Ephemeral [f.h]

ONE

"IT WAS LIKE YOU CAME OUT OF NOWHERE!"
°:. *₊ ° . ☆ 　 °:. *₊ ° . ° .•

Stifling a yawn, Zoe Meadows closed the lid on her laptop. She methodically sorted through all her work from today, placing it in her subject folders accordingly. Although it was technically spring break, she had decided that it was never a bad idea to get ahead. Checking the time, she saw that it had just turned 2 o'clock. Time for her coffee run.

Zoe wasn't sure when she had become so dependent on the rich, bitter drink which warmed her insides. All she knew was that she couldn't live without a decent cup of coffee.
Particularly, every day after she finished school. The lack of stimulation from doing school alone at home made the work feel more tiresome, although she was able to get through it quicker. She couldn't really remember actually working at public school that well anyway, so she supposed she couldn't really tell if it actually made any difference.

One definite perk of homeschool, though, was that she could spend a lot more time reading, working on her paintings and going out with her family. Well, she certainly used to spend more time going out with her family, but ever since her younger sister, Leah, had been enrolled in school, their time spent together as a whole family had been less and less.

Part of her was jealous of Leah. Her ability to make an infinite number of friends and her ability to fit in at public school, fit in for over 4 years, no less. Zoe wasn't sure what the difference was between her and her sister. I mean, of course, Leah was more extroverted than her, but was that really the key to being able to survive public school?
She shuddered at the little memories she did have from school. The endless taunting and teasing, the constant feeling of dread she had felt.

Whilst all of this was going through her mind, Zoe had packed her tote bag full of her coffee shop supplies - a book, her phone, headphones and her Polaroid camera. She often took Polaroid pictures of things she might gain creativity from.

Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she left her bedroom, hopping over an unfinished painting as she did so, and walked down the stairs. Passing through the living room on her way to the front door, she kissed her mother's cheek. "I'm just going to grab a coffee, I might have a bit of a read at the café."
"Okay Zo, have fun." Melissa Meadows smiled after her eldest daughter as she left the room.

Melissa worried about Zoe. She was an intelligent girl, kind-hearted and bubbly. However, she worried that her lack of friends could take a toll on her as she got closer and closer to college. Zoe wasn't exactly shy, but it certainly took a while for her to warm up to people and Melissa couldn't help but think if that was to do with their decision to homeschool her. She'd always hoped that allowing Zoe her freedom to go out as she pleased would enable her to make some friends. As of yet, it hadn't happened. But, she had to keep faith that one day soon it would.

With the sun beating down on Zoe's face, she shielded her eyes. It wasn't too long of a walk to her favourite coffee shop, which was situated on a busy street, crammed with various shops with everything you could possibly need. Oh, and an old, foreboding house of sorts, that looked out of place amongst the modern buildings around it. Zoe had never seen, nor heard, any sign of life from within the building, which was located at the far end of the street. But she couldn't imagine it to have ever been a happy place.

As she walked down the road, she plugged her headphones into her phone and pressed play on her coffee run playlist. Turning the corner, she narrowly avoided being run over by a little girl zooming past on her scooter.
"Sorry," the girls mother grimaced as she jogged after her daughter.
"It's okay!" Zoe replied over her shoulder. She chuckled to herself, the girl having reminded her of a younger Leah.