My Saving Grace

Chapter 6

"I'd like a mocha Frappuccino with whipped cream, please," a middle-aged woman who reminded me too much of my high school chemistry teacher ordered, digging into her purse for her wallet.

"That'll be $4.58," I mumbled grumpily.

"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning," she muttered under her breath.

"Excuse me?", I snapped.

Dylan, my manager, immediately noticed our unpleasant exchange and appeared at my side.

"Is everything alright?", he asked, raising his brow at me.

"Everything's fine. I'm just having a bad day," I replied.

"Clearly," the woman added.

"You've said that for the past two weeks already." Dylan turned to the woman. "I'm sorry, ma'am."

"No worries."

"Get it together, Sophia," he muttered in my ear before disappearing into the back room.

So, for the remaining two hours of my shift, I forced a smile on my face. The past two weeks, I'd been moping over Chase's absence. I had no clue where he could have possibly gone, but all I knew was that I wanted nothing more than for him to have a better life, wherever he was.

Alexa tried to hook me up with a bunch of her guy friends, but I seriously was so done with college boys. They were all the same--a good lay for one night and then gone the next. I ended up sleeping with one of Drew's friends a couple nights ago to try and forget about Chase, but the next morning, I woke up feeling even shittier than ever.

Men like my father clearly didn't exist anymore.

On the bright side, I managed to secure a position as a research assistant for the chemistry department over the summer. Unfortunately, that meant that I wouldn't get to go home, but my dad and brother were planning to come visit.

As soon as my shift was over, I went back to my dorm to change into a pair of jeans and my college hoodie then headed to the physics building. Tomorrow was our third midterm of the semester, and I actually felt pretty confident about it. The concepts were finally beginning to make sense to me.

I found an empty spot on the third floor then pulled out my laptop and practice exams. Alexa joined me an hour later with to-go Noodles & Company for lunch, and we both studied together.

If she were a guy, she'd seriously be the world's best boyfriend.

"Guess what?", she spoke.

"What?", I asked.

"I've been going to your TA's office hours lately instead of mine. Sam explains things so much better. He had no idea who I was, but I told him I was your best friend."

"That's great. Yeah, he's definitely my favorite TA this semester."

"And he's so cute. Ugh, why couldn't he be our age. He'd be the perfect guy for you. You both love math and science and all that other stuff I absolutely loathe."

"Girl, you really need to stop with the matchmaking." I laughed.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. I just want you to be happy."

"I am. I have you. No guy will ever stand up to you, Lex." I smiled at her.

Her lip began to quiver.

"Sophia Grace Weston, I love you so, so much."

"I love you too, Alexa Nicole Langley."

The students studying nearby looked at us like we were insane, and we burst out laughing.