Confessions of a Teenage Caffeine Addict

3 // Just Katie

Serendipity (noun)

Finding something good, inevitable or irresistible

without looking for it.

Destiny (noun)

Finding something good, inevitable or irresistible

because the universe conspired for you to find it.

_____________________________________

KATIE

DECEMBER // WEEK 1

If I told you that I gasped after spilling coffee all over Mr. Abercrombie's pants, I would be lying. If I told you that I apologized, I would also be lying; because honestly, what do you say to a totally hot guy that is now covered in coffee from his perfectly chiseled chest down? Maybe... 'Umm, sorry I spilled coffee all over you; I think you just became hotter.' That wouldn't go over very well.

If I told you that I laughed, would you believe me? Believe it or not, I laughed so hard I thought my knees might buckle. I felt like I was going to explode from the rate my lungs were working—I was gasping for air like Nemo did when he was flushed down the toilet. So I might possibly be exaggerating slightly... but I know that I hadn't really laughed like that in a long time. I turned to face him again and tried to stop laughing. Amanda was watching me with horror plastered all over her face, a look I should have been wearing.

"Uh... wow... I am so sorry..." I apologized quite awkwardly, if you asked me. "I can't believe I just did that." I looked away from the disaster that I created, which would consist of my mocha twist puddling around his feet. The rest was all over my ripped King High track sweatpants. I noticed one of the coffee cups in my peripheral and sighed. Please don't press charges. Please don't...

Mr. Abercrombie just stared back at me, his icy blue eyes determined to burn a hole through me. His eyebrows were raised and his mouth was open, probably due to the torture of the two-degree burns I'd just given him. Despite this, he began to laugh with me. I assumed that he just had a pretty messed up night if he was standing in a coffee shop at 3am, laughing after a stranger spilled coffee all over him. If someone had just dumped their searing hot coffee all over me, the last thing I would be doing is laughing. But it didn't happen to me, so I found the situation very, very comical.

"Are you alright?" I managed to choke out.

"Yeah, I'm alright." His voice came out quiet yet relaxed. His lips curved up into a small smile. I felt so bad, so humiliated, and he was mocking me. I was never going to live this down, that's if anyone found out. But I had a hunch that no one would find out because honestly, hockey prodigy, whose name I could care less about, wouldn't be caught dead with a nobody like me. Everyone on the hockey team at King High was basically a godsend to make my father's life easier, so it was safe to say that Mr. Abercrombie was, without a doubt, a superstar—on and off the ice.

If I stood straight up against the wall, I bet you I could be invisible and just blend right in. I was thankful that I wasn't one of the "it" girls, then everyone would know who I was and my situation. People wouldn't make the connection between me and my dad, the famed hockey coach. As far as they knew, we just had the same last name by coincidence.

"Can I make you a little cleaner?" I asked him as I felt my face heating up more. I didn't think that was possible. I bet I looked like an overly ripe tomato, or a red tractor that ran into an even redder paint factory or something.