I was nineteen years old when I first laid eyes on Jay. As a part of my illustration class, I was assigned to change one small part of my daily routine and draw whatever I observed as an impact of that change. I decided that I would take an earlier train to school every morning. I dreaded waking up at five-thirty, but decided it would only do good. By the time I got to class I would be well awake and could maybe focus enough to pass my exams.
    I wanted to move into the city during school, but I didn’t have the money to buy an apartment. It wasn’t too bad, though. I only lived about forty-five minutes away from the city, and eventually I grew to love the process of taking the train. It was reassuring to see the same faces in the same seats every day. No one spoke to each other, but we all shared a sense of community each morning on that train. Taking another train didn’t seem like such a big deal, but I knew I would have to to step out of my comfort zone and be surrounded by unfamiliar faces.
     The first day I started my assignment, I came to find that my usual seat, the third row on the left, was taken by a tall woman in a red coat. Her jet black hair was slicked back into a bun right in the center of her head. I knew I wouldn’t be sitting in that seat for a while. I made my way to the back of the train, which seemed less occupied. Sketchbook in hand, I plopped onto a seat in the back right corner. I had a pretty good view of the whole train. I could see the tops of heads above a few seats, or maybe an elbow or two sticking out from the side. I began to draw exactly what I saw, but was not satisfied. The scene wasn’t lively, but wasn’t serene either. It was just dull. My eyes scanned the train from right to left as I tried to rack my brain for inspiration. And that’s when he caught my attention. I had been so focused with what was in front of me that I hadn’t stopped to study the whole train. Just a few feet away in the back left corner was the most beautiful face I had ever seen.
     With his back pressed up against the seat, he pointed his nose slightly down toward the newspaper in his hands. It was almost as if he was put on this earth just for artists to copy his features onto paper and share them with the world. I had to draw him. I cleared my throat and whispered, “Excuse me. This might sound a little weird but do you think I could draw you for my art class?” The second those words left my mouth I wanted to shove them right back in. I was never very outgoing and never started conversations, especially with strangers. And out of all the things I could have said, why did I say it like that? I probably sounded like a total creep. He quickly looked up at me, a little startled, and smiled. “I guess so,” he said. “But wouldn’t you rather sit down somewhere instead of drawing on a moving train?” He was right. Why hadn’t I thought of that before? I giggled and asked, “Where should we go? My class starts at eight.” He checked his watch and said, “Perfect. I don’t have to be at work until eight-thirty. Just follow me and I’ll make sure you get to class on time. By the way, I’m Jay.” He reached out his arm to shake my hand. “Diana,” I replied.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. Was he asking me on a...date? Nah, he was just being polite. But why was he so okay with the fact that a complete stranger was asking to draw him? I pushed all my doubts aside and figured I should just accept his gratitude and move on. We chatted for a little while about school and what I wanted to do with my life. I told Jay that my ultimate goal was to sell one of my drawings to a museum somewhere. Not for the money, but for the exposure. I wanted people to see my art and create new interpretations. He told me that his mother worked for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Where the heck had this guy been all my life? It was as if every part of his life matched up with mine, like two puzzle pieces that fit together, perfectly. I swore it was too good to be true.
     At the next train stop, Jay stood up with a smile and said, “Let’s go.” We walked around the city streets until we arrived at a small cafe. “Draw me here,” he said. We sat down in a booth in the back corner, and I opened my sketchbook. I began to sketch the outline of his face, then filled in the details, did some shading, and I was done. We spent the whole time laughing and talking. After what seemed like ten minutes, my phone started to buzz. It was my friend, Stephanie. I immediately thought there was some kind of emergency; why else would she call me so early? “I’m so sorry; this will just take a second,” I told Jay. He nodded and flashed a friendly smile.
     “Where are you????” Stephanie’s voice pierced through the phone. “You’re late!” I checked the time and let out a gasp. It was already eight-fifteen. I was SO late. “I completely lost track of time. I’ll be there as soon as I can!” I quickly hung up and explained to Jay that I had to go. It would take at least half an hour to get to class. “Relax. You’ll get there. I’ll make sure of it,” he said. With that, we gathered our stuff and walked into the crisp city air that smelled of a faint sewage. I started to walk in the direction of the the nearest subway, but Jay had already hailed a taxi, “What are you doing? There’s so much traffic at this hour. I’ll never make it!” I insisted. ‘Don’t worry,” he held my shoulders to try and calm me down. “I promise you’ll make it.” I’m not really sure why I trusted this guy I just met, but I decided I might as well get in the taxi and hope for the best.
