Wanderers in the City

In recent years, I've come to realize something: the world isn't as large as we think. It's not an infinite expanse of possibilities or endless opportunities; it's actually quite small. The universe seems to shrink every day, and I'm convinced it's because people are always moving closer together. It's like this: You're sitting in your room, scrolling through social media on your phone when suddenly you see someone from high school posting about their new job at some company you've never heard of before—and they live halfway across the country. And then another person pops up who lives even further away but works for the same company, and so on until, eventually, there are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of people living all over the world connected by one single thread. I experienced this firsthand just last week after graduating from college with my bachelor's degree in computer science. My parents were so proud that I got into such an elite program—especially since most students don't make it past sophomore year—and now here I am working for a big tech firm smack-dab in London. Not only did I manage to land myself a full-time position within six months of graduating, but I also managed to snag myself a nice apartment near downtown where everything happens. The best part? All those friends who used to tease me back home can eat their hearts out because now... ...I'm alone. Completely alone. There's no one around except for my coworkers, who barely talk to me outside of work hours anyway. Sure, we go out for drinks sometimes after long days at the office, but that doesn't really count as "hanging out" does it? It feels more like forced interaction than anything else. Like clockwork every Friday night, without fail, we end up going out drinking until 2 AM before stumbling back home together drunk off our asses. Sometimes things get weird between us when alcohol gets involved, which makes me wonder why these people even bother inviting me along anymore. They probably feel bad about leaving me behind or something... Anyway, today marks exactly two weeks since starting this new job, and I've already noticed how much smaller the world has become since moving here. Every day seems shorter than the last; time passes quickly while nothing changes. Days turn into nights, which turn into mornings again. Rinse repeat ad nauseam until death do us part. "Coffee. I need coffee," I mumbled under my breath as I walked through the city streets towards a nearby café called 'Café Leblanc.' This place was famous among locals due to its unique blend of traditional Japanese cuisine mixed with the modern Western aesthetic found throughout most parts of London these days. As usual, there weren't many customers inside despite being lunchtime—most likely due to everyone either still sleeping off hangovers from last night's festivities or busy preparing for another long evening ahead spent partying until dawn once again. "Welcome!" A young woman greeted me cheerfully upon seeing me enter her establishment. She wore a simple white blouse paired with black pants underneath a red apron tied around her waistline. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders framing her face perfectly, making her look younger than she actually was. "What can I get for you?" "Umm...just an iced coffee, please. Black." "Sure thing!" She replied happily as she turned away from me and began preparing my order behind the counter. While waiting patiently at the barstool closest to where she worked, I took out my phone and checked my emails hoping nobody from work had messaged me. Fortunately, there were none so far today, but knowing them, they'd send something later tonight. The service was incredibly fast; within minutes of placing my request, the server returned holding my coffee in one hand, and a small plate with a pastry on top of it in the other. "I'm sorry, but I didn't order any food," I said nervously as she placed both items down onto the table next to me. "Oh, don't worry about it—it's complimentary for new customers like yourself." She smiled sweetly before heading back behind the counter once more. I glanced down at the plate, noticing that it contained a chocolate cake slice covered in powdered sugar. I was never a huge fan of sweets, especially if they were sweet enough to give me cavities, but it tasted surprisingly good. As I sipped at my drink slowly, enjoying every drop that passed through my lips, I noticed someone else entering the shop from across the room. She looked around my age or slightly older, with shoulder-length deep brown hair and striking features. Her attire consisted of an oversized white t-shirt underneath a pair of jeans that hugged her legs nicely. "Welcome back Serena," The server greeted her cheerfully upon seeing her enter the café. Serena, as the server had referred to her by name, simply nodded in acknowledgment before taking a seat directly beside me without saying anything further. After ordering her own iced coffee—also black like mine—we sat quietly next to each other drinking in silence until, finally, she spoke up again after several minutes had passed between us. "Hey, I haven't seen you here before. Are you new in town or something?" I nodded hesitantly at her question, wondering how best to answer it myself when all I could think about was how awkward this whole situation felt right now. "Yeah," was all that came out of my mouth afterward, which seemed like such an unsatisfying response. She probably expected me to say more than just one word, but what else could I possibly add? I'm not exactly good at talking with strangers after all. "Oh, really?" She said curiously before taking another sip from her own drink. "What brings you here then?" "I work nearby actually..." My voice trailed off as I tried thinking about what else to tell her without revealing too much information. There were certain things about me that nobody needed to know about yet. “...I’m here for an internship.” "An internship huh? So, you're still studying or something?" "Yes, well no, actually, I'm already done with college. Right now, I'm just trying to get the experience I need." Jokes about young adults and their struggles were often made by older folks, but the truth was that there was no escaping it. Even when we graduated, there was always something else to be done, something more to accomplish. We couldn't just sit back and relax forever because society wouldn't allow it. If you stopped moving forward, then others would eventually surpass you, leaving you behind in their dust as they continued onward. “Really? So how old are you then?" "Twenty." "Wow, I would've guessed that you were much younger than me if I didn't already know better," She laughed lightly before taking another sip from her own cup of iced coffee. "But seriously though, there aren't too many internships available here nowadays unless you've got a degree already, so what kind of internship did you manage to score yourself?" "Oh, um... it's an internship for software engineering," I answered, unsure how else to respond. "It's just a temporary thing, but I'm hoping that maybe they might consider hiring me afterward." She raised her eyebrows slightly