Vile Games (book two)

10 - coffee and invatation from grayson

song for chapter:
holy smoke - palace
| beware my friend |
(highly recommend + put on repeat)

grayson's pov
wednesday, 1:20pm

I looked down at my phone, squinting my eyes so that I was able to see the screen due to the sun being in my face. approaching the usual coffee shop we all go to, I opened ethan's text to see what his order was.

ethan
1:20pm
medium iced black coffee

I don't know how I didn't guess that he would want that. black coffee is his go-to every time we come to cafes.

I readjusted the multiple grocery bags that were in my hands, all of them being full of chips, plastic cups, and neon lights.

my fingers wrapped around the metal door handle, then swung it open. warm air immediately hit my skin, comforting me from the winter coldness outside.

I walked towards the line of people waiting to get drinks, putting my hands into the pockets of my jacket to warm them, having the grocery bags dangling from my wrists.

I exhaled a large breath as I began to wait, letting my eyes roam around the room at the different types of people in the store.

my facial expressions loosened as my eyes caught onto a girl sitting at one of the small tables. jaylee. she was sitting alone, writing something down in a small journal as she occasionally took sips of her coffee.

a small smile automatically crossed my lips as I began to exit the line, walking in the direction of the table that she was sitting at. "jaylee." I spoke in a loud enough voice to get her attention as I approached her.

her head quickly looked up in a slight panic from her name being called out unexpectedly. once her eyes adjusted to the sight of me, her lips curved into a smile. "hey gray." she greeted in a sweet tone, putting her pen down onto the table.

I bent down slightly, placing the bags of groceries onto the floor near the leg of the table. "what are you up to?" I questioned, putting my hands back into the pockets of my jacket as I looked down to her sitting in front of me.

"I'm just trying to finish these lyrics." she admit, but her eyes were focused on the amount of grocery bags I had just put down onto the floor. "throwing a party?" she laughed lightly, shifting her eyes back up to me.

I looked down to the bags on the floor, then looked back up to her. "oh yeah." a laugh escaped my mouth. "its ethan and I's birthday on friday." I told her, not knowing if she really remembered.

a smile formed over her lips, but due to the expression on her face, I could tell she was upset or that something was off. "I know." she spoke in a soft tone of voice.

I raised one of my eyebrows, widening my eyes at her. "you remember?" I questioned with a bit of energy laced in my tone.

she grabbed onto her coffee cup, smiling up at me. "how could I forget?" she giggled lightly a couple times before taking a sip from the cup.

I rubbed my lips together as my eyes watched her. "you know, you should come." I suggested, knowing that ethan was going to be upset with me, but he can deal with it.