Modern Magic - An OC Love Story

Chapter 1 - A Windy Day

11/23

The day was as bright as ever. The sky was painted beautiful colors, almost as if an artist themselves had used the sky as a canvas. Purples, reds, and oranges were scattered with a certain method to the madness.. random, but not quite. The cold, refreshing air of the early morning engulfed my body as I stepped outside, a light breeze giving my coat slight leverage above the ground. My black dress shoes echoed quietly as they hit the pavement over and over again, while I began walking to a coffee shop only a few blocks away.

I hadn't visited this place before, in fact, it was recommended to me by a friend of mine a couple of weeks back. Said he went there all the time, so I thought I'd check it out on my day off. After all, I don't have classes for a few weeks, since we're on Thanksgiving break. While it is still a bit early to be out like I am, I normally have early morning classes, so my body automatically wakes me up; against my own will may I mind you. I don't mind too much, though, since the cold air is always refreshing.. plus the city is a bit quieter at seven in the morning.

The walk wasn't too far, like I said earlier, so I made it in about five minutes. My apartment is actually pretty close by, I wonder why I hadn't found this place before.. Anyway, I step inside to find out the shop itself is already awake. There's plenty of people sitting at various tables, drinking coffee, eating breakfast, and working on laptops. I guess this place does have free WiFi, so if I like it I might come back at a later date and write my paper or something.

It took a moment of blissful absorption before I walked up the counter and ordered. Whenever trying something new, I suggest you stick to what you know so you'll be able to compare your normal standard to this new variation, but sometimes I don't know how to follow my own advice. Normally, I'd just get a double shot espresso and move on with my day, but, this shop just so happened to be selling peppermint mocha a bit early, and I couldn't resist. Usually I just get an espresso for the caffeine, but without classes, I don't necessarily need an energy boost like normal.

Being in no rush, I decided to take a seat near a window, towards the front of the shop to watch the city slowly wake itself up. The mocha wasn't mind blowing or anything, it was alright, but honestly it beats a 20 minute walk from my normal shop to campus. It popped more, too. The inside decor matched the coffee theme perfectly, making use of the browns, beige, grays as well having modernized booths and seating. It creates a nice environment, and honestly now that I'm looking around.. there's a few splashes of green too. The tranquility of the room coupled with the quiet, white noise of a waking city invokes a sense of peace. Yeah yeah, I know it's just a coffee shop, but it's the little things you have to appreciate, ya know?

My cup was about empty, and as I swirled the last of the liquid in the cup, the bell to the door rings, and someone steps in. Now, I won't pretend like I know everyone, cause, after all, it is a big city, but I've never seen this woman before.. Standing at the counter, she orders a drink as if she knows what she's doing. I mean, I'm sure she does, I'm the one that's new to this place. She might be a regular, but something about her struck me as.. powerful. I don't know what it was, but the way she walked and spoke to those around her, it had me mesmerized in my seat. She had short hair, with small, purple streaks, that bobbed as she moved, and her outfit was a stylish sort of casual; a turtleneck with a belt and jeans, coupled with beautiful boots and earrings shaped like stars. Lost in my own analysis, we both locked eyes. I diverted them quickly, as not to seem like a perv, but I swear I heard a soft laugh as my reddened face quickly stood up and walked out. I was sure to thank the staff before leaving, though.

I sighed, laughing quietly at myself. Course I made a fool out myself just now, but honestly, the chances of seeing her again are low, so I'm not worried about it. She was pretty cute though, i'll give her that. Maybe a bit out of my league, but so what, who's to judge? I gripped my laptop bag with both hands as I trotted down the street, wondering where this day'll take me. I don't really have any plans, as some of my other friends wanted to spend the whole day partying; parties of which, I have no intention of going to. I never really liked partying, especially with stuff like alcohol or cannabis floating around. I don't really have a social battery to deal with the craziness of stoners or drunks. How my friends do it is honestly beyond me.

****

I decided to go to the park. It was nice outside, a bit windy, but nice. The park was practically empty at seven thirty in the morning, aside from those old people who sit on benches for hours on end. I never understood that, they get all their joy from feeding pigeons or something. Maybe it's the only exciting thing that happens to em' in a 24 hour period.

Doesn't matter though, I found a tree to sit under, so I set my laptop bag down and sat next to it. The tree provided some nice shade, even though it wasn't terribly hot outside; it was November after all. I have one of those fancy laptops, the touchscreen kind. I got it for Christmas a year or so ago, it was a gift from my parents to help with college. I just use it to draw though, ever since I purchased a pen for it. It works extremely well, I mean, I bring it everywhere. I'm a landscape artist though, so I typically take to drawing the Earth rather than people. While I have drawn this park before, I haven't drawn it with such beautiful colors in the sky. So, I began sketching out the basic layout of the scene. It wasn't anything too complicated, just some hills, buildings, a few people, and a sky. Once that was done, I began painting the sky before anything else. Eventually I didn't even have to look up, I was so caught up in the blending of the colors and the highlights of the clouds that had mesmerized me all morning.

My artistic process was quickly interrupted by a hand being waved in my face, causing me to drop my pen. Perplexed, I looked up to see the woman from earlier. She looked the same as she did in the coffee shop, aside from her eyes being a bit wider. I guess I got so caught up in my digital painting I didn't notice she had walked up to me.

"Uh, hello..?" I gently close my laptop and slowly shove it in my bag lying next to me. The woman stands up, rather than leaning over me, and smiles before speaking.

"Hey, I saw you at the coffee shop earlier this morning. You left your wallet on the table. I wasn't able to get it to you before you left. Coincidence we were heading the same way though." She holds it out to me, and I take it, my face turning red. I can't believe I did that. "But, I'm a regular over there, and I haven't seen you before. You just move in or something?"

"Oh, no, I've been here for a couple of years now. I uh, just never go that way on my way to campus."

"I think the only school around here is Berlaria, yeah?" She then looks around, almost as if she was unsure.

"I believe it is." Standing up, I grab my bag and throw it onto me, gripping the strap around my chest. After a moment of awkward silence, I hold out my hand. "I'm-- um, Harper, by the way." I look down, a bit out of my element. Remember what I said about that whole social battery thing earlier? The woman smiles, speaking softly.

"Sonia."

Author's Note!

Hey all! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. I plan to keep updating this weekly, so if you like what you read, I suggest sticking around! I'm currently working on a cover for this story, please just be patient. I want it to look semi-decent, so it might take a while. But, in case you haven't noticed, I don't typically dabble in the romance genre of writing. My usual forte is typically Fantasy, particularly medieval fantasy, so I'm interested to see how compelling I can make this. Really though,  a vote or comment means a lot, I'm always looking to expand this story  in whatever way possible. Thanks! I love you all.

-Universe