Who: April & Riley What: Meeting a new friend When: March 12th, mid-afternoon Where Subway Rating: Low Status: Complete
It was a sunny, but cool afternoon and April was glad to be leaving rehearsals when it was still light out. The spring season of shows was starting soon and she had been working harder forever. April wanted to stand out in the Corps so that maybe by the fall season she could be considered for something more than just the background. She was still relatively new to the company, so April knew a solo was a long way off, but maybe moving up in the line would help her get there.
Dressed in a bright yellow pea coat, the petite blonde walked quickly down the sidewalk and descended the stairs into the subway. Earbuds in, she was kind of oblivious to the sounds and crowds around her as she swiped her metrocard and slipped through the turnstile. Making her way to the platform, she stood behind the yellow line and waited for the next train as she focused on her music and ran through a routine in her mind. While she stood still, every now and again she would extend her arm or leg just slightly, or hold her hand just so, trying to get the positioning exactly right. Other people probably thought she looked insane, but April was in the zone.
Riley stood patiently at the platform, a bit down from where April was, immersed in his cell phone. He also had one bud in his ear, the other dangling gracefully down the length of his shirt which was not visible through his jacket.
At his feet sat his black lab, Ace. Tongue lolled out Ace peered around at the people gathering with dark eyes bright with ambition. The dog was dressed in its harness which told others around that it was there for rescue and medical purposes - not to touch it though people still often did.
The dog caught sight of the woman in the bright coat and before Riley realized it Ace had left his side.
Sniffing the ground the lab padded over to the young woman, tail wagging as it watched her.
A glance up from his phone screen Riley turned to peer down at the track in the direction the train would come. “Not too much longer, bud,” he chimed happily before his gaze fell to where the dog was supposed to be.
Nearly frantic, the phone went into a pocket and Riley swiveled in a complete circle looking for the dog. A breath of relief when he spotted Ace harassing a woman in a yellow coat. It didn’t take another second before he was rushing over to get his dog.
“Hi,” he called, sighing, waving at her, “Sorry, ma’am, about this rascal, he’s forgotten his manners.” That Southern drawl was thicker today than usual for some reason.
At first, April was in her own little world, focused on the music and the movement. But when the dog approached her, all of that fell away and she squealed in delight. Pulling her earbuds out, she knelt down and cautiously held a hand out to the animal to sniff. When the dog seemed friendly and curious about her, April reached out to gently scratch behind the pup’s ear, talking to him in a soft voice with just a hint of a Southern accent. “Hey there, doggie. Aren’t you friendly? Where you going, where’s your owner?”
When the man approached shortly, April looked up to him with a bright smile and reluctantly pulled her hands back. She was enjoying interacting with the dog, but she didn’t exactly have permission from his owner. Standing, she laughed and shook her head. “It’s alright! He just wanted to say hi. He’s a beautiful puppy, what’s his name?” Even though the dog was clearly not a puppy, April just used it more as a term of endearment.
“Thanks,” Riley replied. He offered a bright grin and nodded at her. “Ace. Uh — if you can’t tell, after the old guitarist from KISS.” A sheepish grin and Riley scratched at the mop of dark curls with his fingers.
Ace barked as if to confirm, the sound echoing through the station. A few people turned to look but neither the man nor the dog paid onlookers any kind at all.
Lifting a paw, Ace held it up and out slightly at the woman. The dog sat down, jaw agape with its tongue lolling out and it's dark eyes cast upward.
Riley leaned over to scratch the dog’s ears slightly. “He’s usually not this excited.”
April didn’t know KISS, but she just smiled politely and nodded anyway. Looking back to Ace, who now held out his paw for a shake, April couldn’t help but squeal a little again. Leaning down, she very carefully took the offered paw and shook it twice. “What a gentleman! It’s very nice to meet you, Ace. I’m April.”
Looking back to the man, she smiled brightly. “He isn’t? Is that a good thing? Is he supposed to be like calm and quiet or something?” She just now noticed the harness and bit her bottom lip warily. April was usually very careful about following rules, and she now felt guilty, even if all she’d done was pet a friendly dog.
