The Eastern Back is a yearly publication by the staff of the AS Review. Anything contained here probably isn’t true – unless it is. Happy April Fool’s week!
By: Brooklin Pigg
Wednesday of finals week, two hands met over the exchange of freshly toasted bagels.
“I was getting an everything with vegan cream cheese,” sophomore Tanner Jones said. “That’s when I met her.”
Sophia Hartford was picking up her daily blueberry bagel and iced americano. While waiting for her order, she saw Jones standing next to her.
“My phone was dead,” Hartford said. “So it was hard not to notice him.”
He was wearing a neon orange beanie. She was wearing distressed American Eagle jeans. They stood approximately three feet apart, according to sources who decided to stay anonymous.
“I could definitely feel a spark,” the source said. “But that could have been my latte.”
They waited for about five minutes, never saying anything. It was only when worker Stephanie Williams messed up the order did they finally meet.
“I said, ‘this isn’t blueberry. This is everything!’” Hartford laughed. “I knew something had to be wrong.”
Williams quickly apologized and gave her the correct order. Jones stayed in the corner, silent. He later reflected that he was embarrassed about his choice of vegan cream cheese.
“I was worried she’d think I’m soft,” Jones said. “I really just have a weak stomach.”
Their hands brushed while switching bagels to the correct owner. Williams said she saw them get nervous.
“Their hands definitely tensed,” Williams said. “It could have been the start of something. I don’t know. They were holding up the line.”
Hartford and Jones quickly left the packed room. The anonymous source saw them nod to each other in a way that could have been defined as more than friendly.
“We never talked after,” Hartford said.
She returned the next day at the same time in hopes of running into him, but he didn’t appear.
“I had a final,” Jones said.
On March 19, he got lactose pills from his doctor so he doesn’t feel embarrassed about future orders. Jones said he hopes to maybe run into her in Red Square sometime.