Brooklyn Ramsey sat in the middle of the auditorium in the mandatory class for graduating students at the University of Brentwood. She sighed and rested her chin in her palm. As boring as it was there was promise of free coffee coupons from the café if there was participation in the class and she could use that free coffee to take a dent out of her budget.
Sam Fields, Brooklyn's friend, walked up and ran a hand through his messy brown hair, searching for a spot in the crowded room. He picked a spot close to her and slumped into his chair at just the right angle that she could see his aqua blue eyes in the dimmed light. She had been harbouring a growing attraction for the newest addition to her posse for the last four years and every one seemed to know it but him.
Brooklyn rolled her eyes as someone blew on the back of her neck. Sighing and turning to see whom the offender was she looked straight into blue eyes and a blonde hair framed face. Jack McGoran was her childhood friend and a real country boy at heart. A year older than Brooklyn, she thought of him as one of her many siblings.
"How's it going, Brooklyn?" Jack whispered as a hush fell over the audience as the program started.
"Fine. I'm getting my application ready for that coffee place." Brooklyn replied over her shoulder. Jack had been the one to suggest her getting a job and also she suspected to get free coffee. She tucked a soft lock of long dark brown hair behind her ear.
"Sweet. I'll see how it's going later." Brooklyn turned around and tried to focus on the information being presented. She frowned when her phone vibrated in her pocket, but then smiled as she saw whom the text was from. She should've known it was Gavin. He was the one who always made you laugh no matter what happened. He had been dating their mutual friend Avery for almost five months and everyone was just waiting for when he would propose. She slid the unlock button, and then quickly read the text.
"Pizza tonight? Sam will be there! ;)" She turned in the seat in her seat and glared at Gavin. He had been trying to set them up for a while but never succeeded. He shrugged and Brooklyn could see his defiant smile and the mischievous glint of his deep brown eyes. 'Great get the Irish in him to come out.' Brooklyn rolled her eyes.
"Fine! Let's have a movie night at somebody's house? Please. One night off before our exams in a few weeks."
Brooklyn heard the faint buzz from Gavin's phone behind her, after she pressed send. Gavin's reply took a couple seconds before it got to Brooklyn's phone.
"Sure, I'll ask Sam. It is only Thursday you know. Not too late. The rest of us have exams not a paper on the internet." He sure was a persuader when it came to convincing someone to eat in a grimy pizzeria. Brooklyn tapped out a quick reply, and then continued filling out the form for the part-time position at the Java Bean Cafe. Brooklyn finished a couple sections before the lunch break. Brooklyn was glad she didn't have classes in the afternoon, so her options were open for the Java Bean. She would rather take courses on the Internet than do extra electives.
She gathered her books then hauled them off to the small group of fast food places on campus. She was going with Avery for lunch while she dropped off the form for the position. After grabbing her car keys and her purse she quickly walked around the corner to the cafeteria when she slammed into someone. Brooklyn smelled woodsy cologne and a hint of clean freshness, like laundry detergent, as she stared into the faded leather jacket she realized who it was. "Oh. It's you." Brooklyn said as Sam stared quizzically at her. He held out her application form.
"You left this." He stuck his hands in his pockets and avoided eye contact.
"Thanks?" Something about him always turned the speech section of her brain to mush. Brooklyn cleared her throat and spoke with confidence.
"Actually, I was just about to the Java Bean for lunch with Avery. Care to join us?" Sam shrugged and started to turn as he spoke.
"Whatever. I don't have anything better to do." After mustering a goodbye they parted ways. Brooklyn wondered why he came off as having such a cold personality. It's not like she had done anything to personally offend him and Brooklyn wondered why she had just offered to have lunch with him.
"What was that about?" Avery eyed Brooklyn. They both headed out to Brooklyn's car.
"I think I just invited him out to lunch with us." Brooklyn sat in the drivers seat and started down the road to the cafe.
"So it's not a date? Because I can suddenly have other plans and leave so it is." Avery slyly examined her fingernails. Brooklyn turned and looked at her dubiously.
"I'm sure Sam would appreciate that, Avery, really." Brooklyn turned into the parking lot and drove into the last parking spot available.
