„In a world where lies have become our nurturing, when can you tell the truth? A place for honesty doesn't exist when we adapted to something that leaves us always doubting it all." -Hillary Wolf
It was the middle of November and the city was bustling with frivolous colors, as if everything happening was a distraction to the busy life Vivien had, though only for a brief moment.
Time seemed to lose all meaning when she stood by her favorite coffee shop, thinking about various subjects, some only fleeting, some more nuanced and annoying to convey. She decided to step forward cautiously, studying the architecture of the building as if it was her first time standing in front of it.
The proeminent sound of a bell could be heard as she opened the door. She knew stress wasn't necessary, but she simply couldn't help it. She immediately put her bag on the chair next to her and started studying for an upcoming exam.
The town she lived in was called Tallis, quite noisy and incredibly vibrant most of the time. You could always find something to do in it and never get tired of discovering more about it, having an incredibly rich history that she loved studying about but couldn't always remember every detail.
As she took out her pen to write down some information, a cat jumped on the windowsill, staring at her with narrow, perfectly blue eyes. She resisted the tempation to pet it, knowing that she'd get distracted, then continued her work diligently.
If her friends knew about her routine she had at home that included playing with her cats at least 20 minutes a day, they'd be utterly perplexed. It was unlike her to miss any sort of activity, especially regarding her love for animals in general.
There wasn't a single study in her book that could make her forget about what it's like to feel tired and be upset. If she could simply erase her entire knowledge of feelings, she'd do it in no time, but wouldn't that be more frustrating? You'd still feel, but not know what it is that you're experiencing.
She abandoned that thought, wincing as she was starting to have a terribly pressuring and sharp headache because of the tiredness.
It was no doubt that she had no time to lose. In a couple of hours, the sun would go down, casting away it's beautiful colors onto the clouds.
She was racing against time because she absolutely had to finish before dawn, or at least that's what she told herself before she came to her favorite place.
The coffee shop was quiet, unlike anywhere else she went, her least favorite place for work being exactly where she should learn the most: at school. The reason for that was because of all the voices she could hear that were blocking her ability to focus.
Her devotion for knowledge was beyond immeasurable, therefore she wanted to remember as much as she could in this last year of school, from literature to history, and maybe even biology in her free time.
Her favorite subject wasn't any of those, to everyone's surprise. It always seemed as if she liked all of them equally, but she spoke the most in philosophy class.
Her classmates were always talking behind her back about how big of a nerd she was, the flow of words and phrases growing bigger, better and brighter as she spoke to her teacher during the lessons.
In a way, she was used to all types of gossip about her, but she stood firm on her own beliefs that no matter what, people shouldn't judge one another.
One of her favorite sayings came to her mind each time she thought about this certain topic, which was the quote by her favorite writer, Hillary Wolf. It was about how impactful lying turned out to be long term in our society. „We always judge because of lies we are told or which our mind tells us" is what she thought.
She wanted to explain these peculiar affirmations to somebody, but she was alone, and hypothetically, the unfortunate person that would have to listen to her courses would be left perplexed.
The bell suddenly rang, startling her a bit as somebody walked in.
The presence of strangers in the same room as her was not something she was usually accustomed to.
It was difficult for her to grasp the idea of discussing with certain individuals unless it was a matter that her heart was devoted to. Nothing else mattered to her other than work, work and work.
Her only objective to reach was to get good grades, a noble achievement in her opinion.
She couldn't remember the last time she could afford to rest, but she didn't want to for now.
One of the reasons she was so dedicated could have been her desire for discovering the unknown, and it was plausible enough. In a swift motion, she put her notebook back into her schoolbag, finishing what she had to do as she tasked herself to just in time.
She got up from the seat and started walking through the city once more.
Never before has she wanted something more than to have someone by her side in moments where it felt like nobody would wish to be there for her.
It was an odd feeling that she couldn't explain, but she knew there was a certain word to describe it, wrenching her mind to discover it.
Either way, nothing would stop her from finding it out eventually, right?
A few more minutes passed by, units of time in which she couldn't bear the weight of her own body as she walked to her home.
She passed by the wonderfully portrayed homes in her beloved town in which she grew up, Tallis.
She lived by a rule in her own mind, and it was that if you love someone or something, you should dedicate a considerable amount of time to learn more about them.
Time is relative, and it does indeed seem like it when she's learning. It's as if it's nonexistent unless you think about it to a point where it passes by slower.
It all depends on the way you view it. Thus, she chose to study what she enjoyed the most, and she couldn't stick to only one subject since she loved multiple.
As she arrived home, she didn't even look around her. She knew her older brother must've been working on his laptop by this hour for university.
She took her shoes off, put her warm brown coat on the coat rack and plopped down on her bed. There was a certain feeling of delight she hadn't had in a while for some reason, perhaps because of nothing at all. You can feel happy for no reason, though can analysis of the heart make it feel on command?
„Vivien, you finally came home?"
„Yes!"
„Not even a hello? You disappoint me, peasant."
She heard her brother leaving to sit on the couch again. The way he talked to her never upset her, since she knew he was only trying to brighten her day, even if only for a little bit.