𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 ౨ৎ paige bueckers

𝐱𝐯𝐢. 𝐢 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐢'𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲

๛ ๋ ׅ ˖  𝐢 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐨, 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 / 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢 𝐠𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮  𝅄 ׂ⭒

౨ৎ

real life, present (hailey's pov)

"Two iced chais, and uh... Cam?" I nudged the blonde beside me, who had zoned out.

"Oh, right! Just a passionfruit tea, thanks." She smiled at the barista, a twenty-something blonde in all black. Her nametag (in cursive, and seemingly handwritten) read Lydia, accompanied with a small smiley face. Lydia wore a ribbed turtleneck, despite the sweltering heat of the Backlot in July. She'd explained that the cafe typically "cranked the AC way up", joking that actors would come in on their break to escape the heat. The hem of Lydia's sleeve just barely hid a tattoo at the base of her left hand. Though the design was too small to be identified, the ink seemed to be in the shape of a flower. 

She was cute. Funny, too - despite working adjacent to the most popular filming location in Hollywood, she stayed down to Earth. I raised my eyebrows at Cam, as if to ask What do you think?

Cam shook her head, subtly enough to not alert the barista, and shot me a pointed look, very clearly answering Don't even think about it. How was I supposed to find a rebound for Maia if Cam rejected every potential interest?

We grabbed our drinks and walked over to a table in the corner, where Maia had saved us seats.  Right now, the brunette was sitting cross-legged with her head back, just soaking up the sun. Behind her was a floor-to-wall window. Her eyes were closed.  Here where she sat, the heat had turned from unbearable to comforting. She reminded me of a cat stretched out on a rug, finding tranquility in the afternoon light. For the first time in weeks, Maia seemed at peace. 

She opened her eyes and smiled at us as we took our seats. I slid the second chai over to her. 

"Same order as always, right?" I didn't have to ask - I knew the answer already. We made a silly pact in high school to always order the same thing, a tradition upheld even now. Maia laughed. I could tell she was thinking back to us as freshmen. It was weird; even though we grew up states apart, we had always been close. Same with Cam. Maia came to tournaments to support instead of compete, but somehow, she always made the most friends. Even through high school and college, she had kept in touch with all of us. 

Well, almost all. 

"Oh, this is good," exclaimed Cam, pointing at her tea. She turned to Maia, a twinkle of mischief in her eyes. "Here, have a sip."

Maia shook her head, trying her best not to laugh. "Oh, you're evil. Hailey, did I ever tell you what she did?"

"No, what? Enlighten me."

She giggled, attempting to compose herself before even starting the story.  "Okay, so. It was like... I don't know. Junior year? Senior? Doesn't matter. Cam and I went out to Starbucks one night - super late, like one in the morning - and we ordered our stuff and-"