Broadway Studying

            Once again, the Coffee shop is full. I’m surprised I was able to find a spot in the main area. Most of the students sit alone, each with headphones. Jimmy sits next to me with a couple of friends.

            The music is not what I expected. It’s something from the oldies, or a musical. It reminds me of “White Christmas”.

            The room is slightly rearranged. The four recliners that sat around a table in front of the fireplace/heater are now off to the side, replaced by the table whose place they took with their table. The long table which used to sit in line with my line of sight now crosses my line of sight.

            Only one patron isn’t doing some form of school work. He is one of the few here that does not have a laptop open or even on the table before him. I am the only other one here without a laptop open. I didn’t bring my laptop with me. Has he come here to get away from home? Or is he meeting someone here? He is just sitting with his coffee, on his cellphone.

            Another pair of somewhat familiar faces have come in. They are the same ones whom Jane created a drink for the last time I was here.

            It must still be exam season. That or these students have assignments they prefer to do away from their dorms/apartment/house. It may also be that it is easier to talk here than at the student center on campus this late at night.  Though, I doubt the music right now is very conducive to learning. I can barely concentrate on what I am writing. Forget “White Christmas” this is Broadway music. “Annie”. I wonder whose idea this was.

            The only talking comes from Jimmy and his friends and two blondes to my left. These are also the only two groups in the Coffee Shop. I can faintly see a third group through the screened window, the light from their cellphones giving them away.

            The music gives the Coffee Shop a different atmosphere than usual. The students are concentrated on their laptops, whether it be school work or Netflix (as I hear Jimmy saying and seeing on a laptop in my line of sight), as usual. But it seems more… quiet. As if we are at a Broadway show.

            An athletic looking blonde joins a student by the window and they begin talking. I saw her when I walked in. She had a show on her laptop and notes in front of her. I think she is also an athlete if her clothes are anything to judge by. She is wearing a sweatshirt and track shorts (the best way I can describe them). That may be how they know each other. The first student, a brunette, is done with whatever she was doing. Both athletes leave.

            A Middle Eastern looking girl joins the two blondes. She is known to one and introduced to the other. They begin talking about exams. Two other students have taken the athletes’ spots by the window. They talks quietly to themselves while they wait for their drinks.

            The more I look at the patron with no obvious school work, the more I think he is here to hang out and get away from whoever he lives with. Or does he live alone? Has he come here to be around people and noise as opposed to the oppressive silence of his place?

            The music has changed. It’s more modern and a bit more enjoyable to listen to. It’s not my particular type of music, but it’s better than Broadway.

            The manager pulls up the screens. Policy?

            I wonder if the lone patron, pardon, student (as he pulls out a laptop bag and a laptop from the bag), is doing the same thing I am. Is he also doing fieldwork for an anthropology class?

            Another student take the table by the window. A small hum of conversation filters beneath the music and display case.

            The music abruptly changes to a softer sound, soft pop I think. It is easily drowned out by the coffee machines and Jimmy’s group.

            A student in an orange shirt looks for a place to sit. I think he is looking for a spot near an outlet for his laptop,

            John shows up and joins Jimmy’s group. The table is already cluttered, but they make room for him.

            The hour grows late and more patrons enter the shop. Talk and music drowns out the display case. It’s really different from the past times I’ve been here. Usually, there is little talk.

            The manager, obviously on break, goes outside to join friends, who happen to be patrons.

            One of the blondes and the Middle Eastern girl leave, taking the majority of the conversation. I leave right on their heels. As I do, I see the two familiar faces sitting near the window outside. The manager sits at a table closer to the street.