Grace Notes

Chapter 2

Lola's POV-

The next morning when I woke up, I rolled over and tiredly tapped my phone to see the time. 11:00. As much as I always felt like an unproductive person whenever I slept past nine in the morning, it wasn't like I had any obligations. I didn't have a job I had to get up early for, nor any morning classes to exhaust my brain for the rest of the day.

I unplugged my phone and it lit up again from the black screen it had faded into. I had a text from my parents, a couple YouTube notifications for new uploads by some of the underground artists I was subscribed to, and a few notifications from some online shopping apps I had downloaded onto my phone. Not that I ever bought anything from them, of course.

I swiped up to see more, but when I saw the blue square with the white "f" inside, my heart instantly dropped. I knew what it was before I even read it.

Harry Styles sent you a friend request.

Rolling my eyes, I didn't even bother to decline it. Instead, I cleared my notifications so I wouldn't even have to see it anymore. There was no way that he would cancel his request and resend it. At the least, he would assume I just hadn't seen it yet. But why should I? I was rarely even on Facebook. It was simply to keep in touch with the older members of my family.

I tossed my phone to the end of my bed and made myself get up. Coffee. That's what I needed. The Beachwood Café wasn't far from my apartment. If I could manage to get myself dressed into something other than my pajamas, I could drag myself down there to get caffeinated. 

You know? Fuck it. I thought. I'm just going to walk there in these stupid pajamas.

I went to the bathroom and threw my unbrushed, dark brown hair up into a bun, securing it loosely into an elastic. It looked pretty horrendous, sagging a little two the right with sprouts shooting out this way and that, but it was far from the worst my hair had looked before.

After slipping on a pair of Converse high tops, I went out to my living room, grabbed my apartment key off the counter, and headed out the door.

Let me tell you, me walking three blocks away in a light blue pajama romper, a messy bun, and sneakers wasn't the weirdest thing you would find on the streets. However, I probably blended in pretty well with the crackheads that were always roaming LA.

It wasn't long before I saw the eye catching blue painted door of the quaint café across the street. The stone walls with the potted palm trees outside and the newspaper stand that was falling apart held a certain unbeatable charm. There were many things to appreciate in the city here, although this was the place I had fallen in love with the most.

Looking both ways for vehicles, I dashed across the street. I was surprised I had enough energy for even that, although the fresh air did seem to wake me up a little bit. I almost tripped when I hopped up on the sidewalk.

I took a deep breath and pulled open the door, the immediate warmness of the wood walls and yellow and blue tiled floors filling my eyes.

"Dolores!" 

"You know I hate being called that" I leaned against the counter where my favorite waitress stood.

"I know" she laughed. "I just want to keep you on your toes"

"You are literally more annoying than my mom" I rolled my eyes.

"That's the point" she beamed. "Also, nice PJs"

"Emily, I swear" I held up my fist playfully and she laughed, tossing a towel at me. "What can I get you today?"

"I need caffeine desperately" I set the towel down. "Like you don't understand how much I need it"