The morning had dawned long before she rose to greet the day. The sun danced on her bare arms as she stretched, and kissed her legs when she dangled them over the edge of the bed. What a lazy way to start the day. The thought made her smile. In truth she never minded a lazy morning. She put on “Big Parade” by The Lumineers and took her time getting ready.

Eventually, the cup of coffee she had helped her into the outside world. Her backpack hit lightly against the curve of her lower back as she walked towards her next class. The sun’s warmth was gentle this morning, hinting at Autumn’s welcome. It was the kind of day you wanted to be in the shade to feel the soft breezes, to feel what the next month would bring. A grin swept over her face as the idea of all the sweaters that would come out of hiding at the thought of a cold day took her mind. Oh, how homey her favorite jeans will feel hugging her thighs when the leaves began to fall.

A bright purple earbud in her right ear, the other dangling down her side, blasted “Big Parade” on repeat, and she couldn’t help but to sing the chorus as her building came into sight. “Lovely girl won’t you stay, won’t you stay, stay with me..” she voiced quietly. Her singing had never caused anyone the throw rotten tomatoes, or other mushy fruits/vegetables at her, but it had never been highly praised either. The idea of standing on a Shakespearean stage covered in rotten tomatoes made her let out a snort (the ones that you do in public when no one else knows what is funny).

She took her place on her favorite concrete bench and began to scroll through the random social medias on her phone.

“How do you take your coffee?” Twitter began to bore her, so the switch to Instagram was made.

“Uh,” she looked up after a tap on the shoulder “Hi, how do you take your coffee?”

“I..” she shuffled quickly to pause her music and rip her earbud out of her ear, “I generally just pour until it’s the right color and by the time it’s the right color, there is enough sugar.” The words poured out of her mouth quickly, like they were melting off her tongue.

“Why.. why do you ask? Or what made you ask?” She rolled her earbuds around her hand and tied the end around the coils, like her dad showed her, to keep them from tangling.

“I just thought you’d have an interesting answer.” The girl sat beside her and reached out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Olive.”