As an afterthought, and another worry, April shook her head and offered her hand to the man. “I’m so sorry for being so rude. I’m April.”
That squeal had Riley laughing softly. It was an oddly endearing noise and for whatever reason he didn’t mind either way that it had happened. Subway noises probably became odd at times regardless considering the people who came and went. Ace wagged its tail, leaning over to lick her fingers as its paw was taken and shook.
Riley nodded, the end of his nose wrinkling in amusement, “He’s good when he wants to be.” The training that Riley had put both of them through was overridden once in a while - he was supposed to be calm, observant, quiet, but then sometimes Ace got a wild hair and wanted to play or be petted. “Nah, I mean, he is but he’s a therapy dog. Usually they’re supposed to be a bit calmer, but this one loves to play and he forgets.” He didn’t mind at all that April had petted Ace. The dog had started it, anyway.
A hand extended, Riley took hers and shook, “Nice to meet you, ma’am. April. I’m Riley, and you aren’t rude at all. Reckon all people wanna pet dogs naturally. He bothered you in the first place.” Letting go of her hand he took a moment to peer around at the station platform.
Ace wagged its tail again.
April looked over Riley curiously. He didn’t seem like he needed therapy, he wasn’t blind or anything. But of course that would be terribly rude to ask, and even worse to assume. Maybe therapy pets had owners just like regular dogs, April knew nothing about the subject. Maybe all dogs were therapy dogs, if they had an owner who needed it?
April got lost in her little maze of thoughts, and more than an awkward moment or two passed before she blinked back to the present. “Oh! Sorry. Nice to meet you too, Mr. Riley. And it was no bother at all.”
She noticed Riley looking around the station and took a half step back. “Sorry I interrupted your commute.” Regardless of the seemingly parting words, April stayed near where she’d been waiting for the train, and every few second still snuck a little smile and wave to the dog. She didn’t want to bother Riley though, especially if he was busy or in a hurry to get somewhere.
He tilted his head some at her thoughtful look, admiring the way her expression sat so delicately on the planes and lines of her face. There was no doubt she was pretty; the pretty ones tended to be his weakness.
Smile softening, he shook his head at her, “Ah, I feel old right now. My students call me Mister, you can just call me Riley. That’ll do just fine.” His students weren’t encouraged to call him Mister Kip - Riley was reminded of his father and it rubbed him the wrong way - so he was more lax with the formal address.
“Oh, you didn’t. Not at all, I mean —“ if she was done talking he was cool with that.
Ace moved to fill in the gap April had left as if to insist she stay and play.
Noticing the way he looked at her, April suddenly felt a little self conscious and looked down for a moment. When he spoke again, she met his gaze once again, her eyes curious. “You’re a teacher? What kinds of things do you teach?”
April was glad when he seemed to want to continue chatting. She could talk someone’s ear off, but a lot of people didn’t respond well to that. She asked too many questions, and didn’t always understand things and that made people’s patience run thin. Which explained why she liked animals so much, they were more patient with her.
She held out her hand again to Ace, showing that she didn’t mind his interest.
“All kinds of things,” he explained. He taught reading, spelling, math, life skills, really whatever was needed to kids in groups of various ages. The school program he was part of didn’t function a lot like a normal school - some parents didn’t want their human children mixing with special children and some mutant children didn’t have good parents or ones who considered education important. “But my favorite is art.”
Ace nuzzled at April’s outstretched palm with its nose before it offered a lick of approval.
“What about you? What do you do?” Maybe she didn’t have a job? But it didn’t hurt to ask since she had inquired of him. He was ok with small talk, with getting to know people. Some people said he talked too much so he did his best to be mindful of it even though it sort of just happened.
April smiled, glad he mentioned a subject that seemed a lot less difficult and threatening than most. Not that art wasn’t hard, but it felt like something a little less intimidating than math or reading.
Petting Ace gently, she moved a little closer to the dog again, giving him the attention he wanted.
“I’m a dancer. With the ballet.” April was very proud of her job, she’d worked hard to get to this point. But also realized a lot of people didn’t really like ballet, or dance in general, so she didn’t talk much about it.
