#14: Weekly Quick Fic #5
Title: Don't Sleep on the Subway
Prompt: “Don’t rescue me. I like the saltwater sting” (“In the Sea” by Ingrid Michelson) and “Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect.” (Demi Lovato)
Bonus? no
Word Count: 535
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Glee
Pairings (if any): None.
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con etc): none
Summary: Artie explains to his mom why he wants to take the subway to school.
"What do you think?" Mom asked, smiling and pulling her jacket closer. It wasn't cold in the late March air, but New York always seemed cold.
"I don't know." I looked up at the big gray apartments complex. It was the closest thing to a dorm that the Brooklyn Film Academy offered. The apartments were small, affordable, close to campus and you could always find someone to take over your lease if things didn't work out.
"Just think, you could roll out of bed and be in class in 10 minutes," mom chuckled, even though we both knew that it wasn't true. It always took me longer to do things, there was nothing I could do about it.
"It's just that everyone else will be in Bushwick... I won't know anyone in this building. It's just so big..."
"You'll meet people, I'm not worried. Here, look," she started to pull her tablet out of her bag.
"Mom!"
"What? It's Sunday morning. No one's even out here."
"We should at least go to a Starbucks." I just shook my head.
She nodded, "OK, there's no WiFi out here any way."
My mom was so naive sometimes, she thought the whole world was as safe as Ohio. Of course we knew how dangerous even Ohio could be, but she never really worried. We quickly relocated to a nearby cafe. I parked next to a table and looked up at mom, "OK, what was so important?"
She shook her head and loaded a subway map of New York city. "OK, I looked at this a little before, but here's the deal. We're right here," she pointed to a stop on the G train. "Look at how far it is from Bushwick. There's no direct route."
I traced the trains with my eyes. She was right, of course. There weren't very many accessible stops. To get home from class, I would have to get to the Q train and switch to the L at Union Square. Of course taking the G train would be much faster, but it wasn't accessible. "I don't care."
"I think there's a bus that goes straight down Myrtle Ave." Mom had obviously done her research.
I just rolled my eyes. "Real New Yorkers don't take the bus. Besides, that's not a safe area." I was bluffing, I had no idea besides that the map said that Myrtle Ave ran right through Bed-Sty. That neighborhood was still dangerous, right?
Mom studied me for a long moment. "Look, why don't you just save yourself the commute and live right here? I thought the place we saw was nice enough."
I just sighed. "Like I said, all my friends will be there, not here... I'm not worried about meeting new people, it's just that those guys are some of my best friends. I know the apartments here seem perfect but it's a lot of pressure. Everything else will be new, it will be nice to have some familiar faces around. I think the commute will be worth it, even if it is a pain. Besides, I remember the time Puck and I got lost on the subway when we were here for Nationals. I loved every second."
Prompt: “Don’t rescue me. I like the saltwater sting” (“In the Sea” by Ingrid Michelson) and “Love is louder than the pressure to be perfect.” (Demi Lovato)
Bonus? no
Word Count: 535
Rating: PG
Original/Fandom: Glee
Pairings (if any): None.
Warnings (Non-Con/Dub-Con etc): none
Summary: Artie explains to his mom why he wants to take the subway to school.
"What do you think?" Mom asked, smiling and pulling her jacket closer. It wasn't cold in the late March air, but New York always seemed cold.
"I don't know." I looked up at the big gray apartments complex. It was the closest thing to a dorm that the Brooklyn Film Academy offered. The apartments were small, affordable, close to campus and you could always find someone to take over your lease if things didn't work out.
"Just think, you could roll out of bed and be in class in 10 minutes," mom chuckled, even though we both knew that it wasn't true. It always took me longer to do things, there was nothing I could do about it.
"It's just that everyone else will be in Bushwick... I won't know anyone in this building. It's just so big..."
"You'll meet people, I'm not worried. Here, look," she started to pull her tablet out of her bag.
"Mom!"
"What? It's Sunday morning. No one's even out here."
"We should at least go to a Starbucks." I just shook my head.
She nodded, "OK, there's no WiFi out here any way."
My mom was so naive sometimes, she thought the whole world was as safe as Ohio. Of course we knew how dangerous even Ohio could be, but she never really worried. We quickly relocated to a nearby cafe. I parked next to a table and looked up at mom, "OK, what was so important?"
She shook her head and loaded a subway map of New York city. "OK, I looked at this a little before, but here's the deal. We're right here," she pointed to a stop on the G train. "Look at how far it is from Bushwick. There's no direct route."
I traced the trains with my eyes. She was right, of course. There weren't very many accessible stops. To get home from class, I would have to get to the Q train and switch to the L at Union Square. Of course taking the G train would be much faster, but it wasn't accessible. "I don't care."
"I think there's a bus that goes straight down Myrtle Ave." Mom had obviously done her research.
I just rolled my eyes. "Real New Yorkers don't take the bus. Besides, that's not a safe area." I was bluffing, I had no idea besides that the map said that Myrtle Ave ran right through Bed-Sty. That neighborhood was still dangerous, right?
Mom studied me for a long moment. "Look, why don't you just save yourself the commute and live right here? I thought the place we saw was nice enough."
I just sighed. "Like I said, all my friends will be there, not here... I'm not worried about meeting new people, it's just that those guys are some of my best friends. I know the apartments here seem perfect but it's a lot of pressure. Everything else will be new, it will be nice to have some familiar faces around. I think the commute will be worth it, even if it is a pain. Besides, I remember the time Puck and I got lost on the subway when we were here for Nationals. I loved every second."