The Mailbox Girl

23. A Starbuck's date

"This is to you speaking up for yourself!" Shane exclaimed while putting my Starbucks' order on the table before me.

He had insisted on taking me to the mall to celebrate what had happened earlier today. It was my first time alone with Shane outside of school – besides that time when I slept at his place – and I was pretty nervous.

"Beware..."

"Thank you." I said at the same time while reaching to take a sip. And I burnt my tongue.

"It's hot." He finished while sitting next to me. "I tried warning you. Here, take a sip of mine. It's a cold drink."

I did as he said and was surprised to taste iced chocolate. His tastes really didn't live up to his reputation. As he took a bite of a muffin, I took out of my bag all the letters I hadn't been able to read earlier today due to Clementine's tantrum.

"Come on, Jenn. Don't tell me you're going to work here."

"Clementine prevented me to do so earlier, so yes, I am going to work here. And you should help me." I handed some letters out to him and started reading.

"I thought we were gonna talk." Shane sighed while laying an annoyed look on the letters. "What kind of date is this?"

"This is no date." I mumbled while hoping my cheeks wouldn't turn red. "You have a girlfriend, remember?"

"It's pretty much an open relationship."

I frowned.

"With Vanessa?"

"Yeah."

"It seems pretty inclusive when you usually talk about her." This was not what I wanted to say but I felt like what a fuckboy wouldn't have gotten any information from him. Why did I think I was crushing on this guy again?

"Well, we agreed on it this week-end, as I'm her rebound after all. Since there are still chances for her to get back with her ex, she doesn't want to settle with me. Why are you laughing?"

Shane, a rebound? I was not prepared for this. So even the hottest people could be number two in other people's hearts. This was great news for the love story virgin that I was.

"Why are you laughing?" He insisted since I wouldn't calm down.

"It's nothing, really." I replied as my laugh transformed into a cough. "Why didn't you break up with her?"

It was his time to laugh.

"The sex, Jenn. Why else?"

I mimicked a disgusted face. It was maybe too strong of a reaction for an eighteen years old but I had always been uncomfortable with this topic. Now that Shane had made me recall how much of a fuckboy he was, I didn't care that much about it though.

"I'm completely emotionally available now, if you're interested."

I laughed my discomfort off.

"Thought I was your dude." I said because well, I really thought I was! Why was he flirting with me all of a sudden? Well, I knew why: he was a fuckboy. But even fuckboys had taste and I knew I was nothing like his type of girl. To be honest, it would be a miracle if I ever was someone's type at all.

Thankfully, the conversation didn't sound as serious to him as it did to me since he only replied with:

"Yeah, right."

Yeah, right, he remembered I was his dude. No more attractive than his Alejandro friend.

"Let's get back to work, okay?"

I started taking notes of a letter and the reply I could come up with as he continued eating his muffin. He didn't even try to act like he was doing as I said, he was carelessly people-watching, slouched on his chair.

Typical Shane O'Connell.

As I focused on the letter again, I realized that I was once Clementine. I had thought he was useless but had gave up on making him leave the Mailbox since nobody could resign from the Council. I had only changed my mind because he had helped and fostered me after my humiliating experience at Zoe's party.

Suddenly, I noticed him dropping his muffin from the corner of my eye. A faint "fuck" came from him as he bent down to get it from the floor. It was a pretty calm "fuck" for someone who had dropped a piece of heaven on the dirty floor of a Starbucks.

As I watched him sit back on his chair, I realized he was not that interested in his muffin. No, he was staring right at me. His blue gaze more serious than ever.

"Hey Jenn, can I hold your boobs for a second?"

***

I refrained from slapping him on the spot.

"No fucking way, don't touch me! Ever." I sat as far away on my chair as possible.

"But you don't understand, Jenn. There's my ex over there at the counter and she saw me and I want to show her that I moved on and have a girl." He muttered while leaning over the table.

"By holding my boobs?" I hissed, while shaking my head. "If you are looking for ways to prove her you moved on, it probably means you haven't at all."

I took a look over my shoulder, at the counter and noticed a tall brunette with perfect long legs and the fashion style I would have if I was not broke and unsexy. She was definitely Shane's style. But as she turned around with her order to look for a place to sit at, I noticed something else. She was not young. Well, she was not old either but she was definitely not our age.

"You dated her?" I whispered while turning back to Shane. "How old is she? Was it even legal?"

He brushed my questions away.

"Do you mind if I go talk to her, then?"

"As long as you don't grab my boobs, I'm fine with anything." I sighed as I watched him get up and walk to her.

The woman sat down at some table all the way to the other side of the room and Shane stood right in front of her, his back tensed and his arms crossed. I had never seen him in such a defensive position.

I got back to reading the letters while peaking a look at them from times to times. I felt like I was spying on them but, to my defense, Shane was taking a really long time to come back and I felt like he would pretty much abandon me for her.

Intuition confirmed when I saw him sit down next to her.

I should have probably walked out of the Starbucks by then. It was humiliating enough to have a friend stand you up for half an hour right in the middle of a date-which-was-not-one but hearing him laugh all the way through the room was something else.

He was never looking back at me, it was just like he forgot all about me.

No matter the relationship the two of them have had, it was pretty rude to let someone by oneself like that.

After fourty-five minutes, I decided I had enough. I packed all the letters up and left without him even noticing. During the bus ride home, I expected a text or a call from him asking me where I was and apologizing but I didn't get any.

He was still probably talking to her, he would call me in the evening, I thought.

Well, I learnt that night that you shouldn't rely on Shane, ever. You could get abducted before his eyes, if he was with another girl, there was not a single chance for him to notice. The disappointment was huge. Weren't we supposed to celebrate me putting Clementine back in her place?

Instead, he had asked me to hold my boobs (!!!) then dropped me for his ex-girlfriend. Friends like Shane were not the good type of friends.