Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)

Chapter One

Matt was paying for his usual coffee in the usual cafe at the usual time in the morning. He had an hour before he had to be at class, and after that class he had the whole day at home. And he wasn’t looking forward to this, but he’d told himself that he could handle this.

As the cashier passed him a handful of coins, Matt turned to go wait for his coffee. He took a step forward and crashed into another body. They both fell to the floor and the other person’s scorching coffee flew over Matt’s shirt. The mug had shattered across the floor, and the coffee stained Matt’s shirt and was seeping over the hardboard floors.

“Holy shit.” Matt muttered.

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. Are you okay?” The other person said, and Matt opened his eyes to see a boy of about his age awkwardly trying to pick up the shards of porcelain from around Matt. The boy had blue eyes and dyed black hair with blue strips in, and was wearing a deep green apron, which showed he worked at the cafe. Upon reading his nametag, Matt saw that the boy’s name was Josh.

“It’s okay, it was an accident.” Matt chuckled, sitting up and dabbing at his shirt with the sleeve of his jacket.

“Here, let me get some napkins...” Josh jumped up and headed over to the counter, telling the cashier that they needed another decaf-non-fat-cinnamon-latte for table six. Matt presumed that’s what was on his shirt. Josh was back in an instant, crouching in front of him and handing a wodge of paper towels to Matt.

“Thanks.” He smiled, dabbing at his shirt gingerly.

“I’m sorry; I didn’t look where I was going.” Josh’s eyebrows were knotted together and he looked angry with himself. Matt merely chuckled again.

“Hey, I told you, its okay. Don’t worry about it, Josh.”

“How’d you know my name?”

Matt gestured to Josh’s chest. “Nametag.”

Josh looked down, and then blushed. “Oh. Sorry.”

Matt stood up, and Josh followed, reaching behind the counter for a ‘wet floor’ sign. “You say sorry a lot, huh?”

“It’s kind of a bad habit.” Josh explained. Just then, a barista came to the counter.

“We have your coffee, Matt!” He called, before leaving the to-go cup on the side and returning to the kitchen.

“That’s mine,” Matt smiled. “I’m Matt.”

“Nice to meet you, Matt.” Josh grinned as the younger man picked up his cup.

“Nice to meet you too. But, I have to go; I’ve got to get to my class at the university...”

“Really? You mean St Andrews?” Matt nodded, and Josh continued on. “I go there too! What course are you on?”

“Uh, I have music now, but I also do chemistry, English language and psychology.”

“No way, I’m in music too!” Josh leant against the counter. “I do English Lit, law and math.”

“Sounds good! How comes you’re working now?”

“This is my, uh, dad’s store. I work here on mornings and after class.”

“I can’t believe I’ve never noticed you. And I’m here all the time, its crazy.”

“It’s amazing.” Josh shook his head. Matt shifted his weight and hoisted his bag more securely on his shoulder.

“Well, I gotta get going. I got to, uh, change my shirt and all.” He shrugged. Josh’s cheeks turned a light pink.

“Oh, right. I really am sorry about that.”

Matt laughed. “If you apologise one more time, I swear...”

“I’m sorry!” His face fell. “Wait, no, I didn’t mean to say that, I’m sorry, wait... I’m, uh, fuck!”

Matt only laughed harder, and waved as he left the cafe, taking sips of his steaming coffee as he hastily walked back to the apartment.