We're Not Alone

Chapter 20

"Your total is 16.48," I say, grabbing the customer's pastries while they swipe the card, and letting them know their drinks will be ready in a minute. After a minute I hand them their drinks and start working on an ice chai for me, when I hear the bell jingle, letting me know a new customer is here.

I turn around with a smile "Hi, what can I get-" I pause when I see who it is "Oh hey guys" I grin, Ben and Milo returning the grins "What are you doing here?" they smile, "we were bored so we figured we'd come say hello" I smile, right as Shelly walks out of the kitchen, smiling at the three of us. "Uh this is Shelly, the boss" I smile, "this is Ben and Milo, Leo and I's friends" I say to Shelly. They say their hellos and Shelly insists on me taking a break with Leo in the back so we can all hang out for 20 minutes. I thank her and quickly make drinks for them and Leo before leading them to the kitchen, Leo isn't in there so we head to the back room, where we find Leo doing homework.

"What are you guys doing here?" He says with a smile, glancing up when the door opens. He stands up to hug Ben, giving him a quick kiss, before both of them blush, realizing it's the first time they've kissed in front of other people. I smile, Milo, says they just wanted to stop by. "Here, Shelly told me to take my break early, so we have 20 minutes before we have to get back to working," I say to Leo, handing him his coffee, and turning to Milo and Ben to do the same.

We talk about the Math exam we all have tomorrow, which Milo had completely forgotten about, and Ben fills us in on some work drama. The rest of the shift I keep quizzing myself in my head, trying to remember different math equations. Surprisingly things have been okay this week, that being said it's only Wednesday. After we hung out Sunday I went to bed early, working late Monday. I didn't work yesterday which meant I drove Noah's friends home and even played a video game with them. Only one round, but still it was nice, I haven't joined them in a while. I've been trying to keep busy, the feeling of loneliness has been creeping back in, but I keep trying to push it down. 

The rest of the shift goes by quickly. Me and Leo hang out for a while after closing just talking and then studying and quizzing each other. I get home around 8, playing a few games with my family before coming up to my room.

Now hunched over my desk trying to study, my phone rings, startling me, I glance at the clock, 10:02, who would be calling me? Delilah still doesn't have her phone back. I flip it over, Milo's name filling the screen, along with my face. Shit it's a FaceTime. I quickly fix my hair, then pause, wondering why I felt the need to look my best. I answer, propping my phone against my pencil jar "Hey" I say, Milos's face flooding the screen, his phone is also propped against his desk, papers and a pencil scattered on it, I can see a few posters in the back, and Milo, smiling, his hair messy, a green sweater falling on his shoulders.

He looks flustered, but a small smile lines his lips "Hey, sorry it's late, but um I was wondering if you could help me with one of the math exam topics? Totally confused about one of them" Why did he call me? Ben is equally as smart if not smarter than me, but I don't mention it. "Don't worry about it, I'm always up late" I smile, "which part did you need help with?" he smiles back "Uhh on worksheet 3, the last few questions. I nod, "hold on let me find it" it only takes about 15 minutes to go over it, I explained it slowly, him asking questions until he understands it.

I tell him to do the next problem on his own to see if he gets it. After he reads out his answer I nod with a smile "Yeah that's right" he sighs in relief "Pretty sure you just managed to teach me something in 15 minutes that I haven't been able to figure in weeks" I laugh "Yeah, it's hard to figure out, I only know it now because it was an extra credit thing last year so I had to learn it myself." He nods, I expect him to thank me and hang up, but he doesn't, and for some reason that makes me happier than I thought. I normally don't like FaceTime except if it's Delilah. "How was work" he asks with a slight undertone of worry, as if he's anxious to keep the conversation going, but that's exactly what he does. We spend an hour talking, telling him stories about work and my worst customers and he does the same. It's 11:23 when we hang up, his mom had come in to tell him to get to bed so we said our goodbyes.