Just a Kiss Away

Noah

I pull into the parking lot of my local Starbucks and turn off the engine of my car. After years and years of hangovers, coffee seems to be the only thing that puts my mind at ease after a night out. The smell of freshly brewed coffee and vanilla wafts through the air and fills my lungs. I walk up to the cashier ready to order my usual, the barista smiles at me and asks, "The usual?"

"Mhm," I respond, not paying attention to her or what's going on around me. My headache intensifies, begging for caffeine. The barista smiles at me,

"When are you going to stop partying all night and get a job?" Her voice is smooth and silky, almost like a sweet setup as a trap. I open my eyes fully and take a good look at her. Her eyes are a warm hazel color, and her eyebrows are slightly arched, waiting for me to answer her question. She's not short but compared to my 6 '1 frame, she's the height of a child.

Ahem, she clears her throat and I dart my eyes away. She smiles at me, but it's not a genuine smile. It's a smile that I've seen way too much after turning 18 and living on my own. I guess I'm 'good-looking' or something, and girls seem to like me. I don't care though, I've never really been interested in a relationship, and I don't think I ever will be, especially not with this girl. Truth is, she knows me more than I do myself. Bella. I've known her for almost 2 decades now. In some weird way, we've been in the same classes throughout elementary, middle, and most of high school. We were even going to go to the same college, well we would've if I hadn't dropped out.

"Are you going to answer my question, or are you going to stand there and stare into nothingness for another five minutes?" she asks me, expecting an answer back this time.

"Oh, my bad," I try to remember what she had asked me, but my head is pounding more and more, and I can't think straight. "What did you ask me?"

She scoffs, disappointed, and walks to the back. I watched her walk away like I watched every single good person I had in my life walk out of it once they realized I was too much to handle. But she returns shortly after, with my coffee in her hand and a scowl on her face. She puts the coffee on the counter and holds her hand out, waiting for me to hand her my card. I slide it out of my back pocket and extend my arm towards her. She snatches the card and swipes it through the machine. Damn, she's pissed. I don't know why she keeps getting her hopes up though, she knows how I am, and she knows that it's not going to change soon.

"Next!" she yells, not giving me a goodbye or a second look. I shrug and turn around, taking a long sip of my coffee. Suddenly, something hard bumps into my chest. I back up and see a familiar girl with her phone in one hand and now spilled coffee in the other. My shirt sticks to my skin like a glove, and of course, I chose a white top today. There's a huge brown stain in the middle of my stomach and it's dripping down to my jeans.

"Shoot, I'm so sorry, lemme help you," she speaks quickly and dashes to the napkins and grabs a handful, she then runs to the cashier. Huh? While she's doing... whatever it is she's doing, I start to drag my napkin across the front of my shirt, attempting to get rid of the stain, but it's only getting worse. She returns quickly with napkins, baking soda, and water. What is this girl doing?

"Oh no, stop dragging the napkin, that'll make it worse," I figured that one out on my own. She wets the napkins with the water and lightly sprinkles the baking soda on my shirt, and instead of dragging the napkin, she pats it on the fabric, lifting off the stain quickly. She works quickly as if she's in a rush. I look at the girl in front of me, she's dressed in all gray and doesn't look much older than me, I catch a glimpse of a logo and bold letters on the front of her hoodie, a college hoodie. Probably till in school. I bet she's rushing to get to class. I glance around and notice people staring at us, considering we're standing in the middle of the store, and my face gets warm from embarrassment, finally realizing what this looks like to everyone around us. Without thinking, I grab her and quickly move us to the nearest wall. She gasps, surprised by the sudden movement, and drops her phone. I bend down to grab it, but she does the same, and our heads clash. Perfect.

This time, I apologize. "Sorry, don't know what's happening to me today." I give her a half smile and hand her her phone.

"It's fine, trust me," she checks the time on her phone and she looks distressed. "And I'm late."

"If you have somewhere to be, I can finish this myself, you look like you're in a rush." She looks up to me and I finally realize where I know her from, she's my neighbor who's always leaving her house hella early every single day. She quickly takes her phone from my hands and grabs her keys and wallet.

"Thank you so much, and I'm sorry about your shirt," she says quickly and dashes out of the store, leaving me with a wet shirt and jeans that smell like coffee.