Chapter 4

I walk down the stairs of my house to the kitchen in hopes that coffee will be available to brew. My dad drinks about two pots a day while my mother never touches the stuff because she's afraid of staining her teeth.

School was rough today. We didn't have a lab scheduled so I didn't get to talk to Nate. I wanted to apologize for the way Danny treated him yesterday. 

So instead I settled with a stalker mindset and sat behind him in class today and watched him. I liked the way he moves slowly. I liked the way his nose scrunches up when he is concentrating or the way he mutters under his breath when something is giving him trouble. He still never let anyone help him, though. He was stubborn. Just like me. I also found it amusing how I noticed all these things in just a few days.

Luck is once again not on my side when there are no coffee beans in sight. I sigh and head for the door because coffee wasn't going to drop from the sky. I grab my car keys and head to my favorite coffee shop. Which also happens to be the place I work.

It actually isn't a coffee shop at all but a breakfast diner that elderly people mostly occupied. I think that is why I like it. There is rarely anyone under the age of twenty that walked through those lightweight, screened doors because most kids my age didn't want eggs and sausage from dinner, but prefered burrito bowls or burgers.

Not only am I hungover from last nights shenanigans with Alyssa but now I am going to be breaking one of the boss's rule: No drinking coffee on the job. It is a stupid rule but for some odd reason Levi is totally against the bitter drink unless you were over the age of fifty.

"Vegetables are all you need for energy," he says every time he catches me chugging a mug before one of my shifts. "I can whip you up a green power smoothie, if you like?"

Levi was the son of Lincoln, the late owner of Linc's Diner who past away a little over a year ago from a heart attack. That is why Levi is so gungho on health and fitness. I don't blame him but you also couldn't pay me to drink one of those things instead of my warm, amazing, hazelnut coffee.

I tie my apron around my waist as I quickly clock in. The smell of bacon arouses my empty stomach but not in a good way. Today is going to be a long day but at least the week was halfway done and all there is left to think about is the Friday night football game.

"Good morning, sunshine," Lennette sings into my ear as she sashays past me with a pot of freshly brewed coffee.

I stop her before grabbing a cup from the closest shelf and pour the nearly black liquid into the off white mug.

"Woah, what did you do last night?" Lennette leans against the counter and grabs the pot when I hold it out for her.

I take a long drink and close my eyes, trying my hardest to block out the pounding thuds the Theta's bass seemed to leave behind.

"Oh, you know," I reply, sending her a wink. A large smile spreads across her face, leaving her aging beauty radiate under her dark skin.

"Oh, child, do I." She laughs a cackling laugh that instantly wakes me up. I quickly finish my coffee before Levi comes out of his office to greet the staff which contained of myself, Lennette, and Gary the cook. Things here were slow on weekdays. It's after the game on Fridays that we are the busiest. Sometimes I wish I wasn't a cheerleader so I could work the shift and get more tips.

That meant that I could afford a bus ticket up to New Hampshire. I would have my parents buy me one but I didn't want them to convince me on having them go with. I wanted to tour Dartmouth on my own without their encyclopedia minds rattling off this and that about the greatness of the school. I want to do this on my own.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you were late, Miss Henderson." Levi's booming voice fills the back kitchen with morning energy. No doubt he had his green smoothie this morning.

I wince and turn around hiding the coffee mug behind my back. The last thing I want is another lecture from this guy. Levi is nice, nearly thirty, and engaged to a woman named Marissa who is a yoga instructor at the local gym. For a guy who is so into fitness, it sure didn't make sense that he owns a diner that sells pounds of greasy bacon and hash browns on the daily.

"Sorry, Levi." I give him my most charming smile even though I know he actually isn't mad in the slightest. He's a pretty laid back guy. "Had some last minute homework to finish up."

We both know this is a lie.

"You're lucky all the customers adore you otherwise you would have been chucked months ago."

I roll my eyes with faux annoyance and place my mug in the sink without hiding it. He narrows his eyes at me, looking at the mug and then back at my smirking face, before shooing me to the waiting customers.

I grab a pot of coffee from one of the burners and start making my rounds. Lennette takes one side of the diner while I take the other and before I know it, all the table are full along with all the late afternoon coffee lovers' mugs.

