Page 43 of Cloudless
The thrum of voices and gentle music falls to the background as I mentally count through the change in my pocket. My rumbling stomach protests when I realize a snack is out of the question. I’ll just have to eat some fries or something while I’m waiting for my orders to be ready at work.
The smell of coffee and baked goods permeates the air as we get in line. Ellie’s inquisitive eyes roam over my face as she tilts her head. Her silent inspection sends chills down my spine as her chocolate eyes take me in.
The similarity between her and Kam is normally subtle. Except, however, the color of their eyes.
We inch forward in the line as she breaks the silence between us. “What are your intentions with my brother?”
My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water as her question floors me. That is not at all what I expected her to say. “I, uh, my intentions?”
She's unfazed by my stammer as she continues to inch forward in the line. “Yes. I want to know what you want from my brother.”
I break eye contact to look down at my sandals as the weight of the similarity of her eyes to Kam’s becomes too much to bear. My voice displays the uncertainty I’m trying so hard to hide. “I, um, we’re friends. Just friends.”
Her voice is kind as she says, “I didn’t ask what you are. I asked what you want, L. There’s a difference.”
I swallow thickly to regain a modem of my composure. “I…I don’t know.”
Her eyes take on a mischievous light. “Yes, you do. You just don’t want to admit it to yourself.”
She leaves me standing behind her with my mouth gaping open as she steps forward to place her order. As she orders, her voice is a jumble of unidentifiable sounds. My mind swarms with unease as my eyes frantically roam the room, in search of an exit route to this conversation.
Ellie’s words finally come into focus as she gently taps my shoulder. Her kind smile doesn’t calm my fight-or-flight instincts that are screaming for me to flee this conversation I’m nowhere near ready to face. “What do you want to drink? It’s my treat.”
I’m shaking my head before she’s even done speaking. “Oh, no. That’s okay. I can just get my own.”
A megawatt smile takes over her face as the poor cashier rolls his eyes, more than ready to move onto the next customer. “No way. I insist. If you don’t choose, I’ll be forced to pick something for you, and I don’t think you want that. I’ve been told I have a horrible taste in drinks.”
The weight of the line behind us bears down on me enough to cause me to cave to her demands. “Okay, uh, I’ll take a small iced honey lavender latte, please.”
Her ponytail almost hits me in the face when she turns from me to the cashier, who most definitely does not get paid enough to deal with college students all day. “Great! It’ll just be the cotton candy frappe and the iced honey lavender latte, then. Oh, wait!” The cashier almost drops the cup he’s writing on when she lunges toward him. “I also want a cake pop. A pink one.” She turns to look at me over her shoulder as she raises her brows. “Want a cake pop?”
“Um, no thanks.”
She raises a brow as my stomach lets out a monstrous growl. A victorious smile touches her lips as she pulls her card out of the wallet attached to her phone case. “Two cake pops then, please. Desserts are always better before a meal, if you ask me.”
She takes her receipt, and we step over to the crowded pickup counter. Her hip digs into the counter with the coffee-cozies and the straws as she crosses her arms. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Yes, I did. I said, I don't know what I want.”
She pokes me in the arm so forcefully, I know I’ll be sporting a bruise in the morning. “That’s not a proper answer, and you know it.”
My arm throbs as I try my best to rub away the pain. “I really don’t know what I want. I do know what’s best, though. Friendship is best.”
“Monica and Rachel. Order up.”
Her smile turns sinister as she goes to the pickup counter. “Is friendship what’s best, or is it just what’s the least complicated?”
My brows rise as she sits the two drinks clearly labeledMonicaandRacheldown next to me on the counter. “Um, those aren’t ours. I didn’t hear our names called, either.”
She plops two straws out of the holder and hands me one. “Why use your real name when you can be someone new every time you get a drink?”
She rips open her straw wrapper and uses the free end to blow the wrapper into the trash. Her moan of delight when she takes her first drink has heads swiveling our way. “Oh my goodness. That is so good.” A shiver rolls through her body as the sugary drink enters her bloodstream.
As soon as my straw wrapper enters the garbage can, she grabs my hand and pulls me toward the door. “Come on. Let’s sit outside. It’s too pretty today to be stuck in here.”
My plastic cup immediately begins sweating with the first hit of the summer sun. Ellie doesn’t release my hand until we are firmly planted on a bench in the shade of a maple tree.
The shadows on the sidewalk dance from the swaying branches overhead as I take my first sip of my drink. The liquid leaves a cool trail through my chest as it settles happily in my stomach.
