The cafe filled little by little as lunch continued and the rain slowed to nothing more than a soft wash of water, falling slowly but still enough to soak everything it touched for longer than five minutes. The sounds grew subtly, chatter filled the air from the few students who risked the rain for a coffee before they had to go back to lessons and work through the final portion of the day. Yet, despite the sound of gossip, brewing coffee and footsteps, Hazel was yet to wake and the three boys she sat with were yet to acknowledge their surroundings.
Hazel still rested against Ryan's hand that held the warmed peas, her hand had dropped, leaving a small scribble on the page she was writing on, but the pen remained in her grasp. Ryan was absorbed in his phone, lost in what nobody else could see. Leo worked through his own studies, jotting notes and revisions down in a half-full notebook while Oscar listened to music and doodled badly against a page in his maths workbook.
People turned to them every so often, curious about the mess they sat in. All wondering why Hazel was sitting with them and why she had a mess of once frozen peas held to her face by a boy they could only describe as cold and intimidating. But, on their tired and dreary day, they moved on, talking about it every so often but deciding not to do anything to upset the group of boys they both admired and feared.
"...What is going on...?"
A voice spoke directly behind Ryan, forcing him to turn and shift, which, consequentially brought Leo's attention to the movement. And of course, once the sight of shifting caught Oscar's view, he also sat up, lifting himself from the book he rested his head on and pulled his earphones from his ears.
It would take more than a shuffle of movement in her peripheral to wake Hazel, however. She hadn't slept properly in weeks.
"You guys are a mess," Joel laughed warmly, glancing back to Fox who approached slowly behind him. "Did you even notice anyone come in?"
"...What time is it?" Leo asked, glancing around at everybody who sat in the cafe. There weren't many people, but it was enough for it to be a shocker for the group who thought it was bare of life only five minutes ago.
"Half twelve," Fox answered, moving around the table and dropping himself into his seat.
"Oh," Oscar chirped, glancing towards Hazel beside him who breathed soothingly, "I thought it had only been ten minutes."
They glanced around again, giving themselves time to adjust and take everything in. The smell of rain from the door which opened too many times, the chatter, the footsteps, the lingering taste of coffee in the back of their throats and on their tongues. It didn't take long to feel as though they were back in the cafe where they would almost always be found.
"...Is she okay?" Joel asked, taking his own seat as he leaned forward against the table, inching closer to Hazel to see if her lowered head was really asleep. But, from the way she breathed and didn't move an inch, he assumed she was.
They fell silent, looking at her for a moment before looking at the peas, and then, like following an arrow, they followed Ryan's arm up to his face as he also acknowledged the fact that she definitely wasn't awake.
"When'd she fall asleep?" He furrowed his eyebrows, glancing around at his friends who shrugged. "My hands kinda gone numb..."
"Why are you holding peas to her face?" Joel asked, letting a confused smile form on his lips while his head fell to his shoulder. "Was she hungry or something?"
"No..." Ryan grumbled, unable to stop himself from wriggling his fingers that held the bag to her, the numbness becoming too much. Even keeping his arm in place against the table got difficult.
His movement didn't go unnoticed though as she shifted. her breathing broke its repetitive pace and a small mumble slipped from her.
"Ew..." She hummed quietly, keeping her eyes closed as she woke. "What's mushing against my face?"
"Peas," Ryan answered nonchalantly.
She sat up, blinking her eyes open as she moved away from the bag and within seconds, Ryan's hand dropped to the table with the peas following after, landing with a sudden slosh against the wood beneath them.
"How long were you asleep? I can't feel my hand anymore."
"Uh..." she turned to him, still blinking the sleep from her eyes and adjusting to the brighter lights of the cafe. "I don't know, I'll make sure to count in my dreams next time... You could have woken me up though."
"Hey, how was I supposed to know you wouldn't bite my head off?"
"Do I look like the kind of person to bite your head off?"
"You never know, tiny people are feisty-"
"Who're you calling tiny-?"
"Hey, uh," a smaller voice interrupted them, bringing her attention to the other four boys around the table who had watched her wake. "Tweetie?"
