Piece By Piece | ✓

8 | tristan

     Upon hearing those words slip out of his new friend's red lips, Tristan did a double take. "I'm not a stalker," he said defensively, shaking his head. He was just a concerned classmate who happened to be interested in finding out why she was so keen on pushing everybody away from her.

     "Mhmm, yeah, sure," Kayla chuckled, a smug smile spreading across her lips. "Of course you're not. I was just making an observation." The mischievous glint was back in her cobalt eyes.

     "You're not fucking helping," Tristan ran a hand through his hair in exasperation, his eyebrows furrowing in frustration.

     Kayla threw her head back and laughed, a low, derisive sound. "Oh my God, pretty boy," she said in between laughs, "chill the fuck out. I'm just messing with you. I didn't mean it." But the wicked glimmer in her eyes convinced Tristan otherwise. He ignored her sarcastic remarks. "Hey, are you still gonna order coffee?"

     "Yeah," Tristan sighed as he plucked out his wallet from his pocket, his eyes scanning the menu behind the blonde-haired barista. He wanted to try a different kind of coffee today, but ended up ordering another flat white instead. He handed Kayla three dollars and just like before, he insisted that the change should be dropped inside the tip jar.

     As Kayla wrote his name on the empty cup, she said, "Thank you for giving tips, Tristan. You're one of the few people who do, and we really appreciate it." When she looked up at him, she gave him a fond smile before turning on her heel to work on his coffee.

     Tristan looked around the coffee shop, noticing the abundance of customers and the lack of baristas. Were they short of employees?

     "We're doing alright by ourselves," Kayla said, answering his unspoken question. He raised an eyebrow at her, bewildered. "You're easy to read, pretty boy," she shrugged, handing him his cup of coffee. "And don't worry, we can handle it. Gabe's in the back cleaning the lockers."

     "Gabe?" Tristan tilted his head to the side.

     Kayla nodded. "Yeah, she's like, our pseudo-manager while Jack's visiting some relatives."

     Tristan thanked her for the coffee, then excused himself to find a decent spot to sit in. He was relieved to see that the gray couches were unoccupied. I'll stay for half an hour, he told himself. I need to relax for a bit.

     After placing his coffee on a table, he focused on the grand bookshelf and thoroughly read its titles before choosing a book. One minute later, he picked out The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho.

     He had read this book when he was still in high school, he even wrote a reaction paper about it. It had been a while since he last sat down and read a good book; he deserved a short break from all the research he'd been so engrossed in.

     Tristan was just beginning to read the first paragraph of the third page when Kayla appeared out of nowhere and made herself comfortable on the couch across from him. He stopped reading and closed the book, placing it on the table. "Are you on break again?" he asked her.

     "Everybody's preoccupied with something and there hasn't been a customer for the past ten minutes," Kayla winked, leaning against the plush couch and sighing in content. "These never fail to relax me," she purred, fluttering her eyes shut and sporting another lazy smile. "I sleep here during the early morning hours. Nic or Vanessa usually covers for me."

     Tristan smiled in amusement. Trust Kayla to be a ninja whenever she could. He still had a lot of things he didn't know about her, and the fact that she was voluntarily sharing her experiences with him made him feel good. It was another step forward in their newfound friendship.