I have to find a place to sit and get warm. It’s getting worse out here. The snow is getting my hair wet so it turns to a black color instead of its normal caramel. I see a coffee shop. There aren’t many people inside, but they were probably smart enough to stay home. I rush towards the door and open it. A bell makes a chiming noise when I do. The heat from the shop warms my face. I smell the freshly baked pastries: croissants, macarons, and muffins. I stand in the doorway before finding a place to put all of my stuff. I start to walk towards and empty table, but trip on my shoe laces. My paintbrushes and homework sliding across the floor.
“Are you okay, miss?” says an older gentleman from the booth right next to where I am on the floor. “Do you need help?”
“I’m okay. Just being my clumsy self. If I didn’t trip over my laces I would have tripped on air,” I laugh. I start to pick my things up. I see that someone is helping me pick it up. We finally got it all picked up, so I stand. I’m about to say thank you, but I freeze before the person in front of me.
“Natalie, is that you?” says the old high school peer standing in front of me. I stand there frozen with fright. Is she going to continue what happened in high school now that she knows I’m enrolled in Columbia too?
I suddenly unfreeze and stutter, “Y-yeah. It’s been awhile, two years actually.” I smile nicely at her. I stand back and think of the last time I saw her, graduation day.
I remember a time near the end of senior year when we were getting our gowns for graduation. She ‘accidentally’ spilled her coffee on my new white gown. My mom and I had to take it to the dry cleaners, and they couldn’t get the stain out. I had a huge brown spot near the bottom of it. I remember her and her friends laughing as I accepted my diploma in my ruined gown.
“So how has life been going?” Samantha asks politely snapping me back to reality.
“It’s been good,” I say nodding my head. “I’m enrolled in college here. I’m an Art History major. How have you been?”
“I’ve been better. My parents got a divorce the year after we graduated, but that was expected. Nobody should fight that much. I’m studying to be a kindergarten teacher.” She looks down at the books in her hands and smiles. “It’s funny. Senior year I used to hit these out of your hands. Now, I’m helping you pick them up.” She hands my books back to me. I put them back in my bag and throw the strap over my shoulder. “Do you want to maybe sit by me? My friend called and canceled on me. She couldn’t get her car started.”
“Oh... Sure,” I say shifting from one foot to the other. “Where are you sitting?”
“Right here,” She says pointing to the table that most of my books had slid under. I nod my head and put my bag under the table.
“I’m going to go get some hot chocolate. Do you want any?” I ask as I tilt my head towards the cash register. She shakes her head. I walk to the cash register and order a large. As I wait for it to be poured, I watch out the window of the cafe.
The new snow that is now covering the once bright streets reminds me of how not everything stays the same. That things change. That people change. I look at Samantha and realize that she doesn’t look like the same girl that she was in high school. Her brown hair that used to be straight is now left untamed. Her once fashionable clothes have been changed to ratty jeans and a big sweatshirt that reads Chicago. The barista hands me my drink. I thank her and turn back around. As I bring my hot chocolate back to my seat, I decide that this is going to be our new season, our new start.