Before you go... //h.s

How to save a life

^^ verbal abuse

My day surprisingly hadn't been too bad so far: I'd managed to get to work on time and all the customers I'd served so far hadn't been rude or impatient. Ash was also in a weirdly happy mood and his bouncing had reflected onto me, helping better my mood.

Okay so when I saw I was in a good mood I really mean comparatively to the previous week I was in a good mood. That doesn't mean that it would be considered a good mood by most people.

What it meant for me was that getting out of bed hadn't seemed completely impossible, getting dressed to go to work hadn't seemed completely pointless and I'd only had one compulsion so far today which was a dramatic reduction from previous days when I'd spent nearly the whole day tapping things, counting my footsteps, washing my hands and doing things a certain amount of times.

As I waited for someone else to come through the door, I enjoyed the peacefulness of the café. There were a few people dotted around the tables, typing vigorously on their laptop as they desperately sent off emails.

The quiet radio playing over the speakers in the ceiling sings out How to save a life, the quiet tune adding to the relaxed atmosphere of the café. The Fray was a good band – I understand there were many mixed opinions about them, but their music was honestly really good, especially when you were just needed calm music for the quiet times in the day: the morning, the evening, the moments of reflection...

The lights hung down off the ceiling, illuminating the café where daylight didn't suffice as days became shorter as autumn rapidly set in and balmy summer evenings became a memory of the past once again.

The door creaked very slightly as two girls entered, probably slightly younger than me judging off their looks. I plastered a smile on my face as I politely asked them,

'What can I get for you?'

The first girl, the dark haired, dark skinned one smiled at me, looking up at our menu board before opening her mouth to ask for whatever coffee it was that she wanted. The second girl, blonde and quite short, however refrained from smiling as her brow furrowed and her lips pursed, almost like she was studying me intently.

But no-one would study me like that, I was boring. Plain. Nothing unusual.

Just as the first girl began her sentence, her friend elbowed her, cupping a hand around her mouth as she whispered into the girl's ear, making sure I couldn't see. The pressure in my chest increased with anxiety as my brain began to fly through every option that they could be whispering about.

The blonde one stopped whispering and removed her hand from her mouth as she boldly turned to me.

'Are you dating Harry Styles?' she demanded rudely.

Fuck.

Fuck, however this was going to play out, it was going to go bad. I could sense it.

'I'm sure there's a lot of girls who look like me,' I half laugh, desperately trying to get out of the situation without directly lying to them. 'So what can I get you?'

'No you definitely are,' the blonde girl repeated, more conviction in her voice. The dark haired girl shifted on her feet, looking slightly uncomfortable like she didn't want to be dragged into this.

I look at my feet, internally panicking but desperately trying to fend of a panic attack. This girl already had it in for me and I didn't want to give her anything else to criticize me about.

'How the fuck can you date him?' she suddenly screaming. A few of the other customers sitting quietly at their tables jumped slightly at her outburst, hastily turning around to watch the scene. My heartbeat raised so I could feel it anxiously thumping against my ribcage.