Ain't It Fun

She stood in line, feeling a little impatient. She shifted her weight from her left foot to her right foot and then back, as the guy in front of her ordered his coffee painfully slow. There was a little less than ten minutes until her Economics class and if she was late, she wouldn't be able to get in; the professor was one those professors that locked the door the second class was meant to start.

Luckily, the guy finally finished a few seconds later and she stepped up to order her own drink. As always, she ordered her usual, a black coffee that she would later add a lot of creamer and several sugars to at the side station where all the essentials were located.

"Name, please?" The overly friendly (it was 8 in the morning for God's sake!) barista chirped.

"Devin," the young woman replied, shortly. She paid for her drink then stood off to the side to wait for it.

Looking to her right and then to her left, Devin noticed the little groups of people standing around the coffee shop. She suddenly felt awkward as she tugged on the sleeves of her cardigan. It had been two months since she moved to Australia and she had yet to make any friends. She didn't even have a roommate that she was forced to interact with, having request a single room when she was applying to the university.

It wasn't that she was unfriendly, it was more that she didn't try to socialize. She didn't go to parties or school sporting events, didn't join any clubs or study groups. She went to class and went to her dorm. The time she didn't spend in class and on homework was spent on her artworks. She was usually found with her nose in a book or with a sketch pad in her hand.

That was the main reason for Devin's move from the US all the way to Australia; a change in scenery. At least, that's what she told her family. She explained to them that she was lacking in inspiration for new paintings and drawings and Australia was the perfect place to get new ideas ("Have you seen the landscape?" she had said to her mother).

The truth was she was just tired of being cooped up in her family's home and going to Australia had been a dream of hers ever since she was seven and watched Finding Nemo obsessively. When she thought about where she wanted to move away to in her senior of high school and everyone kept asking her what her plans were, the first thing that popped into her head was Australia. More specifically Sydney (P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney). It seemed silly, at the time, to base her whole life beyond high school on a children's cartoon but the more she thought about it, the more she loved the idea, even convincing herself that it would be good for her art.

Devin was pulled from her thoughts by her name being called out. She grabbed her coffee and thanked the barista with a small smile. After adding (lots) of creamer and sugar, she began to move from the ingredients station, only to nearly spill her drink by bumping into a taller boy.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" The boy apologized, quickly. His accent was thick, sounding almost like the stereotypical Australian you would hear on American television.

"It's fine," Devin replied, waving a hand as if it was nothing. "No harm done."

The tall boy smiled, dimples appearing on each of his cheeks and Devin had to stop herself from swooning. He was very attractive, there was no denying that. Devin moved her gaze to the cup in her hand to keep from blushing.

"Are you sure?" He asked and she nodded her reply. "Okay, good. Hey, do-"

Before he could say anymore, Devin suddenly spoke up, remembering her class. "I'm gonna be so late, oh my god, I have to go! I'm sorry." She ran off with only so much as a wave.

------

It took Devin about three minutes to jog from the little coffee shop to the building her class was in. She made it into the lecture hall with a minute or two to spare. She took a seat in the middle row of seats, not too close to the front but not too far back that she couldn't pay attention.

Most students were already in the room but a few were still filing in when the professor arrived. Just as he went to close the door and lock it, the boy from the coffee shop slipped in with a wide smile on his face and a coffee cup in hand. He greeted the professor and then took a seat towards the back. Devin turned slightly in her seat to get a look at him. He was high-fiving a few other boys when he saw her staring. He smiled again and raised a hand to wave at her. Devin waved back, a little embarrassed, and turned around to face the professor, who had already started his lecture.

She didn't pay much attention after that due to not having any real interest in Economics (though, it would probably be useful later in life). It was just a class required to get any degree. Devin spent most of the class doodling and occasionally writing down things the professor said. Her mind kept wandering to the boy from the coffee shop, though she wasn't sure why. They barely had a conversation but there was something about him that she couldn't shake.