Felix
7:30AM - My day begins earlier than I want it to. I'm awoken by my partner shuffling around the house, getting ready for work. My cat Oakley (who's honestly more of a son than a pet) notices I'm awake and takes this as a sign to start marching all over my face. I acknowledge his distress and get up to feed him. After my partner leaves for the day, I collapse back into bed, where I spend the next hour scrolling on my phone.
10:30AM - By this point, I'm getting ready to see my college friend, R. I'm trying to decide on an outfit. Hot weather has always been the bane of my existence, but this summer in particular has struck Philly with countless, unbearably gross days that make you feel like you're drowning in soup. After much deliberation, I settle on a patterned summer shirt and cargo shorts. The usual.
11:07AM - I'm waiting for R in front of the cafe we agreed to meet at. I haven't seen them in over a year, so I'm nervous that I won't be able to recognize them. There's a person in the distance biking towards me, who looks vaguely like my friend. I completely embarrass myself mid-wave when I realize this person is not in fact somebody I know. (My fears have come true.) From this point forward I decide to keep my hands in my pockets.
11:50AM - R and I are in the middle of tackling a rich meal full of crepes, pancakes, and iced lattes. We chat about our cats, old roommate memories, being trans, and our jobs. It feels really good to reconnect with someone from my past.
12:40PM - I'm finally back home, decompressing before launching myself into a flurry of answering emails. A different college friend, O, texts me asking if I want to have a writing/drawing workshop session with them in a few hours. I enthusiastically say yes.
5:00PM - Laptops and sketchbooks are sprawled out on the coffee table. O and I are talking about worldbuilding, plot structure, and character design, and I'm exhilarated. These sessions feel like the only thing keeping me going, especially since it's been hard to motivate myself to make things after graduating college. In times like these, I feel the most like myself.
8:30PM - It's been quite a busy day, but it's not yet over. O and I sit in the backseat of a car, belonging to our mutual friend, J. Another friend, S, rides in the front passenger's seat. We're on the way to our weekly evening soccer practice (it's not serious at all). We arrive at the park, where at least 15 young adults are standing in a group and smoking. It's a mixture of people from last week and people I've never seen in my life.
9:00PM - I'm standing on the sidelines of the field, snapping pictures of the soccer game. My fear of getting punted in the face overshadows my desire to participate, but I kind of enjoy being the designated photographer anyway. Everyone is really into it, sprinting and kicking and diving for the ball by any means necessary. Watching my friends have this much fun is so rewarding. I love them so much. I don't want this moment to end.
10:00PM - Everyone's exhausted and hungry. O, S, J, and I go to Wawa, where we gather a collection of treats and late-night dinners. I try Smart Water for the first time in my life (my IQ does not magically improve). We all agree we still want to hang out, so we drive back to my place. Cue the "try-and-find-street-parking-in-Fairmount" impossible challenge.
11:59PM - After relaxing and listening to music, my friends have finally gone home. My partner's fast asleep downstairs. The house is totally quiet. I drag myself to the bathroom and get ready to sleep. Just before I lay down, Oakley comes up to me and sticks his little nose in my face, meowing softly. At the end of the day, it always somehow comes back to him. I give the boy one last scritch on the head, before turning out the light.
Felix is a part-time illustrator & part-time barista. you can find them at @proudlygoingnowhere, where they’ll be drinking lots of coffee, sharing the occasional drawing, or posting daily content of their cat.
