Polaroid (Troyler)

Chapter Four (Tyler)

CHAPTER FOUR                              August 28, 2015

Why me.  Just.  Why.

There were currently about ten irritated business workers in the cafe all at once.  Never before had there been such a crowd. 

I was not taking the stress well. 

The more people packed against each other, the louder my heart began to pound.  I hustled behind the counter, cursing the fact that Zoe had chosen today of all mornings to sleep in and ask me to cover her shift.  I wanted nothing more in that moment than to run away, and keep running, and never come back, because that was easily the more desirable alternative than working this job to keep out of the house. 

My father still hadn't found out about the job, God bless.  Last night when he realized that today was my first day of school he hit my arm with a bottle of Smirnoff so powerfully that I thought my shoulder was broken.  It wasn't, but the pale skin was stained in a galaxy of shades of blue and purple and green like the most aplombated accidental starburst. 

I continued to fill mug after mug with steaming, sweet scented brew, and the more I filled, the more my hands shook.  The more my breathing seemed to take effort.  The more I needed to escape and take deep breaths of the damp morning air and fill my lungs with the sweet scent of freshly mown grass and morning dew. 

The dinging of the bell hung above the door wrenched my gaze from the cup I was currently filling. 

It was him.  The boy that came back every morning, had a long conversation with my female counterpart, slowly drank his mug full, allowing the cream to cover his lips unknowingly.  He would look at me over the rim of his mug, eyes wide and shining and full of childlike innocence, black feathery eyelashes fluttering; his pale cheeks and jawline sharp enough to cut through glass; his full rosy lips turned upwards into a closed grin.  He was gorgeous.  If he was the sun, then I was naught but one of the billions of stars, light years away from him and ignored among the sun's luminescence. 

I was terrified of him.

How could I not be?  People weren't just that gorgeous with no penalty, there had to be a hamartia that I was missing.  He had both legs, he had working eyes, he didn't seem to be robotic.  He wasn't crazy.  He even had an unplacable accent which was really freaking hot.

But back to the scene.

So there he was, standing like a literal angel that hath descended from the heavens upon our lowly coffee shop, blue eyes wide with concern when he saw my predicament, his eyebrows wrinkling together and his overlarge sweatshirt beginning to slip off his shoulder.   

My confusion and anxiety levels increased dramatically when he pushed his way quickly through the crowd and climbed over the counter so that he was standing beside me.  I frowned at him, my cheeks no doubt bright as cherries, silently inquiring upon his business in my domain. 

He just grinned back, leaving me slightly breathless and filled with relief and gratitude as he looked over the counter and called out that he would help the next person in line.

Now I was really confused.  He was not only beautiful, but kind?? What else could he be? Smart, creative?  I'd probably drop dead if he was creative.  Lord knows creative boys are the hottest kind of boys. 

Nevertheless, we hustled around behind the counter in perfect sync, silently pouring drinks and stirring them to the beat of "Blame Game" by Kanye West.  I could see him mouthing along to the words adorably, even clearly censoring his own muttering.  My heart fluttered. 

Oh no. 

Oh, fuck no. 

I was not about to develop a crush on a boy whom I'd never even spoken to.