at my response, looking surprised by what I had just said. The typical response that followed after sharing my line of work was something along the lines of, "Oh wow, that's impressive", or "Good luck", usually accompanied by a pat on the back or two. But instead, Serena's expression remained unreadable for several seconds before suddenly breaking out into a broad grin. “You're lucky," she told me, leaning back in her seat with her hands resting behind her head. "A lot of people would kill to get a chance like that, and you're only twenty years old." "I know," I replied sheepishly, not wanting to sound arrogant. It was true though; many people my age didn't have the luxury of having their own jobs right after graduating from college, especially not one as high-paying as this internship. And the fact that I managed to snag myself a job after getting rejected countless times during previous years made me feel incredibly fortunate. "Say, do you like beer?” She suddenly asked, turning toward me again. Beer hasn’t exactly been kind to me, lately. "Yeah, sure. Why?" "Well, my friends and I are all going out drinking tonight if you wanna tag along." I wasn't sure how exactly she managed to convince me to go along with them that night, but somehow or another, here I was standing outside some random bar in the middle of downtown, waiting patiently for Serena and her friends to arrive. “What the hell is wrong with me?” I muttered under my breath, cursing myself silently for agreeing to join them tonight. It's not like this was my first time hanging out with other people, but every single time something similar happened, there would always be a few seconds where I regretted making the decision to go through with whatever plan I had made beforehand. "Hey! Over here!" A familiar voice called out from across the street. Turning my attention away from the sidewalk in front of me, I saw Serena waving frantically at me as she walked toward me wearing a tight-fitting black skirt, along with a simple white blouse that showed off her curves nicely. Behind her, however, stood five strangers—all of whom seemed much older than either Serena or I ourselves—each sporting their own unique style and fashion choices. The tallest of the bunch had a pair of sunglasses perched atop his head, giving off arrogance by the bucketloads. His eyes were piercing, as blue as a cloudless sky, and he wore a lazy smirk on his face that made him look even more smug. Beside him stood a much shorter girl with her arms crossed over her chest. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, framing her face perfectly. She looked cute, but I could tell that she wasn't someone you'd want to mess with. Next came the guy who I assumed must've been their leader or something. He sported an outfit consisting mostly of black—black shirt, pants, shoes...everything. Even his fingernails appeared dyed dark. The only thing that broke this monochromatic color scheme was the necklace he wore around his neck; a silver chain adorned with a small cross pendant that hung low enough, so it rested against his collarbone. Finally, there were two other males in their little party. One had short, light brown hair, which curled slightly at the ends, while the other had short blonde hair, and killer cheekbones. Both seemed like they were close friends with one another, judging by how they were chatting away without paying much attention to anyone else in the group. When Serena began making her way over to me, the others followed suit, stopping only when she finally stood directly before me herself. "Hey! You showed up!" She greeted me cheerfully. "I thought maybe you might've changed your mind or something." I was regretting that decision right now, but it was too late for me to back out. "No...I said I'd come, so here I am." "Good," She nodded approvingly before gesturing toward the rest of her companions. “These are my friends,” Serena explained. “This is Maverick," she said while pointing to the tallest member of their group who had been eyeing me ever since arriving. He only nodded in my direction, not bothering to speak up at all. "Maverick is a little rude, but don't worry—he's harmless really," Serena assured me with a laugh. "And this is Chandler," she continued, gesturing to the guy standing next to her wearing mostly black clothing, except for his silver cross necklace. The man looked over at me silently, studying me carefully before finally speaking up himself. "Nice to meet you," he greeted me politely. "Yeah, same here," I replied, feeling nervous around him despite his friendly demeanor. Something about him just made me feel uncomfortable somehow, but he seemed nice enough. Serena proceeded to introduce the other members of their group in quick succession—Lucia, Sebastion, and Dimitri—all of whom had varying degrees of politeness towards newcomers like me, ranging from indifferent to downright hostile (namely Lucia). After introducing everyone individually, Serena turned her attention back to me once again. "So, what do you think?" She asked curiously. I didn’t quite understand what she wanted me to say, so I simply shrugged my shoulders. "About what?" "Us! Our group!" Her eyes sparkled brightly as she spoke. "We're all pretty cool, right?" Her question threw me off guard slightly; I wasn't sure if she meant that they were cool people themselves or just cool together as friends, which is something else entirely. Either way though, I couldn't deny that they did seem like nice folks overall. Well, except for the tall one and Lucia. "Yeah," I said after thinking about it for several seconds longer than necessary. “She’s totally scared. I can tell,” Lucia whispered under her breath, looking over at the blonde-haired guy standing next to her. He only sighed quietly before shaking his head dismissively, ignoring what she had just told him. I wasn't sure exactly why, but hearing those words coming out of someone who barely knew anything about me felt like a slap across the face. “You never told us your name, newbie,” Lucia added with a smirk. “So, what is it?” “Right. Sorry. It’s...” I trailed off, realizing that everyone in the group had suddenly turned their attention toward me. The sudden shift in focus caused a slight flush to rise into my cheeks, though fortunately, the dimly lit streetlamps surrounding us prevented anyone from noticing it too well. “Aurora.” “Damn. That’s cute.” Maverick’s comment caused Serena to nudge him right in the ribs, eliciting a grunt of pain from him as he clutched his side dramatically. “Hey, hey—what gives? I'm complimenting her!” Serena rolled her eyes at him, clearly exasperated. “Maverick, shut up,” she said flatly. “You're embarrassing yourself.” Turning back to me, she smiled warmly. “How about we head inside?” At that moment, I was deciding whether to bolt or not. I was feeling overwhelmed, and I could already sense that the rest of the evening might end up going downhill quickly if things kept going like they were right now. However, before I could make any decisions regarding my own fate tonight, Serena grabbed hold of my arm tightly and started dragging me toward the entrance like I was some kind of ragdoll. I started to recite Psalm twenty-three in my head.