"Mhmm?" She hummed to Joel.
"What happened?" He pointed to his own nose but kept his eyes on hers.
She had to take a moment to adjust her mind, recollect what had happened and attempt to wake up as best as she could from the nap she didn't expect to have.
"Oh," she breathed out, feeling Fox and Joel's eyes burn into her with concern. Joel's expression was softer than Fox's furrowed eyebrows and hidden eyes she could feel watching her from beneath the shadow of his hat. "We had an oops-"
"Ryan!"
They all stopped, turning to the doorway where a yelling voice called out to one person, but as a result, got everyone's attention.
It was almost funny how quickly the group shrunk and sighed as they gazed at the girl who shook her red umbrella off in the doorway and strode into the cafe, her ginger hair still perfectly in place even after walking through the wind and rain. Behind her, another girl followed silently, her head held as high as the ginger-haired girl held hers, but instead, her dyed silver hair dripped with water, though, only on one side of her head.
"What is it, Amelia?" Ryan groaned, furrowing his eyebrows.
She didn't respond as she stopped beside him, her attention turned to Hazel instead.
"Aren't you supposed to be, like, working?"
Hazel paused, glanced around then parted her lips.
"Oh, yeah."
Amelia stepped back, crossed her arms over her chest and watched as Hazel pushed herself up and out of her chair, lifting a brown coat with her. She was seconds from turning around before she was stopped yet again, hearing a louder voice yell from the counter.
"Sit down, Robin. You need to rest!"
"Oh, no."
She sat down again, her expression mimicking a deer caught in the headlights of a car. She didn't know who to listen to. Was she supposed to do as Amelia said and escape while she could before the girl accused her of looking like she would spit in her food? Or did she listen to Stewart who tended to know what was best for her?
"What's wrong with your face, anyway?" Amelia said, rolling her eyes at the fact that she couldn't chase the detective away.
"Uh..." Hazel grew timid, both flustered and a little frightened. As mean as Amelia was, she was incredibly pretty and Hazel definitely wasn't blind to that fact. Her grey eyes were piercing and her hair seemed to sit perfectly on her shoulder in waves of ginger.
"Amelia," Ryan sighed, bringing the attention back to himself, "what do you want?"
"You said you'd buy me lunch yesterday, but you didn't meet up with me. I thought you could buy me it today..."
"No," he shook his head firmly, "I don't remember saying I'd buy you lunch and I have no money. I can't."
"Seriously?" She furrowed her eyebrows, glaring down at him. "What's up with you? You keep pushing me away all of a sudden, it's annoying as shit. I just wanna eat lunch with you."
"I'm not in the mood."
"Ugh," she grumbled, glancing around the table. "What about you, Leo? Will you buy me lunch?"
"Sorry, Amelia," he shrugged, unwilling to be quite as blatant with his annoyance as Ryan was, however, his voice was droll, void of life or enthusiasm. "I don't have any money either. Maybe another time."
She scowled, not as coldly as Ryan did, but it was a scowl all the same and suddenly, her attention was back on Hazel. Unable to get what she wanted from the table of boys. Obviously, Hazel didn't know the history between the group, so whatever reason Amelia had for asking for lunch, she couldn't see. But, it didn't stop Amelia from being overly annoyed about it and needing somebody to turn her frustration towards.
"What're you looking at," she snapped out, forcing Hazel to shrink, frightened of getting punched again. "What's wrong with your nose? Can't you cover that up or something... It's kinda gross looking..."
"For fucks sake," Ryan turned again, his expression hardening, "if you don't want anything, then go away. I'm sure Ricky's out looking for you or somethin'."
She hesitated, pouted and turned to her silver-haired friend who stood behind her before turning entirely on her heels and walking away. They both left, sending a final grimace to Hazel as they did and vanished.
"Okay..." Hazel said, breaking the momentary silence, "I could be wrong, but I'm beginning to get the feeling that she doesn't like me much."
Leo let a short breathy laugh escape him, quickly catching on and appreciating the way the girl was so easily able to move on from uncomfortable situations and deflect the negativity thrown at her.
