~*~* luke's pov *~*~
"how about a movie and pizza back at my dorm to celebrate getting through our first day of college?" calum suggested as we shuffled out into the chilly autumn air, feeling shell-shocked from the amount of information that was thrown at us in our variety of classes in the past four hours.
"i have to work," i frowned, walking beside calum as we headed in the direction of our dorm building, "maybe we can hang out when my shift is over?"
i had been working in a cafe that happened to be just a few blocks away from the university for over two years now. i work for a family friend named johnny, who i had grown up around ever since i was a little kid. once i turned the legal working age, he swooped me up and swore he was going to make me the kid with the "best goddamn music taste there is."
"can i come to work with you and hang out there?" calum asked, looking at me with a hopeful grin.
i snorted and shook my head.
"yeah, if you want johnny to fire me," i remarked, referring to the last time he was there and ended up breaking 4 coffee mugs. johnny certainly wasn't pleased with either of us, especially me.
~
i checked the time as i hurried toward the cafe, noticing that i was nearly ten minutes late. i rushed through the door, causing the bell to jingle loudly above. johnny rushed out from the back room quickly, but as soon as he realized it was only me, he relaxed.
"it's about time," he grumbled like a grumpy old man.
"college is hard," i whined as i dragged myself into the back room, throwing my backpack onto a table as if it were my bedroom. i could hear johnny groaning; he hates when i do that.
"wow, i thought that annoying teenage angst of yours would be gone once you went to college," he chuckled as i took my spot next to him behind the front counter, rolling my eyes at him.
"how's business been today?" i asked as i reached forward to nibble off a bagel before he could smack my hand away.
"pretty busy today, fairly slow right now as you can see. but i think a lot of students will be flowing through here soon. speaking of students, i hired someone who also goes to NYU who will be working the same shifts as you," he said, smacking my hand away, just as i knew he would. he took the plate the bagel was on and placed it on a lower shelf built into the counter.
"who?" i asked, my eyes still glued on the bagel that was now below me.
"her name is lindsay-"
johnny was cut off by the bell ringing above the front entrance, and i recognized the same brown hair belonging to the lindsay from my psychology class.
"oh, hey luke," she flashed a perky smile at me before setting her backpack in the back room.
"i didn't know you two knew each other," johnny spoke up.
"hardly," i muttered, doubting that either person heard me.
"we met in psychology today," lindsay remarked, turning to look at the door as soon as she heard the bell ring.
two girls who were no older than i was walked into the cafe, their backpacks signaling that they must have just walked here from campus.
"luke will take these customers to show you how it works, lindsay," johnny said before stepping into the back room.
~
johnny was right when he assumed that business would pick up, but now, with only an hour left of my shift, everything had begun to slow down again, and lindsay and i seemed to had fallen into a deep awkward silence.