     As if by magic, the roads were clearer than I had ever seen. It was like Jay reserved them just for me and didn’t allow any other cars on the streets. Within ten minutes, I was at school. I was completely amazed, but tried not to show it too much. “Thank you for everything, Jay. I’ll see you around, I guess.” He waved goodbye, and I walked into school. Thankfully, Stephanie had saved me a seat in the back, so my tardiness wasn’t too noticeable. “Overslept?” she whispered. I nodded my head and pretended to yawn. I wanted to tell her about Jay, but I kind of liked having him as my own little secret.
     I could not stop thinking about him for the entire day. Paying attention in class was completely out of the question, especially with my sketchbook right in front of me. At some point during my daydream, I realized that I forgot to ask for Jay’s number! I started to worry, but relaxed when I remembered I would see him on the train the next day. No big deal!
     The rest of the day consisted of staring at the clock, waiting for the day to pass by. Once I got home, I went straight to bed, eager to wake up at five-thirty the next morning.
The next day, the alarm that usually made me cringe became my favorite sound. I popped out of bed and got ready for the day. I walked to the train station and waited. Once the train arrived I searched every car for Jay, but didn’t see him. He was probably in the last car of the train, so that’s where I went. I walked up the aisle, carefully checking each seat, but when I reached the back left corner, Jay was nowhere to be found. I plopped down in the back right corner and a million thoughts came to mind. What if Jay was creeped out by me and took another train so he could never see me again? What if the taxi got in a crash after I left? Where in the world was Jay?
I sat on the train up until seven forty-five, then headed to class. As I walked up to the revolving door, I saw a face in front of me. It was Jay! I smiled so big, my cheeks could have fallen off. “Surprise!” he said. “No school for you today. We’re going to have an art day.”
     “An art day? What are you talking about?” I asked.
     He took my hand and we headed to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We spent the morning there, admiring the works that I had studied for months. It was nice to be able to look at art without having to examine, analyze, or copy it. By the time we searched each and every room of the museum, Jay and I were both exhausted. “And now we can see the best art out there. Yours,” he said with raised eyebrows. At first I was confused, but then I realized he wanted to see MY artworks in MY house. I thought for a moment. It was the middle of the day and both my parents worked, so it wouldn’t be too bad to bring Jay to my house. I agreed and we went back on the train, sitting in the back left and right corners.
     We reached my stop, and headed home. I had never brought a boy home before, but Jay was different. He was genuinely interested in me and my artwork. I had never met anyone like him. He was simply perfect. “So...let’s see it.” He grinned as I led him toward my art room. It was sort of a compromise with my parents since I wasn’t able to move to the city. The room never really had a purpose besides holding old clothes and toys from when I was younger. When I finally convinced my parents to make it my art room, we cleared everything out and I got to paint the walls whatever I pleased. I painted them all a solid white, so I could frame my drawings and hang them up, sort of like my own little museum. We entered the room and he walked straight to my favorite drawing. I made it for an art class when I was a senior in high school. I remembered working on it for weeks until I perfected each and every detail. We stood side by side as we both focused our eyes on the drawing. The assignment was to take features from several different people, whether it was a family member, a picture in a magazine, or a random person you happened to glance at while walking down the street. We were told to combine the features to create a new human face. I wasn’t sure why, but the assignment really intrigued me and I wanted to create something completely unique and beautiful. The end result was a man with piercing eyes, a soft grin, and a slightly pointed nose. Back in high school, I was most proud of that drawing, probably because I spent so much time on it. I’m not sure how much of it came from the features of real life people and how much came from my own imagination, but either way it was perfect to me. Perfect, just like Jay.
     I turned to look at Jay, but my gaze was replaced by the wall to my left, as if Jay had vanished into thin air, or as if he was never there to begin with. I glanced at the drawing once more, but the lines became fuzzy and a sudden chill swirled around the room. My knees grew weak and I dropped to the floor, calling out Jay’s name, but there was no one to hear me.
     The next thing I remember was the rumbling noise of the train and vibration of the platform under my feet, followed by a rush of early morning wind in my face as it flew by. Once it came to a stop, I stepped on to find a woman in a red coat with slick, black hair sitting in the third row on the left, my usual seat. Sketchbook in hand, I walked to the back of the train and took a spot in the back right corner. My gaze shifted to the seat next to me in the back left corner. It was empty, besides an old newspaper and a used coffee cup on the floor below the seat. Scanning the train for something intriguing, I decided I would find some inspiration for my illustration assignment once I got into the city. I tucked my sketchbook into my bag, sat back, put in my headphones, and enjoyed my unaccompanied train ride to the craziness of New York City.