"I think that's just you, actually," Leo joked, making her laugh soothingly before sinking down into her seat again, able to move past the not so nice conversation that had occurred.
"Aw, Tweetie," Oscar caught her attention as he thought for a moment, "you're really having a terrible day..." he pouted to her, acknowledging all the ways her day worsened.
Her house was broken into, she was attacked and now she was mocked by a mean girl. Truthfully, it wasn't the worst day she had ever had, but then again, most people don't go chasing criminals for a living, do they?
"So, what happened?" Joel asked again, pointing to the injury neither he nor Fox knew how she got.
"Oh, yeah," she sat up, now awake enough to recall what had happened perfectly. "I got punched after we saw a guy steal from a woman."
She shrugged. Of all the things she had been through in her life, this was an incredibly minor thing. But, the way the group looked at her, empathy buried deep in their staring eyes... It made her wonder. Maybe it wasn't a good thing that she had dealt with worse.
Should she have asked herself this earlier...?
Nah. No way...
"What!?" Joel just about shrieked. "You're joking, right? That's why you sound so unbothered, isn't it? 'Cause you're joking?"
"Did you see who did it?" Fox asked this time, his voice at a much lower volume compared to Joel's naturally louder voice.
She shook her head on Oscar's behalf too.
"Does it hurt?" Fox continued while adjusting his hat so she was able to see his eyes. "It looks painful."
"It hurts a bit," she admitted, "My eye's getting blurry and I can't really breathe. But I'm alright."
"You need to put an ice pack or something on it every hour or so," Ryan informed her, presumably knowing from experience, "after two days you need to put something warm on it."
"Excuse me, nurse Ryan," Oscar turned to him, "don't take my job. I'm the doctor here."
"Eh-?"
"Let me have a look at your injury, patient," Oscar acted, pretending to be a doctor as he turned to Hazel, barely able to contain his smile. The sight forced her own smile and she, of course, played along.
Oscar grasped her cheeks between his palms, bringing warmth to her usually cold skin and forced her lips to pucker like a fish. He laughed, squeezing her cheeks slightly to move her lips like a fish would blubber before he continued. He squinted harshly, his eyes burning into her single black eye then her nose.
"Hmm..." He hummed, leaning closer to her injury to inspect it further, taking in the shades of purple and red that swelled up in a painful-looking way, saturating most in the crease beneath the bag of her eye.
"How is it, doc?" she played along, her words a little more muffled thanks to her inability to open her lips too much as he kept squishing them in his warm grasp.
"Not good," he sighed dramatically with a shake of his head, avoiding eye contact as he lowered his gaze, "looks like we're gonna have to amputate."
"Amputate? My eye? My nose?" She gasped in fake horror.
"No," he let go of her cheeks, "your whole head. Nurse Leo, I need you to get the scalpel, disinfectant-"
"Dude," Ryan laughed, "what the hell?"
Oscar beamed, falling and letting his head roll back against the back of his chair as he let out gleeful laughs, his cheeks squishing as he squeezed his eyes shut. Hazel glowed with a smile, happy to have helped him find humour in his day and happy to have been cheered up so easily.
She came to the cafe thinking she would be speaking to the boys to gather information and work even more when in reality, they gave her the break she desperately needed. While it was a little frustrating that she wasn't working as she should have been, she couldn't help but feel overly appreciative for the way they oddly accepted her despite the fact that she only got to know them because she spilt coffee all over Ryan.
"Okay," Oscar said, catching his breath, "Tweetie is officially my favourite person."
"What? I thought I was," Ryan turned to him, seemingly genuinely offended by the title that had been torn from him.
"You don't play along with me and you don't have fish cheeks." Oscar reasoned, quickly taking Hazel's cheeks into his palms again. "Look, she's a fish. You can't do this, your cheeks aren't squishy enough."
"Blub," Hazel added, matter of factly.
"Mine do that," Joel pointed out, squishing his cheeks in his own hands, "We can be fish together."
"The fish crew," Oscar laughed, letting go of Hazel's cheeks and squishing his own.
