The Quiet Ones

13. Coffee Cups and Kisses

I walked through the door of the small coffee shop on the corner of my street and allowed the small bell to greet me. I smiled as I inhaled the sent of coffee and watched as baristas moved around frantically to make coffees and bring them to customers.

I scanned the mass of people typing away on their laptops and sipping at their coffees while they worked. My eyes wandered towards the back of the shop and near a couch, where I found Nathan sitting along on his phone.

I walked up to him and he smiled while he turned off his phone and placed it in his back pocket. He stood up and walked towards me to wrap his arms around my body and give me a hug. I hugged him back until he pulled away and looked down at me.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked, his voice sounding much huskier than it had yesterday on the phone.

"I'm good. How are you doing?"

"Great. Why don't you sit and I'll go order us some coffees."

"Okay, thanks. Can I have a white chi-"

"Vanilla latte with foam." He finished for me.

"Yeah. You know me so well," I said while I smiled at him. He looked satisfied as he shook his head and walked towards the counter.

I sat down on the soft and silken couch as I looked around the coffee shop. It's one of my favorite places to go, simply because of the atmosphere of the place. Everyone is just so productive and accomplished while they work on their computers, take notes in journals, and read an immense amount of textbooks. Plus, the shop is decorated with plants and filled with mainly earth tones, which brings me peace every time I step through the door.

"Here's your coffee," Nathan said while he sat next to me and handed me my warm drink.

"Thanks. What did you get?"

"Just plain espresso."

"Nice."

We sat in a quiet and awkward silence as Nathan tapped his foot and I took a sip of my coffee. It warmed my hands through the ceramic cup, and the hot liquid burned my throat as I drank it down.

"So, thanks for calling me yesterday," he finally said making me cringe at how much more awkward he made the situation.

"No problem. I'm sorry it took so long, I just didn't know how to tell you."

"Well I think you handled it perfectly."

I smiled at him as I took another sip of coffee. He looked around and thought about another topic to discuss, but staring at the brown walls and beige ceiling didn't give him much inspiration, leaving it up to me to engage in the rest of the conversation.

"So what are your plans for the summer?" I asked.

"Just hanging out around home. I'm really trying to focus next year because I may have a scholarship to the university of Denver in line for college."

"Denver? As in, all the way in Colorado."

He nodded and took another sip of his coffee. I stared in disbelief as he seemed unphased at the fact that he just told me he's basically moving hundreds, if not thousands of miles away from me in a year.

"Nathan that's across the country."

"So?"

"So that's a big deal. Why didn't you tell me? And why would you move that far?"

"Well I just found out yesterday and you're the first person I've told. And I want to move out there because why not? Why would I pass up on the opportunity to try something new?"

"Because I may never see you again, that's why."

"Don't worry, I'm not even positive that I'm going. Plus, I would never leave you like that, I'd talk to you about it and call you every night."

I smiled and hid my blushing face with the lid of my coffee cup as I took another sip. I never really noticed how much Nathan cared about me. Yeah, we've been friends for years, but I feel like we have a more deeper connection.

We continued to talk about basically everything for about an hour. I told him about how much I love the idea of traveling the world in a van, as much as it scares me, and he told me all about his plan for college. I hate to think about him leaving, but I still had a bit of hope for our future. We made a lot of progress in the hour, because by the end I felt totally comfortable with him.

"Oh, I have to go," I said as I looked down at my phone and noticed that I had to meet the taggers in about an hour and a half.

"Aw, are you sure you can't stay any longer?"

"No, I'm sorry I really have to go. I had an amazing time though," I said as I took a final sip of my coffee.

"Well at least let me walk you out," he said as he followed after me.

I let out a breath and nodded as I agreed to let him walk me out. He gave a wave to the barista as he held the door open for me, and then quickly treaded to catch up to me at my car.

"Okay, well thanks again," I said as I smiled at him.

"No problem."

He had a smirk on his face, one that brought an unsettling feeling to my stomach. He placed a hand on my back and pulled me closer towards him as he leaned down and quickly pressed his lips to mine.

I caught my breath and closed my eyes as I eased into him before he pulled away quickly and opened his eyes wide.

"Wow," he breathed.

I laughed and gave him a final hug and goodbye before I got into my car and drove out of the parking lot with Nathan watching to make sure I got out safe. I saw him with a huge grin on his face as he stood pictured in my rearview mirror.

I've never thought of Nathan being more than a friend to me. I mean, he never really did anything to make me want to think of him as any more. But by the way he's been treating me, Levi's definitely going to have some tough competition, and he's going to need to really impress me to beat Nathan.

When I got home I put the car in park at about the same time I received a call. I looked down at the caller ID and saw that it was Avery with her picture displayed across the screen. I pressed the green button to accept the call and placed my phone to my ear and I attempted to pull my keys out of the engine of the car at the same time.

"Hey," she said as I finally got the keys out.

"Hey, what's up?"

"How was your date with Nathan?"

"It was surprisingly amazing. You were right, he's really great. I'm so glad I said yes."

"I know. So, what happened?"

"Well we actually talked about our futures and dreams, and then he told me about his plans for school."

"Yeah, did anything else happen?"

"Oh yeah, he kissed me. It wasn't that long, but it was diffidently something. It was really nice."

"Okay, well, I have to go," she said quickly on the other line.

"Are you sure? We just started talking and I wanted to tell you more-"

"No Parker. I really have to go," she said as her voice began to crack.

"Oh, okay. Well I'll talk to you later."

She didn't respond. Instead, she hung up and left me to sit alone in the car with a beeping sound coming from my cellphone. I put my phone back in my pocket and rested my head on the steering wheel.

"One hour until part two of this plan commences," I said quietly to myself.