𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 [𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫]

𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐥𝐞

ılı.lıllılı.ıllı.
ᴺᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸᶦⁿᵍ; [ 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 ]
0:21—◦———— -2:38

The lead from your mechanical pencil left dull scribbles of different examples of French sentences utilizing past participles on your sheet of notebook paper. Your right earbud hummed lightly a tune from Brent Faiyaz in your ear as you worked diligently on your French coursework.

Thursday was the fourth day of November. Midterms had thankfully come to an end, and even though you had managed to pass all of your tests with flying colors, it didn't mean that you hadn't endured any stress during such a treacherous week. You were left feeling burnt out from all of the studying and stress that came with the previous week, sure, the weekend had been an upside for you, but now you were back into your same routine of studying and working hard towards when your next set of tests would be.

Due diligence. You wanted to be on top of everything, especially your grades. University was hard, and you couldn't afford to fail.

So, that's why you were currently sitting in a small cafe just outside of the campus grounds after your last class of the day, trying to stay ahead of the game by tackling your French work. There was a slight sigh of relief from you, feeling at ease for swapping German for French. Not that learning another language was easy, but for you at least, French came to you more naturally.

An old wooden wheelbarrow painted white that was filled and stacked with a variety of pumpkins was the cafe's attempt at decorating for the fall season. Some spheres were bright orange, while others were dull in color, and some were also speckled with bumps and lumpy all over. The wooden vessel was parked stationary right outside the cafe's large glass doors. Every few minutes you would take a moment to give your eyes a rest from your work to glance out of the tall windows and take in the scenery, watching the crisp orange, yellow, and red leaves sweep the cobblestone pathway outside. The pigmented colors of autumn were a sure sight to take in, especially since it wouldn't be much longer until autumn was to turn into Winter and then everything would be dull and grey.

Scarlet maple leaves continuously dance in the wind as you forward your attention to your phone so you could change the song as 'Trust' drew near to its' ending cord.

You had been in the cafe alone for almost forty minutes now working on your course material. This time alone to yourself was a must considering as of recent how much you'd been out in a public setting.

Your fingertip draws away from the device screen, 'because I like a boy,' is now playing in your ear.

The light tune bumps in your ear as you go back to work, scribbling down the foreign language onto the paper. It's when a dim shadow from a passerby walking outside of the cafe obscures your line of vision and sweeps your workspace that steals your attention. The lead of your pencil digs into your paper as you halt your writing process. You see that it is a couple passing by, hand in hand while heading for the entrance of the cafe.

The bright chime from the bell hanging just above the glass door mocks you, the sound of the bell seems to slow down in time and the bright tune twists down a cord in a melancholy manner as you observe the couple entering the cafe together.

How you instantly regretted looking up from your work to witness the two love birds.

Roughly fifteen feet away from you stood a slender figure, one hand buried deep into his jacket pocket, his left hand holding onto the woman's right hand as he stared forward gawking at the cafe menu. His red hair was short on the sides and longer on the top. The girl with dark hair that was glued to his side was still laughing at something that he had said previously while walking into the cafe. The couple had no care in the world and was oblivious to you, while you on the other hand were suffering just by existing around their presence.