Chapter Four ~ Lucky Boy
The rain was persistent but not heavy. It was still warm outside but the skies were darkening by the second. I knew I would eventually have to take cover before the thunderstorm began.
We had been here for a week now. In that amount of time I found out that it rarely rained in Clearbourough, but when it did, it rained like there was no tomorrow.
A coffee shop was quickly looming on my left and I decided that would have to do. I stepped through the doorway and shook off the excess water droplets from my jacket. The windows in the shop were already starting to steam up, and a long line of men and women waited to order a serving of comfort in a cup.
I waited patiently as the machines coughed and sputtered out order after order. The coffee odor was rich in the air, there was no doubt about that. There was no need to drink the coffee, you could practically breathe it in. I took a seat at one of the tables nearest the window and scrolled through my new cell phone.
I don’t know why I decided to do that considering that I had no contacts or applications on the phone other than the necessary, but it was something to make me look occupied.
“Mind if I sit here?”
My bright blue eyes flickered upwards to come in contact with a small dainty female with a comforting smile on her face. Sam.
I placed my phone face down on the table and sat back in my seat. “No, please do.”
“Thanks.” She offered me a friendly smile before she pulled out the chair opposite from me and sat down. “Uh, you’re friends with Melanie, right? I don’t quite remember your name.”
“Damien.”
“Damien,” she repeated before her sweet and innocent smile reappeared. “Nice to meet you.”
I sighed and let the tension flow from my body. Since when did I have trouble talking to girls? “You come here often?”
“It’s the only Starbucks in town,” she informed me, “everyone comes here.”
“I haven’t really broadened my horizons, yet.” I shrugged it off and attempted to give her a friendly smile.
“Melanie told me you were new in town,” she added, biting down on her bottom lip nervously. “We don’t really get new people often. Care to explain?” She grabbed a hold of her coffee cup and brought it to her mouth to take a sip.
“My dad and I move a lot,” I told her nonchalantly. “He chose this place for the beach. He really enjoys the water.”
“Why?”
I glanced down at the coffee table and scoffed. “Uh, I don’t really know. Some people just feel at ease when they’re near water.”
“Why?” she questioned, “it’s just water.”
“Maybe to you,” I pointed out, “but it probably means something entirely different to him.”
She narrowed her eyes slightly at me before taking another sip of her coffee. “How about you?” she inquired. “Did you want to move here?”
“Is that a trick question?”
With a giggle, Sam set her coffee cup back on the table and leaned forward with all her attention on me. “I know from first hand experience that sometimes parents think they’re doing what’s best for their children. But in reality, the children never have a say in any of the decisions. It’s their way or the highway.”
I thought about what she said for a moment. I never consented to steal with my father, it sort of just happened. Of course I knew that stealing was wrong, but it was the only thing that was consistent my whole life. I never questioned Dad about what we were doing, there was no need to. I knew that no matter what I said, he would ignore me or laugh it off like a joke.
I returned my full attention to her. “You know from first hand experience?” I questioned, “What happened?”
She laughed as she leaned back in her seat. “Let’s just say, I never wanted to move here. I lived in a rich neighborhood and everything was fine, it was normal. You know, once everyone has the same opportunities as you do, it’s a normal life. But we moved here, and well, now we’re the face of the town. You have no idea how many people pretend to be my friend just because I’m rich.”
“That sounds like a tough life.”
“It really is a tough life,” she agreed, nodding her head. “Money changes people, Damien. It’s a cruel world we live in.”
I licked my lips, not knowing how else to respond.
A man appeared from behind of Sam and touched her shoulder gently, speaking in a dangerously low tone. “The rain’s getting heavy. We better go.”
I shot my eyes to the mysterious man to see none other than the infamous Levi Samuels. I mentally cursed to myself at how he seemed to be everywhere I went. He noticed my stare, causing an arrogant smirk to stretch across his face.
“Damien.”
Sam looked over her shoulder at her brother. “You know him?”
“Yeah,” he chuckled, “we’ve bumped into each other a few times." He ran his fingers through his perfectly combed chestnut locks, flexing his muscles in the process.
Sam grinned at her brother before she stood from her seat. “It was nice talking to you, Damien.” She waved slightly at me as she pushed her chair in with her free hand and threw her arm around her brother’s shoulder.
They walked away together, in sync, almost. Like siblings do. It was obvious that they had a very close relationship. Just as they were about to exit the door, Levi glanced over his shoulder to look at me and winked.
