Bittersweet Coffee (DEH:Treebros)

Chapter Eight: fear

i love how I said I'll get a chapter in asap and then took an eternity to write one :D 

I'm sorry, a lot of stuff in my life happened and i lost motivation but I'll start this up again! I promise.. i think...

wElp--

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Up and early at the cafe was where Evan could be found that Saturday morning. Not too long after, Alana entered the cafe, surprised.

"Well you're here early!" she laughed, "Were you expecting Connor?"

Evan flushed, bright red seeping through his cheeks, "N-No! I just thought it was a good idea that I come to work earlier then I usually do!"

"And you're taking double the amount of shifts you took before, I think there's something going on~" Alana teased as she set her bag and coat in the employees lounge, before arriving at the counter, "You know, even though Connor is kind of a jerk, you two do get along which is nice."

"Y-Yeah..!" Evan stuttered, pausing and thinking about Connor for an extended period of time before realizing there was now an awkward silence between him and Alana. He cleared his throat nervously, tapping his fingers together, trying to think of what to say before he was interrupted by the cafe's doorbell.

His eyes shifted to the source of the noise-

Oh no.

"Hey Hey Hey~!" Jared called as he stepped into the cafe, approaching the counter. He was wearing his open short-sleeve, maroon button up with a grey t-shirt and jeans, along with a dark grey backpack.

"J-Jared, what are you doing here?!" Evan demanded to know. Connor could arrive any minute and Jared was only there to embarrass Evan.

"Just wanted to witness my buddy and his blooming romance~" Jared snickered.

"Romance??" Alana said, obviously confused.

"You didn't hear!" Jared gasped sarcastically before smiling mischeviously at Evan, then looking back at Alana, "Evan and C-"

"NOTHING! There's n-no r-romance or a-anything! Jared's j-just s-saying random crap!" Evan yelped anxiously.

"Lol. You are pathetic, my boy." Jared snickered once more.

"L-O-L?" Alana tilted her head, "Jared this is a verbal conversation-"

"Shhhh-" Jared hissed, "No need to speak..."

"Jared, please don't do anything stupid when Connor gets here, I'm begging you-" Evan pleaded. If Jared did something stupid in front of Connor, Evan couldn't even imagine how embarrassed he would be.

"Look buddy, I'm just here to guide you. Between you and me, we both know you don't have the guts to get school-shooter's number." Jared scoffed, poking Evan's chest jokingly.

"Between you and me, Jared," Alana said, "I can hear you."

"SHHHHH-" Jared hissed at Alana again.

Alana sighed, laughing lightly. "Well, people are going to start flooding in so we better prepare ourselves, Evan." she called, "Jared, you can just go take a seat somewhere."

Jared shrugged, taking a seat in the very corner of the cafe, pulling his laptop out of his backpack and a bathbomb. Evan cringed as Jared attempted to take bites of the solid, rock-like soap thing.

Evan took a shaky breath. It was going to be a long day.

Later on in the day, Evan's anxiety and panic only kept rising. Evan being embarrassed due to Jared was inevitable and waiting for it to happen was bothersome. No matter what Evan tried, no matter how hard he tried to stop his panicking, the panicking did not stop and all the sudden, it was like realization hit him. 

It felt like he was trapped in an endless sea of people as the cafe got more crowded. It was back. His fear. He was so comfortable before. He was getting so used to his job, but he never knew such a small thing would just screw everything over. It was always like this.

So many small things made Evan panic.

He felt claustrophobic. There was noise everywhere. He heard someone's cell phone ringing, a child wailing, people stumbling and running into one and other in this overcrowded place. The sound was overwhelming, scaring Evan. On top of that it was extremely hot. The production of hot coffees, teas and more made an unbareble heat, the thick odour hanging in the air. The heat made Evan sweat more than he was already.

'No! Don't sweat! Everyone will notice! You can't work like this with gross clammy hands!' Evan thought, 'You're just standing there Evan, do something! Everyone will notice you're nervous! Who am I kidding, they probably already have! You have to leave, you'll say something stupid if you don't! If you're always like this, Connor would never like you. It doesn't matter anyways, it's already over! DO SOMETHING!'

The thoughts kept stirring, growing louder and louder and Evan couldn't take it. He began backing away from the counter, the customer giving him an unsettling look. It was like every footfall echoed louder than the last and everyone was watching him, he could feel their eyes pinned on him. Before he realized, he backed up too far, running into a shelf, knocking down a few different bags of coffee beans and some boxes of teabags.

The cafe went semi-quiet as everyone stared.

Evan felt absolutely mortified. He caused all this, it was his fault everyone witnessed his stupidity. He froze in the spot as everyone looked at him, confused, exchanging glances with one and other, whispering and muttering. All Evan could do was run.

He rushed past Alana, sparing her a glance.

"Evan, where are you going?" she called, but Evan continued to quickly walk out of sight, from the front counter, through the employees lounge, to the bathroom.

Stumbling upon his feet, pushing through all the people, he reached the small hall in the corner of the cafe which had the washrooms. Evan raced in, sweating and shaking.

It wasn't even about Connor anymore, it went beyond that. It was like he was living in his own little fantasy world at the cafe and all the sudden his bubble was popped, and he saw reality. All the people he had to talk to and get orders from. All the different possibilities of embarrassment. It's like everything stopped functioning properly. And his biggest fear about his job came true. It happened, messing up in front of all those customers.

Evan leaned against the washroom wall and sat on the floor, trying to hold back tears.

What has he done..?