"Would you like some more coffee, sir?" I ask the guy sitting in the furthest booth.

"Yes, please."

That deep, tenor, voice makes me pause with the coffee pot suspended in the air. I look down at the boy sitting in the corner, a laptop placed in front of him, along with a pair of dark sunglasses perched on his nose.

For a moment I think to just pour his coffee and then get on with my shift, quickly sneaking by without being noticed, but my conscience wouldn't allow me to do so.

"Hello, Nate." My voice comes out smoother than I expect it to be. I'm blaming it on the nonisolated atmosphere.

His head tilts to the side slightly, following my voice. His square jaw clenches noticeably but an unaware smile slowly graces his features.

"Oh. You."

I breathe out a shaky laugh and take in his freshly showered hair that is sticking up around the forehead along with his usual dark zip up.

"The one and only," I gloat.

"I didn't know you worked... Here--I-I didn't k-know you worked here."

I laugh again because this is not an unusual observation. My family is very well off but that doesn't make me very well off. My parents are rich, not me. "You don't have to cover it up. I know you weren't expecting a Henderson to be wearing an apron."

"That's not it."

"Yes, it is. And that's okay. I understand." There is awkward silence for a second and I feel the need to cover it up which leads to me saying the first thing that came to my mind. "Plus, I like all the pockets in the apron to stash away the extra food."

"Well, I'm sure it looks nice on you." His voice is soft and pleasant and I certainly don't miss the slight blush that spread up from the collar of his sweatshirt to his cheeks. To hide his embarrassment, I lean forward and fill his half empty mug and then scoot it closer to his hand so he doesn't miss or spill it. While doing so I catch sight of what he is writing on his screen.

"Ugh," I say straightening back up. "I hated Catcher in the Rye."

Nate had his mug brought up to his lip when he chokes on the dark liquid. It is amusing, really. I can see his eyes, such a light brown behind those ray bands, go wide in disbelief. "You hated Catcher in the Rye?"

Intrigued as to where this conversation could go, I quickly graze the room for Levi and when I don't see him, I sit down on the other side of Nate in his booth.

"Holden is the most annoying character I have ever had to read about." This isn't entirely true but I want to get a reaction out of this kid.

Nate shifts determinedly in his seat as if he is gearing himself up for an argument which I will gladly give him. I battled Kim Chen for class president our junior year and wiped the floor with her. If doctor doesn't work out in my future then a lawyer was runner up.

"He saw things as they really are. He noticed the world as it really is which is--"

"Phony?" I smile smugly at him until I realize that he can't see it and it disappears into a slight grin. Nate hesitates, his body relaxing, until he also lets out a shaky laugh.

"Kelly!" Levi calls from behind the counter. He throws the rag he was wiping off the counter with over his shoulder while giving me a look that told me to get off my butt. I stick my tongue out at him. He rolls his eyes and goes back to conversing with Gary over the grill.

"You want to know what's phony?" I say scooting out of the booth and returning the coffee pot to my hand. "Decaf coffee. I'll go get you the good stuff so you can work through that paper."

I can hear a soft scuff from Nate as I walk away and if he was any other male customer I would have swung my hips a little extra to receive a decent tip but this is Nathaniel Haynes we are talking about. 

I sweetly smile at Levi as I pass him and all he does is shake his head before disappearing back into his office.

I can't concentrate my entire shift and unfortunately, my fellow co-worker notices. "Who is that?" Lennette asks while leaning against the countertop counting her tips for the day.

It is already nine which means that Linc's is closing. Which also means that I can finally go home and sleep off the last of the alcohol in my system.

Strangely enough, though, the effects of last night aren't bothering me as much as I thought it would. Yes, my head hurts like hell, and yes, my stomach heaves everytime I smell bacon or eggs, but it was like the shock of seeing Nate sitting here all afternoon has kept my mind off of it.

I shrug my shoulders and try my hardest to look distracted as to not give too much away.

"Oh comes on, child, don't give me that. I saw you making googly eyes at him all day. The last time I looked at my husband like that we conceived our oldest. Not to mention when you left me alone for a good few minutes just to sit and chat with him. The conversation looked pretty intense. Now spill." Lennette is never one you could say no to. I've seen her scold her own children before, who were close to teenagers, and I know for a fact they never say no to her.

