"I don't get this," she exclaims as she throws her pencil at her textbook. It ends up bouncing back up from the pages and lands on the counter next to the book, before it rolls off of the edge of the and proceeds its way across the floor until it's prevented from rolling any further by an obstacle in the shape of a floor-to-ceiling cabinet.
"It's math, you're not supposed to get it," I laugh as I pour fresh water in the coffee pot. "You're just supposed to do it."
"How am I supposed to 'just do it', when there's no explanation for it?" she asks. Her eyes follow me as I start to rearrange a couple of muffins on the cake display on the counter, next to her math book. "Don't you think it's a little shady that no one can explain why I'm supposed to 'just do it'?"
"You think too much," I laugh as I shake my head at my best friend, before I focus my attention back on the muffins. "What's the problem anyway?"
"Y equals ax raised to the power of two plus bx plus c," she reads aloud from the textbook.
"It's a simple standard form equation," I shrug, as a ghost of a smile finds its way onto my lips. I used to suck at mathematics, until I took Algebra with Mr. Roland last year and ever since I've able to work my way through any mathematical equation without having to think twice.
"So?" she questions with a confused expression gracing her face.
"So you just put your numbers into the equation and then solve it," I laugh.
"Easy for you to say," she huffs.
"Easy for you to do," I mock her.
"Whatever," she dismisses me as the bell above the door rings, signaling new customers. Taylen, who's seems delighted to have found a distraction from her homework, lets her eyes wander from her textbook to the door to the small café. "Speaking of the devil," she mumbles as every fiber in my body tenses.
Justin Bieber, the boy with an angel's look and the devil's soul, holds the door to the café open for a model looking snake. The couple makes their way toward the counter as panic takes over my body and I try to think of a place to hide. But it's too late; they've already seen me.
"What can I get you today?" I ask the question that I've asked costumers a thousand times, but this time it's different; my voice raises about three octaves and breaks halfway through the sentence. This only seems to satisfy Samantha, whose smile widens and eyes blaze with the same excitement I see in her eyes every time she picks on me.
"A skinny late and a black tea," Samantha orders as Justin types away on his phone.
"That'll be 6.98," I tell them as I fumble with the cash registry. Justin locks his phone and pulls out his wallet to pay for their beverages. Then they take a seat at a booth in the front of the café, as far away from me as they can possibly get.
"He isn't even paying her any attention, he's just on his phone all of the time - he reminds me of you," Taylen states as I press the directions for a skinny late into the coffee machine.
"Me?" I ask confused.
"Yes you. Since of yesterday you've been glued to your phone 24/7."
"I have not," I deny.
"Whatever," she mumbles as she focuses her eyes on the couple in the booth. I'm grateful that the café is large enough to put Justin and Samantha out of hearing distance. I boil water for Justin's tea as Taylen continues to study the couple in silence. When their order is ready I carry their beverages to their table. I keep my eyes locked on the ground beneath me as I walk, to ensure that I wont accidentally slip and fall on my ass.
"That's like her third coat of lip gloss she's been applying since she entered the shop," Taylen comments when I'm safely back behind the counter. "I wonder what happened to the last two coats." I try to pay attention to what she's saying, but it's hard when the person who hates me the most in the world is sitting across the café and watching my every move. "She probably ate it," Taylen says before she turns her eyes from the couple and onto me. Then she says: "Can you get food poisoning from eating too much lip gloss?"
"I don't know," I mumble, with my eyes still locked on Samantha.
"I hope so," she states. "Maybe we could spike her next cup of skinny late."
"I'm not going to poison anyone," I tell her as I finally divert my eyes from Samantha.
"But I might." I shoot Taylen a pointed look and in return, she raises her arms in defend. "What? It's not like anyone is going to miss her." Taylen is right; no one would miss the Queen Bee if she dropped dead on the sidewalk, except for maybe Hannah and Justin.
···
My phone is filled with messages by the time I finally get off from my shift. There's one from my mom, asking me what time I'll be home, but the rest are Kickster messages from Hero56.
Hero56:has your day brightened yet?
Hero56:hallo?
Hero56:Are you there?
Hero56:it's times like these I wonder if you're ignoring me. I can't help the wide smile that finds its way onto my lips, as I reread the messages. I'm usually the one sending the desperate messages and it's hard for me to believe that there is someone out there desperate to get in contact with me.
Princess123:sorry, I was at work, I text him as I unlock my car and get in.
Hero56:oh, how was it? I've barely gotten my seatbelt on, when he replies to my chat message. I hadn't expected him to reply so fast and it makes me wonder if he has been waiting by his phone for my reply.
Princess123:boring as always.
Hero56:you know what I've come to realize? He asks, completely ignoring my reply to his question. It reminds me of the first time we chatted and his constant habit of avoiding my questions.
Princess123:what?
Hero56:I don't know your name. I stare at the message as I rake my mind for a suitable reply. I haven't really thought about the fact that I have no clue what his name is, maybe it's because I don't really want him to know mine; it's just so much easier to be honest when you're hiding behind a username.
Princess123:so? I don't know yours either, I reply.
Hero56:Maybe we could change that?
Princess123: I don't know about that, I admit. I wish he had never brought up the subject and that we could stay strangers forever, only recognized by our usernames, but change is, as always, inevitable.
Hero56: please?
Princess123:why do you want to know? I ask. I don't like the thought of telling him my name, but then again this whole name conversation has awoken my curiosity from its hibernation and now I'm itching to know his name.
Hero56:because I want to know who it is that I'm talking to, he explains. I don't reply to his message, simply because I don't know what to say. Behind my username I can be anyone I want to be, but once the curtain is drawn on my name there's only me left: Cassidy Williams, with no one to hide behind.
Hero56:please?
Hero56:just your first name, please? He pleads. The thought of not having to reveal my last name eases my nerves, but the thought of removing my username and exposing myself to a stranger is terrifying.
Princess123:fine, but only first name, I finally give in to his countless pleas.
Princess123:my name's Cassidy, I take a deep breath as I reread the message over and over again, before I finally hit send and watch as the message spirals out into the universe. It's too late to turn back now; I'm in too deep to turn my back on this.
Hero56:I'm Justin, it's nice to meet you Cassidy.
//AN: thank you for giving this story a chance - I promise you; you wont regret it!//
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Fanfiction| Hero56 is requesting your friendship - do you wish to accept or deny? | Cassidy Williams can't remember the last time she felt accepted and loved. Judged? Sure. Humiliated? Everyday. Lonely? Constantly. However that all seems to change when Cass...
