begin again | jack hughes

chapter one

on a wednesday in a café, i watched it begin again — taylor swift

Jack Hughes
Tuesday, October 15

The one morning when I needed coffee most, what happened?

My coffee machine broke. Go-figure!

I figured I could grab something on the way, but I had wasted a solid half hour trying to fix what was essentially my life support for the day, and put myself way behind schedule.

I'd even be willing to get Starbucks or Dunkin, two places that were on the very bottom of my mental coffee shop rankings, just for some caffeine.

Luckily, Google Maps had my back and found a small café on the way to the rink, so if I hurried, I may have a shot at getting a decent cup of coffee.

Everything had been going in my favor so far; my car had just enough gas to get me to practice and back, the lights had all been green, and I managed to snag a parking spot almost right in front of the café.

After I'd double-checked to make sure this was the right place, I got out and walked by one of the big glass windows, peering inside as I neared the door. It was packed, unfortunately. You'd think there was a famous person inside giving out autographs or something.

I stopped to try and see how quickly people were getting in and out, but it looked like a slow morning. An older lady took someone's order before saying something to who I imagined was her co-worker somewhere behind her.

I waited for another moment, hoping to get a glimpse of their pace, when the other barista came into my line of sight.

Then I'm not too sure what happened. I think time may have stopped? The world may have stopped spinning?

Neither of those, but my breath was definitely.. Taken away.

The urge to just wait out the crowd got insanely overwhelming now that I was looking at the prettiest girl I'd ever seen.

She was less than twenty feet away from me, laughing at something the older barista said while she worked. What was she laughing about? And how could she stand there and laugh and look so beautiful? While making coffee, of all things?

I sucked in a breath and thought really hard. I was usually very good with time management. Being late wasn't normal for me. But she was really pretty, and as silly as it sounds, I just wanted to know her. To know her favorite color or what would make her laugh in serious situations. Or her name. That would be pretty good, too.

My phone buzzed in my pocket and my mood fell ever so slightly. Nico was calling me, probably wondering why I was almost an hour late. I didn't answer, opting to text him once I was back on the road.

Ugh. I really hoped she'd be here tomorrow.

-

Bailey Cameron
Wednesday, October 16

As committed as I was to school, I couldn't bring myself to type up a single word on my most recent assignment. Even though that's the very reason I decided to come to the café early, I just blanked whenever I glanced at the screen. I couldn't help it.