“Whaaaat?” He replied, drawing out the vowel. Riley offered a look of awe - dancing was not an easy thing and he did not brag about his own meager skills though once you got a few shots in him he pretended to be Michael Jackson or MC Hammer.
“I love to dance. Ain’t any good at it, but I like to do it.” A wiggle escaped him, he shifted his shoulders and then his hips as if to prove that he could shimmy a bit. And then he laughed, “Sorry, I got a bit of the groove in me for a second.”
Ace peered up at him as if he had lost every bit of sense he had left.
April beamed a little at the look and his surprise, happy to hear they had an interest in common. When Riley let loose a little move, she giggled and then shook her head. “Don’t apologize! I wish more people would let loose and just dance. It feels so good, doesn’t it?”
The look that the dog gave to the owner just made April laugh even more. They were both very nice, and amusing.
He laughed. His eyes squeezed shut, head tilted back as a hand went to his stomach. The sound echoed through the platform causing a few people to glance over with either interest or annoyance, but Riley didn’t care. He wore his heart on his sleeve and he knew that sometimes that sort of thing got you into trouble once in a while. When the bout of amusement was done he giggled, looking back at April. A finger wiped away a tear and he nodded, “You have no idea how amazing that sentence was.” It felt good to be yourself, even for a moment, and he was glad to know that someone else recognized it.
Ace released a huff and glanced around for something interesting to look at, tail wagging a bit.
“Man, though. Ballet looks so easy but I know it’s probably way harder. What’s that like? If that’s okay…” He was curious but the train would be there soon to take them both separate ways.
April wasn’t sure how what she said got such a reaction, but she enjoyed it either way. She didn’t really care if people turned to look and stare, she just gave Riley an amused smile. “Thank you?”
She could see that the dog was getting a little restless, but there wasn’t much she could do to help while they stood on a crowded platform.
At Riley’s question, April didn’t have to think before she came up with an answer. “It’s amazing, I love it. It’s a lot of work, really hard work, but then when I’m dancing in a show, all that goes away and I just feel…” She didn’t know if there was a word that even described it accurately, but she tried to choose on that was close. “Free.”
“I wish more people felt the way that you do about stuff. The world would be a much happier place, you know?” Much happier. Much easier. Things tended to be harder than they had to be when it came to tough issues and society norms.
His face hurt from all of the smiling but he was glad for it. “That’s so awesome. It’s rare meeting someone who is so passionate about what they do. Most people hate going to work and stuff, you know? It’s refreshing.” He felt as if people like himself, April, helped the world be a little better a bit at a time.
“When’s your next show? Are you dancing some place I know? Are there tickets?” To an outsider than might have sounded like a lecherous series of questions - honestly he was intrigued and wanted to support April in her endeavors and passions.
Beaming again, April agreed with Riley’s thoughts. It was nice to meet someone upbeat, it didn’t happen very often in this city, it seemed. “I agree! Everyone just needs to smile more and look on the bright side.” April always did that, but it came natural to her. She always seemed to be able to find a small bright spot even in the darkest of days.
Nodding in agreement, April glanced around. She didn’t always realize how unhappy other people could be, and it briefly made her a little sad to think that so many people could feel so unfulfilled about what they had to do every day. “I wish there was a way to make everyone feel that way about stuff.”
His barrage of questions surprised her, but she was happy to answer. “Well, we just finished the Winter season about two weeks ago, but the Spring shows begin at the end of April.” She always giggled a little when she used her name as the month. “We perform at Lincoln Center. I can get you tickets, if you like? I just need to know how to get them to you. Or… I could leave them at the box office…” Her brother was always warning her that she could be too friendly with strangers, so April didn’t outright ask for Riley’s contact information, even though she wanted to.
Nodding in agreement, Riley also took a moment to glance around again. He caught eyes with a grumpy looking elderly man and offered a friendly wave, only to get a scowl in reply. Eyes wide, he turned back to April trying his best to stifle a giggle.
“Me too. Seriously. More sunshine and rainbows, less dark and broody. That stuff is overrated for sure.”
