Untitled

500 Words

            It smells like coffee, overpowering and biting. I hate coffee. It's dark, and bitter, and leaves my tongue craving for something sweet. I preferred the quiet peace of the seventh floor of the library, tucked safely away behind the elevators where I could study without the constant whirl of motion surrounding me. At least there ADHD and anxiety had nothing left to pick at. Coffee shops were loud and, especially one close to a college campus, hectic. People moved constantly back and forth and the shrill grating screech of milk being steamed joined the cacophony that only amplified as the moments ticked by. The words of this ancient roman play only blended together further than it already was as my concentration shot to zero.

Sitting at the equally as small table directly across from me is a pixie looking girl probably no older or younger than myself with cute cropped hair and a wide button nose with freckles dotting the lightly tanned skin. It was odd for her skin to be so sun kissed given it was mid-February and there was still snow covering some parts of the ground. She wore a large oversized sweater that was likely two times too big for her slight frame and hung off of her left shoulder a bit. The ends of the sleeves kept slipped over her fingers as she worked away at a sketchbook. How I envied her at that moment for drawing rather than burying herself in historical jargon concerning the death of some great philosopher. Perhaps she felt the prickle of eyes on her or maybe she had been glancing at me sporadically as I had been doing to her, but her honey brown doe eyes suddenly connect with mine and I drop my head hastily back to my reading.

Dr. Sommariy is a polite older Indian lady but she would not hesitate to rip into me for not doing the assigned reading properly given how many times I've taken her courses in the past two semesters. How I envied the girl across from me right now.

The bell at the door rings piercingly in the café and I glance up to finally see Raina walk through the door just as the girl across from me looks like she's about to get up. I notice a small slip of paper that she dejectedly stuffs into her folder when Raina walks past her to settle into the seat directly across from me. "Sorry I'm late honey! Did you already order without me?" From over Raina's shoulder I can see the crestfallen expression that darts across the small cute pixie's face. This was exactly why I couldn't get dates. They all thought I was dating this loud snarky woman in front of me.

"Uh, no. Not yet. I've been trying not to drown while wading my way through Roman philosophical brooding." Raina chortles in response while pulling her revision notes from her bag. "Do you want your usual?"

"Oh, um, yeah honey."