In the overly warm, too-loud Starbucks, the air hums with stories. People drift in and out like waves, but the ones who stay? They’re the real puzzle pieces. They tell me everything without ever speaking to me — a flick of a hand, a tilted head, the way their shoulders rise when they laugh.

A group of girls in the corner talk about boys, the kind of boys who never take a hint. They want him to make the first move, but they want him to know that without asking. Then there’s the guy in the armchair — the one with the look. The weird uncle at Thanksgiving look. He leans in too close and I can hear it before he says it: Have you got a boyfriend yet?

And then there’s the one beside me. Laptop open, headphones in, words spilling onto the screen for hours. Every so often, our eyes meet — not enough to be creepy, not enough to be flirty. Just enough to say, I see you. And I see you burning the midnight oil in the middle of the day.

Excerpt/fictional
You sit on the couch thinking of the things to do—cozy socks, a warm drink in hand, and thinking of a movie to watch. Instead, you hear the rain with its soft patter on the deck. It pools on the deck, making it soaked, and you think about how it would feel if you ran out there and let it hit your face and scream all your frustrations out. Would it make you feel better, or would it be just a band-aid on the problem? Would it fix the feelings of wanting love and more? Would it still make you feel alone? So you walk outside with your socks and a nightgown to see if your right. You open the sliding door with no lock, which still frustrates you, and the cool air touches you first. The cold wetness on your socks immediately soaks your feet. The soft coldness of the rain touches your skin and starts to soak your nightgown, but do you care? No, you don’t, because all you want is to let the rain make you feel alive. The soft pattering of the rain doesn’t slow it down. It gets more complicated and faster, and you fall to your knees. You sit on the wet floor, and for the first time in a long time, you allow yourself to feel. You cry and scream the guttural crying and screaming that comes from a place deep down, you stop keeping a perfect image of who you are, and just be. The rain is something primal and lets you accept who you are, and it accepts you.

Except Two/ fictional inspired by show YOU
The door swings open, the bell chimes, and the sun glares. I watch as she walks in, her fingertips stained with red nail polish, touching the tables. She gracefully touches the spines of the books. She’s at ease in her happy place. She spends all day here, not because she can, no because she wants to. She looks at the classics section, and my interest is piqued. I look around the corner and see what she chooses. She grazes Frankenstein, Emma, and more until finally resting upon Pride and Prejudice. She grabs the book and heads to a table, and spends the next two hours reading it. Is she reading this for the first time? No, she’s not. She’s reading this for the 10th or 100th time, and you came here to get away. Was it cause of your home life, or was it because you enjoy it here? Lost in my thoughts, I lost her and couldn’t find her. Then I felt a pat on my shoulder, and I turned to see her standing there, asking me if she had other recommendations. I look in her striking eyes and feel at ease. I turn and Hi! Well, what kind of genre are you looking for? “She says oh!?something dark, “Oh, have you read The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde? “I’ve heard about it, but I never read it? I think to myself, but you have read it, haven’t you? You just want to seem innocent. You want the attention, you want me to think that and give you all my attention, don’t you? I direct her to the book and say, “Well, if there’s anything else, let me know.” I turn to walk back to the counter and wait to ring her up. She comes to the counter with three books, “ The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” “ “ Gone Girl” “ Pride and prejudice i think to my self not noticing what she was doing “ Thats a interesting mix do you want to disappear? We can run away together but what if your like the others? The ones that have disappointed me? She pays and walks away “ I know she will be back then I look at the counter a receipt paper with a name and a number “ this is the start of something new, dangerous and enticing, and i cant wait to see what it will bring.