And then her reply came and he was beaming. A laugh, softer this time, was issued with her own giggle and he grinned. “I would love that! You wouldn’t have to get tickets, it’s just me and Ace.” It wasn’t like he was dating or anything. “The box office would be fine.” He understood how imposing it might seem to ask for her number even with a good reason so he refrained in spite of wanting to inquire.
“Oh, and thank you. That’s very thoughtful. And I have noting that cool to offer in return.” Silently he was stressing and doing a bit of inward flailing.
When the man gave Riley a glare, April gave him a smile while brightened the old man’s expression for about half a second. She’d learned a long time ago that a smile from a pretty girl could help change a man’s sour mood, even if only for a moment or two. Turning her attention back to Riley, April let out her laugh. When given the chance to be herself, April would never stifle a thing.
“I wish I knew more people like you. You’re so fun to talk to.” April was just being honest, but once she said it outloud she wasn’t sure how it sounded.
Moving on to avoid any awkwardness, April dug her phone out of her pocket. “If you want, I can text you the schedule and you can tell me what day is best for you for the show. And you can choose which show you like, we’ve got 42 shows this season, and I’ll be in a little more than half, hopefully!” Her excitement about the upcoming shows was obvious.
At his comment about something in return, April cocked her head to the side curiously. Why would he need to offer anything? “You don’t have to worry about that! You being so nice now is more than enough.”
He was glad they were laughing together, finding reasons to enjoy the time together even as strangers.
“Really?” He inquired, eyebrows nearly hitting his hairline. “People say I talk too much, I can’t help it. I like talking to you too, April.” He didn’t find it awkward, not really, but color flooded the apples of his cheeks anyway.
A nod would come and Riley extended a hand for her phone if she would hand it over. If not that was fine - he gave her the number just in case. “Forty two! Holy smokes!” That seemed like a lot of work. “Maybe I’ll bring my class to see one of your shows. Field trip and all.”
He was glad she was so understanding. He could yammer on with the best of them.
April handed over her phone to him without hesitation, even though she could practically hear her brother scolding her for it already. He didn’t need to know, but April also knew she had a hard time keeping things to herself so August would find out sooner or later about this. As Riley input his number into her phone, she studied him curiously. “People say I talk too much too! And I like talking to you!”
People began to move closer to the edge of the platform, a clear sign that a train was incoming. Truth be told, April was disappointed that their time to chat was probably coming to an end. She didn’t really get to socialize much outside of the other dancers in the company. It was nice to spend time with someone different.
“Well, forty two performance dates, but it’s still a lot of different shows.” April didn’t know exactly how many since she wasn’t slated to dance in every show. But things could change suddenly.
“It would be so cool for a whole class to come! If I had a field trip like that, I would have liked school a lot more, I think! You’re a really cool teacher.” April admired him already, she was sure his students must feel the same way.
Riley accepted the phone and proceeded to make beep boop noises as he entered the numbers into her phone. His eyes lifted mid-punch and in a robotic tone he said, “Me too. I like talking to you.”
When he was done the phone was offered back and he laughed.
Ace noticed the train was onset before he did. Riley wasn’t interested just then in the train, another would come. “I’m excited for them. It’d be an honor to attend one and then maybe another one.”
His heart fluttered a bit. Riley scratched at his hair, “Thanks, yeah, I dig my class. They’re a cool bunch of kids. They’d love your show.” He doubted anyone took them anywhere anyway.
April laughed at the silly noises Riley made, and the voice he used to respond. He was fun, not a lot of people were fun like this anymore. When April acted silly, people looked at her like she was a child. Well, that wasn’t the only time they did that, but still, she noticed it and didn’t really appreciate it.
Taking her phone back, she deposited it back into her pocket without checking it. She trusted him somehow, even though she knew it probably wasn’t a very smart idea to do so. She wasn’t nearly as cautious as she should be, but April also always trusted her instincts because they never steered her wrong yet.
Now April was the one to blush a bit, eyes wide. She wasn’t sure anyone had ever called it an honor to go to one of her shows. Then again, she hadn’t ever really invited anyone other than close friends or family.
