Love, Eliot Ch. 02

The overcast sky set the perfect mood for my grumpy march to the Cafe. I swung the door open and nearly hit a kid with neon green hair. I rolled my eyes and pushed past the crowd waiting to pick up their daily caffeine fix.

I claimed the last vacant table with my painfully tiny ass and waited. For the first time since I got out of bed, my legs could shake to the beat of my heart.

A girl in the opposite corner of the room glared at me from her prissy booth next to the window. She probably figured I was on something; Which wasn't altogether untrue.

I glanced down at my phone. There was no hope of receiving a new, merciful command but convincing myself of that was out of the question. So I sat there, yanking my long sleeve over my fist and shaking my leg so hard that China could have felt the tremors.

My gaze wandered until suddenly it all went dark. Someone's hands cupped my face, and I knew by the laughter who the culprit was.

"Jesus, Drew," I pulled his hands off me and laughed, "You almost got me."

"Almost?" He took the seat in front of me, "I felt you jump."

I rolled my eyes while Drew shed his first layer of clothing. His hoodie came off with a slight struggle but then he was free inside his favorite ACDC shirt.

He sighed and glanced back at me, "I thought it was supposed to be cold up here."

"It is cold, you're just hot-blooded,"

He opened his mouth, and I knew the next thing to follow would be his failed impersonation of a classic. I held up my hand to silence him, "Not Foreigner, you know I love Foreigner."

He scoffed and lifted his chin in the direction of my legs, "Hyper much?"

"Just a bit on edge today,"

"You sure you want to add coffee to that equation?"

I twisted my expression, "I'm going to need it to get through the day." He nodded and pushed his expresso colored hair to the side. I noticed the chipped paint on his nails as he waved over the waitress and gave her our order.

I yanked his fingers to my side of the table, "Oh my God, you let her paint your nails, didn't you?"

"Yeah, she was bored and I-"

"Wanted to get into her little pink panties?" The waitress set my drink in front of me and bounced her eyes off both of us before walking away.

He frowned at me, "I'm offended that you would even suggest that I could be so disgusting."

"But you did get to third base though, right?"

His frown cracked into a smile, "Nah, a home run."

I lifted my drink to toast before taking a very large gulp of my coffee. The doorbell chimed and I groaned, "Guess who?"

Drew turned and snickered, "I can't believe you even dated that guy." I couldn't believe it either.

"I blame you for leaving me alone in that school,"

"I fucking graduated," He flicked his spoon at me like a child, "It's not my fault you were a baby and cried about how you missed me to the first prick who would listen."

"I didn't miss you."

"Really? Then why did you follow me to this tropical resort where the weather is always gloomy, cloudy, or cold as balls?"

"For the scholarship, dumbass." I threw my wadded sugar packet wrapper at him.

He leaned back in his chair and grinned, "You could've gone anywhere though. "

"Not if I didn't want to be in debt for the next thirty years of my life."

He conceded and drank his coffee quietly which only made me suspicious.

"What's up?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're too quiet to not be thinking."

He glanced up at me, "Don't worry about it."

"Drew-"

"It's nothing Cassie," I stared at him but he reassured me, "Really."

I let him have his secret while I watched my ex order a very large breakfast for two. His wallet always was much bigger than his brain, among other things. I fought the urge to jump for joy when he walked out of the coffee shop. There he went, a year of my life down the drain.

I checked the time on my phone and chugged the rest of my coffee. Drew shook his head, "Seriously? You don't need to burn yourself to be on time."

I wiped the corner of my mouth on my sleeve, "Well, I can't be late. Ms. Wright is posting the names of the students accepted into theater today and I have to audition for the play as soon as possible."

"You're here on a theater scholarship, isn't it already obvious that you're in?"

I grabbed my bag and pushed my chair back underneath the table, "Yeah but everyone has to follow the same shitty procedure so try not to be the little devil on my shoulder just this once. "

Drew stood up with me, "Why not? You love the little devil. Hell, you need the little devil."

I rolled my eyes and tossed the empty cup into the overflowing garbage can, "See that kind of talk right there is why I failed Bible Doctrine in the eleventh grade."

He stepped in between me and the exit, "You failed because you spent all day staring at that Jason kid's ass."

I pursed my lips and nodded, "Time well spent." I slipped past him and he followed behind me as I walked across the small campus.

"As far as male asses go I admit, his wasn't that bad but mine is still way better." He had to half-jog to keep up with my pace. A couple more minutes and he might have broken out into a sweat but we made it to the Art building before he had the chance.

I reached for the door, "See you at dinner?"

"If by dinner you mean cold pizza,"

I rolled my eyes and left him standing in front of the building. As soon as I was halfway down the hall, my phone buzzed in my pocket. I nearly exploded into a million pieces.