Surface

Chapter 2 - The Art of Being Needed

The day was gloomy, dark clouds dotted the sky and a chilling breeze ran through the air, yet I felt happy for the first time in a while. A cup of hot chocolate sat in front of me along with a warm muffin. Pictures of Victoria were scattered on the splintered cafe table and Pete sat across from me wearing a lopsided grin.

"Really? You broke ten of their mugs in one day?" I laughed, feeling the sides of my eyes wrinkle the way they always did when I smiled big.

Pete nodded as I gave him a incredulous expression. "I'm just that clumsy. I'm still not sure why this place had hired me in the first place but I'm glad I got to work here. It's where I met Tori."

I smiled. I remembered that day too. Not because I was there but because Tori had eagerly told me all about it just a few hours later. She had come to our group sleepover, painting her nails and blushing the whole time she told the story.

"Yep," he continued. "I was bussing tables and she walked right into me. She broke about ten mugs too." I casted my eyes on the rack of mugs resting in the cupboard above the back table. I wondered if Tori drank out of any of those mugs. It was a weird thought.

"Two klutzy goofs, a match made in heaven," just as I said it, I wanted to take it back. It created a pit in my stomach to think that half of that match had ended up right back in heaven only a few weeks ago.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

I'm a complete idiot, an insensitive idiot.

"It's fine. Really," Pete said with a shrug. "You don't need to know all the right things to say. I mean, no one does."

I was taken back a moment. He wasn't angry? I sighed in relief. Thank goodness he was so understanding. It's nice to have someone who doesn't expect perfection.

He chuckled at my relief, his dimples showing. I wondered how he did it. How he made every smile seem so natural, so genuine, so free.

"Thank you." I took a sip of my hot chocolate and tried to savor the moment. I wasn't yelled at or scolded for messing up. It was okay. For once it was okay. Pete seemed a little thrown off by my relief but he didn't comment.

My phone vibrated on the table. Hannah's face appeared on my smartphone screen along with 3 missed calls.

I inwardly groaned. She was going to kill me. One of Hannah's number one rules was to always answer her calls.

I had done a good job of keeping these meeting with Pete a secret. We agreed to meet up a few days after the funeral and we just kept meeting up. It was kind of our way of coping. We got to talk about Tori and remember her. Plus, I got to spend time with someone who wasn't in my little group circle. It was as close to freedom as I could get. I was actually really enjoying his company. I did not want Hannah to take this away from me.

"You look upset," Pete observed narrowing his eyes at my phone. "Is it Hannah?"

My blue eyes flashed while meeting his hazel ones. How did he know? "Yea. But it-it isn't a problem. Nothing's wrong." I took a breath to make my voice more steady. "I'm gonna take this."

He nodded and I walked off to the corner of the empty cafe. It was a local place that got a steady stream of business. Mostly people from our small town came there. It was rare to see a new face.

My thumb tapped the answer button. It was moments like these that made me wish I had gotten the chance to jump off that cliff the day Tori's body was found. Hannah couldn't get to me if I was at the bottom of the ocean. I was sick of her, sick of the group, sick of everything. Losing Tori only made things worse.