Superhero

Chapter 71

Addison sighed and sat down for Galante Class again. But for some reason, it ended up becoming a Jordan Discussion Session instead.
"So, any info?" Giuseppe asked.
Jake didn't answer, just sitting there with a frown.
"I think it's best we don't really talk about it now," Addison ended up saying. "Whatever's bothering Jordan, it's bothering Jordan. It's better to just stay out of it rather than make things worse in an effort to make things right. That's all I can say."
Giuseppe nodded slowly. "You're right. But I still wanna know what issa bothering him! It isn't lika him!"
His Italian accent was slowly becoming thicker too, much to Addison's amusement.
"I think we should just begin the class," Jake said at last. "Talking about this just makes my head ache."
Giuseppe understandingly began the class. They heard the front door open with a bang and they soon saw Jordan's ginger head passing through the living room to go upstairs. Jake never stopped looking until he disappeared from his view. Giuseppe noticed this but continued with the lesson nonetheless.

"I honestly have no idea anymore," Addison groaned to her parents. "Everyone's staying away from him now."
"I hope you are too," Edward grimly said. "Because I don't want anything to happen to you."
Addison frowned. "Well, if there's anyone lashing out physically, it isn't him. After all, he's the one who got... coffee-ed."
"She threw her coffee at him?!" Alison gasped. "Stay away from her too!"
Addison shook her head. "She's a really nice person, she even offered to pay for PickYou when Jake was too busy to pick me up."
"I thought Jake was the grumpy one...?" Alison said, confused.
Edward and Addison sighed.
"Ally, you see, there are four guys there, and all of their names start with a J," Edward explained. "Jeff, Jordan, Jake, and Giuseppe."
"Giuseppe is a G, but it's actually Joseph in Italian," Addison added.
"Yeah," Edward said. "See? You have to keep track."
"Okay, so who's who?" Alison asked again.
"Jeff's my coworker, Jake's the landlady's son, Jordan's the grumpy, and Giuseppe is my lecturer," Addison said. "I usually call my lecturer Galante though."
Alison nodded, still not fully understanding what was going on.
"I'll keep that in mind... have you eaten, honey?" Alison ended up saying.
"Yeah, I have," Addison chuckled. "How about Maddie and Ed? What are they doing?"
"Ed's helping Maddie with some science project," Edward shrugged. "And Maddie's helping him with some maths homework."
"What is this, barter system?" Addison snorted. "Okay bye, see you guys tomorrow. I'm really tired now."
"Tomorrow's Sunday, you can wake up later," Alison pointed out. "Sleep well, Addison."
They exchanged goodbyes and ended the call. Addison immediately went to bed, pondering about what was going to happen next.

***

This time, Addison managed to sneak out earlier than usual to avoid both Jordan and Giuseppe. She made her way to the bus stop and went straight to the shop.
Jeff looked up in surprise when she came in instead of a customer.
"You're very early today," Jeff remarked as she sat down with a groan. He definitely sensed something wrong and sighed. "What's up?"
"Got here early to avoid both Jordan and Galante," Addison sighed. "Both are kinda... strange."
Jeff shrugged. "I don't know, that Italian dude seems kinda nice for dropping you off yesterday?"
"Will you take a lift with a teacher?"
"Nope."
"Exactly."
Jeff snorted. "But wow... this Hoodie hasn't only gotten himself broken but is trying to break you guys too? How's Jacob? He seemed a little sad in class but nothing too bad. He still acts casual, unlike your ginger friend."
Addison nodded. "Poor Jake. He couldn't for the life of him figure out what's wrong with Jordan. What makes it worse for him is the fact that they're high school friends. Best friends too."
Jeff nodded thoughtfully. "I see... you have to keep this guy in check. Maybe I can help spy on him?"
"First of all, you take care of yourself. How many hours did you even sleep? You look like a zombie despite being so cheerful."
Jeff sighed. "Where can I get some concealer? I'm not really good with buying makeup."
"The best concealer is getting enough sleep, loser."
"But you won't stop teasing me until you don't see them!" Jeff protested.
Addison sighed. "Go to Holmes', it's down the road, and get some. Match the concealer with your skin tone first and don't buy the wrong shade. You'd look worse."
Jeff scratched his head. "Now that sounds tedious. Can't you just give me one of yours?"
"I don't wear concealer and also, I'm like five shades darker than you. That won't work, SlurpSlurp."
"Well, then I'll have to think of something else then."
Addison snorted and decided to prepare herself a big meal of bolognese spaghetti, milk, and even a chocolate bar.
"You better lose all of that or you won't be able to fit behind the counter," Jeff teased, pointing at where he was standing. "And then you won't be able to fit through that door too and I'm doomed to take over your shift too."
Addison smirked. "Don't worry, your bestie, Crawfish, will take over my place if that ever happens."
Jeff grimaced. "That bullfrog? Gross... that's like worse than dealing with Hoodie's girlfriend. She's super annoying."
"What did she do?" Addison asked as she ate.
"Before she met your Grumpy Hoodie, she'd come here almost every morning," Jeff sighed. "And sometimes, she won't even get anything."
"That sounds annoying," Addison admitted. "But yeah. She's really worried about Jordan too, yesterday she didn't even talk to me properly yesterday."
Jeff nodded thoughtfully again. "So that's how it is. Well, I'm just happy she isn't bothering me anymore. But I wanna know what's bothering Hoodie."
"You're just like Galante," Addison rolled his eyes. "He almost turned his extra tuition class into a Jordan Discussion Session. He was kinda exasperated too, his accent was getting thicker by the second too."
Jeff burst into laughter. "Dida he talka lika thisa?"
"Almost, but you're even worse," Addison snorted. "It wasn't as bad as that. He was just slipping into his accent, not completely in it."
Addison had nothing to do after she was done with her meal so she ended up talking to Jeff about random things.

Not even a customer in sight and nothing to do. Addison sat on her stool behind the counter, a bored expression on her face. Even reading the webcomic that she found was becoming way too boring, and so was reading ebooks. She didn't even have that many games on her phone besides 2048. Even that was getting boring.
Addison sighed and sat, and for the first time after a long time, wished a customer would walk in so that she would at least have something to do besides staring at the beverage counter across the room.