𝐀 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

Chapter 4 [Galore]

August 28th, 2023.

[Oak's POV]

Of course, my car wants to mess up the day I have work. I applied for a job at Aunt Helen's last Thursday and surprisingly I got the job.

This summer I saved up my allowance that my foster parents have been giving me. I used the money to buy a 1992 Red Toyota Camry Sedan.

It has been messing up ever since I got it, I mean I knew what I was getting myself into for buying it off of Facebook Marketplace, but goodness it has been a problem with this car ever since I got it.

I pop the hood and smoke comes rushing into my face, I blow out a large amount of air as I try to calm myself down. I already know what the cause is. That is one of the main reasons why I applied for the job at Aunt Helen's, so I could fix or even buy a new car.

I walk inside of the house from the garage to find Crystal, my foster mom. Out of all of the foster homes I've been in, Crystal and Derek have made me feel the safest.

I walk into the living room where I see Crystal reading her devotion with her tea.

"Hey Crystal, my car is messing up once again." I say defeatedly. "Can I borrow your car? I only need it for work until I have enough money to fix mine." I say giving her clarification.

"Of course, you can just make sure you move my seat back up once you're done. I trust you enough to be responsible with it." She says affectionately.

"Thank you, will do." I replied with a small smile. I grab the keys off the side table and head out the door.

..

Driving has always been my safe place. Everything about it is just peaceful, the air flowing in the car, only hearing the sounds of the cars flying by.

All inner thoughts are silenced, and all worries are paused, I love it.

I take a deep inhale and exhale before I turn off the car and grab my belongings. I see a woman walking towards the coffee shop building so I open the door for her and then walk in behind her. "Thank you, young man!" The middle-aged woman replies thankfully.

I greet Ms. Charlotte, the old woman who hired me last Thursday. I clock in and then get to work.

[Omniscient]

While Oak has been trying to figure out how to use the espresso machine for the past 10 minutes with the help of Ms. Charlotte, 2 customers come in...

Eden and Zephyr, Aunt Helen's coffee shop is their usual hang-out spot to debrief about their day.

Eden walks in and her eyes go directly to Oak as she sees him with Ms. Charlotte at the espresso machine.

"You good?" Zephyr asked Eden. "Yeah I'm good, you remember when I told you I helped one of my classmates earlier today?" Eden reminds Zephyr.

"Yeah, I remember, why?" Zephyr replies. "There he is by the espresso machine." Eden replies plainly. "Oh, he must work here now." Eden replies while looking over at the espresso machine. "Bro, that's crazy. I've literally seen him three times this week. Yup, he's definitely following us." Eden says while laughing.

"He literally goes to our school and half the school knows about this coffee shop Eden, nobody is following us." Zephyr says in a slightly sarcastic tone then pats her shoulder twice.

They proceed to sit down at a table and wait for the other 2 girls before they order their usuals.