Saving Everest

8.

Everest

Confession: I don't mind staying out as long as I possibly can, so don't have to go home.

I stopped by The Basement, but Mikey was leaving for his dad's house for the week. And now I'm even stopping by Bisklin street because I don't know where else to go. I drove around the street three times before I finally decided to go to the cafe.

Whether or not Beverly has a shift today doesn't even cross my mind as I approached the daunt coffee shop. The closer I approach the shop, the internal battle inside of my head increases. I know she invited me to come, but I don't think she meant so soon.

I walked across the wet pavement and pulled open the door. The warmth instantly surrounding me, I took in the place. The first thing that caught my eye was the girl singing softly on a stage and playing her guitar, people were sitting at tables alone either typing away on their laptops or having a cup of coffee with a friend. The place smelled like indescribable spices.

It was all calming.

"Whoa, who's the cutie?" I turned my head to face two girls that looked identical. They both shared the gene of red hair but it was obvious that one shade of the red was darker.

The darker haired twin walked over to me and smiled slyly. She was the fox and I was the chicken.

"Hey, I'm Rose."

The lighter redhead stayed behind and threw me a smile and a wave, before turning and tapping on a blonde that shared the same distinct features as the other two. A guy with a long beard, that was standing with her, turned to look at me.

The eyes and the stares bothered me. I felt as though I was being violated the right of ever being viewed as a normal person. The change from the gazes of admiration to judging is astonishing.

"Everest." I kept it simple and didn't even throw a fake smile like I usually do. My lip remained in it's thin line and I was sure that my eyebrows tightened together as well.

A small gasp entered the room, the gasp was so discreet that if the room wasn't so quiet, there would be no way that I would have heard it.

"You came." I turned behind me and seen Beverly smiling, even her eyes brightened up and I couldn't understand why.

She walked from behind the counter and towards me. She ventured through the triplets and bearded guy and wrapped her arms around my torso in a tight hug.

I immediately tensed.

"You know this guy?" the fox asked. Such a perplexing question due to the fact that Beverly doesn't actually know me.

"Yeah, he goes to my school and I invited him to come check the place out," she spoke after she released her arms from around me, her face a tad disappointed that I didn't hug her back.

The guy with the beard tapped her hard on the shoulder and chuckled loudly. "Good job Betty! Keep bringing in customers."

Betty?

Her face was slack as she murmured her actual name, but I think I was the only one who noticed.

"Hey, weren't you on the news? For—" the light red-haired girl began to say to me, her eyes searching for recognition.

"Poppy! You can't just ask people stuff like that. He couldn't have been the guy who—" Rose cut her off, giving me an apologetic look.

"Tried to kill himself? Yeah, that's me." I cut off the fox, my bluntness even shocking me.