stutter » a. irwin

chapter 01. clumsy

❀ J U L I A ❀

A stray piece of curly blonde hair fell into my face, and I swept it aside impatiently as I pushed open the door to the quaint little coffee shop.

This was, hands down, one of the worst coffee places in town, but it was strangely one of my favourites. Something just attracted me to it - maybe the calm, subdued atmosphere or the earthy smell that lingered on the wooden panelling. Whatever it was, it managed to always give me a fair amount of inspiration for my poem and song writing.

Today however, I wasn't here to write, but to meet my friend Rachel. It was our last day together before she travelled to England to continue the start of her modeling career and I spotted her sitting in a booth by the window, yawning tiredly before resting her head into the palm of her hand.

"Tired?" I teased, sliding into the booth across from her only to see her bang her head onto the table audibly.

"Please," She mumbled into the wooden surface. "Tired is an understatement. I literally dressed myself in the dark this morning, it was that early. Waking up at this hour should be a crime."

I glanced quickly at the very oversized Fall Out Boy band t-shirt, black tights and beloved Doc Martens she was wearing before rolling my eyes at how she still managed to pull off the edgy look this early in the morning.

Compared to her, I felt inadequate in my worn out grey The 1975 sweatshirt I'd gotten from a concert two years previously, skinny jeans and Vans.

"Trust me, I've dressed myself in the dark before, and you look nothing like it." I cringed inwardly, recalling the vivid memory of mismatched socks and Crocs. "Plus, it's only 7am." I added.

Rachel groaned exaggeratedly into the table. "Come on Julia, you know I'm a naturally lazy person. You are literally proving my point."

"Waking up early is good for the soul, or something like that." I shrugged, lightly tapping the back of her head. "Anyways, what are you forcing me to drink today?"

The two of us had this inside joke about choosing each other's order whenever we met up. I knew that Rachel hated coffee and she knew I disliked tea, so we both made sure to torture each other, as true friends would.

Sure enough, her eyes sparkled with mischief as she pretended to think, and I already knew this was going to be the end of me.

"I'm thinking we should get you to try some tea- oh damn, you spit it out last time." She pouted at me before the devious smile on her lips broke the façade. I groaned, already knowing what was coming. "Yep, definitely some tea."

I had never been a tea person, which, considering what a huge trend it was, would seem a bit odd.

To me, it was bland and wasn't nearly as strong or satisfying as coffee. It also tasted horrible, and if you considered the fact that tea was simply just flavored water, it all made a little bit more sense.

I knew it was a huge mistake to let Rachel pick my drink this time, but since this was her last day, I'd stick it out for her.

"If I start choking again, there better be a cute boy ready to perform CPR on me." I warned her seriously, before getting into line and grudgingly scanning the seemingly endless tea section of the menu.

My eyes longingly strayed to the sign stating that a French Vanilla was only 2.99.

Maybe I could just order something else and tell Rachel it was tea?

Glancing over my shoulder, I met her dark, suspecting eyes narrowed straight at me, which automatically caused me to abandon that idea.

After ordering the least revolting sounding, which was white raspberry, and a simple green tea for Rachel, I felt my phone start to vibrate in the tight pocket of my jeans.