Damn damn damn. Why can't you just meet somebody? Why can't it be easy? You close your eyes and a movie starts up in your head. You're stepping off the train; a voice calls you. "Excuse me?" It's him! He hands you a page of the document you brought with you from work. "I think you dropped this..."\n\n—\n"Oh god! [[Thanks!]] That would have been so typical of me. Thanks so much."\n\nYour fingers touch as you take the document back. [[You swear you feel electricity.|ooh]]

You admire him for a second, as well as you can without being weird, then...\n\n[[...turn up your music|music]].\n\n[[...go back to the report you brought from work You love your job, but god you have a lot to do.|work]]

"Oh... no problem!" But he puts his nose immediately back down in his book and seems to completely ignore you. He really is pretty absorbed.\n\nOh well. You...\n\n[[...turn up your music|music]]\n\n[[...go back to the report you brought home from work.|work]]

There's a totally cute boy on the train. He's reading a [[book]].\n\nGosh he's cute. It's been way too long since you talked to a boy that cute.\n\n—\n[["Hey. Is that any good?"|chat]]\n\nMmm. Good-looking guy. But he looks happy reading, [[and I don't want to bug him.|bughim]]\n\nOh god, he's so cute. [[I'm never going to get up the nerve to talk to him.|nerve]]

He looks up, blinking in surprise. It takes him a moment to realize what you said. "Oh... yeah, yeah, I love it, it's my third time reading it."\n\n—\n[["Oh, cool. Well, I didn't mean to distract you."|backoff]]\n\n[["Really? Why do you like it so much?"|why]]

"She's pretty close," he says after thinking about it for a moment. "I always thought the movies center more closely around Harry, so she's not quite as important and powerful as she is in the books? And Emma Watson is great, but she's really... well, pretty, right from the first movie, when in the books the character goes through an awkward phase and really blossoms later on. In Goblet, in fact." \n\nHe looks down at the book in his hands fondly. [["Oh, shoot! This is my stop! Nice talking to you, gotta go!"|my stop]]

AND EVERY TIME I SCRATCH MY NAILS DOWN SOMEONE ELSE'S BACK I HOPE YOU FEEL IT\n\nYou're mentally shouting the words along with Alanis when oh wait. Did he just glance at you? Oh he totally did. And he's... smiling? Like something's funny? Oh god, what's funny about you? Quick check, clothes look ok... what is it? Now he's... bobbing his head a little? In time to the song you're listening to? Oh.\n\nVolume back down [[a little]].

Aw, he's reading "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." Even cuter!\n\n[[Anyway...|Start]]

You really, deeply feel that you should not, as a mature adult in the 21st century, still like [[Alanis Morisette]] as much as you do.\n\nBut fuck it. That's what earbuds are for. You turn it up [[even more]].

"What do you study?" you ask.\n\nHe looks a little sheepish. "History. I'm going for my PhD. So I can be, you know, an underpaid academic."\n\n"No, that's cool," you say. "I was a history minor. Communications major. Not that I'm using either one."\n\nHe looks up suddenly. "Oh, shoot. This is my stop."\n\n[["Really? Mine too!"|mine too]]\n

The Boy\n

This is true, though perhaps not the entire truth. "Cool, sure thing," he says. "Well. See you around, maybe."\n\nHe looks a little crestfallen, but he's pretty cool, and with a slightly pained smile he waves and heads down the platform.\n\nSo much for the cute boy on the train.\n\n''End''

"Central Station! Next stop is Harvard!"\n\nIt's your stop. You open your eyes, maneuver your way off the train.\n\nGoddamn it. You knew exactly what was going to happen next, too. Why can't you just meet someone? Why can't it be easy?\n\nOh whoa... did he get off here too? He did! He's walking the other way down the platform... does that mean he lives near here? Does that mean you might see him tomorrow?\n\nYou know it's silly, but as you walk home the thought does make you smile, and tonight maybe that's enough.\n\n''End''

"...but I was going to get some coffee at 1369 and do some work..." This is not strictly true, but you certainly wouldn't mind going to 1369. "...if you wanted to, like, come and hang out and read, and maybe talk some more..."\n\nHe looks at you appraisingly. He looks a little skeptical, maybe. But not disapproving. "Yeah. Ok. Maybe for a little bit."\n\nYou both smile.\n\n''End''

He looks at you, maybe a little surprised, but not displeased. "Yeah... yeah, ok," he says. "Why not? You know 1369?"\n\n"I love 1369!" you answer. Oh god. You're touching his hand. You instinctively reached out and touched his hand just now when he named your favorite coffee place. Does he notice? You don't think he notices. You withdraw your hand. He's watching you; he totally noticed.\n\nHe's totally smiling, though.\n\n[["Central!"]]

This report actually looks pretty good, fortunately. Your boss probably won't think so, though. You grimace just thinking about it; he's been weird lately. Maybe something going on with upper management? You're pretty sure you're doing better than ever. Jen, the VP, has been coming to you directly for a lot of things. That's a good sign, right?\n\n[[Oops, your stop|oops]].

