II
• • •
A week had gone by since I had moved in to my dorm, and I finally had established a sense of day-to-day normalcy.
Ali and I had grown closer throughout the week, and I could tell that we would become really good friends. Her vibrant personality made her so much fun to be around.
As soon as I got back to my dorm room after my morning class, I grabbed my work uniform out of my closet and changed into it. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and slipped on the brown visor they gave me that had a coffee cup symbol on the front.
Earlier in the week I had applied and gotten a job at this cute little café up the street called "Cocoa Café". I had already had a few shifts there, and it was essentially my dream college job.
They gave me free coffee, and let me take some food at the end of my shift to eat. The job was minimum wage, but I had already gotten a decent amount of tips in addition to the hourly pay.
"Hey," Ali greeted as she opened up the door and walked into the room. "Look at you being all cute in your uniform."
"Yeah, I love the middle-aged-mom vibe the visor's giving," I replied and she chuckled. It was a pretty cute uniform, though... there were definitely worse ones out there.
"Did you just get back or are you heading out now?" she asked, plugging her phone in to charge.
"Heading out now.. I should be back in a few hours," I told her, slipping on my black sneakers.
"Maybe I'll stop by the café at some point and say hi.. I don't suppose there's an awesome-roommate discount?" she asked casually as she opened up a few books on her desk.
"Why of course," I smiled and grabbed my phone and keys before making my way over to the door, "Later."
"Peace," she responded as I closed the door. Getting in my car, I plugged into the aux chord and starting playing some chill music before driving away.
The ride there was pretty short. I arrived pretty early to my shift, so I waited in the car for a few minutes before getting out. When I walked into the place, I was immediately engulfed in the café's cozy, welcoming environment.
"Hey Crystal," one of the boys I work with, Seth, greeted me. I smiled and waved. "Want to take over the register?" He asked.
"Yeah, sure," I replied and made my way behind the counter and to the register. He thanked me and began making some people's drinks.
After helping me out for a little while, he took his brown apron off and walked around to the other side of the counter, getting ready to leave.
"What can I get you, Seth," I asked humorously as he stood in front of me at the register. He pretended to be looking over the menu on the board as if he had never been there.
"I'll have a mocha frappe, anddd your number," he looked at me with a casual smile. I rolled my eyes.
"Seth, I told you. I have a boyfriend," I said and chuckled, grabbing a to-go cup and starting to make the mocha frappe.
"I know I know.. but I like you a latte," he continued on lightheartedly.
"Coffee pun. Nice." I chuckled again as I finished getting his drink. "Doesn't change the fact that I have a boyfriend."
"Well, he should be careful- one day my coffee puns might just be too much for you to resist," he joked.
"See you tomorrow," I told him with another eye roll as I handed him his drink. Seth always tried to flirt with me, but it was harmless. If there's one thing I knew about Seth, it's that he's not one to be taken very seriously.
After my long ass shift, I made myself an iced caramel macchiato, grabbed a coffee cake muffin, and sat down in the corner booth that I liked. I let out a deep sigh as I sunk into the seat, relieved I was done for the day.
After I finished my muffin, I took my drink into the car and began driving back to my dorm. When I got there, I threw the cup in a trash can and I walked into the building.
"Great news!" Ali shot up from her bed as I walked in the door, startling me. "We're going to our first party of the year this weekend," she told me excitedly.
"Yesss, where?" I asked her as I changed into my comfy clothes.
"Not entirely sure just yet, but some frat house close by is having an open house party to kick off the year.. pretty bad decision if you ask me," she chuckled and spread back out on her bed.
"Yeah.. that's just trouble waiting to happen," I agreed and sat on my bed. "Good thing we'll be there for it," I smiled mischievously.
"Hell yeah, oh and you should invite your friends! I wanna meet them all," she suggested, causing me to light up.
"Yesss- you guys'll love each other," I pulled my phone out, already inviting them in our group chat.
Incase you were wondering, we all pretty much went to colleges fairly close to each other. Ashton was the farthest away, with all the others generally a little over a half an hour away from me.
Scarlett and Savanah actually ended up going to the same school and were roommates with one other girl... who I felt extremely bad for. Poor girl didn't know what she was signing up for.
They all responded pretty quickly, saying they could come. I relayed the message to Ali, who was very excited about it.
One more day until I saw everyone again..
While I did love the fact that I had this new lifestyle, I definitely had already missed all my friends.
* * *
My morning class the next day was pretty engaging, since it hit pretty close to home.
Since my courses focused heavily on psychology, we were currently studying the genetics of psychology in that class. That day we were talking about how addictions can be passed down through family, and the genetics of addictive personalities as a whole.
Something like this could have triggered me about a year ago.. but I was a new me. I was able to learn a bunch of things about addiction that I never knew before... and this might sound weird, but I felt like it sort of brought me closer to my mom in a way.
