something akin to an electric current burnt my nerves to a crisp. Those eyes gleamed bright and unwavering as they stared right into my soul,that I could barely stand it.

But I couldn't bear to look away either.

Those eyes both scared and thrilled me as if saying "come and get me". Eyes like a sly cat and the big bad wolf all rolled into one gleaming package. It was as if nothing could break the contact,the strange intimacy-

I blinked.

That was that. Connection terminated. Mission aborted. It was like I was falling back down to earth again like a fiery meteor. I looked down,completely disoriented and all out of sorts. But my eyes looked up,to sought out those brilliant topaz eyes. I saw them again,but if only for a at that time,I was already completely enthralled by the owner. A very tall,slender man now stood where the dancer had stood not a moment ago. He had dark,onyx-like hair that lay shagging into those beautiful eyes and a mouth that was currently curved into a quarter of a smile. I stood,floored. Suddenly,I was aware to a new name rising up from the crowds like hell's fire.

"Electro!Electro!Electro!"

The name in itself was like a rhythm or a beat and the mystery man tapped his foot to the his hand tucked casually in his pockets,he closed his eyes.

And then suddenly I was aware to a deep,scratchy,screechy downbeat beginning to pump from the boombox.

Thump,thump,thump,thump.

It echoed the beating of my heart,however corny that sounds. Suddenly his arms twitched and then his foot moved. The crowd seemed to quiet as if to see what he'd do next. I could almost hear the hearts thumping in time to my own. Then out of nowhere the music soared into a powerful,upbeat powerhouse-electronica.

The man with the eyes of gold started moving in ways I never thought possible.

His arms and legs and head moved in erratic patterns that would've looked frightening if someone else had done it,but with him...it looked wonderfully right and almost beautiful. His movements reminded me of a robot's,but also of a cat's. The crowd absolutely roared and I soon found myself roaring along with them when I realized I had a voice. His dance seemed to last eternities,but I didn't mind in the least. The way he moved was almost ethereal;fluid;unpredictable. All I could see was the way he moved to the beat. It was insane how I couldn't see anything else but him. But all too soon,the music ended. And with the music,his movements stopped almost as suddenly as they had come. The crowd was quiet again in an almost reverent silence before exploding into the loudest bout of cheering I had ever heard.I was jumping up and down in excitement when I met gold again. My eyes widened. This time around I saw his whole face instead of only his eyes. His lips slowly curled into a lazy smile and he stretched out a hand almost as in an invitation. Despite my better judgement,I felt my hand reach to take his when I was wrenched out of my trance by thousands of other hands. I was pushed back into warm,sticky bodies and then pushed even further back until I was back to where I started.

With my fellow NYUians.

With Sir Bores-A-Lot.

With normal,college freshman orientation.

As I turned my back on the still roaring crowd,I was struck by a rather depressing thought.

That this was probably the best it'd ever get.

Oh,woe.

Just let Bores-A-Lot run me through with his lance of mediocrity and spare me the agony.

Nothing could ever be more exciting than street dancing and those electric eyes.

Yes,I told myself with finality as I turned to take one more backwards glance at the crowd,nothing could ever be more exciting than that.

I watched as she walked away,meshing in with the sea of purple that were NYU freshmen. For a moment,some part of me ached like I was losing something important. I stared after her,my hand no longer outstretched but somehow...

Despite the crowd of grabbing hands and frenzied voices,I saw her reaching for my hand too.

There was something poetic I could make of that,I'm sure,but right now I was just ready to leave. I moved away from the people and leaned against the statue.

"You saw her,right,Ashe?"I murmured to the teen standing on Colonel Gaspar's bird crap-covered shoe.

"The Asian one?Yep!She was pretty cute."the kid quipped in that sometimes annoying tone of his.I made a small noise.

"They're going to Empire State now?" It was more of a command than a question.

"Yeah,as ?You planning on catching yourself a cute little purple angelfish?"the runt snickered and I could see his Saturday blue and orange eyes glimmering down on me like UFO lights. I let myself smile at him. Because I was feeling generous today.

"Yeah,tell the crew I'm going fishing."

His grin took up his face as he gave me a double thumbs up.

"Hehe,go get yourself the catch of the day,boss."

I didn't respond to that little crack-I was too busy jumping over benches and dodging the average tourist. Dashing into an alley,I launched myself over a trash can and onto a chainlink fence. I used the velocity and remaining power to vault myself onto a nearby fire escape. Climbing onto the roof,I scanned the streets for the school of purple minnows. Two streets away crossing the intersection on Hillard and Sebastian were the NYUs. It was hard,but I could see the top of a bobbing black head lagging behind the whole group. Slipping down below the ledge,I jumped each rooftop until I was right above the sea of purple. I was preparing to slide down the pipe at my feet,but right when my foot stepped forward to do so,technology decided to take an attempt at my phone rang.

I tripped.

Before I could completely stop myself,gravity took me sprawling down until I found myself sliding dangerously towards the edge. Fortunately I'm not one of those guys who die easily. I grabbed a small overhanging ledge and pulled myself up.

Crisis averted.

But all the while,my phone was still ringing.

I looked up at the street corner.

were gone. She was gone.

Cursing under my breath,I fished the phone out of my pocket to silence Justin Bieber's pre-pubescent voice.(Blame Mae-she's in love with the child.)

I flipped it open and put it to my ear.

"What?"I deadpanned."The world better be ending or I'm hanging up."

ICE's voice came too clearly over the speaker.

"Damn, happened this time?"

I scoffed and resigned myself to my back found a nice pole to lean on.

"Nothing,ICE."I replied as smoothly as I could."What do you need?"

"I want you to come back to the 've got the next part of the routine figured out."

'. I nodded and sighed,looking at the spot my mystery girl had been moments before. There'd be no way I could catch up to her now.

"Yep.I'll be there."

I was about to hang up when I heard him growl one more thing. I groaned to myself. Of work.

"Chaney."

"Huh."

"Go get give him a slap on the him it's from me."

I smirked.

"Make it two and it's a done deal."

He chuckled and hung the phone away from my ear,I clicked it shut. Well,I should get to work. I took one more glance at where I last saw her and sighed. I lost my chance. What were the chances of seeing her again in this city? That thought lingered in my head as I slid down the fire escape and headed towards Central Park again.


notes4atu

(i)alex is a history& major and minors in photography&filmmaking

(ii)chaney is two&twenty while alex is seven past ten rememboh!

&(iii)this is a lafs for chaney(i'm keen on those,if you haven't noticed)