Sara's POV
The feel of the ragged book in my hands felt lovely as I continued to scan the pages of the Tolstoy classic. I flipped the page when I caught sight of my wristwatch, and I went to check the time out of curiosity. Momentarily the hands positioned at 4:55 did not phase me; however, it didn't take long to remember my shift started promptly at five and it took at least 10 minutes to walk there from the campus library. I quickly gathered my belongings and excused myself from the cozy seat I found myself in nearly every day.
Arriving just a few minutes late I tried to make my entrance subtle. Unfortunately, not possessing the gift of grace led me to stumble over the sign displaying our specials for the day. As I looked up I saw my boss shaking his head at me, but I made greater note of the gorgeous woman he was talking to. She had to be around my age and the way her clothes hung off of her, and the choice in piercings and tattoos led me to be optimistic about the chances of her being queer. I couldn't help but evaluate everyone as a mate considering the gay community was not that large and those who were a part of it happened to be shushed about the matter. I knew I couldn't spend my entire shift on the ground looking awestruck at my boss and whoever this person was. I then stood up and made my way behind the counter tying my apron securely and tucking my bangs behind my ear.
The boss led the eyecandy into his office and I presumed my duties as a barista. Here in Helix, a small town outside Portland, Maine that is, we were the most popular coffee shop. We had the snappy name, Latte Da, and a considerable amount of traffic. I had been working here since the summer before Senior year and as I am now a freshman in college I had racked up over a year in experience. I still loved the little things about the shop, the smell of coffee, the banter with regulars, and most of all the live musicians that often play on Friday nights. Speaking of, where was our performer of the week? There had only been two Fridays since I began working there that there was no live music. I couldn't help to think it was strange but I continued to think about trivial things to pass the time before my shift ended. As I began to sink into thought I saw the cutie walk from the boss' office, directly in front of my and she caught my eye and gave me quite the grin. That only made my sadder when I saw her exit as if it were her job. A couple of minutes later she reemerged holding what could only be a guitar case.
It was my lucky night after all! The customers began pouring in but every chance I had I devoted my attention to the same girl playing her original songs. All of her music sounded good enough for radio, but even better than that it had soul, it had meaning. I was in the middle of making a frappe when I head the guitar and singing stop for an unusual amount of time. I only looked up after I handed the drink to the customer and returned back to the cashier position. There I saw my next order was going to be from the talented stranger. She confidently said "Hey, I'm Tegan but you can call me Tee." I stuttered a nervous "hi," and went to take her order.