Lizzy grasped her guitar case closely as she sat down on the bench and waited for the subway to come. Typically she didn’t wander far from the station near her apartment, but today she felt adventurous after playing for tips that morning and early afternoon. She had ventured around New York, specifically Central Park, to take in the greenery that she somewhat missed from living in Giddings.

Her old life back in Giddings was so much simpler and so much smaller. Everybody knew everyone with the exception of the tourists who passed through on their way to a bigger city. The locals, however, knew the other locals, which meant causing a big scene like discovering mutant powers in front of the whole school was enough cause to skip town.

Sometimes, like now, Lizzy wondered what happened to her friends in Giddings. They must have graduated by now. It had been a couple years. Did they go to college like everyone planned to? Or did they stay in the small town most likely never to leave the state? She shrugged the thoughts off because out of all of her high school friends, she did it. She escaped small town life and entered into big city life.

The subway arrived and Lizzy along with a small group of people hopped on. Luckily, there weren’t enough people to crowd the place up, so Lizzy easily found an open seat near the entrance. She was able to lean her guitar case against her legs without it hogging up too much room. Now, she just had to wait for her stop and she would be home soon.

There were plenty of things Rebecca missed from her small town in Scotland. There was a sense of community that New York sorely lacked, and she missed some of her old friends and family. It was a good thing Rebecca and Agnes were leaving for a vacation in a week and a half, or homesickness could overtake the poor girl.

There were some things about New York that Scotland was also missing, which made living in the big city easier. The freedom of living in New York was refreshing: Rebecca was getting used to dressing a little less conservative, and she was in a good relationship with another girl with very little judgment from anyone.

And then there was the subway. As scary as it was at first, Rebecca grew to enjoy trips on the subway experiencing the unique color of New York. The one rule she usually followed was keeping her words to herself.

Rebecca enjoyed her lunch across town before work, so she got on a relatively uncrowded car and took her seat. She looked up to see a pretty blonde about her age with nice blue eyes and a guitar. The girl looked harmless, and it would not be like talking to the biker in the leather jacket, (even if Tyrone ended up giving her some awesome fingerless leather gloves.

Maybe it was a good day to liven her day with a stranger on the way to work. "Sae what kinda music do ye play?"

As Lizzy sat on subway awaiting her stop, she became lost in her own mind. It always went back to what tomorrow’s set list would be for her subway crowd. She didn’t even notice the girl sitting across from her until she asked Lizzy what kind of music she played. Lizzy looked up at the redheaded girl who looked about the same age. The stranger looked nice enough to her, and it would pass the time until her stop. Lizzy told her, “I play all sorts of music. Typically more modern hits because the people who pass by me as I play in the subway recognize the song. I’ve been in an Adele mood lately though.”

It always cheered Lizzy up to talk about her music. Even though it had been a long day, Lizzy didn’t mind talking about music with a complete stranger. As Lizzy absentmindedly played with the latch on her guitar case, she asked the redheaded girl, “Do you play any instrument yourself?” When Lizzy glanced up to look her in the eyes, she noticed her eye color, or colors rather. They were slightly different colors – one was blue and the other was green. She had heard of this before, but wasn’t sure what it was called. It was different, but Lizzy thought her eyes were stunning nonetheless.

Lizzy caught herself just staring into the stranger’s eyes, and quickly looked to her hand fumbling with the latch still. All Lizzy could think was I hope she didn’t notice me staring. She knew it was rather rude to stare, and to a complete stranger too, but Lizzy couldn’t help it. The girl’s eyes were just so unique and pretty!

After initiating conversation with a stranger, the consequence Rebecca worried about was a dismissive groan of disgust or something equally pretentious, but thankfully the blonde girl seemed as willing to take a chance on a stranger as she was. "Ye play in th' stations? That's wicked!" How New York-- she just met a real subway performer!