"I have not been making googly eyes at him, Lennette. You're being silly."

"No, I ain't."

"Yes, you are."

She gives me a pointed look with one hand on her round hip and the other bracing herself on the counter. I can feel my submissive walls slam down within seconds with her narrow brown eyes pinning me down.

"Okay, fine," I say heaving a sigh. "He's my lab partner."

"Your lab partner."

I give her a dumbfounded look that sends her eyes rolling. She cackles again which has me looking over toward Nate to see if he was listening. I know he is too far away to hear about what we are talking about but I have heard that when someone loses one sense, others are heightened and I wasn't about to risk Nate getting an ear full of Lennette gossiping.

"That's it?"

"I don't see how it is any of your business, okay? Besides," I undo my apron and gather my tips as well. "I'm dating Danny."

Lennette makes a pshhh sound and walks to the other side of the counter. "We both know that Greyson boy is not good enough for you."

I give her a warning look that even I know isn't all too serious as what I meant it to be. "You hush." I point my pen in her direction and walk back behind the counter to finish closing the diner. 

Lennette pivotes on her heels and turns towards our last customer. "Honey, we're about to close up," Lennette says from across the room. Nate's stops typing and takes his headphones out.

"Okay. Sorry."

"No problem, sugar. Take your time." She then makes her way back to me and nudges me with her hip towards him. I glare at her mildly from over my shoulder and then grudgingly do as she promoted.

I wait for a few moments though to watch him pack his things. He did things so carefully, so surprisingly graceful for someone with his disability. One by one he packs his computer, book, headphones, and other gadgets into his backpack. I don't approach him until he starts to make his way around the booth.

I rush over to him before he can leave, something catching my eye on the table. 

"You forgot your phone," I say holding it out to him. Before he can go through much trouble, I place it in his hand. He smiles embarrassingly towards me.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Did you finish the paper?"

"Yeah, I did, but it's been so long since I wrote an actual paper that I don't know if it turned out well."

Before I can stop myself, I offer to help him. "I could read it over if you like." 

I nearly choke on air after my offer and panic starts to sink in. I am doing exactly what Danny told me not to do. I am forcefully inserting myself in Nathaniel Haynes' life whether I knew I was intentionally doing it or not.

But as the strange giddy feeling in my stomach that I got at the thought of spending the slightest time with Nate sprinkled about my body, I know I wasn't doing this out of a guilty conscience. 

This boy is intriguing. He is quiet, yet spoke his mind just like he did when I offended a book that he likes. There is something about him that makes me want to tell him about all my ambitions and inspirations. I shake my head quickly as if to swipe those ridiculous ideas away. I think I am still drunk.

"Really?" Nate shifts his backpack higher up on his shoulder.

"Sure," I croak and silently clear my throat. "You said you're kinda rusty. I do happen to be Valedictorian of our class."

"Yeah, you're welcome," he says but there is humor in his voice. I laugh loudly. It never crossed my mind that he was my competition. 

"So what do you say?" I wait for his answer, rocking back and forth on my heels nervously. 

"T-thanks." He is beginning to reach behind him to his backpack to take out his laptop when I stop him.

"But," I say, an idea popping into my head. "You have to do something for me first."

Nate freezes and for a minute I almost talk myself down into what I am about to request. I hate that those glasses blackened my view of the only window that could give me a hint as to what he was thinking.

"Oh, calm down Nathaniel, it's not like I'm going to have you rob a bank." A punch him lightly in the arm and Nate stumbles back a step which has me giggling. He pushes his glasses back up with one finger and centers himself.

"Why do I suddenly feel like this is a big mistake on my part?"

I smile wickedly and grab his arm and begin to lead him out of the diner. "Hush up and get into my car."

"So this is a kidnapping." The strange thing is though, there is no panic in his voice. I am getting used to the stuttering and the shyness but at this moment there is neither. In fact, it could have been mistaken for a hint of cheekiness in the boy's voice.

"Call it what you want, but I'm calling it a date."

Nate digs his heels into the cement sidewalk and his head snaps in my direction. I laugh at the way his mouth goes slack and his eyes bug out from behind his glasses from what could have been from lack of oxygen.

"Kidding." My voice rings out in mockery but deep down I'm totally not kidding.

He can call it what he wants but I'm still calling it a date.