The Cohens

02} Cherie's Cupcakery

Chapter 2

I'd just arrived back in the neighbourhood from the airport. Logan's parents had dropped him there for his flight to London and I'd tagged along with them. It wasn't until Logan and I were saying our goodbyes in the airport that I realised how much I'd genuinely miss him. I knew it was only for a weekend, but Logan and I hadn't ever really had much time apart. We were pretty much together all of the time, and would usually go on each other's family holidays. Obviously we had the odd weekend apart, but this felt different somehow. He would be across the ocean and completely unreachable. It made me feel funny, but I wasn't really sure why. It wasn't as if he was gone forever.

Logan's parents had dropped me off outside Cherie's Cupcakery - the best cupcake shop in the area. I was feeling for something sweet since Logan was gone, and Cherie's Cupcakery seemed to me like the best option.

I pushed open the door to the shop, and walked over to the counter, already knowing what I'd be purchasing.

"One red velvet cupcake, please," I asked the awkward lady behind the counter. "And regular hot cocoa."

Pushing her glasses up her small nose, she took the money I had held out in front of her and put it in the till. I sat down in an empty booth and peered out the window into the dark streets. Time had gone so quickly, it felt like only a half hour ago that it was bright outside. Maybe it meant that the time that Logan's out of town would go fast too.

A young man in the same uniform as the lady behind the till came to my booth and placed down my cupcake and hot cocoa before stalking off into the backroom. I went to take a sip of my hot drink but I was caught off guard at the sight of what looked like an argument outside. A forceful shove sent a guy tumbling backward, but he grabbed onto a lamppost to regain his balance. It wasn't until he picked up his face that I noticed him. Wade Cohen. I wasn't sure whether I should run out to help him or stay where I was. And then, the bigger built guy sent one harsh blow to the side of Wade's face, the impact of it, sending him to the ground. 

I suddenly found myself on my feet and rushed out of the Cupcakery, but it was too late. The guy was nowhere to be seen and there was Wade, lying flat out on the sidewalk. Hardly anybody was about, but those that were merely stood and watched as I brought Wade to his feet and dragged him back into the cupcake store.

Typical, I thought. Wade Cohen in trouble, what a surprise.

"Wade," I whispered, trying to pull him into a sitting position. I pushed him up against the wall in the booth to put him in a somewhat normal position. 

"Princess," he drawled, slightly chuckling as blood trailed from his nose to his upper lip. 

Sighing, I pulled out a napkin from under my cupcake and dabbed it under his nose, manhandling Wade's arm to keep the tissue in place. I moved to the other side of the booth as Wade sat there, eyes closed and murmuring god knows what. Princess is what Wade had liked to call me when we were younger. He'd say that everyone treated me like a princess because I was a girl, and that when we'd all do something not particularly responsible, I never was the one to get into trouble because I was a princess. I didn't mind it much at the time, but hearing it roll off his tongue as I sat opposite him in the booth just infuriated me.

I felt like just eating my cupcake, drinking my hot cocoa and leaving him to it, but I couldn't find myself to do it. Logan would have made sure he was okay and so would I. It would've been what Logan had wanted. He was never the type to leave someone who was in need of his help. It just wasn't like him at all.

"Wade," I began, nudging is leg under the table with mine to grab his attention. "What happened to you?"

Chuckling again, he said, "It's a funny story, you know."