Status: For my twin, Jessica. No more frowny faces.
No More Frowns
-1-
Jessica didn’t talk much anymore. In fact, she didn’t do much of anything that she used to. She didn’t eat regularly, or go to concerts. She didn’t go out with a few friends and giggle over boys who tried hitting on them. She didn’t read for the hell of it and she rarely listened to music anymore. And most of all, she hardly slept anymore. Her life was fairly dull. Nothing extraordinarily bad had happened to her. No one had died and she wasn’t diagnosed with incurable cancer. It was just like, one day, someone stopped filming her life in color. All the vibrant, exciting colors had been traded for black and white, everything fading to a smudgy grayscale.
Life wasn’t exhilarating anymore.
Jess had settled herself into a routine. She would get up every morning at 9:30, wander into her kitchen and make a small meager breakfast of extra caffeinated coffee and piece of toast. She’d shower, dress herself for work and head out. She’d catch a cab uptown to her office where she’d settle behind her desk and type up reports for her boss who was always “too swamped” to do any of his own paperwork. She’d take her break at 12:45, eat a small salad from the company cafeteria and return to work until 5. She’d go home, shower again, eat a small meal of whatever was in the fridge and then find herself in bed, watching primetime television and hating every second of it.
She’d never been a routine kind of girl but this rut was one that she couldn’t manage to claw her way out of. That is, until a certain rail thin girl with dark brown hair and freckles peppered across her nose and cheeks burst her way into Jessica’s life and demanded that the color return, the music begin and that Jess break her routine.
Cassadee Pope, lead singer of Hey Monday and current solo artist, wouldn’t take no for an answer. In fact, Jessica was almost certain that Cassadee’s vocabulary did not include the word “no” or anything synonymic to it.
The morning that they met, Jess had stopped into her favorite local coffee shop, as she did every Friday morning, for a large double shot espresso before returning to the daily grind of her dull job. Tiredly, she stumbled into the store and up to the counter. The cashier was new and had to be explained to that she needed double the normal, and probably recommended amount of espresso. She sat down in a chair without glancing at the other side of the table.
Someone cleared their throat, drawing Jessica’s attention across the table. And there she was. Cassadee’s green eyes sparkled in the overhead lighting as she stared expectantly at the younger, tired girl. Jess couldn’t take her eyes off of the other woman. She was absolutely breathtaking in person. Sure, Jess knew who Cass was. Before everything turned to black and white, Jess had been to a few Hey Monday concerts and had found Cass attractive. But here she was, sitting less than a foot from Jess and Jess couldn’t comprehend just how gorgeous the girl was.
“Jessica!” a barista called out, grabbing the young girl’s attention away from Cassadee. She leaped up and walked to the counter. The worker, a tall lanky dark-haired boy named Colin, handed over her drink with a smile.
“How are you doing, Jess?”
He was always there on Fridays. He was also a part of her routine. Pleasant, yet idle small talk. There was only once where Colin didn’t hand her the drink and chit chat with her. He’d been busy and she’d almost had a panic attack. He rushed over, taking the drink from his coworker and acted as if nothing had happened. She was grateful. He was a good part of her routine. She glanced back at Cass for a moment. Cassadee wasn’t a part of her routine.
Cassadee seemed determined to fix this as Jess headed out the door, following closely.
“Hi. What’s your name?” Cass asked, keeping pace easily with Jess.
“Jessica,” she stated, trying to speed up without making it obvious.
“I’m Cassadee. Where are you going?”
Cass reminded Jess of a small child, too inquisitive for social standards.
“Work. Do you mind?”
“Yes. I’m kind of trying to get to know you but you’re making that difficult.”
Jessica stopped and turned to face Cassadee. “Listen. I appreciate the attempt but, don’t. You don’t want to know me.”
“I’ll decide that for myself, thank you!”
Cassadee had swiped Jessica’s phone out of her pocket and was quickly tapping the screen. Finally, several moments later, the phone was handed back to its owner and the strange not-part-of-the-routine girl flitted away. Jess shook her head and headed onwards, towards her job, back to the routine that was about to get very very disrupted.
Life wasn’t exhilarating anymore.
Jess had settled herself into a routine. She would get up every morning at 9:30, wander into her kitchen and make a small meager breakfast of extra caffeinated coffee and piece of toast. She’d shower, dress herself for work and head out. She’d catch a cab uptown to her office where she’d settle behind her desk and type up reports for her boss who was always “too swamped” to do any of his own paperwork. She’d take her break at 12:45, eat a small salad from the company cafeteria and return to work until 5. She’d go home, shower again, eat a small meal of whatever was in the fridge and then find herself in bed, watching primetime television and hating every second of it.
She’d never been a routine kind of girl but this rut was one that she couldn’t manage to claw her way out of. That is, until a certain rail thin girl with dark brown hair and freckles peppered across her nose and cheeks burst her way into Jessica’s life and demanded that the color return, the music begin and that Jess break her routine.
Cassadee Pope, lead singer of Hey Monday and current solo artist, wouldn’t take no for an answer. In fact, Jessica was almost certain that Cassadee’s vocabulary did not include the word “no” or anything synonymic to it.
The morning that they met, Jess had stopped into her favorite local coffee shop, as she did every Friday morning, for a large double shot espresso before returning to the daily grind of her dull job. Tiredly, she stumbled into the store and up to the counter. The cashier was new and had to be explained to that she needed double the normal, and probably recommended amount of espresso. She sat down in a chair without glancing at the other side of the table.
Someone cleared their throat, drawing Jessica’s attention across the table. And there she was. Cassadee’s green eyes sparkled in the overhead lighting as she stared expectantly at the younger, tired girl. Jess couldn’t take her eyes off of the other woman. She was absolutely breathtaking in person. Sure, Jess knew who Cass was. Before everything turned to black and white, Jess had been to a few Hey Monday concerts and had found Cass attractive. But here she was, sitting less than a foot from Jess and Jess couldn’t comprehend just how gorgeous the girl was.
“Jessica!” a barista called out, grabbing the young girl’s attention away from Cassadee. She leaped up and walked to the counter. The worker, a tall lanky dark-haired boy named Colin, handed over her drink with a smile.
“How are you doing, Jess?”
He was always there on Fridays. He was also a part of her routine. Pleasant, yet idle small talk. There was only once where Colin didn’t hand her the drink and chit chat with her. He’d been busy and she’d almost had a panic attack. He rushed over, taking the drink from his coworker and acted as if nothing had happened. She was grateful. He was a good part of her routine. She glanced back at Cass for a moment. Cassadee wasn’t a part of her routine.
Cassadee seemed determined to fix this as Jess headed out the door, following closely.
“Hi. What’s your name?” Cass asked, keeping pace easily with Jess.
“Jessica,” she stated, trying to speed up without making it obvious.
“I’m Cassadee. Where are you going?”
Cass reminded Jess of a small child, too inquisitive for social standards.
“Work. Do you mind?”
“Yes. I’m kind of trying to get to know you but you’re making that difficult.”
Jessica stopped and turned to face Cassadee. “Listen. I appreciate the attempt but, don’t. You don’t want to know me.”
“I’ll decide that for myself, thank you!”
Cassadee had swiped Jessica’s phone out of her pocket and was quickly tapping the screen. Finally, several moments later, the phone was handed back to its owner and the strange not-part-of-the-routine girl flitted away. Jess shook her head and headed onwards, towards her job, back to the routine that was about to get very very disrupted.