Josephine Evangelos is trying to start a new life now that she's moved to New York City for university. Trying to leave behind the things she's struggled with and start fresh.
Her only problem is that the things she's trying to leave behind aren't...
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Josephine was breathing heavy, trying to not let the burning at the back of her throat overwhelm her. Her vision was blurring as water gathered at the rims of her eyes, and she felt stupid. So fucking stupid for letting herself cry like this in public.
Her worn, navy blue converse hit the ground quickly as she walked, making a slight stomping noise that was drowned out by the sound of the late-night traffic around her. Living in the city served as useful in moments like these because Josephine could walk to the coffee shop that stood not too far from her dorm without attracting too much attention.
Dressed in track pants and a large grey zip-up, Josephine was practically invisible as she made her way through the people on the sidewalk with slight haste, so that on the off chance that someone did notice her, they wouldn't see that she was crying.
Josephine Lucille Evangelos, or as most people called her, Jo, was as normal as any university student came. She woke up every morning in a terrible mood, went to class, got done with class, went to work, and then when she finally got home, would eat and relax a bit before starting her assignments for the night. She didn't have much going on in her life, but she preferred it that way. She wasn't necessarily happy, but she was comfortable, and that's what mattered.
Jo had moved to New York City after she got accepted into Columbia University to study Environmental Science, and she loved it so far. Although it was a big adjustment to make, having moved from Houston all the way to New England, she could definitely see herself staying around for a while.
She was a freshman in university, and had started her fall semester just a few months ago. It was currently November, and she loved how it was already starting to get cold. Back home, the sweltering Texas heat lasted well into October some years, so she was glad that she had moved somewhere that actually experienced all four seasons and not just summer for most of the year with a touch of fall at the end of it.
Although she loved her home city and loved the memories she made there with her mother, father, younger sister, and two dogs, it was refreshing to be somewhere new, and be able to give herself the opportunity to start a new life of sorts. She desperately needed it.
Lots of things followed Jo when she moved across the country, though, even the things she was hoping and praying wouldn't. The things she just couldn't get rid of -- one of which being her issues with sleep. She just couldn't get herself to get a night's rest most of the time, and when she did, it ended up only being a few hours because of how late she would fall asleep. Jo had been optimistic that moving to a new environment would reset her body's biological clock and also help her mind calm down enough to fix this, but soon after she settled into NYC it came back like habit. At this point Jo had learned to cope with her sleepless nights, and therefore she could still function off of the little rest she did get.
Tonight, though, was her second consecutive night awake, and she was in desperate need of some coffee.
Jo pulled the hood of her jacket further down her face and wiped furiously at her eyes as she reached the café. She gripped the handle and pulled open the door, triggering the little bell hanging from the top of the doorframe to chime. Jo took a deep breath as she walked in and took a seat at one of the small booths by the window. Immediately, her nerves quelled, the homey energy in Bonnie's Boulangerie filling her with a sense of peace she really needed at the moment.