“You think? I don’t know a lot of kids, or adults, who are all that interested in ballet. And, well, the ones who are were already interested in ballet a long time before seeing any of these shows.” April still remembered the first time she became interested in dance, but she knew that it didn’t appeal to everyone. Biting her lip, she looked to the train and then to Ace and Riley, expecting them to go. She made no move to board it herself though, just in case. “Is this your train?”
“You have to show kids new things - they don’t know what they want until they know what’s out there.” Ballet was one of those timeless classics that never really aged into extinction. It was athletic, graceful. He didn’t make it a point to go to a ballet but just then the idea seemed amazing, especially to support April.
The train pulled into the station, idling at the platform. Peering at it from the corner of an eye he shook his head at April, “Nah, I can get the next one.” That would buy him some time. She didn’t seem super eager to take off either.
Ace moved to lay down on the platform at Riley’s feet, dark eyes looking up at both humans.
April had never considered that point of view, but it made her smile. “I guess you’re right about that. I don’t think I would have ever known much about dance if I hadn’t been so bouncy all the time when I was little. My mom and dad thought dance would help with that. And it did. Or… well I guess it just let me be more bouncy.”
April followed Riley’s gaze to the train and peered at him. “Are you sure? I’d hate to keep you. But I am also having a really nice time talking to you, so I’m kind of glad it’s not over yet.” Honest to a fault, April was a little worried he’d think she was weird for saying all that.
Looking down to the dog, she knelt again and gently patted Ace’s hea. “Poor doggie. Are you bored? I bet it’s not very nice down here for you. It is much nicer outside, even when it’s cold.”
“Nothing wrong with being bouncy,” he replied, shrugging. “Ballet is ingrained in culture - so many different countries have their interpretation on it. But then dance is kinda fluid anyway.” Who said anyone danced the wrong way? It was all in the way you expressed yourself, how you felt the flow.
He shook his head and waved a hand dismissively, “Yah, no worries!” It would be worth being late to wherever he was going. “I like talking to you too. You’re really cool.” That was a rare trait, being cool.
Ace licked April’s hand, nuzzling at her palm with its nose.
Looking up to him as he spoke, April continued to give Ace some attention while still listening to Riley as he spoke. She didn’t want the dog to feel ignored, especially when he was probably eager to go. April didn’t think any animal wanted to be in a subway station, but Ace was handling it well.
When he talked about ballet and culture, April was impressed. She’d been forced to sit through all the history and theory classes, but not much of it stuck with her. She’d never really been good with that kind of learning. She couldn’t imagine all the things Riley needed to know and understand and remember in order to be a teacher. “You are really really smart.”
“Are you sure? I’d hate to hold you up. I’m sure you’ve got lots of teacher-ing to do.” What that could be, she had no idea. Grading papers, reading books? “I was just heading home from rehearsal, so I wasn’t going anywhere important. But I don’t want to stop you from going on with your day.”
“Well,” he replied sheepishly, scratching his fingers through his hair, “I say good stuff once in a while, is all.” He knew he wasn’t the brightest crayon in the box but he made due. He’d always been resourceful, especially when he was younger.
Kneeling down so he could talk better to her, Riley art a knee on the ground for balance. He hated to think he was towering over anyone - he wasn’t a tall person but he never was the type to look down on anyone for anything.
“Yeah, no, it’s fine. I was just gonna go find a place to sit and do teacher-y stuff.” This was a good distraction if he had anything to say about it.
When he knelt down with her, April searched his face intently. A lot of people didn’t do that, or even think to get down to someone else’s level. It really resonated with her and for a moment she just watched him in silence with a little smile.
“You probably say good stuff a lot, I bet you’re just modest.” Not that there was anything wrong with that.
April scratched behind Ace’s ears once more before hesitantly looking back to Riley. Why did she feel so nervous all of the sudden? “A place like a coffee shop or a library or a park or something?” She was kind of curious why he didn’t do his teacher-y work at home, but that would be rude to ask.
