The Song Of Seattle

Anger Inspires Me

I was sitting at a table in the cute little coffeeshop waiting for Michaela to show up. There was a couple onstage performing an original song. They were going for indie, but it definitely wasn't done well. The man's guitar wasn't tuned, and there was really nothing you could do to fix the girl's terrible vocals.

I looked around the place, and spotted the man working the counter. I immediately noticed his tall, kind of lanky build. The curly brown hair tied up, and the irritatingly beautiful eyes intent on the customer that he was talking to.

I made a mental note to avoid this coffeeshop from now on. Taking my glasses off, I began to work on my song that the professor assigned for next class. My writers block seemed to still be in affect, and eventually I grew too frustrated and gave up.

"Did you think taking the glasses off would make you unrecognizable? I saw you when you first walked in." I heard the deep voice say. I didn't need to look up to know who it was.

"This might surprise you, but I'm actually not trying to hide from you. Although, I'm not surprised that you jumped to that conclusion. I'm sure lots of women try to hide from you." I said without looking up from my song journal.

I heard him chuckle and the sound of a chair scraping against the floor. I could feel his gaze on me from across the small table, but I refused to look up.

It was awkward, but a few moments later he cracked. "What are you doing here?" He asked me with a tone that implied that he wasn't too happy I was here.

"See, this is a public coffeeshop. Sometimes people out in the public come inside to buy coffee. I feel like you should know that considering you work here." I replied back sarcastically.

"I guess that makes sense. So, how are you coming along with that song for Wentworth's class? I haven't even started." He said trying to strike up casual conversation.

"I already finished it, and maybe you should start your's. A great first step would be to leave me alone and work on it." I said hoping he'd take a hint. Also hoping he wouldn't see through my lie about being done with my song.

Apparently he did take the hint because I heard the chair scrape against the floor again, and suddenly a tall shadow loomed over me. "Well. I guess some of us just can't be as perfect as you, Sydney." He said in a tone that sounded annoyed.

"How the hell do you know my name? I never told you my name." I said indignantly.

"It doesn't take a genius to look up the class roster." He replied back unfazed. I couldn't really judge him considering I did the same thing to find out his name too.

"I guess I just assumed that you were too dumb to think of that idea on your own." I replied back smugly. I knew I was being a bitch to him, but something about Brandon drove me crazy. Not in a good way either.

"Do you know what I'm not too dumb to figure out?" He asked with a slight edge to his voice that made me stop smirking.

"I think the better question is do I care?" I said back in a fierce voice.

He shook his head, and barked out a bitter laugh. "I'm not too stupid to realize that you are the brattiest person I've ever met. No wonder no one in class talks to you or wants to sit by you." He said with venom in his voice. He stalked off to the back room, leaving me sitting at the table dumbstruck.

By the time Michaela walked through the doors of the coffeeshop I was fuming and already wanting to go home. "Go order your coffee so we can leave." I said to her the moment she sat down.

She was out of breathe from running across campus, and she looked up at me with annoyance evident on her face. "Leave? Leave?! I just ran a mile to get here, and now we're going to leave? Why?"

"See that guy over there working the counter?" I pointed her in the right direction.

"Oh, that really hot one?" She asked then made an apologetic face when she saw me roll my eyes.

"Yes. The stunningly beautiful asshole behind the counter. He just called me a brat! Now I want to go home." I responded in a cool tone.

"Well, were you being a brat? Cause sometimes you can be a little uppity with guys. Especially guys that look like, Ethan." She said almost choking on her last sentence after seeing the look in my eyes.

"Why would you mention he who shall not be named?" I asked with a petulant look in my eyes.

"Because he's not actually as bad as Voldemort, Syd." She said as if it was obvious. However; to me he was as bad as Voldemort.

Ethan was the one guy that I had ever dated. He was my first everything. My first kiss, my first time, also my first huge betrayal and mistake. We dated for four years, the month before graduation I found out he had cheated on me. I never found out who it was with, but I think knowing would only make it worse.

Maybe part of me was extra rude to Brandon because he reminded me of Ethan in many ways. Either way I was pissed that he had called me a brat and called me out for being unlikable. I spent my whole life being insecure because I knew I wasn't likable. It didn't feel good to have a really attractive guy that reminds you of a past boyfriend confirm the thing that upsets you the most.

Michaela must have seen something in my facial expression because when she came back with her latte, she nudged me and said,"Let's go home and finish that Dawson's Creek marathon."

I had never been more grateful in my life to have Michaela. This is what we did, we looked out for one another. Even when the other was acting like a raving bitch. I glanced back at Brandon as I left the coffeeshop. I made a promise to never befriend him, and to make his life a living hell. In that moment I knew what to write my song about, and I walked outside with Michaela to go home with a smug smile on my face. Wednesday's class should be fun for me, not so much for Brandon Levray.

A.N. If anyone is reading this, I just wanted to say thanks for sticking with it. That means so much to me. It's my first story that I was actually brave enough to post. Which was difficult because it is closely based on my experience. Thank you so much for reading, and much love

Song of the chapter: Pedestrian At Best by Courtney Barnett 

Gabby❤️✌️