Page 41 of Finding My Forever

One bus ride and several blocks later we were in front of a packed bagel shop. We got in line and the smell of the fresh bagels was intoxicating. The menu seemed to go on forever. There was no way I could pick one thing. If only it was just me and Sophia then I could order as much as I wanted.

“Everything looks so good! What do you guys usually get?” Sophia asked.

Elijah started pointing this out to her. The moment he said lox though, I tuned him out and read the menu on my own. I had plenty of time to decide, luckily.

“Look, you can either get a plain or everything bagel,” Liam pointed out for me.

“Yum! What do you like here?”

“I usually get a turkey and cheese on sourdough.”

“Oh, that sounds good.” And normal compared to Elijah’s order.

Once we were through the line the guys led us across the street to Tompkins Square Park. We found a bench and immediately dug into lunch.

Elijah spoke first, “This place is one of my favorites because you never know what you’re going to see. Most of the time, there’s families or students walking around, but every so often there’s a gem.”

“It’s true.” Liam laughed. “This is the little sister of Washington Square. “A little less popular, but it brings in some interesting people.”

Sophia raised her eyebrows and took another bite.

Following her lead, I unwrapped my sandwich and looked around. It was so serene compared to a few yards away where the sidewalk was. Spending the afternoon here seemed perfect to me.

Once I was finished, I stood and collected everyone’s trash. I was headed to the nearest trash can when someone started yelling at me.

“Hey! No! We need that!”

I looked around, not sure who was yelling to whom.

“You! Don’t throw that away!”

A girl dressed in overalls with a men’s plaid shirt over it was power walking toward me. I looked down at the two brown bags in my hands then back at her. Why would she want this?

“We’re about to film and we need more trash. Can I take that?”

I blinked.

What?

I held out my hands and she took the bags, turned, and ran back to a group that had gathered just past where we were sitting.

When I sat back down next to Liam, he was smiling wide.

“That was odd.” I was turned away from him but I felt the bench shake slightly and assumed he was laughing at me.

The four of us watched in silence as the group in front of us gathered the trash they brought around a plastic trash can. As they were doing that an older man walked up with another girl. He was wearing a holey shirt with a dingy looking denim jacket over faded jeans with enough rips and tears to be trendy. He either had makeup on or he’d just been rolling around in dirt.

Basically, he looked like a homeless person. I wasn’t sure if he actually was, or if he was an actor.

One guy wearing black jeans and a too big shirt with a cartoon character on it went to a black case, opened it, and pulled out a professional looking camera. When he had it all put together, he attached a harness looking device and pulled it on over his shoulders.

Now he looked like a professional wearing the strange apparatus.

“These are NYU students.”

Liam’s voice made me jump. I’d been so focused on watching the crew set up I forgot where I was.

I slid back so I could face him. “It’s a little weird, but so cool at the same time.”