because of clyde parker

because of clyde parker| five

BECKY'S HAD GROWN TO be a second-home to Mia and Dawn, a safe-haven in hay days. A nice getaway though not-so-much mysterious from the daily hustle bustle.

Dawn was drawn to the familiar aroma of freshly brewed coffee, glazed donuts, hash brown waffles and salted pretzels. The place was flooding with people, it was always jam-packed.

Toddlers strewn all over the place, a long queue of busy bees stood awaiting their fifth drink of the day, first dates sat in a secluded corner, she could tell from their awkward laughs and small talks, mothers tended to their noisy and whiny kids, teenagers every once in a while burst into place like they owned it, their area filled with timeless eruptions of laughter and camera-flashes.

Artists sat working on their next masterpiece, their nails tainted with colors. Musicians strummed their guitars softly or worked on their lyrics, scribbling notes on their tiny note pads.

Bloggers and writers sat chewing on the back of their pencils or with their laptops on the table, some with tall stacks of books, some merely scratching their heads and observing the scene around them. Photographers captured every moment whether it was a candid of a swallow's flight or the city lights and busy streets of Avery Fields.

She thought it was a delight to watch them, just like a documentary revealing a bit if everyone's everyday lives.

Mia Thompson was sitting by the window, where the lilac sky was slowly descending to a navy blue. Her eyes glued to her phone, typical.

When she walked up to her first, Mia didn't acknowledge her presence but then she finally averted her gaze from a hilarious cat video she was watching and greeted Dawn with a toothy smile.

Mia's blonde hair was in its usual impeccable curls and she was in a yellow sundress. The very color would look dull on Dawn but it complimented Mia's sun-kissed Cali-girl complexion and her 
long tanned legs.

"Hey stranger," Mia's eyes darted from Dawn's usual denim which was frayed at the ends to her baggy plaid shirt that Dawn  had found lying around on her bedroom floor and randomly threw on, then settled on her face. Not judging, just curious.

She brushed her hand to sweep the untamed frizzy brown streaks off her face and then sat down across Mia.

The third chair remained vacant and although their little circle of three remained seemingly incomplete without Alec, none of them were very much keen to be in company of his girlfriend of one-week, a clingy and annoyingly cheery redhead, Amanda Kelly.

"So how's life?" She asked nonchalantly when the waitress arrived with her usual order – hot chocolate with marshmallows that satisfied her sweet-tooth. According to the Dawn Marshal theory, hot chocolate was a remedy of all from a crappy day to a bad break up and one didn't need a specific time of the year to have it. Something, Mia never seemed to grasp.

"You tell me," Mia's mouth twisted in a wicked grin, "How are things with our resident bad boy?"

Dawn looked like she tasted something sour, "He's just so infuriatingly..." Confusing? Annoying? Stubborn? Her thoughts circled around various adjectives. None of them deemed to be fit to describe the freak of nature and the inexplicable enigma Clyde Parker was.

"Sexy?" Mia added wiggling her eyebrows, the wicked grin still plastered on her lips.

Dawn rolled her eyes. Hell hath to be frozen over before she would admit to finding him sexy.

"How's Tim what's-his-face?" She attempted to steer the conversation from her and a certain blue boy. She didn't want to be caught like a deer in headlights especially not in front of Mia, the girl who could sniff juicy scandals from miles away.