RUN!

31. Morph

Song: Morph by Twenty-one Pilots

      Poppy Coffee is larger than I'd pictured and yes, it is quite busy. Next to me, Lee squints at the sign board before allowing his gaze to fall on the door of the cafe.

"This place is like 20 blocks away from your street. Why choose a place so far?" He questions.

"To remain unseen, remember, He suggested the place," Nick supplies. He decided to tag along with us today because he's familiar with this cafe. He used to come here with Avery too. It didn't take much convincing to get him to follow us.

"Come on, let's go in."

  The three of us peel ourselves from Lee's Jeep and walk into the cafe. The pale blue walls are a comfort and the scent of freshly baked bread attacks me all at once. I never planned on getting anything but I find myself heading straight to the counter.

"You getting something?" Lee asks me but I'm unable to answer because the guy behind the counter turns around and grins at me.

"Hey there! Welcome to Poppy Coffee what would you like to offer?" He rattles off like a computer. This guy's almost as Declan and that says a lot. As a guy, I hate that I have to raise my head a bit to look at him. His skin is a rich brown that looks almost like the coffee they'd pasted on the walls and his hair is combed up into a messy afro. There's something open and free about his aura that makes me want to order anything he suggests.

"It's my first time here, what do you have?" I ask, maybe because I secretly want him to order for me.

"Our special of the month is the Chan Cream. You could get that with a bagel or something else–"

"Chan Cream?" Nick asks incredulously. The guy looks behind me and it's as though he hadn't seen Nick and Lee standing behind me until now. His slim eyes rise up high in a split second.

"Nick? Dude where have you been?" He smiles at Nick. This is the point where I decide that this guy is straight out of a romance novel.

"Here and there. When did you make a coffee called Chan?"

"I suggested it, you know...since Avery went missing I haven't had any idea how to help so I just suggested it... it's stupid, I know but–"

"That's actually very thoughtful. We'll have 3 Chan Creams. My name is Lee and this is Adonis," Lee points at me.

"Hey. I'm Jaré."

Jaré!

"You're Jaré?" I blurt out.

"Yeah...have you heard of me or something?"

"Well yeah, technically," I shrug. Jaré looks away from us as the door chimes again, indicating a new customer. He turns back to us and regards us with a calculating look.

"I have a feeling you guys have a lot to say. Why don't you take a sit, I'll send you your order and come meet you in 15 minutes max?" He suggests. We murmur our agreement and go find a place to sit.

"Just how often did Avery and you come here?" Lee asks the moment we sit down.

"I don't know, she showed me the place but I feel like He showed her the place first. She really loved it though."

"Did you meet up with her here after that weekend?" I prod. He blinks at me as though he'd never considered it before.

"Now that you ask, I don't think so. Avery never spoke about this place again–"

"But she must have come here again if Jaré remembers her so fondly," Lee points out.

"He must have brought her back here, it doesn't seem like she had much of a choice, " I grunt. Nick grimaces at my words. There's a moment of silence before he turns his head back to me and decides to spill whatever it is that he's thinking.