This caused me to completely freeze. I couldn’t move a muscle or even blink for that matter because I was a man and another man had just winked at me. He must have sensed my distress because he burst out into hysterics as he and his sister exited the coffee shop.
I shook my head in disbelief, trying to rid my brain of the memory. Oh joy, this was going to be a long evening.
* * * *
Dad woke me up at seven the next morning. He sat on the edge of the bed with a glass of orange juice in his hand. He took a long sip of the orange liquid, smacked his lips, then turned to me. “I’m in the mood for donuts.”
“Lovely,” I mumbled, “bring me back one.” I pulled the sheets over my head and shut my eyes.
Dad chuckled. “This is unlike you. Usually you’re up at six thirty every morning ready to make breakfast.”
“I’m tired.”
“Please, I have to meet Sally later.”
“Fine,” I yelled through gritted teeth, pulling down the sheets from above my head. I forced my eyes open and they stung momentarily. “But I hope you know that the time it took for you to woke me up, you’d already be halfway there.”
“What good is it to be halfway there?” He patted my back and exited the room.
I let out a frustrated sigh and got out of bed. I threw on some clothes that had been sitting at the corner of my bed for a couple days now. Not really caring about my appearance, I jogged downstairs. I grabbed the car keys from the kitchen counter and made my way over to the front door when my dad’s voice echoed through my ears.
“You okay?”
I nodded.
“How many times have we done this, son?”
“A lot.”
“And we always get it done, don’t we?”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “We do.”
* * * *
The donut place was packed and I was stuck waiting in line behind a woman with two screaming children tugging at her sides and a crying baby cradled in her arms. The two children were going at it now. With one screaming, “You touched me!” and the other screaming, “You did it first!”. I shut my eyes and pinched the bridge of nose, attempting to relieve the agony.
“Hey Damien, it’s nice to see you here.”
I turned around to the source of the voice and saw Levi standing right behind me. He was dressed more formal today. He wore a black suit and his golden hair was combed and gelled back. I internally groaned at the thought of seeing him and turned back around.
“I was surprised to see you at Starbucks, you know. I didn’t figure you for a coffee loving, latte drinking, kind of guy.”
I laughed before I could even stop myself. “It’s coffee,” I spat, “Are you saying that I don’t seem like the type to drink coffee? I’m not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment.”
“It’s just that you seem too--”
“What?” I asked, cutting him off.
“Formal,” he said quickly. “I don’t know why, you strike me as the type of guy who enjoys drinking wine.”
“So, you’re calling me an alcoholic?”
“No, I wasn’t.” He shook his head violently, “Sorry if I made it seem like I was, you just-”
“Great seeing you.” I cut him off and turned back around. The woman with the kids had finally reached the counter and was now placing her order.
“Okay,” he said and I could tell that he was closer to me. “The truth is, you seem too good for Starbucks. There’s just something about you. You’re not like everyone else. You have a spark.”
“A spark?” I questioned, turning around to face him.
He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “Yeah.”
I stared at him, unsure of what to say next.
“Nevermind,” he dismissed the subject. “It’s early in the morning and I’m not thinking straight,”
“Clearly.”
“Next!” the lady behind the cash register called out. Happy that I was finally escaping the dreading conversation, I stepped up to the counter and placed my order. Just as the lady handed me my order, she leaned in closer to me. “You’re very lucky you know.”
I furrowed my brows. “What are you talking about?”
“Levi,” she whispered, “you’re a lucky guy.”
“Tell me how exactly, am I lucky?”
“To have Levi crushing on you is something that--”
I blinked and held a hand up to her. “Hold on,” I interrupted, “did you just say that he was crushing on me?”
“Yeah.” She nodded, a smile playing at her lips. “Didn’t you know? Levi is gay.”
I froze as I heard this, taking a few seconds to process what she had just said. I glanced over my shoulder slowly to see that Levi was staring at me with a grin on his face, showing that he had obviously heard our conversation.
I turned back around to face the cashier and handed her the cash. “Well aren’t I just a lucky, lucky boy.”
~*~*~
Aww! What do guys think of Levi and Sam? What about Damien? Back off guys, Damien is mine :) Haha. Is it too early to think about a name for Levi and Damien? Lamien....Devi...hmmm...There is a picture of Levi played by the delicious Dave Franco off to the right...
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~Lara