Coffee

2

Thomas texted me numerous times and rang the bell a dozen times the following morning. Darcy ambushed him the second he got through the door despite how many times this exact event occurred. He followed me to the kitchen, where I was making coffee at my Keurig.

"I thought working at Rizzo's would get you to stop drinking it so much," he commented.

"You thought wrong. I'm a coffee addict."

I smiled and began to add the sugar and creamer to the travel mug my father had gotten me on one of his many business trips. This one was stateside, from Reno, Nevada. Over the years, there'd been plenty of souvenirs and gifts that now filled cabinets and decorated the otherwise empty rooms. However, he never took me along with him, nor did he ever ask me to.

"Where's your dad?" Thomas asked as I walked past him into the living room to put on my jacket, hat, and shoes, and grab my bag.

"Not sure. Let's go."

I pushed him out the door and locked it. He didn't usually ask about either of my parents but when he did the first thing I did was change the subject to make him forget. It happened too much for my liking, but I understood why he asked. I shared everything with him except that. It was the only thing left in my life that I could keep as just mine.

"Wait, don't you have to walk Darcy?" Thomas asked.

"We'll be late."

"It's Friday. Who cares?"

"Fine." I unlocked the door and grabbed his leash off the hook that held an extra set of keys as well. They used to be my mother's. "Come on Darcy, you're going for a walk."

Darcy came bounding out the door happily, which put a smile on my face. Luckily Thomas caught him before he could get down the stairs. I couldn't do that on my own and I'd usually catch up with him at the bottom of the staircase.

"Does he have ADHD?" Thomas asked.

He brought Darcy over to me and began laughing.

"Maybe, I haven't asked his vet."

I hooked the leash and let Thomas carry him to the front door. The walk woke me up

At school, I always tried to avoid Rebecca and her golden football player boyfriend as much as possible. But because I had economics with her, I had to see her boyfriend drop her off and pick her up from class every day. He tried to seem like the good boyfriend by bringing her flowers to school and taking her on fancy date from what I heard, but even I knew she was too good for him. He kissed her lightly for the second time before he left. Rebecca came in and sat next to me, but didn't acknowledge me. It didn't surprise me even though she spoke to me yesterday. I looked at her a few times, daring myself to say hello, internally begging her to turn her head and say hello to me first.

"Alright class, to start I'll be handing back yesterday's test." Mrs. Owens said after the bell rang again to signal the start of class.

I groaned internally, knowing that I bombed the test. I wasn't too good at Economics and my grade showed that. I could never find any amount of effort to bring myself to study or find a way to increase my grade. Before Mrs. Owens handed me my test, she flipped it over and placed it face down on the desk. That was never a good sign.

"Miss. Harding, Miss. Mitchell, I want to see the both of you after class."

"Owens knows how hard it is for Parker to get a date, because she's so ugly obvi', so she's trying to set her up with you Kirsten." One of the girls behind me cackled.

I stiffened when I recognized the voice. It was Jaz Carey, someone who played a significant role in ruining the last few months of my life. I wanted to say something- no, I should've said something. However, since my coming out I'd gotten a lot quieter. A few others who heard smothered a laugh which discouraged me even more. I bit my lip and looked down shyly, waiting for the girl to make another remark and embarrass me further. Thanks to her, everyone knew who I was.