East

The east side of the city is the very heart of Sacrosanct - it's unique skyline is a clash between modern sky rises and small Victorian-inspired storefronts. In the heart of downtown, the sleek colored glass buildings reign supreme though their old-world roots can be seen in the most peculiar places from the lamp post styled electric street light to the stone sidewalks. The old world architecture slowly returns the further from downtown you travel, however. It's here that magic thrives, it hums in every stone and can be felt in every breath. Often, newcomers to the city may become overwhelmed by such sensations but, eventually, it becomes an ever-present feeling that's hardly noticed.

What You'll Find Here

City Creek Center
Dark Hunter Department
Inner Sanctum
Red on the Water
Starlight Tower

TRYING NOT TO WASTE MY TIME


Posted on November 10, 2017 by BENJAMIN ANDREEV
East
image
With the middle of the semester looming ever nearer, Benji has found that his days have started to fall into a rhythm of some sort. Between soccer, schoolwork, and attempting to have a social life, Benjamin found himself little free time. This could be a good thing though, he has thought, because the last he had found himself with way too much free time in his life, he had found himself getting into trouble, hanging out with the wrong crowd. It had been a poor time in his life. Honestly, he shudders to think about what could have been had he not straightened out and gotten his life together. He probably wouldn't be here right now in this coffee shop, he wouldn't be going to college, and he certainly wouldn't be planning for his future.

Maybe there is an alternate reality out there. Where Benjamin never got his life together, where Caroline was never an influence to him, where he continued his reckless behavior and never straightened out. He wouldn't have a home, maybe a house, but not a family or even anything close to come back to. He wouldn't haveâ€"anybody.

He is grateful for the reality he lives in. And though, by a long shot, Benjamin doesn't have everything that he wants. He doesn't have a lot of things, but he has enough. Friends, he is receiving an education, the best big sister in the whole world.

He's got himself. Alive and well.

Lips touch the cup once again as he lifts it from the spot on its table. He had been so focused that Benjamin doesn't realize his coffee had begun to get cold. Pulling out his chair, the young man rises from his seat, hesitant for a moment to leave his laptop sitting on the table unattended, but then figuring most likely no one would be up for jacking a mac in a crowded coffee shop. Shoving his phone in his back pocket, Benjamin approaches the counter and asks for a refill, more so it simply keep his current cup warm. Once again, he adds neither sugar nor cream. Benjamin had never really been a fan of sweet tasting things, except perhaps the occasional cookie or two, but only if it was handmade. Instead, he much prefers his coffee a little on the bitter side. Perhaps, maybe it had something to do with his personality. Now, Benji wasn't bitter, but he certainly wasn't walking on rainbows and sparkling in the sunshine either. He was like black coffee, simple straight forward, but also strong and bold.

Yeah, Benjamin was black coffee.

He returns to his seat and takes a sip but instantly retracts, muttering hot under his breath. Returning his coffee to its original position, he goes back to his studies. Benjamin ruffles his dark locks, pressing his hair down, though of course it does no good, never has, even throughout all of his childhood, so why he still continues to try make his hair neater (even if it is absent-minded and more habit than anything) is certainly beyond me. HIs amber eyes fall back to his screen, gathering as much information as he possibly could. Headphones go back into his ears, switching the songs until he finds one to his current liking, which seems to change every day depending on his mood.

Eyes rove over the coffee shop once more and he catches just a mere glimpse of long, honey colored hair in his vision before he returns to his computer screen. But then, something makes his eyes roll lightly upwards, in the direction that the blonde hair had grazed across his amber gaze, but he finds a sea of brunettes and platinum blonde, not the soft honey hue he had spotted before. He blinks once..twice...a third time before gaze falls downwards again. But this time, his eyes fall further down than just his computer screen. Eyes go to his backpack and he leans down to rummage through it, hand touching against a leather journal, he contemplates pulling it out, but ultimately, he decides against it. Hands release the journal and he slowly returns to his upright state. Closing his laptop, he thinks perhaps he may head to class a bit early, maybe take one of his professors up on their office hours. Benjamin clicks the home button on his phone, glancing at the group text between him, Blake, and Logan, his childhood friends, and of course there are a few messages from Caroline, but Benjamin decides he would open and read through them on the bus.

He is just thinking about standing up when a petite shadow is cast over him and he looks up to see light hair and bright eyes staring down at him. It catches him off guard for a moment, but he manages to collect himself in time to remove his headphones and catch her question that breezes passed her lips towards him. Witherspoon's calculus class? Amber eyes dart away from her for a moment as he contemplates. "No..." he begins to says, drawing out the 'o' as if to buy himself some time as Benjamin thinks where she may have gotten the idea. Then he remembers. He goes to that class sometimes, Witherspoon's. He tutors a few kids in that class to earn some cash (I mean, how else is a college kid suppose to earn money?) "Oh wait," he says, his face tempted to fall into a crooked grin, but instead it continues to remain flat and solemn. "I've been a few times. I tutor some of the soccer guys in there, they were totally lost so I went to see what lesson they were on," he says, as his eyes falls to her own. He hadn't been in that class too often, how did she recognize him? Maybe he ought to recognize her, he falls silent for a moment, thinking. "I'm Benjamin," he says, voice ringing out, not too low, nor high-pitched. As an after thought, he extends his hand, knowing Caroline would certainly be giving him a side-eye for poor manners. "Umm," he mutters, eyes darting away from her for a moment. "Did you need help on a problem or what?"

Ok, so his manners were still a work in progress.




BENJAMIN

Replies