Speak Up | Lams DISCONTINUED

one

The group laughed obnoxiously, drawing attention to them, but they didn't care. Most people were used to it as they were regulars there.
Of course, there were a few new people there, workers and customers, who weren't used to them yet. There was always someone who didn't like how loud the group was, no matter where they went.
The friends hardly got to see each other outside of class, so they had the tenancy to block out the world around them and be as loud as they wanted. It's not like anyone would come up to them and ask them to be quiet, so they didn't really see it as an issue.

While Hercules was telling a story, Alexander glanced around the cafe seeing a few familiar faces and a few unfamiliar. Nothing out of the ordinary, so he just put his full attention back on his friend.

After he finished, all three started laughing again. Just as Herc started another anecdote, Lafayette lightly kicked Alex under the table.
Alex glared back at his friend, only to see him pointing at someone Alex had never seen before and seemingly missed during his scan of the room.
He was completely mesmerized by the strangers curly locks and freckles that mimicked the stars above. All he was doing was reading a book, but it still seemed to put Alexander in a trance.
Seeing how enticed his friend was, Lafayette motioned for him to go over and talk to this new guy.

Alex only shook his head, pretending to listen to Hercules while he stared past his friend in the direction of the mystery man.
Herc seemed to stop in the middle of his sentence to follow Alex's gaze, but he didn't really notice.
"Oh my god, Alex, just go talk to him." Hercules laughed.
Alex's eyes widened as he was brought back to his friends. "Sorry, what?"
Both Herc and Lafayette let out small laughs at their friend's expense. "Talk to him."
"Who?"
"Whoever that guy is that you're staring at." Lafayette said as though it should've been painfully obvious.
Alex straightened his back, crossing his arms and looked between his two friends. "I have no idea who you're talking about."
"Oh really?" Herc asked, raising an eyebrow. "You mean to tell us that you weren't just giving that random guy over there love eyes?"
Alex shook his head. "Nope."
"Uh huh. Whatever you say, mon ami." Laf responded, rolling his eyes.
"If you go talk to him, I'll give you ten bucks." Hercules proposed, reaching for his wallet.
"Make it twenty and you've got yourself a deal." Alex responded almost immediately.
"Deal."
"Show me the money."
"You don't think I have twenty dollars?"
"Dude, we're college students. Who has money?"
He quickly raised an eyebrow, lowering it just as fast, to show he acknowledged Alex's comment and pulled out a twenty dollar bill.
Alex quickly took it, shoving it in his back pocket and stood up, heading towards the table of the cute no-name.

Alex stood by the table awkwardly, not wanting to interrupt the guy's reading.
After a moment, he looked up from his book, meeting Alex's eyes with a smile.
"Hey, I, uh... I saw you sitting alone here and was wondering if you maybe wanted some company?"
He kept the smile on his face as he gestured for Alex to take a seat. Smiling, he gladly sat down.
"I'm Alex, by the way."
He only nodded with the same smile always present on his face.
Alex's eyebrows slowly furrowed as a couple different thoughts flew through his head. "Are you deaf?"
He shook his head, then reached for a phone that was resting beside his coffee cup. He opened it and started typing something before turning the screen towards Alex.
Mute