Young Writers Society

Then, I took black my choker necklace from the side of the sink, holding it up to my neck. “Choker, no choker?”

“Choker,” Eileen said. I put it on, thinking the choker was the right choice. “Okay, let’s go.”

“Just a minute, I need to fix my hair,” I pleaded. That afternoon, my hair wouldn’t do what I wanted it to. I’d always kept my hair short, and even though it was only halfway down my neck I was desperate for a haircut. I’d always admired women that could wear theirs long, like my sister, but anytime mine got close to my shoulders it became a nuisance. My bangs were too long and went over my eyes, but if I pinned them aside my too large forehead would be bare and exposed to all.

“Your hair looks fine,” Eileen reassured me.

“It’s all staticky though,” I complained, brushing it once more.

“Okay, come on,” Eileen said, entering the bathroom. She looked through her makeup bag and took one of her pink hair clips and held it to my shirt. “It matches, see?”
 I nodded.

“Pin your bangs to the side,” she instructed. “Trust me.”

“My forehead’s too big.”
 She gave me the clip regardless, and I clipped them to the side. Then, I looked at myself for a moment in the mirror, and thought that the clip did bring the outfit together. I gave my sister a tired smile.

“We’re just a couple of New York City girls out for a night on the town,” she said. “Let’s go.”

I grabbed my purse, my new sunglasses, and we were off.

“I guess the music starts at 5:30,” Eileen said as we took our menus. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5:15, so we’d have time to order first. While there were a lot of people talking in the background, I was grateful that we could at least hear each other enough to carry on a conversation. I noticed that we were awfully close to the stage, so I hoped that whoever was going to perform would at least be good.

The restaurant had all sorts of funky art on the walls and dark wood tables. Even if being in such a crowded place was making me feel on edge, I thought it was a classy joint, and I wish we had places like that back in Minnesota. As we came in, I noticed it opened at eight in the morning for breakfast. Maybe if there was time before we were due to head back, we could come for an earlier breakfast, before the rush.

I ordered pasta primavera and strawberry lemonade and Eileen ordered a chicken sandwich, fries and a coke. The server had just come back with our drinks when a young man with slicked back dark hair, in a black t-shirt, leather jacket, and jeans came on stage, carrying an acoustic guitar.

That was the first time I laid eyes on Cole Hargrove. I noticed almost immediately that that he’d looked in my direction for a second or two. His gaze had lingered, and then he sat down.

My first thought wasn’t that he was cute, but that he was trying too hard to look like Danny Zuko. I almost said something to Eileen, but we were sitting so close that there was a fifty percent chance he would have heard.

That was when Eileen stepped in our direction. “Hey Marce, I hate to break up the party but we’re going to be late.”

I almost thought I saw Cole blushing. “Oh, if you’ve got plans, then I won’t keep you.”

“Yeah, we’re going to go see a Broadway show,” I said. “Death of a Salesman. Just trying to catch a cab, actually.”

“Wow, I think I read that in school,” Cole remarked. “I didn’t know it was being performed. Well, have fun.”

“Thanks.” I smiled at him, again expecting that to be the end of things. I’d just turned my back when I heard his voice.

“Hey, wait.”

I turned.

“You got a number?”
 I took a deep breath. My mind was racing with a million thoughts at once, and I wasn’t sure what to say.

“You know, if I’m ever in Minnesota.”

I still didn’t speak. Then, Eileen took a notepad out of her bag, wrote something down, and handed it to Cole. “This is our hotel number. We’re here until Wednesday. I’m sure Marce would love to see you again.”

Then Cole tuned to me. “If that’s okay with you. I mean, I obviously understand if you don’t want to.”

“No,” I finally said. “You can call me.”

“Okay.” Then, he waved, and after a moment, walked off.

I turned to my sister, flabbergasted at what she’d just done. 
“You’re welcome,” Eileen said with a wry smile.

“What do you mean, you’re welcome?” I exclaimed. Even if he was cute, he clearly lived in New York and we lived halfway across the country. It wasn’t like anything could happen.

“I saw the way he was looking at you during his set. Come on, sis. Live a little.”

I said nothing. Just then, I noticed a cab. I took the opportunity and flagged him down. Miraculously, he stopped. I checked my watch again. It was 7:02. We would make it to the show on time.

There was lots about it that hit surprisingly close to home. While my family had always been tightly knit— Cole always envied that about me, I think— it often felt as though we were terribly fragile, as if one false move was all it would have taken for us to shatter. Sometimes it felt like, for our all of talk of closeness and being one with nature and each other, we never had much to say to each other when no one was watching. I, of course, loved my mother and my father and my sister, and maybe that was part of the reason that the play hit as much as it did.

