Through a strange series of encounters, a delinquent high schooler and upright university student find love. *****
No longer interested in clubbing, kissing girls, and committing petty crimes, 18-year-old Riley is trying to find meaning in his dull...
Jay spotted Elias through the café's front glass windows. Even though the only time he ever saw Elias had been at night, out of the many people there, Elias's expression was the most deadpan—even as the pretty waitress served him his coffee.
Elias looked up as Jay walked towards the table.
"Hey," Jay said as he sat down across from Elias. Maaan, this is awkward.
"He told me," Elias said before Jay could explain why he was alone or introduce himself.
"Huh?" Jay raised an eyebrow. "Then why am I here early?"
"Why are you here at all?" Elias rotated his coffee cup 180 degrees on its saucer. "No offence," he clarified, knowing his monotone could come across wrong.
Jay shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Support, I guess. Riley doesn't like you. No offence," he added facetiously.
The pretty waitress returned to the table and focused her attention on Jay. "Would you like to order?"
"Just give me the sweetest thing you've got." Not that Jay had a love of sweet things; it was just another one of his spontaneous moments, prompted by curiosity.
"What size?"
Jay pointed to Elias's mug.
As Jay ordered, Elias looked over the teen's appearance. The cartilage of one ear was decorated with a row of silver and black studs, and both lobes had matching piercings. If Jay had been wearing them last time, Elias hadn't noticed. Now that he thought about it, Riley was probably the only one he'd really taken a look at. Riley's playful attitude had been just as Eran described.
"Caramel Cream Macchiato Dream," the waitress chimed without writing anything down. "It will be ready in just a few." She pranced off.
"Ew," Jay said at the same time that Elias said, "Gross."
They looked at each other, both wondering if the other meant the chipper, flirtatious girl or the sickeningly sweet-sounding drink.
Jay examined the way Elias held his cup: loose fingers, gripping just tight enough to counter gravity. He's weird, but I guess it's kind of cool that he's so chill. I wonder if he ever gets angry. Elias had a small mole (or what some would call 'beauty mark') on his jaw, by his chin. Jay wondered how Elias would react if he touched that mole. He nearly did it.
Elias seemed to notice Jay's arm twitch.
The girl returned and placed a coffee cup carefully on the table in front of Jay. "Enjoy," she chimed again. She stood there for a moment and Jay wondered if she was waiting for him to taste it. He looked at her and smiled.
So shallow, Elias thought to himself. "Could I get some lemon?" he asked. The waitress then hurried off.
Jay could have flirted with the girl easily, as was in his nature—whether she was interested or not. But it'd be strange to do in front of Elias who he barely knew. And he wasn't really in the mood for flirting, anyway.
"What about that other friend?" Elias suddenly spoke. "Why you instead of him?"
The waitress came to quickly set down a tea saucer with two small lemon slices.
Does this guy have a problem with me or something? Jay wondered.
"Just curious," Elias clarified in his monotone, once again.
"Tony's kind of homophobic. It sucks because it's so awkward now. Our group of three has suddenly become a pair of pairs." Jay rolled his eyes.
"All three of your names end in Y," Elias noted. "That sucks. About Tony, not about your names."
"Yeah. One of our teachers calls us The Three Ys." Jay cringed.
Jay noticed that Elias had what he would call micro-expressions. If expressions were rated on a scale from 0 to 10, Elias's would range from 0 to 1. He could probably reach 2 when things were really serious.
"You and Eran both have names that begin with E... Ah, 'e squared.'" Jay chuckled and Elias responded with an unamused stare. "Don't tell me the restaurant owner's name is Ethan or something."
Elias gave a level 2 expression of shock.
"No way," he emphasized the vowels. That's too freaky.
Elias returned to a 1. "Joking." He flashed a level 3 smile of sarcasm. Jay wondered then, Well, what is it? but Elias didn't continue.
Jay picked up his drink and took a sip of the froth. He shuddered reflexively and nearly spit it back into the cup. Instead, he politely forced himself to swallow. Jay's eyes searched for water. Shit, that's not gonna help, anyway. He grabbed the nearby salt and the lemon slice that Elias had ingeniously ordered off the plate.
Elias watched as Jay shoved a salt-coated lemon into his mouth. He shuddered again, but then smiled. Amused, Elias smirked.
With wide eyes, Jay blinked twice; that near-grin was almost normal. He moved the lemon into his cheek and asked in a muffled voice, "Would you like to try?" He put his fingers under the rim of the saucer, in position to slide it towards Elias.
Elias tilted his own cup so that Jay could see the contents. Black coffee. Jay guessed Elias would probably rather die than even dip his tongue into the 'Caramel Cream Macchiato Dream' (ew). Jay pushed the drink away across the table, so its smell wouldn't bother him. He chewed the sour lemon, skin and all. Elias drank some coffee and Jay glanced at his mole. Jay had absolutely no desire to kiss Elias—just because your friend suddenly becomes bi doesn't mean it'll happen to you too. He liked girls. Girls, girls, girls. And there were many girls who could attest to the fact. But he wondered if girls liked to kiss that mole. It was the most—if not only—interesting part of Elias. Maybe that was how you could tell when Elias's expression changed. Perhaps subconsciously you'd notice when his mole would shift, Jay pondered.
He then voiced aloud, "Did you get brain damage or something?"
Elias froze, the rim of his cup against his lips.
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