Rebecca looked through her purse to make sure (for the third time) that she still had her phone with her when her new friend asked about any musical talents Rebecca might have. "Oh no, Ah wish. Ah'm jist a run o' th' mill poet. The violinist is mah..."

Looking up from her purse, she noticed the other girl looking pretty intently into Rebecca's eyes. "...girlfriend." Rebecca could feel her cheeks accrue a few shades of pink. The best thing to do was obviously plow headlong through the awkward moment and get it behind them, so she extended her hand in introduction. "Ah'm Rebecca."

The redhead girl thought it was awesome or rather “wicked” that Lizzy played in the subway. She had noticed the girl’s accent previously, but hadn’t thought much of it until she said “wicked”, but Lizzy was hopelessly lost on identifying accents.

As the conversation continued, Lizzy discovered that the girl wasn’t a musician but a poet instead and her girlfriend was a violinist. After looking away from her eyes, Lizzy snuck a peak to see that she was slightly pink. It was a bit awkward and Lizzy tried to save it by muttering, “Poets make the best lyricists. I’m not that much of a writer so I do more covers than originals. The few ones I’ve written aren’t very good.”

It was still a bit awkward between the two of them. Lizzy didn’t know what to do until the girl extended her hand and introduced herself as Rebecca. Lizzy shook her hand saying, “I’m Elizabeth. Well Lizzy to most people. Except my mom. I’m Beth to her instead, everyone else calls me Lizzy, Anyway, it’s nice to meet you, Rebecca.” She knew she was rambling a little bit, so she quieted down, but Lizzy was still curious about the girl’s accent. It was some British Isles accent, but Lizzy couldn’t figure out what part. It didn’t hurt to ask. “So I have to ask you, where are you originally from? I’m really bad with accents.”

It was thankful that Lizzy was willing to roll with the punches and work through what they both recognized was an awkward moment. "Really? Ah've never tried it 'fore; who knows? Maybe writing a song'd be fun!" She considered the idea; she would probably struggle with putting it to music, but maybe it would work if she was with a musician. She could always run it by Agnes, after all.

"It's nice tae meet ye too, Lizzy!" Unsurprisingly, the accent question came up, but Rebecca usually liked answering it; people seemed intrigued by foreigners from the UK, and she enjoyed intriguing people. "Oh, no worries. Ah'm actually Scottish, Irish, British and Welsh, bit Ah lived in Scotland most o' my life."

The awkwardness seemed to be diminishing thankfully, so Rebecca gladly continued the small talk down a predictable path for the time being. "How aboot you? Are ye a born an' bred New Yorker?" The girl had no immediately noticeable New York accent, and plenty of American accents sounded alike to her. New York was a melting pot of different cultures, and asking about where she came from was as good a way as any to get to know the girl.

Scotland apparently. “That’s awesome. I’ve always wanted to travel there. What made you decide to move to the States?” Maybe she wanted to escape small town life like Lizzy always wanted to, and for Rebecca, this meant escaping across the Atlantic. Lizzy could only imagine moving across the ocean. Moving across the country was one thing, but moving to a different country was another thing entirely.

Lizzy noticed the awkwardness was disappearing quickly, and she was glad for it. She felt so bad for the odd tension, but the conversation with Rebecca seemed to be going smoothly now. Rebecca asked Lizzy if she was a New Yorker. Lizzy couldn’t help but chuckle slightly at the question. ”Nah. I wish I were though. I’ve lived here for, oh gosh, almost three years now. I moved here from this small town called Giddings, Texas because I— well because my family decided it was time for a change.” It was shocking to Lizzy that it had really been three years. She felt so much like she had lived in New York almost a lifetime with the exceptions of those moments when she thought back to Texas life. Lizzy joked, “Oh and just for the record we Texans don’t ride our horses to school.”

It was really easy talking to Rebecca for some reason. Lizzy hadn’t had a lot of friends in New York because she had been homeschooled. Aside from the few other performers and the homeless folks in the subway station where she played, Lizzy didn’t really know anyone. She especially didn’t know anyone close to her age. It was nice to be able to talk and joke around even if she had only met the girl a few minutes ago.

