The Barista

Chapter 1

" One Vanilla Frapuccino coming right up!" Julian yelled to me. I work at the local starbucks. Yes, I am a barista.

Julian is really my only friend here. After the whole thing 10 years ago, I really shut everyone out except for the twins and Julian. That sort of changed when I met Jake. Yes, I know what you're thinking, ' doesn't Jake abuse you?' yes, he does. But he wasn't always like that. I have been dating him for 3 years. Last year I moved in with him. That was when the abuse started.

At first it was just verbal, then as the months went by, it became physical.
He normally left the twins alone, but then he threatened that if I left him, he would kill Gabby and Matt. Oh and they are my twin siblings. Did I forget to mention that? Anyways, that was when I decided that I needed to get a job, so that when Jake was away on one of his club nights, I would send Gabby and Matt to the airport, with a few grand, and ship 'em off to Ireland. Our grandparents are from there and we have a few relatives there. Hopefully they would take them in.

A lot of boys flirt with me and say that I am beautiful, but really, I dont feel it. I have brown chestnut hair that goes down to the middle of my back, blue eyes, and I'm about 5'5". Not too tall, not too short. I'm as normal looking as you can get.

" Heres the Vanilla Frapuccino." Julian handed me the hot beverage, rushing to finish the other.

" Heres your drink sir, have a nice day." I handed the man his drink, giving him a warm smile. Well, people say my smiles are warm, but, they are all forced. I dont hate everyone. I just, keep to myself. I dont really trust anyone anymore. You could say I'm depressed. But I eat and dont self harm.

I checked the clock on the wall. 5:45 pm. Finally. My shift is over.
I went to the back and hung up my apron, grabbing my purse then heading out the back entrance toward my car, a semi old Lexus. It took me forever to save up for this. I also had the help of Julian, who I promised to pay back.
I started the car and made my way to Bill Ryan High School to pick up the twins.

After waiting in traffic for like, 30 minutes, I finally pulled into the high school. I saw Matt and Gabby with some friends. I waved to get their attention. I saw them tell their friends goodbye and then made their way to the car.

" How was school? " I asked, sort of curious since Matt had a huge grin on his face.

" Good" Gabby responded, typing something on her phone.

" Wonderful, the best day of my entire life!" Matt said dreamily, looking like he was on cloud 9.

" Why do ya look all... that?" I asked, waving my hands toward him.

" I asked Emma out and she said yes. " He sighed, obviously in his own world.
Well, since mom and dad arent here anymore, I am going to have to interogate this Emily girl to make sure she is worthy of Matt.

~

I was reading a book, Beautiful Creatures, when I heard the front door slam. Yay, Jakes home. Note the sarcasm. I put the book down and made sure that Gabby and Matt were in their room across the hall. I texted Gabby to lock the door, hearing their door make a noise. Indicating that she locked it.

Jake walked in a few seconds later, very drunk. He was stumbling around, slurring out his words making it sound like it wasn't even english.

" Go get me a beer" Jake slurred out, dropping on the bed. I quickly got off and shook my head.

" Go get your own beer. You dont need to be even more drunk." I stated, backing away because I knew what was coming.

" Excuse me? Who gave you the right to tell me what to do?" He hovered over me, anger laced in his features. As he spoke, I could smell the alcohol in his breath. Ew... Does anyone have a clipper?

" Who gave YOU the right to tell ME what to do?" I spoke with some new found confidence. What am I doing? It's like I'm asking for him to swing a punch at me.

Just as predicted, he threw a slap to my cheek. I bit my lip so I wouldn't scream out in pain. I don't want the twins to hear this.

After his normal routine of a few punches and other crud like that, I limped my way to the bathroom.
I looked in the mirror and there was already a black eye and a bruise forming on my cheek. I covered it in concealer. Ugh... too much caked on my face. I prefer no makeup at all, but it's not like I have a choice.

*James POV*

We were on our private jet on our way to Texas. We were taking a 3 month break here. Finally. I dont feel like doing another concert. I had a total of 4 hours this week. It's not healthy for my growing body.

"ETHAN!" Will screamed, looking very mad. That was when I noticed all the caramel on him. Will was the one who cared the most about what he looks like. Also known as the wominizer of the group. He has Dark brown hair, brown eyes, and short hair. Now that you get the general gist of him, I will now talk about Ethan.

He is the pranker of the band. He is very sassy, no he's not gay, and can be very... well... mischevios. He loves to create trouble. One time, he pantsed Luke in the middle of a concert. Luke didn't like that very much but the thousands of screaming girls said otherwise. He has dark brown hair, greenish brownish eyes, and short hair style.

Luke is the calm one, we call him Daddy Cobalt. He keeps us out of mischief. Well, he tries. He is also the love expert in the group. You would think that Will is the Love expert since he is the wominizer, but no one knows as much about love as Luke does. He has chestnut curly hair, longer than ours but still short, and has greenish brownish eyes.

Now that leaves me. I have really dark brown hair, chocolate brown eyes, and I am known as the foreign one in the group. Ethan, Luke, and Will are from around England, but I am from Ireland. I know I dont have their normal features, but I am most definitly full-blood Irish. The boys like to tease me when I say thirty, saying that I say 'turdy'. Well, excuse my accent.

We became a band off of the show X Factor. We came in as solo artists but failed bootcamp. Then Cheryl Cole brought us out on stage and made us a band.

We were first named Essex Way, but there was a band already called that so we had to change it to Cobalt. We did pretty good, we won the X Factor that year. Making us the first ever band to win. We were instantly signed to SYCO Records for a 5 year contract. This was our first tour, the Native Summer tour. We have the Native album. I think my favorite of our songs is What You Wanted. I am the main singer and play the guitar. Will plays the Base guitar. Ethan also Plays the Base guitar and Luke plays the drums. They all sing too, but management gives me the most solos. Which I dont really find fair. They need some more too.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Luke fell on top of me. I grunted in pain because he has some bony elbows.
" Ow... Why are yeh on top of meh? " I grunted and pushed him off me. He sat up and brushed off his pants.

" Ethan ran straight into me. " He turned to Ethan and started scolding him for running in the private jet.
These boys are some wacky kids. I plugged in my earplugs and let Ed Sheeran flood my ears.