Dolonia

Daniella Benton 1: Focus

I bundle up my winter coat, pulling it tightly together around myself as I push past the bone chilling wind. I squint through the snow and see it's not too far off now. I take long and hard strides as I think of the warmth the coffee shop will bring.

I get to the door as the wind tries to sway my legs again. I quickly pull it open with force and the bells dangling from the top jingle loudly. I force my shivering legs through the doorway and I'm immediately wrapped in warmth.

I take off my coat and hang it on the vintage wooden coatrack. I turn and see my friends waving at me from their booth in the corner. The warm yellow light and serene music mixed with the eager looks from my friends makes me smile.

I see James take a sip of his cappuccino and notice his dark green scarf compliments his green eyes nicely. He looks like a lumberjack with his red and black flannel, ripped biceps, and short red beard. He smiles brightly at me while wiping away the foam from his mustache.

I take in the scenery and see they have warm muffins and pastries of all sorts one could buy behind the glass case. The calm yellow light makes me feel ten times warmer than I am.

I bound up to my friends sitting in the corner booth. Presley smiles at me and tucks a strand of her straight dirty blonde hair behind her ear. "Hey, Daniella. Ready to get your study on?" She wiggles her perfectly waxed eyebrows playfully.

I chuckle lightly at her attempt to be goofy. "That's why I'm here." I slide into the booth next to James, and he puts on his round rimmed reading glasses.

He leans towards me slightly and says, "I'm glad you made it. For a moment I was worried that little snow storm got you."

I smirk. "Please, a little snow is nothing."

He hands me a medium sized hardback book, and takes another sip of his cappuccino which is followed by another wiping of his red mustache. "Better get to it then."

I flip the book in my hands, feeling the cover, the weight, and then seeing the title, "The Expansion of Literature." I feel a sigh starting to bubble up in my chest, but I quickly let go of it.

I start reading and make a mental note to read the handwritten notes in the margin as I go. It's James's handwriting no doubt. It's small, cursive, and dashes and hyphens are used generously.

At one point I pull my eyes away from the text and look up to see that Sebastian is here as well. How could I have missed him? He's sitting beside Presley wearing an oversized black sweatshirt, a pair of black slacks, silver chains around his neck and wrists, his silver cross earrings, and multiple metallic rings.

He runs a hand through his dark brown, almost black hair and turns the page of his book. He scribbles something down in his journal before gently laying the pen back down and locking his piercing blue eyes with mine.

The corner of his mouth turns up into a half smile/smirk, but the rest of his face seems to be pinched by anxiety. I notice his leg is shaking under the table as he goes back to his book, "The Path Between Us." He has this confused and nervous look on his face that I can't quite understand.

"Seb?" I ask lightly.

He brings the book down slightly and locks eyes with me again. "Hmm?" He asks quickly while his leg continues to shake.

"Are you okay? You look a little stressed." I sit my book down and glance my eyes towards his leg that's shaking.

"Huh? Oh..." he takes a sip of his coffee, "I just really want to know this for an exam I have tomorrow."