chapter 1: Cold Coffee
A cool autumn breeze crept into the Café along with a set of chimes announcing a new customer. The White Elm Café was a quaint little shop with mismatched cups and a string of Christmas lights hanging from the ceiling. An ever-burning fire cozied up in the corner of the Café. A worn velvet couch lay upon a deerskin rug. I found the haphazard decorating comforting. It was home, I have spent countless late nights curled up by the fire cramming for a physics test the next morning. I was thrilled when Steven, the owner of White Elm, offered me a job this September.
I looked up warily from behind the counter. I grinned as I saw Paige stroll in warming herself near the fire. Paige and I have been best friends since kindergarten. Ever since, we have been inseparable. Paige is stunning. She has platinum blonde hair that goes past her shoulders and frames her heart shaped face. A pair of shocking blue eyes contrasts her tan skin. She is curvy and is the kind of girl who can't stand having the same nail color longer than a week. I on the other hand, have an unruly lock of curls that is just impossible to maintain. I am petite and have a small dimple on my left cheek when I grin. Paige says that my best feature is my dark chocolate eyes and a set of full eyelashes to match. We made quite the pair, but as they say opposites attract.
"One peppermint mocha please," Paige ordered as she undid her wool scarf.
I quickly prepared the steaming mug while humming 'Little Things' my absolute favorite song at the moment. The room was quickly filled with the aroma of crisp peppermint with a scent of whipped cream. I set down the red mug in front of Paige and plumped down in the seat next to her. A dreadful trigonometry book lay untouched beside her. Paige squinted at the numbers in frustration.
"Ughh. TESS! Why in the world is there such a thing as trigonometry anyway? Where will this get me in life? I want to be a photographer and I guarantee you there is no trigotometary in photography." She ranted.
"Well first off its trigonometry, and second off what's your deal today? Did you and Owen get into a fight again?" I questioned lightly.
"Is it that obvious?" Paige cried out. At that moment a chime rang throughout the room. We both turned toward the door to find Adrian Jones strut into the Café. Adrian was the star quarterback at Winthrop High School, which all three of us attended. He was beyond obnoxious, rude, arrogant, etc. Paige had a huge crush on him before Owen moved to Winthrop sophomore year. Who could blame her? Every girl had a thing for Adrian, everyone but me.