Prompt: "A great song used for the opening credits of a TV show that is, like, totally fine"
Selected by Zach
"You've Got Time"
Regina Spektor
Music from Orange Is the New Black, 2013
Alice, Emma, Andrea, and I were all in the same Brit Lit class, and one time Andrea invited us over to her place in Brooklyn for brunch. On the subway ride back, I told Emma and Alice that I had nearly gone to school at Oberlin. "You seem like an Oberlin type," Emma said. At the time, it seemed like one of the best compliments I could get.
One of Alice's favorite artists was Regina Spektor, according to the "Favorite Music" section of her Facebook. I'd never heard of her. Someone else in my dorm had her music on their iTunes. I put on Begin to Hope, and "Fidelity" immediately hooked me.
Regina was the artist backdrop of my cross country bike trip of 2007. She played on my iPod nonstop. I remember listening to Begin to Hope for something like the 27th time while laying on the floor of a church in Sandpoint, Idaho. I saw her live for the first and only time at the Yom HaAtzmaut celebration on The Mall in 2008. She forgot the words to "On the Radio," and it was the most endearing thing I'd ever seen.
Sometime in 2011, Alice reached out to me. She had seen me on OkCupid. We were both living in Philly! Would I want to meet up?
Now, she didn't reach out to me directly through OkCupid. She sent me a text. It never occurred to me that we might be going on a date. I met her at a bar somewhere near Drexel. When the bill came, I told her we could split it. My current self is horrified. I always offer to pay these days. I remember the surprised look on Alice's face. But split it we did, and we went our separate ways. I didn't walk her home. None of this was out of a lack of chivalry. I was green. That was all.
About a year later, we had another "catch-up," this time at a bar closer to my house. I drove her home that time. I don't remember if I paid. And I drove off, hugging her as she left the car.
When I saw her at a food truck festival on Washington Avenue sometime in the summer of 2012, she seemed just a little distant. I didn't know why. Now I realize she might have wanted more, or thought that I led her on. My mind at the time couldn't process the fact that Alice—blonde, sophisticated Alice—might have wanted to date me.
Alice still lives somewhere near Philly, as far as I can tell. Regina is still out there making music. I only saw an episode of Orange Is the New Black once, and I didn't feel compelled to watch more. But the Regina song that opens the credits is so fitting and dark and exciting and good. It makes me want to run through dark alleyways with Alice, holding her hand.
One of Alice's favorite artists was Regina Spektor, according to the "Favorite Music" section of her Facebook. I'd never heard of her. Someone else in my dorm had her music on their iTunes. I put on Begin to Hope, and "Fidelity" immediately hooked me.
Regina was the artist backdrop of my cross country bike trip of 2007. She played on my iPod nonstop. I remember listening to Begin to Hope for something like the 27th time while laying on the floor of a church in Sandpoint, Idaho. I saw her live for the first and only time at the Yom HaAtzmaut celebration on The Mall in 2008. She forgot the words to "On the Radio," and it was the most endearing thing I'd ever seen.
Sometime in 2011, Alice reached out to me. She had seen me on OkCupid. We were both living in Philly! Would I want to meet up?
Now, she didn't reach out to me directly through OkCupid. She sent me a text. It never occurred to me that we might be going on a date. I met her at a bar somewhere near Drexel. When the bill came, I told her we could split it. My current self is horrified. I always offer to pay these days. I remember the surprised look on Alice's face. But split it we did, and we went our separate ways. I didn't walk her home. None of this was out of a lack of chivalry. I was green. That was all.
About a year later, we had another "catch-up," this time at a bar closer to my house. I drove her home that time. I don't remember if I paid. And I drove off, hugging her as she left the car.
When I saw her at a food truck festival on Washington Avenue sometime in the summer of 2012, she seemed just a little distant. I didn't know why. Now I realize she might have wanted more, or thought that I led her on. My mind at the time couldn't process the fact that Alice—blonde, sophisticated Alice—might have wanted to date me.
Alice still lives somewhere near Philly, as far as I can tell. Regina is still out there making music. I only saw an episode of Orange Is the New Black once, and I didn't feel compelled to watch more. But the Regina song that opens the credits is so fitting and dark and exciting and good. It makes me want to run through dark alleyways with Alice, holding her hand.
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