I woke up at around 9:45 in the morning, the sun peeking through the window. I sighed and check my phone, nothing. Not even a call from my dad. No concern as to where his own daughter was. I sighed, getting out of bed and going to eat breakfast.
“How could he just not care?” I asked myself while pulling a granola bar out of the pantry. “I know he hates me, I mean he say’s it every day, but seriously he’s not concerned at all?” I rambled to myself while walking out to my car to get the pile of clothes I had hastily grabbed from my bag before my dad blocked me. I threw the clothes on the bed, sorting through them. “I better have my uniform.” I grumbled, throwing articles to the other side of me. “ahha!” I screamed, holding up my work uniform. I hopped off the the bed and brought a bra, underwear, and my uniform to the bathroom and took a shower.
After a hot shower, I applied some of my grandma’s makeup, which was a desperate move, and checked the clock. 10:30am. Quickly, I threw on my shoes, grabbed my phone and keys, locked up the house, and head to work.
An hour drive later, I found myself walking into work.
“Hey Conor!” one of my coworkers greeted me.
“Hey Mia!” I responded, trying to sound as cheery as she did. I Went to the backroom to put my keys down and get anything else I needed, then joined Mia behind the counter. At the moment, Starbucks was packed with people. We were serving and taking orders like wild.
A few hours into my shift and I was totally in the zone. Well at least I was until these 3 boys came crashing in through the door.
“HEY NASH! GO LONG!” the tall dark-haired boy screamed, throwing his wallet across the room to another tall boy who I assumed as Nash. Nash went in line while his other loud friends took a table. I continued my work, a yelp or loud inappropriate comment occasionally interrupting the peace of the shop.
“Should I tell them to keep it down?” I asked Mia, who seemed bothered by the boys as well.
“Yeah, I can manage for a few seconds.” She assured me, nodding in approval. I wiped my hands on my apron and walked over to the table of boys.
“Hey.” I awkwardly introduced myself.
“Can we help you?” The dark haired one rudely asked.
“Actually you can.” I angrily retorted. “Either quiet down or get out. You’re disturbing other costumers and employees.” I informed them, then walked away to the sound of boys laughing.
“Sorry about them, welcome to starbucks, what can I do for you?” I asked, not looking up from the register.
“Uh, it’s no problem.” I heard a nervous male voice say. My head shot up. Nash.
“Oh, sorry I know those are your friends. I didn’t mean to make them seem like they were annoying.” I apologized, hoping he wouln’t get angry.
“Yeah, whatever.” Nash Rudly answered, then gave me his order. I went on to make them. As i was finishing i noticed that the boys were gradually getting louder and louder, almost to the point of sceaming.
“Conor…” Mia looked at me with a sympathetic look. I already knew what she was gonna say.
“I’m on it.” I assured her, grabbing all the boys drinks and going over to her table.
“Hey it’s you again.” The dark haired boy stated bluntly.
“Okay one, my name is not ‘you’, and two, you all need to get out. Now.” I sassily informed them. “I warned you that you needed to quiet down but none of you listened. You’re disturbing the peace of the facilty, you’re going to have to leave. I’m sorry for any inconvenience.” I bluntly informed them and walked away.
“Wait, miss!” A voice that sounded like Nash called. I turned around.
“I have to get back to work, please clear up your stuff and go.” I politely commanded them. In a sad yet angry fashion, the boys cleaned their area and left. I continued to work until closing time.
As I was cleaning the counters of the shop, someone entered.
“Sorry we’re closi-“ I started to explain as the looked up to see who it was. “Oh, um, Nash right?” I awkwardly greeted. The faint light making it hard for me to see his expression.
“Uh yeah, mind if I sit for a second?” He asked. I nodded in approval. He walked over and sat down at the table I was cleaning.
“So what are you doing back here so late?” I asked him, moving on to clean the table next to him.
“I didn’t think you were working this long.” He stated, sounding a little upset.
“Get to the point Nash, I still have to do a shitload more to close up.” I nagged.
“I was gonna have someone tell you that I’m sorry for my friends and I’s behavior, but I guess I can just apologize myself.” He anxiously gulped.
“That’s actually really sweet of you Nash.” I confessed, pausing my work to look at him. I smiled warmly. “I’m sorry for being such a bitch. It’s just been a long day.” I confessed, sitting across from him with my washcloth in my hand.
“Yeah speaking of that, why do you work so long? I’ve never ever seen anyone work a midday shift AND a night shift.” Nash asked.
“I have to pay for my phone, gas, clothes, and stuff.” I laughed, almost as If my lifestyle was completely normal.
“Wait how old are you?” Nash asked.
“16.” I gulped, knowing he was gonna say something about how odd it is that I’m practically an adult at 16.
“16? And you pay for everything?” He marveled.
“Yeah.” I blankly responded.
“Why?” He asked. I looked down at the counter.
“I just do.” I almost whispered, not wanting him to see how upset I was.
“Hey, are you okay?” Nash stammered concerned.
