Seven Days

Thursday

That morning, she had played some ukelele for the sunrise.

She had dressed in her knitted sweater - off-white, with tinges of blue and brown.

She had packed her leather backpack full of books and added a 20 dollar bill, just in case.

She had spent seven of those dollars on a chai tea and a Nutella crepe at a nearby coffee shop.

And she had walked down the street and into a small city park, where she was now sitting on the grass, reading some book or another, finding doodles she had done in the margins of said book and absentmindedly threading dandelions and clover into a crown. She was glad that today was another of those overcast, foggy days, because if it hadn't been, more people would be walking around the park and more people would be seeing her making flower crowns. Which was a little embarrassing, when it did happen.

The book she was reading was one she had just started, and it was nothing special. From the viewpoint of a so-called "average" teenage girl who, for no reason whatsoever, turns out to be special and is sent into this entire fantasy world. Even though she has literally no special qualities listed at all and is just your basic white girl.

She knew the romantic interest would be coming up soon, which was why she was angry when her heart plummeted anyway.

He stood there, in the light of the moon, chest still heaving after the vicious fight. He was wearing a leather jacket, and his jawline was visible in the light even from here. My heart seemed to skip a beat as he looked at me, and our eyes met-

She slammed the book shut. She should have known better than to buy it. It did say love story in the description, but she thought that after three weeks, memories wouldn't affect her that way anymore.

Unfortunately, they did.

Abruptly, she stood, pushing the book back into her backpack as she walked down the dirt path that wound through the park.

She left the flower crown there.

She crossed through the park, across the street, down a city sidewalk. Pigeons flew off from where they were devouring a fallen muffin as she passed, and people jostled going the other direction, but she barely noticed.

She spotted her favorite store; the one she bought succulents at every so often when one died or if she felt she needed a few more. It was always a calming place when she was feeling overwhelmed or sad, and the latter being true, she slipped inside.

Earthy colors, soft smells, and fairy lights surrounded her, slowing her heart rate almost immediately.

She began to browse through clothes, exchanging a greeting with the man behind the counter. She'd seen most of these before; in fact, this is where she'd bought the sweater she was wearing at the moment, and she sifted through a few pairs of those on one rack. Of course, she only had thirteen dollars, and wouldn't be able to afford anything, since the clothes here were expensive.

As she moved up towards the counter, intending to look through a few more clothes, she spotted something on a rack next to the counter, and a lump swelled in her throat.

She picked it up and moved towards the cashier. Slowly, she placed the Beatles CD next to his cup of black coffee.

"I'd like this, please," she said.