Above & Beyond ✔

1. Caffeine First, Sanity Second.

The last year in university should be one of the best years in our life, so they said. We should go out more, establish our social circle, eat whatever we want, not take school too seriously, and do new things. Yet here I was. With my semi-wet hair from not having time to dry up properly after shower, eyelids hanging dangerously low, and a pair of red eyes like a monster, I queued up in my campus coffee shop for my morning potion; the potion to keep me awake, at least until I managed to find my mentor and tricked him into accepting my submission.

Technically speaking, my mission to cheat my way to him was something I hadn't done before, which I could count as doing a new thing. Right? I swore on my red lipstick collection —the collection I never dared to wear— that I'd been a good girl in these past three years. I was just too bubbleheaded when it came to priorities, and it was how I ended up in this hell hole.

"Black coffee, no sugar!" the barista announced before placing a brown paper cup on the granite coffee bar, pulling me out of my inner babble.

Out of reflex, I jumped forward while slipping my phone into my jeans pocket. Just when I snatched a paper napkin from its holder on the counter, a hand sneaked in and before I could blink, my cup was in someone else's grip. My eyes instantly narrowed at my stolen coffee before I craned my neck to look up at the little thief's face. Okay, saying 'little' was an understatement of the year.

"Excuse me?" I glare at the so-not-little thief, ignoring his intimidating figure.

The man stopped abruptly and averted his gaze to me. I sucked in my breath when our gazes met. In front of me, stood a stunning creature that I was almost sure he must have been an actor or an underwear model.

He was dark, tall, and handsome. His chiseled face was defined by a pair of strong jawlines, adorned by the five o'clock shadow. The lips made a straight line, and they're pink, almost red. His eyes were coldly sharp, the kind that could give shivers as if they could see right through me. The colors reminded me of a stormy ocean in the midnight blue sky. The longer I looked at them, the stronger I was pulled into them.

"Excuse..." the man's deep voice poked my stupefaction like a needle pricking an inflating balloon, "you?"

Once I landed back in reality, I squinted my eyes at him. "What do you think you're doing? That is" —I glanced at the cup in his hand— "my coffee. Hand it back to me, please."

Instead of doing what I asked, he knitted his eyebrows. "I'm not sure I'm following you."

Okay, he was hot, I gave him that, but his dumbness canceled his hunkiness in one blink of an eye. "Alright. Let me explain. We walk into this shop, place an order, pay for it, then wait on the sideline until your order is ready to be picked up. That's how we buy a beverage."

"That I understand," he said, staring down at me with a confused glint in his eyes.

"No. You skipped the last step which is waiting until your order is ready. And that," I said, pointing my finger at the cup, "is not your order because I came here and ordered that first." I extended my hand to snatch the cup from his hand. "Now, if you excuse me."

Ignoring all eyes that were watching us like hawks, I grabbed the lower part of the cup, avoiding his fingers over the cup sleeve as if they were going to burn me if we touched. I could blame my sleep deprivation, or my coming period for my sudden aggressiveness —or call it stupidity?— but I didn't care about the rest except for getting the coffee I paid for.

"Ouch!" the guy said as the hot black liquid spilled out of the cup and dripped down his fingers. Apparently, I grasped the cup too hard and squeezed the contents out.

Dumbfounded, my eyes followed the dripping coffee that was now landing on the black tile floor. "Sorry, I didn't mean–"

"Uh, Jen," said a voice behind the counter. It was Bob, the guy who used to be in the same class with me and now worked part-time at the campus coffee shop. "That's actually his order. I just checked. Yours is coming shortly."