The Rusty Old Minivan

Chapter 3

He got up at four am, was at the diner at four thirty and had the bagels out and the coffee brewed at exactly five. The first couple of early workers started coming in a couple of minutes after he'd flipped the closed-sign around and from then on things got busy.

Despite the early hours, Louis liked working at Franks Fish n' Chips. He liked the hectic activity of business-men and college students getting their early morning-fix before their days began. He liked the view and the noises from the train station across from the diner, reminding him that there was a world outside this little town. He liked the smell of freshly brewed coffee and the easy over-the-counter chit chat. He liked being a friendly face to the start of someone's day.

Perhaps that was why he survived shifts like these; coming in at half past four am and not leaving before half past four pm. It was Thursday today, which meant laundry day, and though Louis had been on his feet since he woke, he wasn't going to get a sit-down yet.

He was just making his way down the pavement, strolling the raggedy old shopping cart he stole from Tesco a couple years back, when his phone buzzed.

harry styles – 'lol didnt know u read'

Louis had to scroll back in the conversation to understand which book-reference joke he'd made. Something about a boy. Or rather, something about About a Boy.

He threw back a quick 'there are loads of things u dont know about me' at a lack of anything better to respond. He hadn't actually read the book, only skimmed some of it for school years ago, so he'd rather they get off the topic before he was caught in it. It wasn't that he needed to impress Harry; it was just that there was no reason to look like an idiot if you could avoid doing so.

A reply ticked in less than a minute later; 'enough to write a book?'

'enough to write a franchise' Louis typed back.

'About a Louis. 10/10 would read.'

Louis found himself grinning down at his phone. It wasn't even funny. Harry wasn't even funny. He was a bit of a dope, really. A dopey drawling ditz.

Regardless, they'd been texting every day since last they had class together. It started with Harry texting him some stupid knock knock-joke and Louis texting him back to come up with something better to break the ice with and Harry then texting him a screenshot of an ice-peg and asking if that would do. Louis only laughed because he felt bad for him.

They hadn't actually seen each other in person since their last class, or even spoken on the phone, but it wasn't like Louis had the time anyway. As for Harry-

Incoming call. Incoming call from 'harry styles'.

Shit. Louis stood for a solid thirty seconds, staring at his display.

"Oi, watch your step!" someone yelled, because he'd frozen in the middle of the pavement, blocking it with his stolen grocery cart.

He ripped himself out of his daze and took the call. "Hello?"

"Hiya. S'Harry."

"Yeah, I know, ever heard of caller ID?"

"No, I'm calling from the 18th century, please enlighten me."

Louis rolled his eyes, then caught a glimpse of a digital clock through the window of a tech-shop. "Right, enough with the small-talk, what are you calling me for, Styles? I'm sort of in the middle of something."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Louis sighed. "Go on, then. Why'd you call? Need help with your homework from Einstein reincarnated?"