Coffee Shop Soundtrack (Marianas Trench)

Chapter Fifteen

Matt awoke from another restless night with his throat scratchy, still after a week. This was when he was reminded of what happened when he’d gone out to dinner, and by god, he was ashamed. He shouldn’t have eaten that much at the restaurant. He shouldn’t have had to force himself to throw up. That was just embarrassing.

He looked over to see Tyler fast asleep, and he got up as quietly as possible, slowly opening drawers to get the clothes he needed and heading off to the bathroom. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror, and then pulled his shirt off and looked again. He grimaced, looking at the sickly purple bruises flowering across his shoulders and forearms. The one where Tyler’d jammed his foot into Matt’s ribs was just fading now, merely a yellowing colour. And there were cuts and scrapes, particularly across his chest and neckline where Tyler would grab him by the collar and catch his skin in the process. He sighed, and brushed his teeth as well as he possibly could before getting into the shower. It took him ten minutes before he was out again, dressing quickly and brushing out his hair. He tossed his clothes in the laundry basket, picking up his rucksack that was filled with books and folders that he needed for the day. He grabbed his guitar in its case and headed out to college.

Josh stifled a yawn as he leaned forward on the counter at the coffee shop. His dad had roped him in for another shift before college, and he really could have done with another half hour in bed. Nevertheless, he’d served what seemed like hundreds of busy office men on the way to the train station already. He stole another glance at the clock, grinning when he saw it was eight forty-five.

“Dad! I’m going to school!” He shouted, untying his apron and hanging it on a hook, running to the kitchen to grab his bag. His dad stood wiping a counter, and looked up to see Josh rush in. The old man only nodded, and waved as Josh ran out of the kitchen, grabbing a breakfast muffin in the process.

Maybe it was fate, or something supernatural that wanted the tall boy to be where he was at that particular moment in time, for he collided with someone as he exited the shop. He didn’t look where he was going in the slightest, for he’d knocked both himself and the other person to the ground.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry.” He began to apologise, dusting himself off as he stood up. He reached out a hand to help the person up, and grinned when he saw who it was.

“It’s alright.” Matt said, smiling as he took Josh’s hand and stood up. “We’re always doing this, huh?” Josh chuckled lightly, and nodded his head in the direction of the college. “Want to walk with me?”

“Sure.” Matt said, kicking a stone in the pavement as they walked side by side. Josh picked up his breakfast muffin that had fallen across the concrete and tossed it into a nearby trash can.

“Sorry for knocking you to the ground.” Josh apologised, making Matt laugh.

“Don’t be silly.” Matt playfully hit Josh’s shoulder. “It was an accident, I wasn’t looking.”

Josh nodded, pretending to be hurt from where Matt had hit him lightly. “How are you?”

“I’m alright.” Matt said, not really intending to come off as blunt as he did. “And you?”

“Pretty good. We’ve got music today, right?”

Matt nodded, looking down at the concrete below his feet. “We need another collab song and we need to each do our individual songs.”

Josh nodded slowly, listening carefully to Matt speak. “I still have your notebook.” Matt stopped walking. “Can I have it back?” He asked.

“Sure, I’ll bring it in tomorrow. I just remembered now. It’s at home.” Matt raised an eyebrow, and continued to walk down the path way.