Albert DaSilva almost regretted taking a job at the local café. It was hidden, dull, nearly empty everyday and plain boring. To make matters worse, he had been the only one who was working, so so far in his shift, it had only been him, an empty café and a playlist of his favourite album. He guessed that the only perk of being alone was that he got to choose the music.
Besides, tuition and textbooks weren't cheap.
And he was alright, the band was altogether
Yes, he was alright, the song went on forever
Yes, he was awful nice
Really quite out of sight
And he sang all night long
It wasn't long before he resorted to sitting on the counter, opposite of the barista side, completing a reading homework provided by one of his professors; it wasn't like there was anything better to do. Either that, or he'd spend hours staring out the windows, it's sills littered with plants, as the rest of the city moved around him while it remained static inside. But after his reading was completed, he was back to standing behind the till, once again bored out of his mind. He oughta bring a book, or something, his next shift.
Leaning forward and propping his chin up with his hand, he stared out the window like he had dreaded doing moments before. Outside, a blonde, curly haired boy had caught his eye.
Racetrack Higgins came from a rather loud family. With chaotic chattering coming at him from every direction everywhere he went, there was no way that he could focus especially when midterm exams were coming up. He needed someplace that was quiet and free of distraction. That was when a small, barely visible at first glance, café caught his eye. He supposed that he was really looking hard to have found it. It was empty besides the redheaded barista that seemed to be close to falling asleep in which he took the perfect opportunity to walk inside.
The bell startled Albert as the door opened and closed. He looked up and found the same blonde boy that he saw lurking about just seconds ago. The boy looked around with widened eyes, taking in his surroundings. Albert rolled his eyes at this; there was nothing remotely special about this place. He assumed the boy never left his house if he was looking around as if he were at an amusement park.
"nice place you got." The boy remarked while he walked up to the till.
Albert straightened up. "I just work here." He let out a false chuckle.
"well, I would've come sooner then if I knew 'bout the cute staff."
He felt a slight blush creep up and his ears turned warm. Once again, he forced out a chuckle and looked down at the register before, again, meeting his eyes. He was alright. "so what can I get you?"
"surprise me." The blonde haired boy challenged and pressed his lips in a thin line, having not looked away from the redheaded once. From the freckles on his pale skin to the dimples when he smiled, Race just knew that people stared.
The barista clicked his tongue and asked for, "allergies?" Race shook his head 'no' and as he proceeded to work, he sat down at the bar opposite to him.
He found that he had on no name tag. Drats. Oh, how he'd sigh if people asked if he knew his name. He so wished that he didn't have to work up the courage to just ask for it. A little piece of plastic pinned onto his shirt would have changed it all. But instead there he was, sitting right in front of him, fighting a lump
in his throat that stopped him from asking a simple question.
"so what's your name?" The redheaded barista asked, holding a paper cup in one hand and a sharpie on the other.
Beat him to it.
