YOU meet tally hall at a starbucks

"omfg it's tally hall"

   It was a normal Friday night in the winter, and you were working the night shift at your local Starbucks as a barista. You didn't wanna be a barista but your parents forced you to get a job or else they would disown you. Since you didn't wanna be disowned, you got the job and worked miserably making drinks for karens, random actually nice people, and 14-year-old girls.

   There wasn't anyone else in the store and it was late-ish. Probably 9 or so. There was gonna be a party that you were invited to and you OBVIOUSLY wanted to go. You were gonna close up the place early so you could go party. No one really showed up around this time, so you went on your phone and waited for the time to go by so you could go to the party. This was normal for you to do on the weekdays because you'd just wait until you could go home.

   You thought tonight was gonna be normal. But you didn't know tonight was gonna be special.

   You were in the bathroom, on your knees scrubbing the hell out of the toilets as you heard the bell from the door chime letting you know someone walked in. You rolled your eyes since you clearly weren't ready to serve customers. You had toilet water all over your apron & uniform and hadn't washed your hands yet.

   "Just a minute!" You yelled as you tried to hurry up cleaning the toilets. You then ran to the sink to wash your hands.

   Your feet scurried out of the bathroom and to behind the counter. You adjusted your hat as you looked at the customer, nervous and embarrassed. But as you looked up you saw...Tally Hall? Your favorite band EVER? You were quite literally shaking in your boots as you tried to make eye contact with Rob Cantor and not look like a complete weirdo.

   "H-hi. What can I get you guys..." You shyly asked.

   "Hmm...can I get 2 cappuccinos, 1 caramel frappuccino, 1 matcha tea latte, and a...Andrew, what did you want again?" Rob asked as he turned his head to Andrew who was behind him.

   "A croissant and a black coffee," Andrew replied.

   You frantically typed in the orders into the register as fast as you could. On one hand, you were trying to seem normal and not blow your cover as a Tally Hall fan. On the other, you were trying to keep your job. But you really liked Tally Hall so you had to tell them you knew who they were. Your job obviously wasn't as important as them. After all, you worked at Starbucks and this was THE Tally Hall.

   "Um..." You muttered. "Are you guys Tally Hall?"

   "Yeah," Joe laughed.

   You thought of many things you could do to remember this moment in one second. Maybe a picture, but that would be weird. To take a picture at 9 pm at a Starbucks with a fan? Kinda weird. Maybe an autograph? That would make more sense. But you didn't know what they could sign. Your eyes glanced around the store. They landed on a cup. The cup was meant to be written on, so why not?

   You grabbed the cup and your sharpie and held it up in front of them. "Can you sign this cup?"

   Rob blinked for a long second before saying a tiny "sure" and signing it. He handed it to the others to pass it down and sign it. He gladly handed you back the signed cup with a smile. You shakenly took the cup, almost dropping it from how nervous you were. You gave him back an awkward smile before you remembered your job and how you had to do it.

   "The total is 45.55..." You said as you waited for Rob to pay. He got out his card and swiped it, and you gave him his receipt. The 5 walked away and you hurried to make their drinks.

   At that moment you almost couldn't remember HOW to even make the drinks they asked for. But you still remembered, so you tried to make them. Your head was filled with thoughts like "Omfg, it's Tally Hall" & "I can't believe I'm making drinks for TALLY HALL". You almost shat your pants of excitement because of the scenario you'd never thought would happen happening.

   But as you silently thought to yourself, you could hear whispers from the band. Most of them were just random conversations until they started talking about you. Yes, you. You thought your mind was just making you hear things that weren't real but you knew it wasn't fake.

   "I didn't know we had fans in this area," Rob whispered to the band.

   "Me either. It explains why they acted so weird when they first saw us though." Zubin tried to whisper, but it sounded like he was quietly talking.

   "Zubin! That's rude." Ross whispered. "You should be more nicer to our fans, asshole."

   "Whatever..." Zubin said back.

   You rolled your eyes at Zubin's little "comment", and to think he was your 3rd favorite member. Smh. Anyways you finished up the drinks and re-heated the previously frozen croissant for Andrew. The drinks were ready and you slapped the stickers on them, but before you called their order you noticed there weren't any names to go along with the order. You shrugged and called out the order anyways.

   The awkward noise from the chair being pulled out from under the table made you almost laugh. You had to hold it in since you didn't wanna make your experience with them any worse. Rob walked up to the counter and grabbed the drinks before saying "thank you" and leaving with the 4.

   You still stood there, in shock that you just met Tally Hall. It felt like this moment was a dream. You didn't even wanna go to the party now. You just wanted to look at your signed cup ALL night. It could probably sell for 300 dollars on ebay, but you didn't wanna forget this moment. Not just yet.

   You were gonna scream and dance around everywhere until Andrew came back in. He held your sharpie and walked up to the counter.

   "You forgot your sharpie," Andrew said as he handed to you which you gracefully took.

   "T-thanks..." You stuttered back, almost shaking.

   Andrew then walked to the door, but stopped and turned around. "The black coffee was amazing." He said before giving you a smile and leaving the Starbucks.

   You waited for them to be gone before you screamed. You jumped around everywhere nearly trashing the whole entire Starbucks. You couldn't believe you just got complimented by Andrew Horowitz and got a plastic cup that was signed by them!!! IN THE SAME NIGHT!!! You shook as you held the cup, looking at it in all of its glory. It was like a gold cup signed by Tally Hall.

~

   Your shift eventually ended after 10. Some customers came in but only under 5 people. You wished the band could go back then, but you knew they sadly weren't going to. You closed up the Starbucks and stood outside as you dialed your best friend on your phone. As the ringing was playing you hoped they picked up.

   "Hello?" Your best friend answered.

   "HEY, GUESS WHAT!" You shouted back excitingly.

   "What?"

   "Like an hour ago I just made drinks and a crossiant for TALLY HALL. No joke."

   There was a moment of silence before your best friend talked, you thought maybe they wouldn't believe it. "WHAT?!?! DUDE, COME TO MY HOUSE AND GET IN MY CAR TO SEE IF WE CAN CATCH THEM AROUND TOWN! SCREW THE PARTY!" ...they did.

   "No, that would be stalkerish. Also I have a signed cup from them. And..." You struggled to go through your apron pockets with one hand but you eventually got the item. "An extra copy of their order sticker."

   You heard your best friend scream with excitement. They started to ask you tons of questions at the speed of light and all you could do was laugh. You were way much more of a Tally Hall fan than them so you thought it was a bit odd for them to freak out more than you at that moment. Your feet started to walk in the direction of your home.

   You were wrong. This night WAS special. Not normal at all :)

~fin

word count: 1465 words

  HI. last night I came up with an idea. it was this. ngl tho, this is the type of story I would write in my notes app in November 2021. kinda stupid but the concept is well made. ...kind of. but that doesn't matter. it's time for goodbye time! have a good day/night. :]