Coffee at 5 AM √

Chapter 4 ∞ Connor: Heart

∞♡∞

The boy tried to ignore the stares of the cheerleaders he passed, and instead thought about how he was just a bunch of atoms all put together. He was nothing but another lab experiment gone wrong. So why did everyone like him so much?

I grunt as I see Josh heading towards me. I woke up at four this morning and some girl was bothering me at the café. I can't handle Josh too. Sure, he's a pretty okay guy, if all you care about is football. I don't like talking to him, he doesn't understand half of what I'm saying.

"Hey there C-dog!" did I mention he calls everyone dog? "How's life taking care of you?"

"It's 'How is life treating you'."

"What?"

I sigh. "Never mind. I'm fine. You?" I hear the hint of boredom in my words, but I'm too tired to do anything about it.

"Well..." he plays with the hem of his shirt for a second. "Would you consider being team captain? That would make me feel a lot better."

Is this guy serious? Like I care whether he's happy or not. "No."

I don't stay to see his reaction. Instead, I head straight to chemistry. Just another day at Half Moon Bay High. Just another day as Connor Black.

♡

I take out my sketchbook and continue my drawing from this morning. I can't believe how cheesy I'm being right now, but I drew the girl from the café. Her sharp jawline, her big ocean blue eyes, her stunning cheekbones. She looked so tired, I wonder if she's like me, odd.

I wonder what her name is, probably something beautiful like Caroline or Bella. Bella literally means beautiful, so I guess that name would suit her. And I wonder why she didn't act like most other girls do around me. Please, don't take this the wrong way, I don't believe that every girl I've ever met is in love with me, because there's not that much to love. I still am curious about why she ignored me, but I guess I'll never know.

"Connor?" my mom shouts.

I go to open the door to my room, but she gets there first. "Yeah?"

"Can you go to the store and get some milk and cookies?"

"Wait. Cookies?"

"They're for Stella."

I roll my eyes. Stella is my super annoying little sister. Then again, she's my sis and I love her, so of course I agree to walk to the other side of town just to buy her cookies.

I put on my shoes and my jacket, stick my tongue out at Stella when she passes me in the hallway and put the leash on Cooper. I hate tying him up outside the store, but my mom practically begged me to walk him. It's foggy outside, but not that cold considering it's late Fall. Cooper looks up at me, and I'll tell you this much, if dogs could smile, well, consider Cooper ecstatic.

"You're a good friend, buddy," we start to walk faster. "You really are."

Of course, he doesn't respond, but I still want him to. Cooper is a lot smarter than most other dogs. If I put it this way, I used to be a cat person, I still am. I like how unpredictable and clever most cats are. I know a lot of people who don't like cats because they aren't loyal, but that's not true. A lot of cats are loyal, they just don't like when you force them to do things they don't want to do. A little like humans actually.

When we got Cooper, I was disappointed at first. Stella wanted a dog, and I kind of didn't want a pet at all. But then one time when I was really upset about the word my English teacher had made me spell in front of the entire class, the word was because, b-e-c-a-u-s-e, I had said b-e-c-u-s-e, when I got home Cooper was in the hallway waiting for me. He didn't jump on me or lick me to death, he just sat there staring at me. It was like he was spelling the word for me, over and over again. It was like he was saying: