Walls
Collide
Grabbing her keys from her bedside table Braedynne slid a beanie atop her head and strolled out of her cheap studio apartment. Jogging down the stairs and entering the busy street, she began to walk down to Sixth Avenue.
Deciding she had enough time to spare, the girl chose to save what little money she had and walk to work as opposed to flagging down a cab or hopping on the subway. Ducking her head as she pushed her way through the throngs of people between her and the Beacon Theatre, Braedynne placed her headphones in her ears, smiling to herself as Yellowcard came on.
Waiting impatiently to cross the street, Braedynne irritably ran her fingers through her long dark hair, sighing to herself.
It’s amazing when you lose someone, how the simplest thing will remind you of them. Anything from chipped nail polish to looking in the mirror to running her hands through her hair reminded Braedynne of Bobbi; even if it had been 8 months. She felt like the constant reminders and guilt would never go away, even if everyone says that time heals all wounds.
Shaking her head at the memories Braedynne continued her walk, she changed her train of thought to how much her life had changed in less than a year. Braedynne used to be the quiet girl with the loud and outgoing sister who had enough friends for the both of them. Pushed by her parents to become a lawyer, she was studying at NYU and had managed to escape her past life in North Carolina. She had finally had friends and a family that cared about her, but then spring break came and everything changed.
Shaking her head once again, Braedynne turned the volume up on her first generation iPod touch, hoping that it would just block out her thoughts completely. This plan worked for a while, until she saw a flash of red hair in the crowd out of the corner of her eye. Flinching at the sight and flashing back to that fateful night, Braedynne unexpectedly broke out into a run, pushing through the crowds of people around her.
“No, no, no,” She muttered to herself as she quickly weaved through the crowds, glancing behind her shoulder every few seconds checking for the flash of red hair following her. She logically knew that it most likely wasn’t him with the red hair but after what he had put her through she knew she couldn’t be too careful. Because of him she had a tendency to freak out whenever she saw someone with a remotely similar hair color.
Turning a corner while looking behind her, Braedynne felt something trip her and she went tumbling to the ground, ear buds ripping out of her ears on the way.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” She heard a voice ask as she slowly pushed herself up. Looking down at her body, she took in the rip in her black jeans at her knee with blood slowly seeping through it and her scraped hands. Glancing at her iPod, her stomach sunk as she took in the cracked screen and could vaguely hear Fighting by Yellowcard blasting out of the speakers.
Feeling hands on her shoulders, Braedynne flinched, automatically flashing back to the redhead man. Blinking her eyes, the brunette grabbed her broken iPod off the ground and stood up. Out of breath from running, she turned to face the man speaking to her.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you coming, and now you’re bleeding and-“the man continued on as Braedynne glanced up at his face. A flash of recognition went through her mind as she took in the perfectly messed up yet styled hair, the chocolate colored eyes, skinny jeans, and Glamour Kills shirt. Not knowing where she had seen this man before, she shook it off, interrupting his rant.
“No, I shouldn’t have been running down these streets and I should’ve been watching where I was going, I’m sorry” She stated, preparing to walk away, assuming that the conversation was over.
“Wait, your knee and hands are bleeding,” The stranger pointed out. Looking down at her leg, Braedynne could now see that the blood was flowing much quicker than she had originally thought.
“Oh,” She said stupidly, her eyes captured by the sight of blood soaking through her pants, her ears taking in the Blink song now playing over her speakers.
“There’s a CVS right over there, I’ll get you some band-aids,” The man trailed off, looking down at the beautiful girl standing in front of him. But when her eyes looked up to meet his, he noticed the absence of the spark of happiness that most humans seem to possess. She simply looked... miserable and lost.
Completely zoning back in from the paranoia and flashbacks, Braedynne responded.
“Oh, no you really don’t have to,” She trailed off as she realized the fact that she truly needed a band aid, and she barely had enough money to buy her dinner that night, let alone band-aids at an overpriced chain store.
“Please, I ripped your jeans and scraped your hands, it’s the least I can do,” The man offered, confusing even himself with his response. He was never the type of guy to offer to buy band aids for a random girl he accidently tripped in New York City. Yet for some reason he was just drawn to this girl, so much so that he was barely able to function enough to motion to the CVS across the street and begin to lead the way to it.
“I’m Alex, by the way,” He introduced himself, wanting to know this mysterious girls name.
“Braedynne,” She replied, reaching her hands up to fix her beanie, trying not to smear blood on it.
“So, you listen to Yellowcard and Blink?” Alex painstakingly tried to start a conversation when he realized that the girl, Braedynne, wasn’t going to do it herself.
Glancing down at her iPod that wouldn’t turn off, Braedynne nodded.
“Yeah, my iPod apparently broke when it hit the ground, so I can’t turn it off.” She stated. “Sorry,” she added as an afterthought, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for.
“Don’t be, you have good taste in music. I’m sorry for breaking it” Alex replied, smiling down at the gorgeous girl limping slightly beside him.
“It was old anyway,” She replied, grimacing at the thought of having to go without an iPod for a while. “Have I met you before? You look really familiar,” Braedynne added, her curiosity getting the best of her as she glanced up at the man through the hair blowing in her face.
“You may have just seen me around, I’m here a lot,” Alex covered, not fond of the awkward ‘I’m in a band’ conversation he was forced to have more often than not. “Plus I think I would’ve remembered meeting you,” Alex fed her a line, his man whore instincts taking over as he held the door to the CVS open for her.
His smirk dropped however, when the girl rolled her eyes, not falling for his (what he considered to be a) smooth line.
“It’s New York City, there are millions of people here; there’s no way ‘I’ve seen you around,’” She replied dryly, turning her head so he could see that she wasn’t buying that easily as he had hoped as she led the way to the band-aids aisle.
“Huh, who would have thought there would be so many band-aids to choose from,” Braedynne observed, standing in front of the hundreds of different style, size, color, material, and pattern band-aids.
“I think you seem like a Blue’s Clues kind of girl,” Alex added, reaching for the Blue’s Clues patterned waterproof band-aids for joints. Smirking, he displayed the box.
“Tempting, and the fact that they’re waterproof is a good selling point, but I think I’m gonna have to go with Elmo,” Braedynne stood on her tip toes, stretching to reach the box of Elmo kid’s band-aids on the top shelf.
Laughing to himself, Alex reached up and easily exchanged his Blue’s Clues band-aids for the Elmo ones before turning and slowly walking to the registers as yet another Yellowcard song came on through her iPod speakers.
“I could have gotten them,” Braedynne grumbled to herself, never liking to be dependent on someone for even the smallest of things.
“Maybe, but not before knocking down all the shelves,” Alex shot back, turning his head to grin at her as he walked directly into a battery display box.
“Maybe I’m not the one we should be worried about here,” Braedynne laughed as she bent down to help pick up the fallen battery cases.
“Yeah, whatever,” Alex laughed along with her as he too picked up the batteries.
“So, you really like Yellowcard, huh?” Alex inquired as they stood in line.
“Yeah, they’re my favorite band,” Braedynne replied, looking down at her combat boots as she spoke.
Music was a touchy subject with her. It was something that she and Bobbi had shared growing up; and although they debated about different bands constantly, Yellowcard was the one band they had always agreed on.
“Above Blink?” Alex asked, mocking a shocked expression.
“Yes, but Blink holds a close second,” Braedynne replied, laughing once she looked up and saw Alex’s almost offended looking face. “I’m actually surprised you know who they are and recognize their music, not a lot of people around here do.”
“Well I’ve,” Alex coughed to stop what he was saying. “I mean I’m not from here,” He smirked, stepping up to the cashier.
He had been about to tell her that he had actually toured with both of the bands quite a few times, but caught himself. She doesn’t know who he is, and he was enjoying that for the time being. She also didn’t seem like the kind of girl to be too impressed by things like that.
Braedynne waited behind Alex patiently, glancing around as she did so. Her eyes caught on the big digital clock hanging behind the counter, her eyes bulging out as she saw the actual time.
"Shit, Alex I gotta go; I’m late for work. Thank you so much the band-aids,” She said as she took the bag Alex was offering her before smiling apologetically at him and jogging with a limp out the door.
She left so fast that Alex just stood there, one thing repeating in his mind.
He never got her number.
Deciding she had enough time to spare, the girl chose to save what little money she had and walk to work as opposed to flagging down a cab or hopping on the subway. Ducking her head as she pushed her way through the throngs of people between her and the Beacon Theatre, Braedynne placed her headphones in her ears, smiling to herself as Yellowcard came on.
Waiting impatiently to cross the street, Braedynne irritably ran her fingers through her long dark hair, sighing to herself.
It’s amazing when you lose someone, how the simplest thing will remind you of them. Anything from chipped nail polish to looking in the mirror to running her hands through her hair reminded Braedynne of Bobbi; even if it had been 8 months. She felt like the constant reminders and guilt would never go away, even if everyone says that time heals all wounds.
Shaking her head at the memories Braedynne continued her walk, she changed her train of thought to how much her life had changed in less than a year. Braedynne used to be the quiet girl with the loud and outgoing sister who had enough friends for the both of them. Pushed by her parents to become a lawyer, she was studying at NYU and had managed to escape her past life in North Carolina. She had finally had friends and a family that cared about her, but then spring break came and everything changed.
Shaking her head once again, Braedynne turned the volume up on her first generation iPod touch, hoping that it would just block out her thoughts completely. This plan worked for a while, until she saw a flash of red hair in the crowd out of the corner of her eye. Flinching at the sight and flashing back to that fateful night, Braedynne unexpectedly broke out into a run, pushing through the crowds of people around her.
“No, no, no,” She muttered to herself as she quickly weaved through the crowds, glancing behind her shoulder every few seconds checking for the flash of red hair following her. She logically knew that it most likely wasn’t him with the red hair but after what he had put her through she knew she couldn’t be too careful. Because of him she had a tendency to freak out whenever she saw someone with a remotely similar hair color.
Turning a corner while looking behind her, Braedynne felt something trip her and she went tumbling to the ground, ear buds ripping out of her ears on the way.
“Oh my god, are you okay?” She heard a voice ask as she slowly pushed herself up. Looking down at her body, she took in the rip in her black jeans at her knee with blood slowly seeping through it and her scraped hands. Glancing at her iPod, her stomach sunk as she took in the cracked screen and could vaguely hear Fighting by Yellowcard blasting out of the speakers.
Feeling hands on her shoulders, Braedynne flinched, automatically flashing back to the redhead man. Blinking her eyes, the brunette grabbed her broken iPod off the ground and stood up. Out of breath from running, she turned to face the man speaking to her.
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you coming, and now you’re bleeding and-“the man continued on as Braedynne glanced up at his face. A flash of recognition went through her mind as she took in the perfectly messed up yet styled hair, the chocolate colored eyes, skinny jeans, and Glamour Kills shirt. Not knowing where she had seen this man before, she shook it off, interrupting his rant.
“No, I shouldn’t have been running down these streets and I should’ve been watching where I was going, I’m sorry” She stated, preparing to walk away, assuming that the conversation was over.
“Wait, your knee and hands are bleeding,” The stranger pointed out. Looking down at her leg, Braedynne could now see that the blood was flowing much quicker than she had originally thought.
“Oh,” She said stupidly, her eyes captured by the sight of blood soaking through her pants, her ears taking in the Blink song now playing over her speakers.
“There’s a CVS right over there, I’ll get you some band-aids,” The man trailed off, looking down at the beautiful girl standing in front of him. But when her eyes looked up to meet his, he noticed the absence of the spark of happiness that most humans seem to possess. She simply looked... miserable and lost.
Completely zoning back in from the paranoia and flashbacks, Braedynne responded.
“Oh, no you really don’t have to,” She trailed off as she realized the fact that she truly needed a band aid, and she barely had enough money to buy her dinner that night, let alone band-aids at an overpriced chain store.
“Please, I ripped your jeans and scraped your hands, it’s the least I can do,” The man offered, confusing even himself with his response. He was never the type of guy to offer to buy band aids for a random girl he accidently tripped in New York City. Yet for some reason he was just drawn to this girl, so much so that he was barely able to function enough to motion to the CVS across the street and begin to lead the way to it.
“I’m Alex, by the way,” He introduced himself, wanting to know this mysterious girls name.
“Braedynne,” She replied, reaching her hands up to fix her beanie, trying not to smear blood on it.
“So, you listen to Yellowcard and Blink?” Alex painstakingly tried to start a conversation when he realized that the girl, Braedynne, wasn’t going to do it herself.
Glancing down at her iPod that wouldn’t turn off, Braedynne nodded.
“Yeah, my iPod apparently broke when it hit the ground, so I can’t turn it off.” She stated. “Sorry,” she added as an afterthought, not entirely sure what she was apologizing for.
“Don’t be, you have good taste in music. I’m sorry for breaking it” Alex replied, smiling down at the gorgeous girl limping slightly beside him.
“It was old anyway,” She replied, grimacing at the thought of having to go without an iPod for a while. “Have I met you before? You look really familiar,” Braedynne added, her curiosity getting the best of her as she glanced up at the man through the hair blowing in her face.
“You may have just seen me around, I’m here a lot,” Alex covered, not fond of the awkward ‘I’m in a band’ conversation he was forced to have more often than not. “Plus I think I would’ve remembered meeting you,” Alex fed her a line, his man whore instincts taking over as he held the door to the CVS open for her.
His smirk dropped however, when the girl rolled her eyes, not falling for his (what he considered to be a) smooth line.
“It’s New York City, there are millions of people here; there’s no way ‘I’ve seen you around,’” She replied dryly, turning her head so he could see that she wasn’t buying that easily as he had hoped as she led the way to the band-aids aisle.
“Huh, who would have thought there would be so many band-aids to choose from,” Braedynne observed, standing in front of the hundreds of different style, size, color, material, and pattern band-aids.
“I think you seem like a Blue’s Clues kind of girl,” Alex added, reaching for the Blue’s Clues patterned waterproof band-aids for joints. Smirking, he displayed the box.
“Tempting, and the fact that they’re waterproof is a good selling point, but I think I’m gonna have to go with Elmo,” Braedynne stood on her tip toes, stretching to reach the box of Elmo kid’s band-aids on the top shelf.
Laughing to himself, Alex reached up and easily exchanged his Blue’s Clues band-aids for the Elmo ones before turning and slowly walking to the registers as yet another Yellowcard song came on through her iPod speakers.
“I could have gotten them,” Braedynne grumbled to herself, never liking to be dependent on someone for even the smallest of things.
“Maybe, but not before knocking down all the shelves,” Alex shot back, turning his head to grin at her as he walked directly into a battery display box.
“Maybe I’m not the one we should be worried about here,” Braedynne laughed as she bent down to help pick up the fallen battery cases.
“Yeah, whatever,” Alex laughed along with her as he too picked up the batteries.
“So, you really like Yellowcard, huh?” Alex inquired as they stood in line.
“Yeah, they’re my favorite band,” Braedynne replied, looking down at her combat boots as she spoke.
Music was a touchy subject with her. It was something that she and Bobbi had shared growing up; and although they debated about different bands constantly, Yellowcard was the one band they had always agreed on.
“Above Blink?” Alex asked, mocking a shocked expression.
“Yes, but Blink holds a close second,” Braedynne replied, laughing once she looked up and saw Alex’s almost offended looking face. “I’m actually surprised you know who they are and recognize their music, not a lot of people around here do.”
“Well I’ve,” Alex coughed to stop what he was saying. “I mean I’m not from here,” He smirked, stepping up to the cashier.
He had been about to tell her that he had actually toured with both of the bands quite a few times, but caught himself. She doesn’t know who he is, and he was enjoying that for the time being. She also didn’t seem like the kind of girl to be too impressed by things like that.
Braedynne waited behind Alex patiently, glancing around as she did so. Her eyes caught on the big digital clock hanging behind the counter, her eyes bulging out as she saw the actual time.
"Shit, Alex I gotta go; I’m late for work. Thank you so much the band-aids,” She said as she took the bag Alex was offering her before smiling apologetically at him and jogging with a limp out the door.
She left so fast that Alex just stood there, one thing repeating in his mind.
He never got her number.
Notes
This is me reediting and reposting Walls. I got distracted but decided I would like to keep going with it; but not without editing a few things first!This will be the only chapter written in third person, most of the story will be written from Braedynne's point of view with some of Alex's as well. So, sorry if this chapter comes off as a bit awkward, I admit that I completely suck at writing in third person.
My Tumblr, if anyone's interested (;
Comments are appreciated; I'll update sometime within the next week. And if I don't, feel free to send me a strongly worded message!
XOXO
Lilly
i love this story btw^.^
1/22/13