Speak Now

Chapter 20: Everything goes berserk

"I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel."

-Maya Angelou

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The beige walls are painted intricately , grey floral designs twisting and curling into words and shapes. There's a large fur carpet in the middle, where a dog sleeps with its head on its paws.

Along one wall, there's a long counter behind which there are shelves of bottles and fancy glasses. Further in, there are sofas and chairs on one side of the room, with magazines and pages clustered on the small wooden tables.

On the other side of the room, there are several book shelves. Two of them are filled with books while three others boast video games. I see several playstations stacked over each other, one of them connected to a large TV. A guy with long dark hair frantically presses the controller, his eyes glued to the screen.

The whole place smells strongly of coffee, and I inhale deeply, enjoying the fragrance.

"What is this place?" I whisper as Tris leads me to the counter. A women with a pixie haircut is sorting glasses onto a shelf. When she hears us approach, she turns around to smile.

"Ah another potential member, Tristan?" She inquires, as her gaze falls onto me. Her eyes are a warm shade of brown, checkered with small flickers of red.

"The more the merrier, I say," Johnny pats me on the back reassuringly,"As long as you're quiet and keep to yourself, this place shall be your safe haven."

The women nods, and holds out her hand,"The name's Bertha. I'm the one who cooks."

"Care to try a drink?" Johnny grins,"Bertha is a MARVEL!"

Bertha blushes,"Oh stop it, Johnny. I merely do my best. Now, here's the menu. " She pushes a maroon card towards me,"I'd suggest ordering our renowned apple pie. And of course, my Butterbeer is famous among Potterheads."

Tris leans over me, his breathe tickling my neck,"Why don't we try the Lovers' potion?" He whispers this into my ear, and I blush, my ears turning burning red.

"What's that, young man?" Bertha's ears perk up. She smiles at Tris slyly,"Lovers' Portion? Well I can certainly arrange that as Johnny and I've been WAITING for you to bring your girl here."

She turns to me and winks,"Heard a lot about you, Maddie."

I smile shyly and look down at the menu.

Tristan told them about me?

"Oh yes, boy." Johnny swings à key off the counter,"It's good to finally meet the gal after hearing so many promising things."

I blink,"Promising?"

Turning over to see Tris, he grins at me and shrugs.

Johnny chuckles,"Tris here told us you were a reader?"
When I nod, he continues,"So we were thinking of hanging banners along that wall." He points to an empty wall next to the TV mounted on a trolley.

"And it'd be great to have quotes from books." He adds, looking at me hopefully,"Now we could've just checked in with Google. But we wanted an original touch to the decor. So Tris here told me you were a bookworm and you'd know the exact quotes we could put up there."

I'm so astounded that for a minute I'm silent.

"Okay." I manage,"I'll help." I shoot Bertha a watery smile as her face lights up. I'm surprised Tristan mentioned ME. Of all people, ME. The shyest girl in this freak of a town. I turn to him but he's purposefully avoiding my gaze, watching the guy playing the Playstation.