It was two in the morning and Angela had just gotten home. She was pacing and talking on the phone. Angela told her friend Maya about when the alarm went off in the library at one in the morning, to signal that it was closing time.

It was like, oh my god, I thought the storm troopers were coming, said Angela, I mean like the SS!
Yeah I always want to hide when they do that, said Maya, I hate that.
What are you doing? asked Angela
I'm watching TV.
What's going on there?
Carrie is dating a 26 year old who once did another dude. And they're saying our generation has too much sexual experimentation…Actually that's like Dave's generation.
Yeah, like Dave, and Alex. Oh my god that might be true. I’m so guilty! said Angela.
Maya and Angela laughed about it and then they stopped laughing.
Then they talked about Jay Z. 
Oh my god I want diamonds! said Maya.
I want to flirt! said Angela.
I’m going to go up to someone and say, let’s flirt, said Angela.
They laughed about it for a while. They talked some more, about craigslist, and Angela said she wanted to start saying what the hell more often.

After they’d said goodbye, Angela put the  song "Best of Me" on pandora.com. Then she walked to the kitchen in her apartment. She opened the fridge. Inside of the fridge was a half empty beer, some cranberry juice and a ton of different vitamin bottles. Angela had some cranberry juice and a B vitamin supplement.
She stood at the window drinking her juice and looking out over the dark schoolyard across the street from her house. She wished a dark figure would come out from under a tree and stare up at her with mercurial silver eyes, before swooping off into the sky without a backward glance. The image she imagined was subconsciously drawn from her memory of  reading about Lord Voldemort  from the Harry Potter series. After realizing this, Angela felt guilty and unoriginal.

The   song automatically switched to "Ridin'," a song about a man who was unfaithful and stayed out until 6 am when he had told his girlfriend that he'd be home in 4 hours. As she listened to the song, Angela's pulse accelerated and she felt slightly excited. She picked up her phone and texted Mya, 
we should have a picnic w ppl / wear dresses / have cucumber sandwchs and pot
 
Angela’s eyes squinted, she was starting to have bad cramps from taking the B vitamin without food. She walked to the refrigerator and took the half-empty beer out. She sipped it. It was flat. She drank it down. Her stomach hurt badly then, and she decided to get some exercise to work it out. She went to her bedroom. She shut the blinds. She took off her shirt and bra. She took off her pants and underwear. She left her socks on. She went to her closet and got out a sports bra, a t shirt, some leggings, and her sneakers. She put her leggings on, then her sports bra, then her t shirt, then she sat on her bed and tied her sneakers. She got her iPod, her headphones and her keys, and she went outside. 
It was foggy outside and the temperature was in the upper forties. Angela started running towards the river. She got to the river in about five minutes and started running fast. 

The light from her iPod spread out around her and saturated the air, buoyed by fog. There was so much moisture. Across the river, docks were dark and heavy, shapeless as obese animals. In the wet air there was no face that was not another face, and all things enjoyed their sameness. 

She was moving fast and then there was someone standing in her path. She stopped and took off her headphones. It was man, about five foot two, wearing an expensive brown suit. He was black with a shiny bald head and glasses. He seemed to be in decent shape for his age.

What are you doing out here? Don't you know it's dangerous to be out so late? he asked her.
I went for a run, Angela said. She felt nervous and uncertain. 
I was just leaving, he said. You shouldn’t be out here by yourself, though.
I know, said Angela. I had cramps and needed to get some exercise.
Ok, he said. He started walking away.
Then Angela recognized him, Hey aren’t you the mayor? she asked.
Yes, he said,Yes I am. I’m Michael Nutter.
Angela saw so much kindness in his eyes. 
Can I get a ride home? she asked.
Sure, he said, do you live in Center City?
Yes.

He was parked next to the Art Museum.  The windows of the car were dripping and the black seats were the temperature of skin.
Do you have an iPod adapter? asked Angela.
Sure.
Do you like Leonard Cohen.
Of course. It’s so sad, though.
I have Leonard Cohen on my iPod.
Do you have that song that goes, nuh nuh nuh, all that I have done wrong, I would give it all up for thee?
Yeah, "Bird on a Wire," sure.
Can you play that one?

Angela connected her iPod to the adapter and Mayor Nutter started the car. She put on the song “Bird on a Wire,” and told him her address. They drove there very slowly, with the lights off.