Growing Up

9.0

Aspen shyly waved at Rocky, Brian, and Matt as they walked in to join her. Auden raised an eyebrow at the sight of them, but quickly lowered it back down and nodded over at the three guys. 

"Small world, trap queen." Brian chuckled, his hands in his pockets as he looked around at the restaurant with a curious expression. 

"Small world." Aspen agreed, looking up at Auden who was giving her a questioning look. 

"Oh! Guys, this is Auden- he's a friend from school." She introduced him to her new friends. Brian and Matt nodded back, but their eyes looked like they were off-put by something on Auden. 

"Kit has that necklace." Rocky observed, pointing at the jade stone on the leather band. 

"It was a gift from the plantation workers in the Dominican Republic." Auden explained, shoving it back into his shirt and sitting back down in the arm chair, taking the drink back in his hand. 

"Can I get you guys anything? I'm good with the owner." Aspen offered, using this as an opportunity to escape the rising levels of testosterone between the four guys. They all accepted, and she quickly shuffled over to the counter of the shop.

It was an incredibly cosy place- The walls were either in different shades of large, brown stones, or a coffee creme color with large black chalkboards had the menu scribbled on them in cursive print on the wall behind the counter. The seats were antique armchairs with dark, wooden bases and burgundy fabric. The tables were a similar color with an elegant leg and round tops. The hardwood floors had been painted black years ago; they were now scraped and worn down by the moving of tables and chairs and the constant walking in and out. The front counter had a large display case full of pastries, cakes, and sandwiches- all her mom's recipes. An elderly woman with gray hair and big, blue eyes came out from the kitchen in the back and smiled warmly at Aspen. 

"Hey munchkin. Whats up?" her aunt inquired.

Aspen, suddenly realizing that she had no clue what these guys liked, turned around to ask them when she found they were already staring at her and talking amongst themselves- Auden gave her a miserable pout. 

What do you guys want? she mouthed, pointing up at the board and making her best attempt to be as casual as humanly possible. Even Auden cracked a smile at her act, and Matt sent her a simple text back: Cappuccino. The other two guys finally caught on and texted their drinks; Brian wanted an iced coffee and Rocky wanted an expresso. Aspen told her Aunt her order and within a few minutes she was walking back with a tray on her arm with the three drinks. 

"I used to work here," She shared, putting it down on the table for them and taking her seat next to Auden, "but I felt bad taking money from her. So-"

"that's how you started working at Good Vibrations." Rocky finished for her. She nodded embarrassedly and felt the heat rise up to her cheeks- just talking about her job made her uncomfortable. 

"What are y'all doing here?" Brian asked, curiously looking at the pair of them. 

"We're planning my best friend's goodbye party this weekend and we decided to take a short coffee break- we've got a lot of planning to do." She explained, picking up the small faux leather notebook off the table and flipping through the endless pages of sticky notes and scribbles. "Would you guys be interested in coming?"

Auden suddenly snapped out of his uncomfortable gaze out the window down to Aspen. She gave him a confused smile back and looked up at her new friends who were looking at each other in such a way you'd think they were communicating through each other's minds. Finally, Matt nodded at his two friends and turned back to Aspen. "Sure, why not."