butterflies ઇଓ matt sturniolo imagines

𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵-𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘦

ॱ⋅.˳˳.⋅˙ॱᐧ.˳˳.⋅ઇଓ

     today is not your day.

you could barely sleep last night, and when you finally did, you managed to sleep through all three cautionary alarms. and on a day where you have a doctor's appointment early the next morning, that is not a pleasant way to wake up. you rushed through your morning routine to find you were out of moisturizer, your good pair of jeans were in the hamper, and you forgot to charge your phone overnight. and you were out of coffee.

     "well, this is just fan-fucking-tastic!" you groaned, grabbing your keys off the kitchen counter and barreling out the door in an old itchy sweater, a pair of leggings with a hole by the right knee, and mismatching socks poking out of your sneakers. the world would have to see you bare-faced and pissed off today.

     when you showed up to the doctor's office, you were so late that they nearly didn't take you; your doctor was forced to rush through the check-up in order to be ready for his next appointment, and it went so fast it felt like they were shoving you out of the building. as if the residual stress of being so late wasn't enough, feeling resented in a doctor's office was not helping.
     when you left the building, you were halfway across the parking lot to your car when you heard rumbling above your head. you looked up to the sky and watched as it rapidly bled grey, and you examined the flash of lighting that spread across the sky like glass cracking. then, the clouds parted, and down came the rain.

"great."

the storm had to be biblical. there was no other explanation. rain was falling sideways in sheets so opaque you could barely see the lot surrounding you. you took a moment to consider booking it to your car, but your clothes were already soaked through, and the will to give up was overwhelming. so you just walked, even-paced, and let the rain pelt your skin.
once you reached your car, you slipped inside and found that your back windows were open about an inch, and rainwater had splattered all over your seats and drenched them. it took every ounce of your strength not to scream and punch the wheel. you closed your eyes and rested your head against the slightly damp headrest and waited for the rain to lighten up; with your luck, if you tried to drive during the storm, you'd total the poor car.

     after what felt like a week, the rain let up and you felt safe enough to drive again. you pulled out of the godforsaken doctor's office feeling sticky and upset, and decided that there was no use in trying to get anything else done today- the world did not deserve you and your bad juju screwing up someone else's day in a target or at the drive-thru. the only thing you wanted was a hot cup of coffee and to go home. so, that was what you were going to do- your favorite coffee shop was just up the street, after all.
     you were not surprised one bit when you couldn't find a parking spot at the shop, and bitterly pulled into a streetside spot and hoped to god that nobody sideswiped your car while you waited inside.

     somehow, all the bad mojo of the morning was suddenly wiped clean as soon as your sloshing sneakers stepped inside the café. the place was warm, warm enough to cut through the chill seeping into your bones; the wooden walls were cozy, and the lights were a homey yellow, and the soft, lo-fi music put you right at ease. a few hipster-types gave you the side eye when they laid eyes on the girl pulling off the drowned rat look step in, but you didn't have enough energy to care what they might be thinking. all you could care about was your large, fully caffeinated cup of coffee with hazelnut creamer and a sprinkle of cinnamon that was just begging to be ordered.

     you were next in line behind a boy who was being beckoned by a group of kids in the corner of the shop. as he turned his head to give an annoyed look at the people who seemed to be his friends and swat their calls away with his hand, you took a moment to admire his profile. he had floppy brown hair, the same color as a hershey's bar, and quite a lot of it; his nose had a clean slope to it, and so did his angular jaw. he was wearing a blue varsity jacket with creamy leather sleeves, and a pair of black cargo pants that screamed, "i'm only here because my friends begged me to go out!"
     from what little you could see, he was cute. it was too bad he was preoccupied with ordering and shuffling over to the table full of teenagers- you might've said hello. it's unlikely, because he seemed fairly oblivious and you looked like a plane crash survivor who's just washed ashore, but you might have... given better circumstances.