tea stained newpapers. mileven au.

seven.

CHAPTER SEVEN:
SPILLING TEA... AND COFFEE.
MIKE'S POV.

"can i please have one grande hot tea.... um a grande regular coffee and a tall... um latte?" the raven haired boy squinted at the menu above the small blonde barista girl in front of him, making her giggle in the process.

"your name, um sir?" she smiled, making mike shift uncomfortably in his shoes. she was obviously flirting with him... well at least attempting to. however, he wasn't too fond of how hard she was trying to get his attention. honestly, he liked a girl with a little bit more of a challenge.

"umm..." the freckled face boy stumbled over his words, not wanting to give this girl (who was honestly making his day kinda worse at this point) his actual name. "it's m - matt. my name is matt."

"okay then, matt." she giggled again as she wrote down his fake name on the three cups. "you know you kinda look like that famous writer... what's his name... micheal wheeler? i hear he lives pretty close too."

"weird i've never heard of him." the tall boy avoided her green eyes, looking down at his watch to make sure he wasn't running too late to meet up with lucas and hopper.

"oh, well he's very good at what he does. i think he should quit writing articles and just write his own book already, you know." this made mike turn his attention back towards her abruptly, raising his eyebrows in confusion at her comment. the young blonde looked down, blushing a bit at his facial expression. "it's just a personal opinion. anyways i'll have those drinks out ina bit, matt."

mike mumbled a quick "thanks" before making his way down the counter and taking a seat at one of the empty tables at the end.

the raven haired boy took in a deep breath before bringing his elbows up to rest on the edge of the round wood, his fingers reaching up to his temples to relieve some of the pressure that was building inside his head.

unfortunately mike had woken up late this morning because he spent all last night finishing the entire introduction to the jim hopper biography. even though lucas was aware of his roommates late night work activities, he still woke up this morning and left to hopper's when the raven haired boy took too long to get up.

this left mike not only scrambling to go meet up with them but it also left him with the request from hopper to pick up drinks on his way over to make up for their lost time together.

"matt!" the young blonde barista girl yelled from behind the counter, making mike shift his attention back to her, the boy attempting not to roll his eyes at the smile that was permanently plastered across her face. "your drinks are ready."

the lanky boy walked up to the counter, picking up the drink carrier from her before awkwardly turning around on his heels. "i left a little surprise on one of the drinks for you. hope to see you again sometime!" she tried to call after him, her voice laced with hope as he continued to walk away from her.

mike only nodded, not even bothering to look back at the blonde before he quickly exited the busy starbucks. he was able to swiftly catch a the first cab he saw once he was outside, leaning over to tell the driver hop's address before relaxing into the leather seats.

the freckled face boy carefully placed his head against the cold glass window, glancing over to observe the drinks sitting in his lap. it took him a minute to notice a small string of numbers written across one of the cups. he sighed, taking off his backpack to pull out a pen from one of the pockets before scribbling out the flirtatious offer from the cup.

normally he wouldn't mind, it's not like he would actually text the girl anyways. however, the only flawed part in the barista girl's attempt was that she had chosen to write her number across hop's drink... making the lanky boy a bit uncomfortable thinking about handing over that cup to his client.

"hope he doesn't say anything about that." he mumbled to himself quietly, watching as the cab pulled into the large rounded driveway of hopper's humble home. mike nodded his head at the taxi driver, quickly pulling his backpack over his shoulders again and handing the man a few extra bills as a "thank you" for being the only positive encounter he's had with someone today.

the raven haired boy made his way towards and up the cement steps of the home, inches away from what he thought would be the end of his shitty day. of course though... that is never the case.

why would it ever be that easy?

before the freckle faced boy could even reach for the door knob, he was suddenly welcomed with a strong force knocking into him, so strong the drinks he was originally holding onto were now spilled all over the ground.

"oh my goodness, i am SO sorry. i - here lemme help." a soft voice filled his ears, mike barley able to register the small girl in front of him or even the fact that they were both now covered in a mixture of tea and coffee.

"they're truly going to kill me." mike mumbled as he kneeled down to help her, finally noticing the stain that was starting to form on her white flannel. "i'm sorry about your shirt by the way."

"it's okay, i usually use this shirt for painting anyways." she calmly stated, her golden eyes finally drifting up to met his.

mike could have sworn his heart was going to stop beating at that moment. that or it was going to jump straight out of his chest. there was no denying that the small girl kneeling in front of him was absolutely beautiful, making mike suddenly forget how horrible his day was going. he didn't know it was possible for someone to be so... breathtaking.

"plus, it's kinda my fault for running into you like that..." her voice interrupted his thoughts, the brunette rotating one of the cups in her hand. "... um matt?"

"oh it's mike. uh - the girl at the coffee shop kinda made me uncomfortable. i didn't wanna give her my actual name." the raven haired boy stumbled over his words, suddenly nervous by her indescribable aura.

the golden eyed girl held back a laugh before squinting her eyes intensely at him. "so you're the famous micheal wheeler that ruined my dad's car, huh? you know being as well known as you are... i'm sure you're rich enough to actually FIX his car rather than just writing some lousy biography about him." the small girl suddenly stood up, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"woah, woah there!!" mike stood up abruptly, completely towering over her as he put his hands up. "in my defense... even though it was my idea, we were NOT trying to ruin your dad's car. we thought it was someone else's. BUT if you wanna get really technical, it was lucas who actually... well you know." mike started to ramble, earning a unconvincing stare from the girl. "you're el right?"

"that still doesn't change the fact that you could have at least offered to fix his car, mister successful writer boy." the brunette poked his shoulder harshly, making mike rub the spot hurtfully after she'd done so. "and yes, i am." she stated as she tilted her head up at him confidently.

"would it make you happy if i paid for it, miss apparently painter girl?" mike found the courage to tease her a bit, but quickly cleared his throat once he noticed that she was not at all intrigued. "i - i'll do it, i promise."

"i'll believe it when i see it, micheal." the brunette rolled her eyes before turning around on her heels to enter the house again, leaving a completely flustered raven haired boy in the doorway.

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a/n: ARE Y'ALL HAPPY NOW?? THEY'VE OFFICIALLY MET!! as always, thanks so much for reading! sending love.