Salted Caramel Coffee (COMPLETED!)

Chapter Nine} H¡śtōr¥

     "Emma." I wake to someone gently shaking my shoulder, whispering my name into my ear. "Emma, wake up."

     I open my eyes groggily, looking around in confusion. My gaze falls on the girl hovering above me, her strawberry blonde hair falling dangerously close to my face. "Hm?" I grunt. It suddenly becomes clear that I'm the only one left in the room, and all the lights are off.

     "It's ten o'clock. We're closing." Blaze says apologetically.

     I immediately sit up, brushing my bangs out of my eyes so I can see the the clock across the room. She's right, it's like five past ten. "Oh God," I mumble, standing up as fast as I can, "sorry about that."

     Blaze shakes her head. "It's totally fine." She gives me a sympathetic smile as if she knows something's wrong without me ever having to say anything. "You got a place to stay tonight?"

     I'm about to say yes, but my stomach gives it away. A groan of hunger sounds from it that could be heard from outside, no doubt. I don't even attempt to lie.

     Begrudgingly, I shake my head. "It's okay though. I can find somewhere to stay."

     Blaze laughs and cocks her head back to the booth. "Funny." She says, deadpan. "Sit down- you aren't going anywhere."

***

     "Are you serious?" Blaze's jaw drops. "Your own mother sent you away just like that?"

     I nod, shoving another bite of pizza into my mouth. "I'm serious, she doesn't give a shit about my general well being! All she cares about is money. She's convinced I could be a writer if I tried."

     Blaze scoffs. "But what if you don't want to try?"

     I throw my hands in the air, then slap them back down on the table. "Exactly!" I exclaim, my mouth full of cheese. "She'd rather me be miserable and have money than actually be happy."

     Blaze shakes her head in dismay, reaching over the top of the box to grab another slice of pizza. "Crazy, the way the job system has messed with our lives. I'm sure you could imagine my reaction on my fourteenth birthday, actually realizing that I'll have to work at Mario's for my whole life." She laughs. "But at least I get free pizza."

     I wipe the grease off my hands and take a sip of water, finally full. "How long have you been at this anyway? I feel like it'd get boring."

     Blaze nods dramatically, her eyes widening. "It absolutely does." She groans. "Two years, all I've been doing is serving pizza to random people that I usually never see again."

     Her hair falls away from her face, leaving her scar exposed again. I subtly trace my cheekbone with my thumbnail, wondering what it would feel like to have a scar like that. It just seems like it would be so hard to acquire.

     "You noticed my scar, didn't you." Blaze says, reading my mind.

     I look away, biting the inside of my lower lip. "Uh, yeah. Sorry, I didn't want to bring it up."

     She brushes her hair in front of it again, shaking her head. "No, it's okay." She sighs heavily, closing her eyes for a moment. "Let's just say my aunt doesn't like to take no for an answer."

     I raise my eyebrows. I've got about a million questions, but I don't want to overstep. I assume her parents died and she had to live with her aunt, but I don't exactly want to create her whole life in my head unless what I think is also what I know. And all I know right now is that she had an aunt who didn't take no for an answer, and I can't make any assumptions beyond just that.

     "On a lighter note, are there any guys in your life?" I ask, grinning slyly. "Got a boyfriend?"

     Blaze laughs the thought away, rolling her eyes. "No, I don't have a boyfriend," she says, reaching for yet another slice. "I'm more into girls anyway."

     And I oop-
              that's awkward.

     Blaze doesn't seem to take any offense to it though, she just takes a bite out of her pizza. "Feel free to stay here as long as you want." She adds. "I can't imagine that living on the streets would be much fun."

I smile through a mouthful of tomato sauce, relieved beyond words. "Really?"

"Of course. I could use someone to keep me company after the store closes."

I set my pizza down, finally full, and lean back in my seat to keep my pants from bursting button. "What do you mean?" My eyes widen in realization. "Holy shit, do you live here?"

Blaze twists her mouth to the side, eyes drifting to the ceiling. "Well, yeah. My parents died like two years ago, and I'd rather jump off a cliff than go into foster care. I lived with my aunt for awhile, but as you can see that didn't work out."

Her scar. What kind of person does that to their niece? It makes my mouth go dry just thinking about what she could have done to her. My imagination goes wild, the most horrible scenarios planting themselves in the deep crevices of my imagination.

"You are nothing. You mean nothing to me. And you will disappear- you hear me? I don't want a single person to know that you exist- in this house, I make the rules. And the number one rule is that I make the- rules are for suckers. Yeah right, famous last- words, angry words flow from my lips like blood in my veins, words that I know I'll regret- later on in life, you'll thank me. I'll be the winner, and you'll be a winner too if you just do what I say. Don't you want to be a winner?"

"What's on your mind, Em?"

I snap out of my daze to realize that my eyes have filled with tears. I choke them down before they spill over, sucking in a shaky breath that I'm scared to let go.

"Nothing," I manage, "I just can't even imagine how horrible that must be."

Lies. I can imagine, I just can't believe it.

Blaze finishes off her pizza and wipes her greasy fingers off with a napkin. "Don't feel too sorry for me." She says. "I've got plenty of food and drinks, a roof over my head, AC-" she flashes a small smile at me, her beautiful blue eyes glistening. They remind me of an ocean- so deep that you could loose yourself in them. "-and now I have a friend."

I'm still not convinced someone with her history could truly be happy. My past seems like gold compared to hers, and I've already turned myself into a sarcastic asshole.

"C'mon," she shrugs, "what more could I ask for?"

***

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Heyyyyyyy! Idk what to put here except for that I hope you liked chapter 9! Thanks for reading this far- you're my hero🥰

Also, sorry this chapter is so short😭

-Shayna