The Black Rose

Chapter Seven

Weeks passed. School started again. The band played a lot more shows. No sign of Jace anywhere.

It wasn't until the end of February, in the middle of band practice, that Oliver asked about him.

"What happened to that Jason guy you told us about that night we first played at the Pit?"

"Yeah, have you seen him since?" Monica added, though she knew I hadn't.

"No," I answered, staring at my feet sadly at the reminder. "I have absolutely no clue of what has become of him. I haven't the slightest idea of his whereabouts. He simply just walked away."

"Maybe he's dead!" laughed Oliver at the thought of it.

"Shut up! That's not funny, dude," Alex said to Oliver.

"I really hope he's okay, darling," Monica said. "But maybe he went on a quest to create the greatest coffee ever for you!"

"The love of my life isn't lost, he's just making coffee!"

"Your lover isn't dead, he's making you coffee!"

I observed that it was getting a bit awkward talking about him because we knew it wasn't true. He just walked out of my life right when he entered. It was like a one night stand without the booze and sex.

"Uhh, anyways..."I said, attempting to change the subject.

"Let's just carry on with practice, shall we?" offered Monica.

We then ran through a bunch of songs and worked on new ones for the remainder of practice.

I very much needed a coffee.

***

It was snowing as I was driving back, but it was beautiful outside. The crystal white snow was piling softly on the ground all over. The tree branches were being layered with snow and children were outside throwing snow balls back and forth mat each other.

What a great time for Starbucks.

I pulled into the parking lot, but kept the car on for another minute so I could wait for the song to end on the radio.

When I turned the car off, I opened the door and stepped out onto the snow laden parking lot. The air was crisp and the winter breeze was fierce with the snow.

I trudged through the slushy parking lot into Starbucks and got on line to order my hot coffee.

When I stepped up to the cash register, the girl immediately seemed to notice me.

"Hey, you're that singer girl from Wonderland! I saw you guys a few nights ago and it was great," she said.

"Thanks, dude! We give our all at every show," I replied.

I ordered my coffee and a minute later she was back.

"Free of charge for Ms. Wonderland!" she said with a great big smile on her face.

"Ayee, thanks a lot dude! You rock!"

And with that, I proceeded to my window seat and observed what I could see.

There was an old man, maneuvering with his cane from his car to march across the snow for a nice warm cup of happiness.

A little boy had just slipped and fallen onto the forming ice because he was running. Silly kid. And there came his mom, scolding him as she picked him up.

I observed the line inside getting longer. I observed an elderly lady getting impatient, a little boy and his father eagerly awaiting doughnuts, and a man with a aviator glasses on, tall, hair as short as a soldier with piercing green eyes. He looked vaguely familiar but I knew I didn't know him.

The air smelled of coffee and this time it wasn't me dreaming.

Coffee in hand, I decided to head back to my room.

I got up and walked to the door, smiling at the girl at the register as I silent goodbye.

Pushing the door open, an arm from behind me rested it's hand on it, holding the door for me. I stepped and turned to thank them but was stopped dead in my tracks.

It was the man I observed earlier, but this time he had a coffee in his free hand, too, and was smirking a very familiar smirk.

Could it be Jason? But where was the rock dude hair - a defining feature that I really liked about him.

"Jace? Is that you!?" I almost shouted, beginning to smile like an idiot.