The parallels we had to the Loman family manifested when we were waiting in line for the bathroom during intermission.

“Eileen,” Mother said, turning to my sister. “What are your plans for the rest of the summer?”

“I don’t know,” Eileen responded, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was heading in.

“Well, have you thought about it?”


“Yes,” Eileen said curtly. “I’m not really sure. Just taking each day as it comes.”

“Your father always needs help at the pier.”

Eileen nodded vaguely. While Eileen was the victim of our mother’s inquisition on this particular night, I doubted I would be spared from it for much longer. I still didn’t have any good idea as to how I was going to spend the rest of my summer. I knew, sooner or later, that I was going to have to make a choice, but I supposed that I was looking for the push I needed in the right direction, and I didn’t know where to find it.

I went to my suitcase and picked out today’s outfit, denim shorts and a gray t-shirt. Easy, comfortable. Shortly after that, the phone rang, and my sister answered it.

“Oh yes,” Eileen said. “She’s right here. She’d love to talk to you. Oh, the play was great, thanks for asking.” She put the phone aside and turned to me. “It’s your boyfriend.”

I could feel my face flush. Cole had actually called. She handed me the phone. “Hi, this is Marcy,” I said, not really sure what to expect, half expecting she was playing a prank on me.

“Marcy, it’s Cole, from yesterday,” came that clear, smooth voice. So, it was him, it wasn’t a prank. “How are you?”

“I’m good. Uh, just woke up a minute ago.”

“Oh,” he replied with a nervous laugh. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No, not at all.”

At that point, there was a moment of awkward silence. “Hey, listen,” Cole said. “Where are you staying?”

“Manhattan,” I responded.

What he said next came out one word at a time, almost as if he’d forgotten how to from sentences. “Oh. That’s great. I’m in Manhattan too. Do you want to meet? I’d love to see you.”

“When?” I asked. I, of course, wanted to meet him, but I had to think of how I was going to explain this to my mom.

“You doing anything for breakfast?” He asked.

“Actually, yeah, my mom has that covered.”


“Well, how about lunch?"

I would give him until 12:20, and then I would go back up to my room, and forget about the whole thing. I must have been visibly anxious, because a man around my father’s age asked me if I was okay.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I told him.

“Alright,” he said, before continuing on his way.

I was about to resign myself to the fact that Cole wasn’t coming, when, at 12:17, he walked through the front door. He seemed out of sorts. We made eye contact, and I managed a shy wave. He was dressed down from the day before, in a blue collared shirt, dark shorts and sneakers.

He sat down next to me. “I’m so sorry. The subway was delayed. And then we had to sit on the tracks for like, ten minutes, because there was a traffic jam.” He laughed. “How does that work? You think they’d have it all figured out.”


“It’s okay,” I said quietly.

“I was thinking, she’s probably waiting in the lobby, and then she’s going to think I’m some jerk who stood her up.”

“Well, I’m here,” I said. I didn’t think it was appropriate to get into the fact that I would have left back to the room in another three minutes. I was also mildly uncomfortable by how he referred to me in the third person, but I didn’t think much of it at the time. Besides, he did seem genuinely remorseful, so I couldn’t hold that against him.


“I don’t know about you, but I’m famished,” he said with a smile. “The place we’re going has some the best burgers in town.”


“You’re probably right,” Cole said. “Still, it’s made me think a lot about certain things. Like, tomorrow isn’t guaranteed for any of us, right? I think… if today was my last day on earth would I be happy with how I’m spending it?”

I nodded. I had an idea of what he meant, but I didn’t know if I could say that I’d really put that into practice in my own life.

“Um,” Cole continued, a lump in his throat. “I say this because my dad died of cancer last year. He was only forty-eight. He was the one that, got me into music, you know? We were all blindsided by his diagnosis. He could have had eighteen months with treatment, but he decided that he didn’t want that.”

“Cole, I’m so sorry,” I finally managed, not sure what else to say.

“It’s okay,” he assured me. “I’ve made my peace with it. I just don’t want to waste any time.”


I nodded.

“Marcy,” he said. “That includes you. When I saw you….” He trailed off, then started to laugh nervously. “I’m sorry, I’m bad at words. Maybe that’s why I write songs.”

“Uhhhh-huh,” I said vaguely. I could feel my heart start to pound as I waited for him to finish his thought.

“You don’t bullshit like other people. That’s the impression that I have of you. You live your life and do what makes you happy. I wish more people had that mindset. I knew you were someone that I needed to get to know.”