Photograph // H.S

Chapter 1

December 2014

The university was off for a week or two since Christmas Eve was right around the corner but I was still helping Mrs. Lin out  with her book store. She's crazy if she thinks she can get any customers during this time of the year. People look for gifts not book and beside she barely lets people touch her books if they are not gonna buy them. With her attitude like that, money isn't actually flowing in like she hoped. People rarely come to her store now and if they do, it's just for the magazines on display outside.

I don't actually get paid for the job, but its good having someone around and not spending my whole day in that apartment. It gets pretty lonely up there. Books calm me down somehow....

I was gonna get my break soon so I started putting on my coat and my muffler and grabbed my camera.It was cold outside but not to cool. I don't think it's gonna snow this Christmas. I hope it doesn't.....I would hate being stuck in my room all day with all that snow around. 

Oh well, Inshallah it won't....this year.

"I am going Mrs. Lin.....I will come back in an hour." I told her making my way out of the store. I heard her say something from the back of the store, but couldn't make it out. I peeked in after closing the door, hoping she was still out of sight and quickly grabbed a copy of seventeen's magazine from the display outside.

 I giggled and made a run for it. Although Mrs. Lin hates people borrowing her books but sometimes I sneaked something from behind her back and return it afterwards. She rarely finds out. And if she does, I have to pay for it.

I made my way towards my usual cafe at the end of the street. 

Looking at the cover of the magazine, I could tell it was all full with junk about the boy bands these days. I am not like other teenage girls these days. I hate boy bands to be honest. Never been to any of their concerts, even though they happen all the time in London. There music never gets to me. I don't like feeling special, I like feeling invisible. And that doesn't happen with me.

With my naturally curly frizzy hair and my desi look people can't help but stare. This hair is the only thing I got from my mom as an inheritance. And its the one of those things that makes me so noticeable. I never gave much thought to them. They just run free and I couldn't care less. You can't tie them and you can't straighten them for more than an hour. So the best solution to my problem is to forget that they are on my head.

I mostly look like a bird's nest but most of the people around me find it attractive. I am a bag of hot Desi mess. That's what my friends call me.

When I reached the cafe, I looked into the window and saw that my usual seat was taken. I always sat next to the window where I could see what's happening outside. I liked photography. I would usually make a whole album out of this one hour break, I spend next to the window in this cafe. Then the best photo of the day would go straight to my Instagram. I have a lot of followers, mostly because I keep updated. Its nice to have a community online who loves to stay in touch. To tell you the truth, I never met any single one of them and neither do they know who I really am. Those people just like me for me and that's it.

I entered the cafe smiling to one of the waiter as I was a regular customer here. Everyone knows me. 

"The usual Jessica...." I ordered my drink, making my way to the table next to my usual seat. A person with a beanie on his head and a sunglasses was sitting on my table. He was staring at his phone just scrolling around, ignoring his coffee. I frowned at his weird dress up. He was all covered up and it wasn't even cold in the cafe. I silently took out my coat after placing my camera on the table, ignoring the man next to me.