Shattered

Carter (e)

There's the Hazel I knew.

"Because I can." I replied with my own narrowed eyes.

With a shake of her head, Hazel returned her stare to her phone. After a pause, she said,

"You're not going to be able to sleep."

I laughed quietly. "Thanks for caring about my well-being."

"I do," she said quite matter-of-factly. "And you're wasting it on coffee."

"You think so?" I lifted a challenging brow. "Who says it's wasting if it's something you like?"

"It's horrible for you." Hazel retorted.

She turned to her phone and began to type furiously, then held it out for me to see. About to speak, Hazel's voice beat me to it.

"Look." She said. I could see a search engine full of medical sites and blogs linked to the health risks of coffee.

"Give me one good reason why I should stop drinking coffee." I said.

"There's a whole list of reasons."

"Give me one good reason why you think I should stop." I reached out to push Hazel's phone away without taking my eyes off of her.

"Because..." she hesitated, her voice trailing off. I couldn't miss how she glanced at her phone. "Too much caffeine can—"

"When was last time you've tasted it?" I cut in with a flat, knowing look.

"Like a few years ago." Hazel replied, but then her eyes lit up with a second thought.

"No—wait. Jules made me try a latte once."

"And...?"

"It was okay."

I pushed my coffee cup toward Hazel. "Try it."

"You drink straight black coffee," Hazel peered over the cup and scrunched her nose in distaste. "That's worse than a latte. You're out of your mind if you think I'm actually gonna like this."

Shrugging, "you never know unless you find out."

Hazel took hold of the cup and brought it to her lips. She watched me with narrowed, disbelieving eyes as she tentatively took a sip of the now lukewarm coffee.

Instantly, she drew back with a look of disgust. She made a show of gagging and said, "Mr. Wright, that's disgusting."

Her face made me laugh, and she glared in response.

"More for me." I said, snickering.

The silence that fell between us was one that, for once, didn't make me feel uncomfortable or tense, and I reveled in it as I sat back in my chair and sipped the rest of my coffee. I wanted more, but I knew better.

"Mr. Wright?"

I glanced up at Hazel, whose dark eyes were suddenly thoughtful, watching me closely. It took everything in me not to snap or make a face—I hated that look.