Leo looks out the window and takes another sip out of his coffee. Another gloomy day of October and he feels like the thick sweater that he wears can't keep him warm enough.
The smell of coffee and hot chocolate is in the air and makes him want to order another cup but he already has enough trouble sleeping. The happy faces in the café light up the place and almost succeed in making him forget about the rain clouds outside that dominate the city's sky.
He looks at his best friend which moves fast on her heels and delivers the orders on time. Her eyes stop at him and a smirk appears on her face as she makes her way towards his table. She drags a chair from another table and sits next to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Well well.... Look who finally decided to come out of his room and see the world. Leonardo the introvert in the flesh!"
"You're doing it again Naomi"
His left eye starts twitching and he sighs while Naomi pats his shoulder with a smile.
"What did I do?"
"You know I hate it when you say my full name"
"Oh right.... Sorry but it's just so hard not to tease you"
Naomi bites her fingernails nervously but then stops for a second and holds a finger in front of Leo's face.
"Wait here"
Naomi stands up and leaves while Leo looks back at his laptop and pinches the bridge of his nose. He has an essay that needs to be finished by Monday but it feels like his brain stops every time he thinks about it.
"Here it is! A special cupcake for a special friend!" Naomi winks at him and puts the little cupcake with pink frosting in front of him.
Leo smiles and then looks at Naomi's pink hair that has started to regain its natural dark brown color at the roots. He caresses it a bit and smiles.
"Are you gonna dye it again?"
"Of course! But I'm thinking of changing the color! Maybe blue? I don't really know. What do you say?" She sits at the table again and Leo shrugs looking at the notes next to his coffee and cupcake.
"Hey...... Do you have any idea about what I can write in this essay? It needs to be something related to a love story. My teacher said that I'm not sentimental enough" He rolls his eyes and holds his face in his hands while Naomi blinks slowly.
"You know that I'm the worst person you can ask for advice when it comes to things like this"
Leo thinks for a bit and then nods to himself. Naomi came out to him as aromantic when they were 18. Though this doesn't mean she can't feel love towards her friends and family, he needs to describe a romantic relationship.
He has no problem writing scary things or a sad book about the friendship between a dog and a human but when it comes to writing something deeper he just can't find the inspiration he needs. He had a whole week to do this essay but couldn't write anything and left it untouched until this Saturday when he remembered that his grade depends on it.
"I just want to write a very stereotypical love story and get it over with" his fingers brush over his keyboard but he can't find the strength to push any of the keys.
He stops for a second and looks at Naomi puzzled and lost. He doesn't like to feel lost. He likes to know what he's doing and what awaits him.
"Fuck it. I'm gonna think about it tonight" Leo grabs the cupcake and takes a bite out of it while slowly sinking back in his chair.
Naomi's lips form a thin line and she looks down at her chewed nails. It's been a habit since she got into college. Biting her nails. She doesn't feel nervous or stressed but sometimes it just happens and she can't control it. At this point she doesn't even try anymore because she thinks it's just a waste of time even though her fingers hurt and she bleeds when she's biting too hard.
"Are you getting enough sleep?" She finally says after staying silent and letting Leo enjoy his cupcake.
"I look like shit" He points at the dark circles under his eyes caused by the fact that he's been staying up all night either to do his assignments or to watch another season of some random sitcom he found on Netflix because he can't sleep.
"Yeah you do. You should seriously think about getting some good night sleep"
"Mom was working night shifts all week so I couldn't really do that"
Leo and his mom have a lot of things in common. Besides the curly ginger hair and freckles, they both share a tendency to stay up all night and have dinner together while talking about embarrassing things that happened either during the day or a long time ago and it just appears in their memory out of nowhere. These midnight diners are the times when Leo feels the closest to his mom. When she doesn't work the night shift they don't get a chance to talk during the day because she is either at work or extremely busy and he has to focus on doing his homework and cleaning up around the house to help his mom a little.
"Do you want another coffee?" Naomi asks him while standing up and Leo shakes his head finishing his cupcake in a hurry.
"Thanks but I gotta go before Nicholas closes the library" He also stands up and kisses her cheek while leaving the café.
The cold air hits him in the face and makes him want to turn back and stay in the café forever where it's warm. They also have really good cupcakes and coffee so that's a bonus.
Autumn always brings this sad and lonely vibe with it. Leo likes autumn the best because it's really quiet, not like in the summer when you hear everyone screaming because they're either having fun at the pool or eating ice cream with their friends. Another disadvantage is the fact that it's always hot in summer. There's no way that anybody likes sitting in their own sweat on the couch while the fan is running but they still can't feel any difference.
When it comes to winter or spring he doesn't really have anything to say about them. In winter it's cold so he gets to stay inside most of the time and he likes that but whenever he finally decides to come out he finds himself standing in the middle of the road being chased by a bunch of kids who throw snowballs at him.
Spring is the season when the nature comes to life. It's fucking annoying that even when nature comes to life you can still feel the coldness of the winter and Leo doesn't even know what to wear. One day it's hot and you have to wear a T-shirt and shorts but the next day it can snow like it's fucking christmas and Santa Claus is about to appear from the chimney.
He walks down the street with slow steps enjoying the fresh air as much as he can. Lost in his thoughts he doesn't even realise that he is standing in front of the library so he smiles and shakes his head while opening the door.
YOU ARE READING
Pumpkin Spice Mocha
General FictionLeo doesn't need much except a good book and a coffee to relax. He always puts his family and friends first no matter what and he never had trouble getting close to new people. That was until an anxious boy, Aaron, that has trouble opening up, appea...
