Café au Lait (slow updates)

three.

chapter three

Two people who were once very close can, without blame or grand betrayal, become strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in the world. ~ Warsan Shire

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It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen Zachary, seeing as how I’ve offended him. He probably comes in after my shift or something, because Haley won’t shut up about him and how utterly stupid I am.

I know, I know, I am.

But I’ve been telling myself I don’t care about what Zachary thinks of me, that I don’t care about my apparent lack of social skills.

Why would I want to be friends with someone as annoying and caffeine addicted as him?

Right, I wouldn’t.

I arrive at school, my hair whipping behind me as I rush towards Myra. She’s standing in front of the office, her backpack slung over one shoulder, engrossed in her phone.

Right before I manage to sneak up on her, she looks up, her brown eyes glinting in the warm southern California sun.

“Dammit Myra!” I call out, a smile managing to form as I struggle to keep it down.

She simply winks at me. “You’ll never get me, Tal.”

“One day, just you wait…” I smirk at her.

She simply rolls her eyes, but as instantly as sun turns to rain in California, she turns serious. “How’s that situation?”

I bite my lip and sigh. “Not much better. We’re getting by though. Mom has to work overtime a few days, and I’m pouring all of my wages in. The bills are getting paid and we have enough for food and other necessities. Gas and the such as well.”

My mother, as a single mom, has tons on her plate. She had single-handedly supported my brother Jason and me for the past seven years, and I’ve only recently started helping. She’s absolutely amazing, my mother is. She never complains, even when her hours get cut or when she has to work until one AM, even when we can’t pay off the electricity bill and we have to use candles for a few weeks.

After my dad, that bastard, left us when I was ten and my mom was pregnant with Jason, my mom had been my rock, one of my very best friends. She’s just so strong and rooted, and she’ll stop at nothing to give Jason and me a normal lifestyle.

But lately things have gotten worse, and I desperately needed to help, even if my mother objected. First I’d offered to dip into my college fund so that we could get by, but that was one thing she absolutely refused to do. She wanted me to get a good education, because she couldn’t.

So I’d picked up the job at the coffee shop to help where I could. And it’s been getting better. Now, we could just barely pay off the bills every month and the rent for our small townhouse, in addition to the food and necessities costs. We did have a little more pocket money, but we were far from high middle class. More on the end of the middle class spectrum, and that end was not the high one.

Myra smiles sadly at me. “You know, if you’d just let me-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence, Myra.” I say sharply. “I can’t accept that.”

She sighs wearily. “Just think about it, okay? We’d be absolutely happy to help in any way that we can.”

I just shake my head. “No, really. We’re doing fine. We can’t ask that of you guys. Thank you though, you’re awesome.”