Rose Café was a tiny little shop on the edge of town,widely known for it's expert coffee and tea maker,Laura Johnson. Laura didn't take many employee interviews,as the store was family owned. Only two people that aren't a Johnson are allowed to work there.

And the shop was about to close for the day.

Scarlet Johnson rubbed the counter more,trying to get off the last few spots. She remembered with a jolt that she didn't turn the open sign to closed. As she walked across the royal blue tile floor,she heard a crash from upstairs,followed by a yell of anguish from her older sister.

"Jesus,cat! Behave for once! " Laura screamed,the sound muffled from the floor.

Laura screamed something else,but Scarlet stopped listening. She flipped the sign over,glad that she was done serving whiny adults and stupid teens coffee for the day.

It was only six in the afternoon,but Laura didn't want Scarlet to have to serve a drunkard or some other creeper in the night.

But that was Laura being hypocritical. She drank more than anyone in this godforsaken town.

When she got the chance.

Scarlet threw her apron down on a table,and set to cleaning the floors with a mop. It was tiring work,but she liked how the floor looked like the ocean while she was mopping.

The ocean.

Her heart ached at the thought. Armin,her boyfriend,was there now,finally. He left about three months ago. He sent her pictures every once in a while,but it wasn't the same as having him here with her.

Scarlet gripped the handle of the mop tighter. Memories flew into her head of the time she and Armin spent together before he went on his trip to California to see the ocean and everything there. Growing up poor,he never had the chance to travel. He said he was going to stay there for a while to prepare for his work as a marine biologist,then come back. He had invited the red head,but Laura wouldn't let her go.

Resent for the older girl replaced the longing feeling in her heart. Laura said she was too young to go across the country with a boy.

Laura acted rather like a mother ever sense...her real one ran off and left them with 10,000 dollars and a half empty bottle of Budweiser.

Scarlet threw the mop back into the closet,threw her apron back in after it,and sat down on the bottom step to her living area.

She laid her hands down on her lap,sighing. The orange fingernail polish she had put on three days ago was starting to chip away. Kidding herself into thinking this was interesting,she forgot about Armin for the moment being.

Suddenly,her phone rang from it's spot atop the counter. Scarlet groaned and stood up,brushing her blue jeans off for no apparent reason.

She clicked open the phone,looking at the retarded picture of her best friends on the screen.

Eren had a yellow duck hat on,while next to him,Scarlet had on a unicorn hat and Armin next to her had a penguin. Eren was making a peace sign in the photo,a smile wide on his tan face. Armin had a wide smile,waving to the camera.

Scarlet smiled fondly at the picture,then finally answered the phone call.

"Hey Scarlet." Eren said,his voice amused.

"Yo,Jaeger." Scarlet said,giggling a bit.

Scarlet could practically hear Eren's smile. "Did you hear about Dahlia? It's all over the news."

Scarlet's eyes narrowed. Ever sense her older brother and sister became international singing sensations,it was a feat when they weren't all over the news.

"No. Haven't. Been downstairs in the store all day." Scarlet sighed into the phone,walking upstairs,shutting the lights off downstairs.

"She's going into modeling. All of the news people are placing bets on how long it's going to last. Quite frankly,I don't think it's going to last long." Eren sighed,then moved,as rustling filled the speaker on the phone.

Scarlet rolled her eyes. For the love of god,Dahlia. First singing with Jean K. and now this? Modeling?

"Who the hell is she modeling for?" Scarlet asked,crossing the living room floor,where Laura was grappling Scarlet's black and grey cat for the feather duster.

"Cosm-What the hell is that sound? Sounds like Godzilla is in your living room."

Scarlet laughed,looking over to where her cat,Harlock,was hissing and growling at Laura,all while fiercely protecting the multi-colored duster. Scarlet sighed,reaching over and petting Harlock behind the ears,making him purr and release the duster. Laura glowered at Scarlet,plucking the duster from the shelf and throwing the door to the kitchen open.

Scarlet walked down the hall to her room,Harlock following her closely. She opened the door to the room,then said to Eren,"Nah. Harlock was just defending his duster."

Eren broke out into a fit of laughter,and then stopped after Scarlet heard a voice yell,"EREN JAEGER. SOME PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO WORK."

Eren laughed sheepishly,then said,"Dad's going to be home all this weekend. He's leaving on Monday,but Mom's basically MIA most of the time. I can't want until the old fart is gone."

Scarlet nodded. Eren's dad,Grisha,was not a pleasant man. Dahlia's career problems forgotten,Scarlet directed her anger towards Eren's father.

"Yeah. Remind me to punch his teeth out for you on Monday."

Eren sighed. "God,I wish."

Scarlet stayed on the phone for a while with Eren,while she at her desk and drew for a while. She drew anything that came to mind.

Grisha dead on the sidewalk,what she pictured her mother to look like,for the woman left when she was seven,Armin at the ocean with a stuffed fish,Eren at DragonCon,a flower. Anything.

Eren eventually had to hang up,considering the fact that they had stayed on the phone for three hours,and it was now nine o' clock.

Scarlet sat on her bed and looked out her tiny window,watching people go by on the street. Occasional cars. She didn't want to sleep yet. She wanted something to do.

'I'm a only teenager for a few more months...I need to indulge in my ability to stay up late while I can.' Scarlet thought. She sighed,changing into something to sleep in.

'I could always paint something for Armin and send it to him...' The red head thought,then flew off her bed when she realized that she could very well do that.

Hours flew by,until Scarlet had a hard time keeping her eyes open. She turned her digital clock to face her,and reveled in triumph as she read "1:00am."

The painting wasn't finished. Not by a long shot. But she could work more on it tomorrow. One in the morning was teenager-y enough for one night. Even Harlock was asleep on his cat bed in the corner. Scarlet clicked off the lamp in her room,and crossed blindly over to her bed,falling on it with a muffled groan into the covers. She rolled around,shuffling under the covers and closing her eyes. She felt a sudden weight on her bed,and looked up to find Harlock snuggled against her leg. Scarlet smiled.

"Just waiting until I went to bed to get up here,right Captain?" She said,petting behind his ears again. Scarlet moved her hand back to her pillow,closing her eyes again.