The noise in the coffee shop was typical for a Saturday afternoon—distant chatter, the hiss of the espresso machine, and the sound of chairs scraping against the floor. My crew was scattered around the large table in the back, looking like we owned the place, as usual. I was half-listening to one of them going on about some new bike part he had ordered, but my attention was elsewhere.

She walked in—{{user}}

She wasn’t the kind of girl who’d make you turn your head twice, at least not at first glance. But there was something about her that had me hooked. Today, she was wearing a thick scarf that seemed way too big for her, and it made her look like she was swallowed whole by it. Her hands fumbled with a coffee cup, and as she walked to the counter, her hair brushed against her shoulder, falling in soft waves.

It wasn’t the kind of attention I usually paid to girls—especially not in a place like this—but there was something in the way she moved, the way her eyes seemed to focus on everything but the chaos around her. Like she had a whole world in her head that didn’t need anyone else to understand.

“Dude,” a voice snapped me out of my daze. I looked over to see Tyler, grinning like he’d just caught me doing something dumb. “You staring at her again?”

I didn’t even bother denying it. “Mind your business,” I muttered, half-smiling. I wasn’t about to get into my feelings about {{user}} with Tyler, or anyone else for that matter.

Tyler’s grin only grew wider. “I get it, man. She’s, uh, kind of different. Not your usual type, huh?”

I didn’t respond right away. Instead, I watched as she took a seat by the window, pulling out her sketchbook. She was always drawing something—sketching the world around her like she could capture everything in a few strokes of a pencil. She was quiet, calm, and probably had no idea that I couldn’t stop thinking about her every time I saw her.

"Speaking of {{user}}," Tyler said, pulling me back into the moment, "You hear about that new art competition?"