Quietude

v. quietude

〖A ONE SHOT〗

"Iced coffee for Maeve!"

Everyone inside this small coffee shop glanced at Maeve, as if they were really sure that the order was hers. She liked the drink, but she did not order it.

It had always been like this since she started spending her free time in the coffee shop nearby St. Angelus Academy after school. Mula noong una niya itong in-order, iyon na rin ang madalas ibili sa kaniya ng kung sino. Napagkamalan yatang paborito niya. When in fact, that time, she just tried to change her drink.

There's no problem, honestly, since she didn't have things to call her favorites at all when it comes to food and beverages. She was suspicious at first if that someone had bad intentions yet it's been two months before the second semester ends and she's still alive and kicking.

She fixed her eyeglasses on the bridge of her nose as she stood up. Maeve made little steps while walking to the counter. Her hair, brownish with soft curls, swayed as she walked.

"Ate Blaire, is his name still confidential?" she asked, intently staring at the young lady standing on the counter. "I just want to thank him, kasi nakakatipid ako somehow."

Blaire chuckled then smiled. From the beige shades of pastel that colored her uniform up to her bright smile that can comfort even the most anxious ones, Maeve already knew why people who can't manage to keep up with the energetic ones settle here to drink coffee.

It's the aroma of black beans. It's the smell of papyrus - the old books as their pages were being flipped by an avid reader who couldn't even lift his eyes up to meet the curious stare of Maeve. Those gloomy obsidian eyes were Aspen's.

They're classmates. Been in one classroom but because they were over forty in the room, they did not have the chance to talk about her favorite classic poets nor Aspen's fascination about sci-fi books.

It was just her predicaments. People assumed that the two of them always snob each other for they're the highest one in class. They compete in every grading period on who's going to be on the pinnacle of academic intelligence. Aspen always did...and she's always the second best. It was not her reason in avoiding him but the words of other people who always see them as mere competition had affected her, resulting to her awkward feelings about interacting with Aspen. That was why she couldn't afford to utter even a single word to Aspen without being conscious.

But then, there's this coffee shop where she can get lost with books, where she can sip a cup of coffee or when it's a hot day, she can get the iced coffee someone had been ordering for her, and where she can sit across Aspen in one table. The thought made her cheeks burn as she went back to her seat.

As she sipped in the black straw, Aspen raised his gaze at her, contemplating to ask if she did like it or if she wanted to try other flavors of it. While she wasn't looking, he was able to scan her face, memorizing every feature. But then, it was her eyes that he wanted to see clearly. He couldn't, for she was wearing eyeglasses. He could only scrutinize it behind her lens.

He licked his lips when he realized that they were on the same table. Dito lang yata sila nagkakalapit, maliban sa school awarding kung saan susunod si Maeve na tatawagin pagkatapos niya. The happiness it brought to him was just fleeting and small. Unlike here inside the coffee shop, he was able to get close to her in a distance much closer than the one when they were inside their classrooms. He was able to know what kind of books she was interested to read. He was able to see how her lips redden when the drink was too cold, how her cheeks get tinted with red after reading a romance novel, and how her little fingers tremble whenever she was embarrassed. He was able to give her something whenever they were here, even if she didn't know.