"Do you want your regular?" Lance asks me as he puts on his of going home to an empty house, I asked Lance take me to work with him. He's worked at a local coffee shop called Hurley's Coffee for almost a year now. It's not the most original of names but the coffee's good and the customers are peaceful.
"Do you really have to ask?" I feigns a look of disbelief.
"Hunk, did you hear that? Lizzy is being a smart-ass. She's just cranky that practice was cancelled."
His co-worker, and our friend, Hunk, turns towards us.
"I would be too if I had to be with you." He teases good-naturally. He's one of Lance's best and oldest friend and we've known him since sixth grade. Hunk graduated last year and is working part-time to pay for his college classes.
"How's your second semester of college? I hear the party's are awesome. Have you been to them?" I ask him but trail off when I see Lance rocking back and forth on his heels in excitement.
"Can I tell her?" He pleads and Hunk's face reddens.
Oh, this is going to be good.
"Go ahead." My brother pumps his fist up at Hunk's approval.
"Hunk's got a girlfriend!"
I burst into a wide smile and look at the older boy.
"What's her name?" As soon as I ask that, a goofy smile lights his face.
"Shay. She's studying to be a geologist. I was in the library one day and saw her there. One thing led to another now we were dating." Hunk looks away dreamily and I try hard not to squeal. Lance doesn't even try to not embaress his friend. My brother nudges Hunk with his elbows and wiggles his eyebrows.
"She's going to come here today before we close. We've already planned our greeting."
"What is it?" I asked curiously and then immediately regret it when Lance gets The Look. The Look is an expression he gets whenever he's going to do something incredibly stupid.
The boys look at each other and, to my horror, dab in unison.
"Gods no. Don't do that; you're going to scare the poor girl away." The store door opens and two girls from my school walk in. When they see Lance they start to giggle.
"Don't listen to her, Hunk. She's just jeleous of our abilities to impress the opposite sex." Lance turns towards the register and gives the girls a flirtatious smile. "And what can I get you two ladys?"
I roll my eyes get out my homework. Math is preferable than witnessing Lance's lame attempts to woo girls. When they've ordered, the pair go sit down and talk while they wait for their coffee.
"You know Hunk, Lizzy won't be here to stop us from dabbing later on." I look up and see my brother preparing the drinks. "You see, Lizzy, my dear little sister, is going on a date."
Really Lance?
 Hunk almost drops the drink he's mixing and stares at me. Lance continues on as if nothing happened and takes over Hunk's job.
"Yep. Care to guess who it is?"
"Lance, I swear to God-" He cuts me off as he raises the two cups up.
"Order for Nat and Audrey." The two girls approach and Lance winks at the blonde one. "I wrote my number in case you wanted more of that caffeine."
Oh my god. I thought it was impossible for his pick up lines to get worse.
The two giggle as they leave the store.
"Who are you going on a date with?" Hunk prompts me. He's so used to Lance's pathetic flirting that it doesn't even phase him any more.
"It's not a date." I mumble.
"She's seeing Keith." Lance passes me a drink and then heads to the empty tables."As in my arch-enemy."
Surprisingly, I'm not mad at him for telling Hunk. I've known him for six years and I know he's not the sort of person to start spreading rumors.
"Keith?" eyes widen. No doubt my brother told him all about his 'arch-enemy'.
"Yeah," I say evenly. " We're friends." I stare him down waiting for him to contradict me. Hunk raises his hands in a peaceful gesture. "Just be careful. I've heard people talk about him."
"Right! That's what I told her but she doesn't listen." Lance exclaims as he starts wiping tables.
"He's a good person." I protest defensively. "The rumors are lies."
Hunk looks uncertain and he glances at me concerned.
"I'm not trying to mess things up-"
"Oh, please do." Hunk ignores my brother's remark and continues.
"But the rumors are rumors for a reason. It's your decision in the end but be safe all the same." I nod. He's like a second brother to me and I know he's not saying it out of malice. Hunk looks satisfied at my response and gets back to work.
From the bar, I hear Lance singing along with the music. The shop's owner, Hurley, doesn't mind what they play as long as it doesn't scare away the customers. But right now, they barely have customers to scare. I count five other people scattered around the café. After a moment, I try to focus on the math problem but my hands wander off to my phone.
It's 3:58.
I click it back off and work on my homework. After a long while, Lance sits down on the stool next to me.
"Want to do my English homework while you're at it?" He wiggles his eyebrows.
"Nope. Hey, now that you're here, can you help me out on this one? I tried doing it like five times but I keep getting a different answer." I push the page towards him and he takes a look at it. He's a wiz at year, Lance is taking AP Statistics and he still complains it's not challenging enough.
"You forgot to convert this to pi." He snatches my calculator and puts in the numbers. "Tada. Also, you've got number 10 wrong, same mistake on that one."
"Thanks." I tell him.
"No problem." An elderly man walks in through the door and Lance breaks into a smile he heads back to the cashier.
"Hey Alberto, have any luck with your lady yet?" Leave it to Lance to get to personally know his customers.
I finish the problem and check the time.
4:47.
Shit.
I put my phone down and it almost immediately vibrates. I read the words on the screen.
Message from Keith.
Today, as we walked back to our psychology class after lunch we exchange numbers. A little shakily, I tap open the text.
On my way. Pick you up at Hurley's Café, right?
My heart races as I type.
Yeah, text me when you're outside.
I don't want Lance and Hunk making a scene if Keith comes in. They've already made their opinion of him quite clear. His message comes a few seconds later.
Okay.
Hunk makes the man a cappuccino and the elderly customer walk away with his steaming cup of coffee. I feel Lance's eyes on me and I glance up.
"It's almost time, isn't it? Good thing it's not a date. If it was, you would probably have had a heart attack by now." He quips and I cock my head.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask confused.
"Come on, you're already blushing and you haven't even seen the guy." He points out. My phone vibrates and I click it open.
I'm here.