coffee war

ix

blue didn't know what to think of those boys. gansey had actually only texted her for when he was coming in late, and he texted her his order so she could do it before he even got there. he varied his visits, sometimes coming in four nights in a row and not bringing ronan a single one, or not visiting for a week and then pulling the disastrous boy along with him.

adam told her about what had happened with him and ronan. she had actually thought that the cold boy had only come in to antagonize adam, but it seemed as though his true colors were showing. it was almost adorable.

she was entirely bewildered by the change of tides. those boys had snuck themselves into fox coffee's atmosphere for good. and she was actually beginning to like it. her emotions betrayed her.

as she explained her confusion to noah, he just laughed. for some reason, noah always understood the things blue didn't. it was almost like he was telepathic and could tell the future. he always knew the outcome before anyone else had even placed a bet.

(speaking of which, he finally won the outstanding bet between the three about mcnulty's first name. it was eugene, and adam thoroughly believed that noah asked him before they even placed the bets, which would be considered outright cheating. noah preached that he would never do such a thing.)

"dude, i told you that you guys were all in love. adam's been crushing on snake face since he saw him, he might've not known it, but he was. did you know that's called an unarticulated crush? where you don't even realize you have the feelings yourself? cool, huh?" noah rambled as blue vaguely listened, stuck in her own head. he did that a lot, she did it a lot. it was their thing.

"i did not, but that doesn't explain how they worked their way into our lives?" she sighed exasperatedly.

noah shrugged and acted like it was an answer. he did that a lot. he smiled jovially as blue glared at him.

there was a comfort in these two that couldn't be found elsewhere. they were so different, but so similar. the light punches when one did something vaguely stupid, the loving laughter that followed. the smiles that were reserved only for each other, that knew so much and asked so little. there were very few friends like blue and noah.

blue felt a buzzing in her back pocket. she pulled her phone out and glanced at the notification.

9:17 pm
gansey: hello, i'll be showing up around 9:45, and i would like a medium caramel mocha. thank you!

she never replied when gansey texted her, just marking down that they needed to make a caramel mocha later around 9:46. without evening turning around, she knew noah was smirking his ridiculous smile at her. she wanted to punch him for it.

"shut up," she said as turned back around, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter. she knew he hadn't said anything, but what else was she supposed to say?

noah cackled. he laughed like it was the last time he was ever going to do so. noah's laugh was a dangerous thing, it always coaxed another laugh or a giggle or a chuckle out of all the people around him. noah always seemed to be able to make everyone happy.

blue smiled and tried not to snort at noah's behavior. the few customers looked at the pair curiously before smiling knowingly into their own drinks. anyone at fox coffee after nine was usually a regular, and they all loved noah. even those who stumbled in on occasion loved noah, even if it was the first time they'd met him.

blue had figured out that not only noah, but gansey seemed to have that same quality. it wasn't the same, no, more like a liked and respected feeling whereas noah made everyone laugh and feel good about themselves. they both just attracted people like flies.