"Looks like he's already here." Avery said cheerfully as Brooklyn rolled her eyes. The small bell jingled as the two opened the door. Avery looked over and smiled at Sam as he waved them over. The two-seater booth and single chair were the only spots left in the whole cafe. Sam was already sitting in the booth and Avery rushed over to the single chair. 'Here we go again.' She set her purse on the seat next to Sam to have minimal contact between them and turned to Avery.
"Anything in particular you would like me to order for you?" Brooklyn sighed. Avery shook her head.
"Just the usual." She shrugged and walked over to the counter with her application form. A young man was working at the counter. Brooklyn handed the man the form and ordered her lunch.
"Two daily soup specials, a soy latte and a caramel mocha with extra whipped cream." The man briefly skimmed the form and set it behind the counter.
"When can you start? This is the first applicant I've gotten and my wife who is extremely pregnant would usually be working with you in the evening but I've been running the café by myself for a week." The poor guy looked unbelievably stressed and beyond worn out.
"I do have correspondence classes to finish but 3:00 till 8:30 should work and I can work weekends." The man hurried to fill the orders and handed her the coffees.
"You can do your courses here. It isn't very busy in the evenings. You can start next week and I'll show you the ropes. Do you have experience as a cashier? By the way, I'm Lance." He stuck his hand out and Brooklyn shook it.
She briefly explained her past job history and thanked him for the coffees. Brooklyn walked over with the tray and set the soup and sandwiches in front of Avery.
"Oh, your back! I was just telling Sam about your extra classes." Brooklyn rolled her eyes and sat down next to Sam and sipped her latte.
"It's certainly an unorthodox way of finishing your last year." Sam took a sip of his coffee and wrapped his large hands around the mug.
"It's nice to go at my own pace and I like making my own schedule. Plus I have more time to work. It helps to know I have money saved up instead of being in debt." Sam raised his eyebrow at the last comment but didn't press on the issue. Brooklyn took a bite of her sandwich to avoid answer any further questions. The conversation was oriented around Avery and Sam talking about their parents successful businesses for the next half hour. Brooklyn ignored them and resorted to playing Scrabble on her phone until Avery interrupted her winning streak.
"You're still coming to our night out, right?" Avery asked.
"Yeah. I'm only stopping by after I run some errands. Speaking of which I'm late for." Brooklyn nodded goodbyes and grabbed her purse from the seat brushing Sam's leg in the process. Brooklyn blushed furiously and stood up, hurrying out of the coffee shop, leaving Sam and Avery staring after her.
~
Having moved from outside Ferris Lake in New York at the end of high school to Brentwood, Sam had known his group of friends for almost five years. Having moved a lot when he was a kid taught him to never make good friends but he was here to stay. He was studying to be a financial consultant and hoped to set up a firm in the area.
He climbed into his red F150 and drove over to his small apartment a couple blocks over. The small flat had been a present from his rich entrepreneur parents when he had started university. Being the youngest of his two other siblings his parents had spoiled him a bit more than the others. Pulling into his designated spot in the underground garage, Sam leaned his head on the steering wheel and closed his eyes. The extra work of night classes was taking his toll on him leaving him tired right from when he got up at 5:30am to do his daily run right to 1 in the morning when he got home and barely had enough time to shower. Most days he'd turn on the news and before he knew it the alarm was ringing in his bedroom. Sam was determined to break this horrible habit he'd been in lately but hadn't gotten up to actually doing it. Pretty soon his couch would be the permanent piece of furniture for sleep.
One of his many goals after high school was just to get his life together and get into the best school he could and make up for his high school years. Getting into the prestigious university earned back some trust with his parents, seeing as he had partied away his high school years being the football captain and head of the popular 'clique'. Too many close calls with his so-called 'friends' had taught him to dial back on the cigarettes and alcohol and he hadn't touched a smoke since.
Opening the dark navy blue door and kicking off his shoes onto the dark brown hardwood floor of the entranceway, he sprinted over to the fridge and grabbed the carton of orange juice, not bothering to look for a glass. The fridge was well stocked with microwave dinners and Redbull, seeing as Sam rarely cooked an actual meal for himself. Feeling a headache coming on, Sam had a shower and then collapsed on the couch in the living room. He groaned and rubbed his eyes, trying to make himself feel less tired. He had a feeling 6:00 would come fast.