Intertwined souls ; a.irwin

"I will make you believe you are lovely"

"Hey", I said after the boy outside my window came inside.

"Hi", he timidly said as he flashed me a smile.

"Ashton, right? You're the guy from the bus".

"And the angry customer", he added.

"Yeah, couldn't forget that", I responded.

There was an awkward silence for about a minute. I took advantage of the situation and decided to look at him more in detail. He was dripping from the downpour flooding the Boston streets and his hair was flat and wet falling in and unfortunately covering a quarter of his flawless face. His hazel green eyes looked at me shyly and swerved his stare right as he caught me noticing where his gaze was at.

"I know I let you in but that was just because it was just cruel to not let you when the weather's like this. We're actually closed and I'm exhausted so I'm sorry but I'm not willing to make you a cup of coffee", I said breaking the silence.

"I really just came to complain about what happened the other day, you know? Trying to close this place down so no other innocent customer has to deal with the pain of having to drink the wrong order. The employees here lack professionalism", he said in a serious tone.

I found myself hoping he was joking. What happened wasn't a big deal at all and there really wasn't any reason to react like he did.

He must have noticed my horrified expression since he began laughing.

"I'm just messing with you. Who do you think I am? I did act the way I did yesterday but I was in the heat of the moment, I'm obviously not mad anymore. See?", he said smiling so he could prove to me just how content and not angry he was.

"You just sounded really convincing, as if you were actually going to sue us or something.".

"You're really dramatic. There's no absolute way anyone could sue you over this, like, how would that be even possible?", he said.

"Just tell me why you've come here, you didn't seem really happy yesterday so I want to know your motives".

"You didn't tell me your name", Ashton said.

"What does that have to do with anything?", I asked.

"I told you mine, it's only fair I know yours. I asked you but you either subconsciously ignored my question or chose not to answer".

"I didn't hear what you said on the bus, that's why I didn't answer you. My name is Ava".

"Nice name", he complimented.

"Thank you, I guess".

He began to pace around the room, carefully looking at every little corner he could find. He examined the titles waiting to be read, strategically placed in the bookshelves. He ran his fingers through the peach coloured walls, trying hard not to chip a little percentage of paint off.

"This used to be my favourite place in the world, you know? It used to be magical, at least that's what I thought freshman year", he began saying.

"It still seems like something straight out of a fairytale to me", I voiced my opinion.

"You're the typical freshman then. Every single one finds this coffee shop to be the best thing on campus, it's like a great escape to you guys", he protested.

"I'll be a junior this year though", I said. I was 16 and going into my third high school year, being a freshman was an experience that seemed incredibly far away.

"Oh, really? You seemed way younger", he seemed surprised.

"I don't get that often. People usually tell me I look older", I explained.

"Oh, that's interesting".

There was a short silence, which Ashton ended as quick as it started.

"I'm a junior too! Being 20 is so cool, right?  You have been on this earth for two decades, you're officially an adult, you're on a college budget, no one takes you seriously just yet... The best time ever!", he said sarcastically.

I smiled at his dry sense of humour, so similar to mine but then after his words had been processed in my mind I noticed he said 20. Not 16, 20. That left me speechless. I was desperate for him to like me but our age gap was a thing to consider. My mind was confused and didn't know how to react.

"Yeah, being 20 sure is good fun", I said smiling.

I guess it's safe to say I screwed up.