The pair seemed to go off on a tangent, blubbing at each other from across the table as if they were having a long conversation that nobody could actually understand. But, through the distraction of blubs, it seemed they were easily able to block out the gossip that went on around them.
Hazel listened to the gossip only briefly. She took in the questions of why she had gotten so close to the boys so suddenly, rumours of how she was going to use them, as well as the usual fawning voices of people who loved every little thing the boys did as if they were celebrities. She could imagine, from her own experience, just how frustrating it was. While nobody knew who she was, they made constant assumptions, talking about Hazel White and her mystery in articles, any media they could, really.
"-Hey..."
"Hm?" Hazel lifted her head, letting her eyes widen momentarily as her fingers grazed her skin where she had subconsciously grasped when her mind realised she was slipping further and further into her thoughts.
"You alright there?" Leo asked, his head tilting after witnessing her zone out entirely, pouting down at her lap with eyebrows knitting together in thought.
"Yeah, yeah," she said quickly. "Just thinking."
"I think that's the last thing you want to do today," Fox said, figuring that if he had a day as bad as hers, his own thoughts would probably be filled with a lot of negativity and questions. Anybody's would be.
She nodded, agreeing with him. There were times when she was thankful to be overrun with work, now this was one of them. It gave her something to think about and occupy her mind with, if she didn't have work to think about, she would probably have ended up with a head full of doubts and insecurities. She was thankful she didn't have the time to even think about that sort of thing.
"...Okay," she breathed out, sitting up in her seat as a new thought came to her mind, "I should probably do something. Like, work. I should be working right now. I have a job."
They turned to each other, then they turned to the counter, presumably towards Stewart who often heard most things being said in the cafe.
"Are you sure?" The man asked, forcing her to twist around and face him, "take as long as you need to rest. Don't force yourself."
"I'm positive," she nodded quickly with a reassuring smile, "I need to do something or I'll probably lose my mind."
"Then," he straightened his posture, "feel like restocking the displays? I messed them up a bit and ended up putting everything in the wrong places."
She paused, glanced over the glass display filled with treats. He was right. She was almost certain the chocolate cake wasn't a cookie like it was labelled as.
She pushed herself up, ready to work on something or another and got on with the job given to her, leaving the table of boys to chat amongst each other and do whatever it was that they usually did.
She eventually lost herself to the work, falling into a trance-like working state as she moved things around and placed things down. Time passed quickly and eventually, the cafe fell back to its usual silence as every table but the one filled with boys cleared and students went back to school to end the day.
"How're you doing, Robin?" Stewart asked, resting his elbow against the counter as he watched her move around.
"I'm alright," she said along with the sound of a heavy breath contradicting the words she had spoken not even seconds ago.
"You've had a lot thrown at you today," he said, his voice soft in the silence, "it's okay if things aren't alright, you know?"
She paused, having not expected him to say anything like that. Really, she was expecting the usual 'that's good,' or 'glad to hear it,' that she often heard in response to her mostly automatic 'I'm alright.' Not that she didn't appreciate people accepting her saying she was alright, it was better than being ignored. But, to be told that it's okay if things aren't as alright as she says they are? That was new.
"Just know that the cafe is a place where you can be open about anything you like, god knows you need a place where you can be. I couldn't even imagine living your life."
"It's not the best," she smiled half-heartedly, "but thanks, Stewart. I really really appreciate it."
"Anytime." He smiled back at her, nodding his head while acknowledging her truthful admittance to the wariness of living her life. It wasn't that she didn't appreciate her life and living as a whole, it just became a little more difficult when you were Hazel White and everything was so uncertain. "If you need to head home, you can. I doubt we'll be seeing much else today."
She thought it over, realising that as much as she would have liked to stay and do nothing for a while, she shouldn't. She had work to do, she needed to fix her apartment after the collapse of boxes, she needed to see if anything else was taken and, as much as she hated to admit it, she had to try and solve the case which should have been solved weeks ago.
"...Yeah..." she nodded slowly, "I still need to see if anything's missing."
"Then, maybe you should take a day off tomorrow. Rest, sort yourself out a bit after today. Just, don't work. Stop by if you want, I won't let you work though."
"Yeah," she hummed, "I might."