As most people did, Lizzy found Rebecca's origins unique, which was weirdly flattering. What Rebecca should have seen coming was the "why" of her Trans-Atlantic relocation. The subject was a little touchy, since she left Scotland after accidentally discovering her power. "Ah, um, came o'er fer school. Really good class opportunities. My parents sent me o'er just a'fore Christmas." It was uncertain whether Lizzy would question going to another country for high school.

Liz's situation was different than Rebecca's; lucky for her, Lizzy got to take her family with her. Rebecca envied it, but also knew that if her parents lived in America, her time in the States would not have been as liberating. She did have to chuckle at Lizzy's joke. "Tha's a shame. Ah'd totally ride a horse tae school!"

Things were going well, Rebecca noticed as she leaned back and took a more relaxed posture. She was so relaxed, she let a little playful comment slip. "You have pretty eyes, too," she teased. As soon as she said it, she realized she was officially acknowledging Lizzy's staring. Oh well, hopefully the Texan had a sense of humor.

Lizzy found it interesting that Rebecca came over for school. It wasn’t something she had really looked into because she was homeschooled senior year because of the abrupt move and college just wasn’t something Lizzy saw herself doing. It wasn’t that it wasn’t an option. Her parents had the money to send her to college. It was just that Lizzy didn’t know what she wanted in life right now, and she felt that college would just be a waste of time at the moment because Lizzy was perfectly happy playing music in the subway.

After a bit, Lizzy noticed Rebecca relaxed a bit in her seat and subconsciously did as well. However, she immediately tensed up when Rebecca made the eyes comment. So she did notice. Lizzy thought they were past that awkward moment. She ran her hand through her blonde hair saying, “I’m really sorry about that. I just think your two different eye colors are so cool to be honest. I didn't mean to stare at all.”

Even though Lizzy was pretty sure she meant to tease her about it, her natural reaction was to apologize. “Besides, I thought we were past that part! You just had to bring it up again!” said Lizzy as she smiled a bit as she relaxed back into her seat. It at least wasn’t as awkward this time around. Besides, Lizzy was able to explain what had happened so she didn’t seem like a creeper to Rebecca.

Rebecca was glad to see Lizzy grinning away the comment. There was no reason for that little moment to make them uncomfortable. "Oh please, Ah've had these eyes fer nineteen years-- stare away," she joked. There were plenty of less flattering places to be stared at besides the eyes; if anything, Rebecca had an advantage for holding eye contact.

With all that aside now, she returned her gaze to the guitar case. "Sae dae ye jist play, or dae ye sing?" Rebecca loved instrumentals, but one of her favorite instruments to listen to was definitely a melodious singing voice.

Rebecca waited for her new friend's answer attentively as the conductor's undecipherable voice faded into the background, warning passengers who were paying attention that the car was approaching her stop.

Lizzy stared into Rebecca’s eyes again intensely almost jokingly. She had this serious look on her face like someone would if they were in the middle of a staring contest. After a few moments with this serious face on, she couldn’t hold it. Lizzy just began laughing. “I’m hopeless at keeping a straight face.”

It took a little bit for Lizzy’s laughing fit to subside, and when it finally did, Rebecca asked her a question about her music. “I do both actually. When I’m playing in the subway, I sing as well. And when I’m just trying to think, I play whatever comes to mind. We should hang out another time and maybe you could hear something!” They seemed to click well, and Lizzy definitely wanted to hang out again. It wasn’t what Lizzy expected to happen on the subway today.

In the background, Lizzy heard the stop being announced. She checked the map on the side of the car. Only two more stops before her stop. The subway ride had gone a lot faster than usual. Typically, Lizzy found herself in danger of falling asleep with the mundane ride, instead she made a new friend.

