Page 189 of Finding Us

“You sure you’re all right? You seem really upset over a few broken coffee cups. I’m sure you have more around here.”

“We do.” She wipes her cheek. “But I have to pay for these. It comes out of my check.”

“Why?”

“That’s just the rules, okay? Would you please go before my boss sees you? I’ll get fired if she sees a customer cleaning up my mess.”

“Sorry.” I stand up and check my phone. There’s another text from Jade.Don’t forget the cream. Love you!

When I look down, the girl is gone. I notice she’s back at the counter, so I go up to her. “I forgot that I need a coffee to go. Can I get one quick? And if you could add cream to it, that’d be great.”

“Sure.” She’s flustered and her eyes are all red. She gets the coffee and sets it down on the counter near the register. “It’s $2 even.”

I pull out a $5 bill but don’t give it to her. “How much are the cups?”

“What?”

“How much do you owe for the coffee cups?”

“No, don’t. It’s fine.”

I put the $5 bill back in my wallet and take out a twenty and set it on the counter.

“Consider it a tip for good service.” I leave before she can give it back.

I normally don’t just give out money to strangers like that, but I feel really bad for that girl. I don’t know what her situation is, but I’ve never seen someone get so upset over broken coffee cups.

CHAPTERFORTY-SEVEN

JADE

I wait for Garret on the bench outside of the science building. It’s warm and sunny today with a light breeze. I’m looking forward to having weather like this year-round instead of freezing for half of the year. I’ve had enough long, cold winters in my life. I don’t need to experience any more of them. Iwillmiss having snow but Garret’s promised me trips to the mountains whenever I need a snow fix. That’s what’s great about California. You get sunny beaches and snowy mountains all in the same state.

I spot Garret walking toward me and I get that fluttery, excited feeling inside. I see him all the time and he still gets to me this way. He has on light-colored shorts and a navy polo shirt, his backpack hanging off his shoulder and sunglasses on his face. He looks like an ad for an Ivy League college, a little preppy but also super hot with his tan skin and muscular arms.

“How was class?” He leans down and gives me a kiss.

I kiss him back, lingering a bit. Okay, a lot. What can I say? I love kissing him.

When I let him go, he’s smiling at me. “Did you miss me or something? I just saw you two hours ago.”

“Sorry, I won’t do it again.” I take my coffee from him and grab his hand and drag him to the bench to sit down.

“I’m kidding. I like it. I’ll take another one.” He puts his arm up behind me on the bench.

“Maybe later.” I sip my coffee.

He rubs my shoulder. “How’s the coffee?”

“It’s really good. Where’d you get this?”

“At a place just down the hill, right by campus. Campus Brew or Cafe Brew. Something Brew. Anyway, we should go there for lunch. They have a lot of different sandwiches and they’re made with homemade bread.”

I look at him funny. “Did you study the menu or something?”

“One of the servers was trying to get me to eat lunch there and she mentioned that the bread was homemade.”

“I don’t have much time for lunch today. I have lab at 1 and I need to get there early. But you could go there for lunch. We don’t have to eat together. I’ll just find something on campus.”

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