“yeah.” I responded, emotionless.
“You wanna talk about it?” He asked.
“Why would I talk about it with you? I don’t know you.” I shut him out, walking towards the counter so I could clean the station where drinks are made.
“My name is Nash grier,” He started, approaching the counter, “I’m 17 years old. I live in LA. I have 2 brothers, Will and Hayes. I also have a sister, well half sister, Skylynn. My parents are both separated, but they remarried. I was born on December 28th, My real name is Hamilton, but I’m called Nash which is my middle name. Oh! And my last name is grier.” He smirked at me. “And I am slightly flirting with you.” He finished, proud of his little speech. “Your turn.” He laughed.
“Alright…” I began, unsure. “My name is Conor, I’m 16, I work at Starbucks, ummmmmm” I tried to think of something else. Nash frowned.
“I’m sure there’s more than that!” He exclaimed.
“Not really.” I shyly confessed, trying to hide any kind of blush that was on my skin.
“Of course there is!” Nash reached over and lifted my head so I was looking at him. “Tell me about yourself! No holding back!” He cheerfully encouraged.
“Well, my mom died a few years back, when I was 13 or 14.” I started, finishing the cleaning I was doing. I walked over to one of the doors and locked them. “uhh my grandma has breast cancer, and is in the hospital with my grandpa getting surgery as we speak. I have a brother, Joshua, who lives in Chicago. And I live an hour away from here so I need to go.” I went into the back room to gather my belongings.
“No dad?” Nash pondered. I froze, not knowing how to fully answer.
“Something like that.” I sighed, passing Nash and heading for the door.
“Wait!” Nash yelled.
“What?” I asked a I spun to face him. He slowly moved to a table for two and asked me to sit. I haven’t had a friend in a really long time. Nobody ever wants to talk to me, or the people I do talk to end up hating me and turning away from me. I smiled and went to sit down. A few minuets wouldn’t hurt.
“I wan’t to know you more. You seem interesting You interest me.” Nash explained.
“There really is nothing to know about me.” I warned him again. He just shook his head.
“There has got to be more to you.” He smiled, looking at me with those blue eyes. I blushed after making eye contact with him and looked down.
“There’s really nothing Nash. I don’t do a lot. I just work, go home, go to bed, and go back to work the next day.” I explained shyly.
“What about friends?” He asked, desperate for something.
“Nope.” I sighed, looking at him with sad eyes. An awkward silence filled the room. “Tell me more about you.” I commanded, trying to lighten the mood and break the silence.
“well…” He began to tell me everything about him. His favorites, his least favorites, his dreams, his plans, just everything. The more I found out the more I wanted to know, and the more perfect he became. As he was talking I checked my phone to see the time, 2am. I interrupted him.
“Holy shit it’s 2am!” I practically screamed.
“Is it?” He asked, looking at his phone in reassurance. He looked shocked. “Wow, we’ve been talking for hours.” He smiled, I swore I saw him blush before his phone light went off. I looked at him in awe. The happiness radiated off his face in a way that made me feel warm inside. Is this what it feels like to have someone? Something about him just drove me wild.
“I-I uh better go.” I stammered, trying to unlock my eyes from his.
“I’ll walk you out.” Nash smiled, standing up. I stood up and followed him outside, lcoking the door behind me.
“This was fun.” I smiled, awkwardly standing in front of Nash.
“It really was. I still want to know more about you though.” He explained, pulling his phone out and giving it to me, “Put your number in so we can hangout again sometime?” I took his phone in my hands and shakily put my number in. Making sure I double checked it a few times before giving it back to him. He smiled as he took the phone back into his hands. There was an awkward silence between us before I pulled out my phone, placing it in his giant hands. Our skin accidentally touched for a moment, causing me to blush wildly.
“You can uh put your number in if you want.” I shyly asked him, almost whispering.
“I’d love too.” He smiled, now blushing in the slightest. I looked at his face while he typed in his info. His long hair shagging over his forehead, his brow furrowed, his ice blue eyes scanning the screen in intense concentration. I quickly looked away, again blushing, as he made eye contact with me.
“I better go.” I whispered.
“Me too.” He whispered back. “Call me when you get home, I wanna make sure you made it safe.” He smiled, grabbing my hand with his left and placing my phone into my hand with his right. I blushed at the contact, the heat on my face making me feel like I was sick. He slowly let go.
“I’ll talk to you soon.” I smiled, turning around giggling to myself.
“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.” He said behind me as I was walking away. After a few steps I turned to look back. His tall figure still stood there watching me. I turned around again, blushing and smiling. Once I pulled my car out of the employee lot, I saw him still there leaning against the wall, smiling to himself. I flashed my brights at him to catch his attention. He waved goodbye and started to cheerfully walk towards wherever he lived.
“I hope he’s blushing as much as I am.” I confessed to myself while driving down the freeway, feeling how hot my face was with the back of my palm. I giggled at the thought of him and pushed my head against the headrest smiling as I continued to drive home.