Demons

Chapter 2

Zayn smiled back. His smile was beautiful.

"I've never seen you before. Do you live in Lake Birchville?" I inquired, desperately trying to come up with a conversation to prevent myself from looking like a fool. Whoops, it might have been too late for that.

"Uh, I used to, until I was fourteen. Then I - moved around a lot - for five years and found my way back here." He seemed a little hesitant, as if he were lying. But I could hear the obvious English accent hiding behind his words, so "traveling" could've been true.

Zayn must've sensed that the conversation wasn't going anywhere, and, thankfully, he saved it. "So, uh, how old are you?"

"Well, today is actually my seventeenth birthday. I was here with my friends to celebrate." I turned to glance at the booth and gave an awkward smile to Zayn, Damian's intent glare making me uncomfortable.

"In that case, happy birthday." He spoke; his eyes bore into mine and his voice was just so enticing. Almost too enticing, I'd say.

"Thank you." I chuckled nervously. I'd never been nervous around men, why was I now? I just needed another reminder that boyfriends and crushes are empty and full of hurt.

"Here's your apple cider, Lacey." Ivy slid me the drink, giving me the "go-away-I-saw-him-first" look, but once again I ignored her. She deserved it.

Zayn and I watched Ivy groan and angrily shuffle away before he looked back at Damian and Ava sitting in our booth, staring at him. "Am I keeping you away from your friends?" He asked with his pierced eyebrow raised.

"They're fine." I laughed, and he nodded, now reassured.

"So, the waitress knew your name. Are you a regular here?" Zayn changed the subject curiously.

"Well, I'm actually a -" I took a sip of the scalding hot apple cider and disgustingly spit it back into the cup. Might as well just leave him while you're ahead. However, surprisingly, Zayn didn't stare at me with disdain, but instead immediately reached over the counter for a napkin, chuckling.

"Do go on, I'm interested." Zayn joked, and I rolled my eyes at him. There was some leftover cider slowly making its way down my chin, and he, with the napkin in hand, was about to gently rub it off. Instinctively, I basically snatched the napkin from him and took the cider off myself.

"As I was saying, before I interrupted myself, I work here as a part-time waitress. And Ivy, the waitress you were talking to, doesn't get along very well with me." I pointed to Exhibit A, the boiling apple cider. Zayn laughed once more, and making him happy suddenly felt like a life goal of mine. His smile just did that to people.

Damian was still staring like a creep. You don't mean that, he's probably only looking out for you.

"Does that mean I can come back here to see you again?" Zayn queried flirtatiously with a smirk on his unrealistically good-looking face.

"Of course, I mean, I am basically obligated to interact with all customers." I whined, and a pang of guilt hit me when I saw Damian and Ava sitting and talking in our booth. "Which reminds me that I should probably get back to interacting with my two favorite customers."

"Yeah, it is your birthday party," he agreed, handing me the apple cider wrapped in a thick napkin so I wouldn't get burned.

"My shifts are usually from 5:30 to 9:30 on weekdays, so you can always drop in then. But it was nice meeting you." I slowly got up from my seat, accepting the cider cautiously.

"I will definitely try that. See you around, Lace." Zayn responded, unintentionally giving me a nickname. Only Ava and Damian called me that, but I would allow him to. Heading back to my friends' booth, I awkwardly smiled when Ava winked at me.