The Love Gamble

01 - Chalkboards and Rich People

M I L I A N I A

"Here you go." Jean grinned as she carefully placed down my favourite drink in front of me, a Hot Chocolate.

I returned the smile, nodding my head. "Thank you Jean." She wiped her hands on her apron, sitting down across from me.

"You know, Lani, you could get a job here if you'd like. The pay is well, and you love it here. It's not a bad idea." She leans towards me, prompting the job offer for the third time today.

I roll my eyes playfully. "You already know I have two jobs, and the money I get is okay. I don't need another one." I take a sip from my warm drink.

Jean pouts, one of her dark curls falling in her eyes. She raises her hand, swiping it away. "C'mon! Please Lani! It would mean the world to me if you could work in The Coffee Cup with me. I need better company in here." She whines jokingly, her eyes glancing towards the other waiter, Toby.

Toby walks over, a childish smirk on his face. "Hello Lani! How are you beautiful?" He asks, sitting down next to me, wrapping his arm over my shoulder.

I don't bother telling him that there are still customers that need to be served. The grin he's wearing is too happy for me to ruin.

"Just ignore them" he notices me looking towards a table full of grumpy looking customers. "They're asses anyway. Rich kids, thinking that they run the place." Toby grunts in disgust.

Rich kids. Usually the stuck up, immature, snobs who think that they can do anything just because they have money. Because they have power.

I guess they can. In this town- in this century, If you have money, you could do basically anything.

My mind wanders. What are rich kids like them, doing in a small cafe on the poorer side of town?

I snap out of my small reverie when Jean stands up from the table, letting out a long sigh. "Right." She glared at the teenagers sitting at the table, her hands curling into fists. "I'm going to serve them, and you all better pray I don't loose my sh*t."

I smile a little, looking at Toby. "Have fun." He grins, causing Jean to flip him off.

Toby moves and sits across from me, while I quickly sip up the last of my Hot Chocolate.

"Why are rich kids like them sitting in a cafe on the poorer side of town?" I ask, furrowing my eyebrows.

Toby shrugs. "It's like a straight dude walking into a gay bar and not expecting to get hit on. No one knows why they went, they're just there."

I giggle a little at Toby's reference. "Did you hit on a straight guy last night?" He nods his head shamefully, causing me to laugh louder.

"Hey!" He pouts, feigning sadness. "Don't pick on the gay kid!" I roll my green eyes as Toby runs a hand through his blonde hair.

"Oh Shush, I'm only playing."

He opens his mouth to reply when a loud beeping cuts him off. Jean walks outside, a few minutes later coming back in, with a massive chalkboard in her arms. Toby and I rush over to her, as she struggles to hold it. We help lift it, as she places it on one of the tables.

"What's this for?" I ask, curiously. They already have a menu board, so I don't see a reason for why they need another chalkboard.

Toby smirks, and Jean hits his shoulder. "She lost a bet, and now, we have to have a love gamble."

I frown, still confused. "What was the bet, and what is a love gamble?" My long, brown hair falls in front of my face, tickling my arm that rests on the table the board is laid on.

Jean grunts, and Toby gasps. "You shouldn't of asked that, Lani.." Jean walks away, her silly warning still lingering in the air as Toby beamed, his hands resting dramatically against his heart.

Oh, here we go...

"A love gamble, Lani, is one of the most amazing things in the world!" He sighs happily, and I raise an eyebrow.

He continues. "It's where you have a chalkboard," he motions to the board laying on the table.

"a public place," then he motions around the cafe.

"And some high schoolers," lastly he motions to me, him and Jean.

"Yeah.." I trail off, "What's next?"

"Okay." He puckers his lips, sitting down. "A love gamble is a type of gambling game, obviously, and the board is placed in a public place, somewhere, where a bunch of people go. Say for example, a guy comes in here, and starts to talk to a girl. Then maybe if they hit it off, or you think they'd look cute together, you can place a bet." Toby explains, a grin still on his face.

"If you place a bet on two people to be together, and they end up together and or in love, then you win all the money that had been placed on those two people. But if they don't end up together, you loose your money. That's basically it, but it is way more fun when it's happening."

"It's like a stupid sports game. Money is being thrown around, and people rarely fall in love." Jean buts in, picking up the chalkboard again, Toby and I helping. We all quickly place the chalkboard against the wall, on a shelf, behind the cafe counter.

Toby ignores Jean's comment, smiling at me. "Maybe you'll be on the board, and maybe you'll fall in love." He wiggles his eyebrows, and I scoff.

"I doubt it."

Little did I know how wrong I was.

^*^*^*^

Thank you for clicking on my book, and thank you for taking your time to read the first chapter.

Don't forget to vote, comment, all that. It makes me feel good about myself, and this book :)

Also, chapters will be getting much longer than this, I just felt like it would be perfect to end it here.

- N 🕊