After the Boys of Summer

Chapter 7- Boys of Summer

I dropped Desi at school the next day, making sure that she was there 10 minutes early. My mother was enraged after the meeting and chastised me for not sticking up for her. How could I though, when part of me agreed with Mrs. Hawkins? She insisted that she take Desi to school to prove a point, but there was no way I was agreeing to that. I was not leaving Desi in the hands of my mother when the threat of the government loomed over our heads. The only person taking my sister away was me.

I watched Desi run off with her friends as I sat in my car, wondering what I was going to do with my rare day off from the yacht club. As sad as it was, I was not use to having free time. If I wasn't working, I was taking care of the house or going to school or hanging out with Drew, but school was over, Drew was gone, and the thought of being at home with my mother while I do house work seemed like the worst idea in the world.

Suddenly, my phone started vibrating and Ruby's name appeared on my screen.

"Hello." I answered.

"Meet me for coffee. I'm at the Brew." She rushed through her command and then hung up on me. I had half the mind to blow her off for being so rude but then what would I do? I was pathetic and had no choice but to do what she said and meet her.

The Brew was the local coffee shop that everyone in town went to. Partly because it was open 24 hours so caffeine addicts could constantly feed their addictions and partly because it was the only coffee shop in town. The Brew was owned by the Devon twins, Peter and Patrick. They were in their mid-thirties and had dropped out of business school to become artists. When that didn't work out, they went back to their business roots and hopped on the coffee shop bandwagon.

I spotted Ruby right away. With her black pixie hair spiked all over the place, she wasn't hard to miss. She sat on a stool in the back corner, looking anxious. Before she saw me, I slipped by to order myself a drink. Patrick was taking orders at the register. He was the laid back brother, so I knew it was him when I witnessed him tossing and spinning a cup in the air.

"Hey Layla! The usual?"

"Yes please."

"Grande Americano coming up." He wrote my name on the cup and passed it along to the nearest barista with the same spinning move.

"I haven't seen you in a while. How are you? How's Drew doing?"

I looked down at my hands. I guess he hadn't heard about us yet. "Drew is in Europe this summer."

"That's awesome! How come you didn't go with him?"

"I had to stay and work. Plus, I have Desi."

"Oh right." His voice turned sad. "Still at the yacht club?"

I nodded. Luckily a customer came up behind me and broke up our awkward conversation. I silently thanked her as I sidestepped away from Patrick. I didn't want to be rude but I was not mentally prepared to answer questions about my ex and his amazing European excursion.

After grabbing my beverage, I approached Ruby's table. She was distracted at first with doodling on the table top but when she saw me, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to sit down.

"Ow! I'm attached to that you know."

"What took you so long?" she asked, her voice hushed.

"What do you mean? I got here in fifteen minutes."

"Well it seemed longer."

"Whats going on with you? You seem jumpy."

"Jumpy? Who's jumpy?" her eyes darted back and forth.