Lizzy's impromptu staring contest caught Rebecca off guard, but she made a stern face, locking with her new friend's baby blues. In her periphery, she noticed the corner of Lizzy's lips cracking, and the chain reaction was inevitable. Soon they were both laughing about a silly moment. As they laughed, Rebecca's stop came and went, unbeknownst to her.

Rebecca nodded at what sounded like a great idea. For a stranger on the subway, Lizzy seemed cool enough to spend more time with. "That sounds like fun! Maybe you can help me to help you write a song!" she suggested, thinking a brainstorm like that would be a fun creative activity.

"Where are ye off tae, anyway?" With her guitar in hand, Rebecca was unsure whether Lizzy had just left a station she was playing at or whether she was on her way to a particular one.

To Lizzy’s delight, Rebeccca sounded excited for getting together in the future. She suggested Lizzy helping her write a song too. “That would be awesome! Although, I bet you won’t need my help much to write a song.” The idea of a brainstorming session excited Lizzy. Usually she was left to fend for herself if she decided to write lyrics, but all of hers were terrible in her opinion. The music she could handle, but words to go with them? That was not Lizzy’s forte.

Rebecca asked Lizzy where she was off to. It probably seemed odd that she was hauling her guitar around, but Lizzy was so used to it. The extra few pounds were hardly ever noticed anymore. “I’m headed home right now. I played earlier today and decided to fool around the city today instead. Where are you headed off to?”

The car stopped again and Lizzy, glancing up at the map again, said to herself, “Okay, next one is mine.” That was one thing that Lizzy was worried about: missing her stop. A while back she had dozed off and missed her stop by six stops. It wasn’t until a mother with a crying baby and a noisy five-year-old boarded the subway that Lizzy woke up and realized that she had completely missed her stop. Since then, Lizzy always checked the route map frequently while telling herself aloud or in her head how long she had left. She didn’t mind winding up in a random part of the city; it just meant getting back would take a bit longer.

It was nice to be hitting things off so well with someone after striking up conversation, like it was a social victory to successfully connect with a stranger. Lizzy would also be one of her very few friends separate from the Mansion or the comic shop. It would be nice knowing someone she did not live or work with.

So if Lizzy was going home, where was she going agai... "Oh, crap." Rebecca looked up at the screen to see what the next stop was. "Ah was going tae work, bit Ah guess Ah missed my stop." She would go streetside with Lizzy and give Akshay a call. Akshay was her boss, but he was still his goofy self, and Rebecca was, in her opinion, a remarkable worker, so everything would work out fine.

It was an annoyance, but not the end of the world. She would just have to make a quick call. "Curse ye fer being sae interesting," she joked as she pulled out her phone before remembering that she was on the subway. "Right, no reception. If ye dornt mind, Ah'll get off at th' next stop wi' ye and call my boss. It should be nae problem."

Poor Rebecca. She missed her stop. And while she was headed to work too. “I think everyone has missed their stop at least once. I certainly know I have. Hopefully your boss will be okay if you’re a bit late.” Lizzy felt terrible for making her miss her stop. She could only hope that Rebecca didn’t miss her work by too much. “What can I say? My life is just so mesmerizing.” Rebecca pulled out her phone to call someone to no avail. It was the subway which meant no calls came in or out while underground.

Rebecca said she would get off with Lizzy at the next stop. “Sounds good to me! I hope your work isn’t too far from here.” The train stopped signifying they had arrived at Lizzy’s stop. With her guitar case in hand, Lizzy stood up and waited for the doors to open. Luckily, there were only a handful of people waiting to board the subway so it was easy to avoid them.

Lizzy walked toward the exit and passing her usual spot said, “This is where I typically play during the day or rather, where I start out at. There are a few times, like today, when I fool around the city.” The stairs were right next to her spot. As she climbed them, the contrast of the bright sun to artificially lit subway blinded Lizzy for a second. She told Rebecca, “Well, I think you should be getting reception now.” Lizzy pulled out her own phone from her pocket to check her own reception – full bars now and no messages either.