Fractured (ON HOLD)

Fourteen - Tyler

Okay. Okay, okay. Coffee. I can get coffee.

I awkwardly order the most boring thing I can see on the menu and then wince as it arrives in front of me, the dark plain americano steaming in its mug. That's boring. Is she going to judge how boring the coffee is? Should I have got something with foam? Does that taste better? I don't even like coffee that much. I usually used to just chug espressos, and then drown the taste out with a gatorade.

I take a sip from my seat in the corner of the coffee shop, slightly out of the way. A little private. I pull a face. It tastes plain. It's boring.

God, I'm so fucking boring.

I couldn't decide what to wear today. It's still hot as hell outside but at least it's early enough that the main heat hasn't arrived yet. There's thankfully a little breeze in the air so I settled on a plain white shirt and black jeans. I blink.

...Is what I'm wearing boring?

I glance around to see what everyone else is wearing then sigh. There's nothing more depressing than realizing you can't even function well enough to sit in a coffee shop without a million wrong thoughts bouncing around your head.

This time I take two long gulps of the coffee, wincing at the taste but I immediately feel better.

Maybe I should become a coffee addict. Give me something to do.

I fiddle with the little paper menu that's sitting on the table. My eyes scan the words without fully reading them as I wait. Thinking it's been at least fifteen minutes, I look at the clock across the room. My stomach sinks.

It's been 6 minutes.

I'm not very good at being alone.

While contemplating the idea that this might be a complete disaster and that having a coffee (no matter how casual) with your high school girlfriend is actually a stupid idea, the entrance to the coffee shop opens up and the door hits the little bell above the entryway. My eyes snap up from their place on the rim of my mug and I kind of just awkwardly freeze when Franny walks in.

Her hair is shorter than it was in high school, falling in waves just past her shoulders. A pale cardigan tucks into a white floral skirt with a slit up the side and my eyes go straight to her exposed thigh of tanned skin.

Fuck, Tyler, get a grip.

Wide brown eyes scan the coffee shop before settling on me and a wide, albeit slightly nervous smile, falls across her face. She hurries over, holding a small bag to her stomach, and stops at the chair opposite mine. She rocks a little back and forth on the balls of her white sneakers and I stand up quickly, a breathless smile tugging at my lips.

"Uh, hi."

"Hi I-"

We both speak at the same time and a little colouring of red flushes Franny's freckled cheeks. I grin a little wider and shyly rub the back of my neck. She fidgets, looking like she also isn't sure what to do right now. My smile softens and I hesitantly take a step forward, wrapping my arms around her in a gentle hug only for her to sigh in relief and hug back, her hands making fists in the back of my shirt.

She pulls away first and my hand brushes over her shoulder as she steps back, and part of me wants to keep my hand there. Lingering but grounded. The leaves of the thorn-covered stems that swirl over my wrist ink themselves on the back of my hand, and the contrast of the dark lines on my skin beside her untouched skin is not something I predicted I would become obsessed with.

She orders a coffee, hers large and iced and I can see sugary syrup settling at the bottom of her plastic cup as she sits down across from me, the slit on her thigh rising higher and I quickly avert my eyes, taking another sip of my bitter coffee.