Teen half-brothers Kain and Scott Banks, who live in a small New York fictional town called Dalton. They battle each other on the hockey rink while navigating through high school romance and drama.
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"Hey, Ma." I say as I walk up to the counter at the cafe and have a seat on one of the barstools.
Mom's standing on the other side of the counter, going through papers. She turns her head and smiles at me. "Hey." Then she looks over her right shoulder, at the clock on the wall then looks back at me. "You're here early. Usually you come here when Ayla's working."
At the mention of Ayla's name, I sigh frustratingly. I stare down at the place mat, in front of me on the counter and remember the disagreement we had yesterday. Ayla and I haven't bothered to text each other yet today. "We, uh,... We're kind of in a rough patch right now." I say slowly.
Mom sets the papers that she was holding on the counter and leans against the counter in front of me. "A rough patch, really? What happened?" Mom's voice comes out soft and motherly.
I bite the inside of my cheek. It feels a bit ridiculous, honestly. It's just dumb, immature teenager issues. "We just had an argument about the way either of us have been acting lately." I give a brief explanation.
Mom taps her fingernail on the wood countertop. "Well, you two will work it out. I believe that. Best friends can forgive each other for everything." Her voice coming out encouraging.
Is this what it's like being friends with girls? Are they always this dramatic? Before Ayla came along, I never had any fights with Ardyn or Weston. We were always laughing or joking around with each other.
"Yeah, well, right now we're mad at each other." I pick at my fingers, trying to distract myself from getting to angry again.
Mom gives me a small sympathetic smile then she puts her hand over mine and squeezes lightly. She let's go, turns and goes into the back room. I glance up at the clock, Ayla should be arriving here for her shift at any minute. I better get out of here before she gets here.
I push open the cafe main door and almost collide with Ayla. Great, this is what I didn't want to happen. I didn't want to see her at all. We stand face to face for a few beats, neither of us saying a word.
Even if I did want to say something to her, I wouldn't know what to say or where to start. Why am I being called out for my behaviour when Ayla isn't being as innocent as she thinks. I'm not making a deal with the Devil, and spending the nights with him. She knows Kain is a bad guy but she's being so naive about it.
Sure Ember and me were sneaking around behind Hazyl's back for a little while but I ended it with Hazyl so Ember and I could be together. I don't see how that makes me a bad person. None of it worked out in my favour anyway, I'm with neither Hazyl nor Ember at the moment.
I move to the side and hold the door open for Ayla so she can walk in the cafe. She gives me a quick glance then she hurries inside. It snowed lightly last night, usually when it snows the weather isn't cold but not today. We're at the end of December so the weather's about to get super cold. I don't mind the snow or the cold but January snow and coldness is a different level. I hate January weather.