It's your stop too, and you rush out the door right behind him. He shoots you a smile and heads down the platform; he's going the opposite of where you have to go.\n\n"Enjoy the book!" you call after him. He waves without really looking back.\n\nOh well. Plenty of boys on the T.\n\n''End''

"Oh, seriously?" You both laugh, why you're not quite sure, and step off the train together.\n\n"Where do you live?" you ask.\n\n"Down in Cambridgeport, off Western. You?"\n\n"Other side of Mass. Off of Broadway."\n\n"Cool," he says. "Very cool."\n\n—\n[["Well. Nice talking to you!"|goodbye]]\n\n[["Listen, I don't know if you're busy now..."|listen]]

You held your breath, and the door for me.\nThanks for your patience...\nYou've already won me over\nIn spite of me.\nAnd don't be alarmed if I fall\nHead over feet.\n\nGod you can be a sap.\n\n[[Anyway...|music]]

You look into his eyes; you can tell he feels it too. He opens his mouth to say something, but you put a finger to his lips, shocked at yourself. "Shhhh," you say. [["Come with me."|Come with me]]

"Yeah." He smiles fondly. "Hallows is probably better, really. I just read Goblet of Fire when I was the perfect age, I think, and I related so much to it, and now it'll always be my favorite, even though Hallows is just so beautiful. She brought her A game with the prose for that one."\n\n"Yeah," you say. Damn, what can you say that won't reveal you never read it? What was the best part? It was totally when Harry and Hermoine dance for no reason, that was adorable, but you can't say that. Is that part even in the book? Maybe you should just 'fess up.\n\nYou pause, and you see his attention drifting back down to his book - when suddenly he looks up. [["Oh, shoot! This is my stop! Nice talking to you, gotta go!"|my stop]]

Your stop, you file off with the herd. And he gets off too? Interesting.\n\nHe looks right at you, and he smiles and gives you a little nod, a little acknowledgement of, "Hey, that was a cool moment of human connection just now when your music was too loud and you realized it and turned it down." You shrug sheepishly, grinning. No words are exchanged, and he starts walking down the platform the other way.\n\nHeh. That was kind of neat. Maybe you'll see him on the train again...\n\n''End''

"Uh, the Triwizard Tournament, I guess? I think those bits are just the best adventures Harry ever goes on, except maybe some of the stuff in Hallows. And I like the Yuleball. Hermoine's my favorite character, and I love how she shows up and Harry and Ron suddenly realize how much she's changed from the weird, kind of abrasive little girl they knew when they were first years."\n\nHm. If only you'd actually read Harry Potter you would probably have the perfect response to that\n\n—\n"To be honest, I only ever saw the movies. My friends have conversations like this all the time and I can barely follow. [[I loved Hermoine, though.|hermoine]] Is she the same in the movies as in the book?"\n\nNothing wrong with stretching the truth a little, right? "Cool! [[Goblet of Fire is great, but|bluff]] Deathly Hallows is definitely my favorite." Not technically a lie, Deathly Hallows part 1 was your favorite movie.

You both smile. "Awesome," he says. "Really awesome." You both stand there for a moment. It's awkward, but kind of a cool awkward.\n\n"Well," you say finally with a grin, "let's go!"\n\n''End''

Oh, work.\n\nThis report needs to be finalized before end of day tomorrow and you spot three typoes right away. You pull a pen out of your pocket and immediately drop it on the train floor - right next to the cute boy's feet. He retrieves it and offers it to you with a polite smile. You politely smile back. "Thanks!"\n\n"No problem."\n\n—\n[["I don't know why I try to work on the train."|don't know]]\n\n[[Back to work]].

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It's a short walk to your apartment. You kiss on the stoop, in the stairwell; he kisses your neck as you open the door. He's tugging your jacket off your shoulders as you kiss his neck and knock the door closed with your foot.\n\n[["Central!"]]

Anyway, whatever's wrong with your boss, he better calm down soon, because you honestly don't think you can take another whole quarter with him micromanaging every damn thing you do. You'll burst. You'll staple somebody to something. God, just thinking about it is making your pulse go faster. Think about something else. Like, that boy is really cute.\n\nAnd hello, he's getting off at your stop. Interesting. Probably not relevant. Probably he's meeting somebody here and he actually on the other side of the world.\n\nBut still. Maybe there's a little room for wishing there.\n\n''End''

"You too!" You both turn to go; he's heading the opposite way down the platform.\n\nAbout ten seconds later, you hear him behind you. "Um, excuse me. Uh... sorry, I didn't get your name." You tell him. "I'm Dan. Hi. So, this is a little forward of me maybe, but... you seem cool, would you like to come get a drink at the Field? And just... whatever. Talk. Tell me more about your awful boss."\n\n-\n[["Oh. Uh, yeah. Cool."|cool]]\n\n[["Um. I should. Probably go home and, whatever, work."|nope]]

David N. Rogers\n@cityofdave

"Don't worry about it," he says with a grin. "Could have happened to anybody." The train doors close behind him. "Ah, shoot!" he says, but he's smiling, and he doesn't really look upset.\n\n"Oh gosh," you say. "You missed the train because of me! I'm sorry."\n\n"Don't worry about it - really. I'm just glad I could help. I don't have anywhere to be, anyway."\n\n[["Let me buy you a cup of coffee,"|coffee]] you say, totally cool like it's not a big deal. "Since you helped me out, and all."

"Busy day?"\n\nIs he actually interested or being polite? No use worrying about it.\n\n"Yeah. Every day, lately. My boss is on a rampage."\n\n"Oh yeah? Where do you work?"\n\nYou chitchat for a moment. He [[actually seems interested]] in office politics; he's a grad student, it develops, so they're novel for him.