The end of his nose crinkled with amusement. “Can’t tell ya all of my secrets. I only got a few and once I use them up there ain’t much left to wow you with.” The words were playful but he felt they were true. Humble, modest, at the end of the day he was no better or any more important than anyone else in the world. His fingers dove into Ace’s ebony fur, stroking against the grain of the hair gently.
“Yeah, somewhere like that. I like the smell of the outdoors; I grew up on a farm and I’ve always been partial to the sunshine and the grass. Can’t beat the smell of fresh cut grass on the breeze, or the smell of flowers. I could do teacher-y stuff at home - I do if the weather is bad, but being somewhere like a coffee shop or the park feels more like home. This big city stuff wears on me sometimes.” That was probably more honest than he’d been with someone in a long while.
That tiny tuna can of a trailer was still there, smack dab in the middle of an overgrown plot of land that he hated to think about. If it burned to the ground he would have no remorse at all, no grief for it. He had spent a few years on the street, living on the couches of friends, all so he could avoid going back to that craphole in the middle of nowhere.
April laughed a little at his comment. She wasn’t really sure why he, or anyone else, would want to wow her, but she liked the idea of it. Most people talked to her or treated her like a child a lot of the time, and no one ever really wanted to impress kids much. At least not for more than a few minutes here and there.
When he spoke about his home, April’s expression brightened again. She knew he couldn’t possibly be from New York. Not just because of his accent, but because of his nature. She hadn’t met anyone from around here like that. “I know what you mean. I miss home too sometimes. It’s very different from here. Why did you come to New York?” He could teach anywhere, right?
Another train was already coming, but April didn’t even glance in it’s direction despite feeling the slight rumble and noise on the tracks. She was far more interested in learning more about Riley now to pay attention to things like getting home.
“Furthest place from Texas I could get that I could tolerate,” he admitted, laughing a little. “Plus it snows here. We pray to the baby Jesus each year for even a bit of this white stuff and we get nothing but sporadic weather and tornados.” Most of that was just teasing but some of it was true. The scalding summers, harsh and varying winters. It was as if the whole state was bipolar or indecisive.
Ace had glanced up and over at the train but Riley ignored it.
Somewhere beyond the echo of the subway train he heard a soft voice belting out some fifty’s tunes, a guitar could be heard complimenting the crooner who, by the tones of their voice, was probably middle aged or a touch older.
Riley’s gaze never left April, she was far too fascinating and distracting to allow his attention to wane.
“You’re from Texas? I’ve never been. Is it nice there? I’m from Tennessee, pretty different from here too. And the snow! I love the snow. I go out and make snow angels whenever I can.” Which some people thought was pretty ridiculous for a grown woman to do, but April didn’t care.
She finally realized, probably a few minutes too late, that they were crouching there in the middle of a dirty subway. It wasn’t comfortable, or sanitary. Standing quickly, she held out her hand to help him up, since he was down on a knee. “This probably sounds weird. But, do you want to go somewhere else and talk a little bit? Unless you’ve got too much work to do, then I apologize and just forget I asked.”
“Yes ma’am,” he drawled, laughing softly. “Pittsburg, Texas, to be exact. The smallest little dump of a town you could probably find across the sprawling, awkward expanse of the countryside.” It wasn’t that he didn’t love Texas. He was damned proud to be from the large swath of land but he hated his hometown with a passion. “Tennessee,” he scoffed playfully, rolling his eyes, “Alright, you got the heart of country music there so I reckon you’ve redeemed yourself.” He’d spent a few days in Tennessee on his way north just to experience a few of the places there. “I liked Memphis, myself.”
When April stood up his first thought was that he’d said something to upset her, but then she was offering her hands and his own lifted to take hers. With an ungrateful pop of his ankles and knees (heck he was old) Riley was standing easily. He let go of her hands and then nodded at her. “Sure! Work can wait.”
As the humans moved to stand, Ace was up on its feet, tail wagging excitedly. It seemed something was happening and he wanted to be as much a part of it as they were. “C’mon, Ace.”
Ace barked, emitting an anxious whine which could have been translated roughly into something along the lines of let’s get going, what are we waiting for?