𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 • Mason Thames

II: COFFEE SHOP

During Quinn's first week in Boston, Wren didn't seem to care where she went. In fact, if she wanted to go out, he'd offer to drive her there and give her money for things.

He changed his mind pretty quickly . After giving her a week of freedom, he practically shut her out. He signed her up for a job in their local coffee shop, and told her she'd have to pay for any 'luxuries' she wanted, and he'd only buy her the essentials.

She didn't care too much about that. She'd wanted a job for a while, and she knew that she, as someone old enough to get a job, wasn't entitled to her brother's money. It was just strange to see the change of heart.

He also put her on some weird curfew. She was only allowed out from one pm to three pm, unless she was working. She was more mad about that than the money thing. Way more mad.

One to three was barely anything. She was smart, though. She observed his sleeping patterns. It was pretty evident that Wren had some sort of drinking problem. Maybe not full blown alcoholism, but it was verging on a serious problem. He'd have a few bottles, then fall asleep at around five, not waking up until the next morning. Perfect.

She'd sneak out when he fell asleep, leaving he wouldn't wake up. He never did. She stopped sneaking out eventually, though. It got boring. She was trying to be on her best behaviour, so she couldn't entertain herself, and she had no friends to entertain her.

So, despite her ability to sneak out, she never did. Her shifts at the coffee shop and social media became her only forms of entertainment. She didn't mind, though, her followers were funny, and she'd actually made friends with one of her coworkers her age.

The group sat in a coffee shop, one that they'd never been to despite it being so close to all of their houses. Tatum was the one who suggested it. It was almost October, so it was getting cold, and they couldn't hang out as much on the beach.

"This place is so cute," Aria said, "Why have we never been here?"

"Because you guys always insist we go to the beach," Evelyn said.

"It's not us," Mason said, "It's mainly Tristan, and no one argues with him, so."

"Don't blame me!" Tristan said.

"It is kind of your fault," Tatum said, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Mhm," Becca and Maddy said in sync.

"Brady, Miguel, help?" Tristan said. They both shrugged. Tristan rolled his eyes as the waitress came over with his drink. He thanked her, not looking up at her until he noticed the very familiar look on Mason's face. It wasn't a look of love, obviously, more of a look of 'oh my gosh she's so hot'.

Mason looked away from the girl and at Miguel, who'd clearly also noticed it as he raised his brows, but Mason acted clueless. In fact, everyone seemed to notice. "Hey," Evelyn said, "Isn't that waitress, like, really hot?"

"What the hell, Eve? I'm right here," Brady said.

"Not like that. She's just really pretty," Evelyn said, slapping Brady's shoulder.

"She is, to be honest," Tatum said, "What do you think, Mason?"

"What?" Mason, who hadn't been listening to the conversation, asked?

"Isn't she hot?"

"Who?"

"The waitress."

"Yeah, I guess."

"You guess?" Becca raise a brow.

"Fine, whatever, she's hot. You guys are so weird."

On the other side of the room was Quinn, completely unaware of the conversation that was being had about her. "Hey, Quinny," her coworker, and only friend, Tyler, said, creeping up behind her.

"Hi," she replied, loading drinks onto a tray to take to the same table she'd just been to. God, there were a lot of them.

"I was thinking we could go out after your shift ends," Tyler suggested.

"No can do, Ty. Remember when I told you about that weird ass curfew? It's still a thing."

"Shit. Your brother sounds like a freak, no offence."

"None taken. He is."

Quinn took the drinks to the table, placing them in front of everyone. They were the last drinks she had to serve to this particular group, finally. Tyler followed, continuing to talk to her. "Can't you just sneak out though. Come on, I really need to go out and you're the only person I actually like," he said.

The two walked back to the counter, "Maybe, I'll text you later, alright? Let me get back to work."

"Alright."

Quinn's shift finished at one. She could have went out with Tyler for a few hours, but he was still working, which was annoying. She took off her apron and grabbed her bags, ready to head anywhere but home for the next two hours.

She scrolled through her notifications on TikTok, noticing she'd hit 100k. "Sick," she whispered to herself, instantly cringing at her word choice.

She walked past the same group she'd been serving in the coffee shop, but didn't notice as her eyes were fixed on her phone, texting Tyler about her followers.

"See, there she goes again. We keep seeing her, it's like we're destined to know her," Aria said.

"I don't know," Maddy said, "She seems like trouble."

"How so?"

"Did you hear what that guy said about sneaking out? And she said she might."

"And?"

"I don't know, she just seems like, misbehaved. I know that might make me sound like some coward, but what if she's, like, mean?"

"She doesn't seem mean," Evelyn said.

"She kinda does," Tatum said, "But, like, in a funny way."

"Personally," Tristan said, "I think she's cool. Just give her a chance, Mads. If you're right, then we all owe you one."

"Fine," Maddy said, "But I'm not gonna be the one to approach her next time we see her."

"Fine by me."