It did also make me more cautious, though. I hadn't thought about the fact that I was more susceptible to an alcohol addiction than others might be.. but now I was aware. I just had to be careful and I'd be fine. I wouldn't go down the same path as my mom.
I breathed in the fresh air as I walked through campus, making my way back to my dorm. I noticed a couple walking and felt myself miss Ashton a bit... not because we hadn't seen each other in a week, but because I knew there would probably be months at a time where we wouldn't see each other.
When I finally got back to my dorm, I could tell Ali had just gotten back from working out.
"Do you have a class today?" I asked, putting my books down on my desk.
"Yup. It's later on, though," she replied. "When's your shift over? I was thinking of stopping by the café today."
"Five," I responded. Today was one of my longest shifts.
"Oof, well I'll be there then so that we can have a coffee together," she said as I changed into my uniform.
"Maybe if Seth sees you he'll stop pestering me," I joked. I had told her about him, so she knew what I was talking about
"I don't know, he sounds pretty persistent," she responded. "I'm beginning to think the only person who could get him off your case is Ashton himself."
"I'd feel bad for Seth if that ever happened," I chuckled, imagining the encounter.
The drive to work was nice, and I put my windows down as I drove, letting in the warm, fresh air.
"Hey Seth," I greeted, making my way behind the counter. He smiled and waved as he continued taking the person's order in front of him.
Their order was ridiculously complicated, and it took me everything not to roll my eyes and laugh. It took me way longer than usual to make, but I finally handed it to them with a fake smile.
"You can tell who grew up with Starbucks versus who grew up with Dunkin," I commented as Seth and I worked to prepare more drinks.
"Very true," he agreed, "you seem like you would be a Dunkin-girl."
"I do love Starbucks, but I guess Dunkin will always be where it's at for me," I replied, then explained, "I grew up on the East Coast before we moved to California."
"Ah, that'll get ya," he chuckled at the East Coast's notorious love for Dunkin Donuts. "I have family out in Massachusetts.. any time I visit them all they talk about is Dunkin. I swear- it's a cult, not a coffee shop," he claimed and I chuckled.
"I'm not denying that," I replied and handed a few people their drinks.
"I'm gonna head out," he told me, grabbing the drink he made himself and casually sipping it through the straw. "If that boyfriend of yours dips, let me know." I rolled my eyes and chuckled.
"That's not gonna happen, Seth," I told him. "See you later."
"Later," he replied, making his way around the counter and to the door.
I worked for another few hours, making drinks and heating up various pastries. Right as my shift was about to end, I looked up to see Ali coming in to the café. We smiled at each other when she saw me.
"What is the most inconvenient drink for you to make?" She asked when she got to me.
"Ugh, probably the vanilla cinnamon n-"
"I'll have that," she cut me off with a wink and laughed at my expression.
"You're evil," I told her and wrote her name on a cup, "I'm revoking the awesome-roommate discount for that one."
After I made her drink, I made myself a cold brew and grabbed us two scones. The next person had shown up for their shift so I was free to go.
"So where's this Seth guy at?" She asked as we sat down in the corner booth.
"He left a few hours ago," I told her, biting into my scone. "He said to let him know if Ashton dips," I said and chuckled.
"He sounds kind of whack, like boy.. she said she wasn't interested, and has a boyfriend," she stated, taking a sip of her no foam iced latte with half-whole milk, one quarter 1%, one quarter non-fat, 1 1/2 shots decaf, 2 1/2 shots regular, with whip cream, 2 packets of splenda, a touch of vanilla syrup and 3 short sprinkles of cinnamon.
"This is good, I should get it more often," she joked.
"God please no," I cringed at the thought of having to make that more than once a week. "And honestly- with Seth, I don't really care. It's all just in good fun.. at least I think anyway," I said.
"Well, for his sake he better hope so.. I've only met Ashton once and I'm not tryna cross him," she chuckled, and I laughed with her.
"You know, the first time we met he spilt Gatorade all over me- I was pissed," I told her and she started laughing again.
"Tell me you spilt something on him back," she said.
"What else was I supposed to do?" I laughed and she gave me a high five.
"So you two are the typical mortal-enemy turned lovey-dovey relationship?" She asked, taking another bite of her scone.
"Yup, pretty much," I replied.
She had ubered to the café, so I drove her back with me. We sang along to some 2000's throwback music until we got to the building.
After both doing a little bit of work, we talked for a bit more and then decided to get some rest. Tomorrow night was gonna be pretty crazy..
• • •
Hey guys!
We love a good calm-before-the-storm..
How's everyone doing? Hope you're all happy and healthy.
QOTD: What's your favorite series to binge on Netflix/hulu/etc. ?
>>> I love so many but my tops are probably Criminal Minds, The Vampire Diaries, or my guilty pleasure which is Love Island.
Be safe and wash yo hands!
Stay beautiful,
Briella<3