Her pride

The advantage of being nice

Chapter 4 | The advantage of being nice

"Good morning!" the older lady greeted us as soon as we opened the door.

"Good morning" I replied politely while looking at Michelle who was rather bored.

If I want this job, I shall be at my best behaviour.

Yes, yesterday I convinced my new found blond friend to help me get a job at the vintage coffee shop.

It was obvious that the older lady in front of me was the owner.

Her flower dress said it all. The walls were light pink and sometimes baby blue.

The tables were elegantly white, and each of them had a vase with white roses on them. The whole place smelled like a bakery and delicious coffee at the same time.

Michelle almost immediately looked at the pastries displayed next to her. "What would you like?" the lady asked us with a happy tone.

"Actually I would like to work here Mrs. Atkins" I red her tag on her dress. "I don't think I need a helper at the moment, dear" she said while arranging the roses.

I'm not here to be a helper, I'm here to work.

I gulped and looked at my blond friend who was too busy to catch up with our conservation.

"But how about we sit and talk about it?" the lady pulled out the chair for herself " I can make us some coffee" I didn't hesitate and sat in front of her.

"Oh, my dear, here take one" I heard the caring voice.

Elle finally seemed satisfied as she sat with her mouth full of a chocolate treat, the lady gave her a moment ago.

"Here" I focused on the lightly pink cup of coffee.
"Thank you" I whispered and prepared my speech on why I am the right person for making coffee.

The lady was full of pure mercy. God bless her. After she laughed full three minutes at my monologue, she decided that I'll be 'good with costumers'.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that I'm not interested in coffee. She doesn't have to know that I wouldn't be here if I actually had any money.

My dear blonde friend was observing the pastries in front of the bar as I was silently celebrating my victory.

Maybe as a costumer, with actual money to pay.
Yeah keep on dreaming Catherine.

"Let's go Elle, the mission was successful" I pointed at the door. The lady let out a small giggle, Elle was clearly spacing out and focusing deeply at her precious chocolate muffin.

-

The weather was nice, really nice. Exact opposite of England. Autumn was somehow always the coldest season for me.

And as I looked from the window at my seat in literature class, I realized that somehow I am doing a good job.

I never believed in luck, but maybe I was lucky after all. "My god" the blonde girl next to me groaned, her eyes tightly shut.

The only subjects I shared with Michelle was anatomy, chemistry for advanced and literature.

The literature was said to be the 'relaxing one'. I truly didn't mind since I used to spend my childhood in my father's library.

When I asked Michelle why the hell do I need to visit anatomy, she just responded that scientist should know the basics of a human too.

"Who is the author of Pride a Prejudice?" the professor asked, his voice echoing in the large room.

"Jane Austen" I answered simply. The professor gave me a smile. "Yes, Miss Williams" he continued asking questions about the plot of the novel.

I lost all of the bits of interest and focused on the view from the window.

-

"What's next?" I asked quietly Elle.  The hallway was as dark as the rest of the school, it appeared that almost everything including walls were from dark polished wood.

"Eh, anatomy?" Elle tried to guess without looking at the schedule.

Suddenly there was a loud sharp scream. "Did you hear that?" Elle gasped ", I'm sure it's coming from the hall" she stopped walking.

"Oh, that must have been some male student provoking a female student?" I said unsure if the person screaming was even female.

But Elle was quick, she grabbed my wrist a ran with me in a tight grip to the hall.

The hall was crowded. Even more than yesterday - if that's possible. I saw three girls standing next to us, one of them was crying, the other two seemed just shocked.

"That's a joke, right?" Elle asked, her eyes focused in front of her.

"What do you me-" I gasped, unsure what to do.
Elle's grip on my wrist got even tighter than before.

There was a middle aged man hanging from the ceiling. The rope around his neck was tighten, and his face had an unhealthy blue color.

I waited for someone scream 'It's a joke' or 'That's not a real human', but unfortunately, nobody dared to talk.

The whispers filled the hall and I noticed a wooden chair on the staircase. "Is he dead?" a girl with red hair asked while looking at me.

I couldn't breathe, there were way too much people in that hall, plus a man that apparently committed a suicide.

I wiggled out of Elle's grip and ran to the nearest bathroom I have seen in the hallway before. Before everything happened.

I rushed to the bathroom, not caring about other's for a while.

"Whoa!" I heard male voice as I threw up to the nearest sink.

The unfamiliar man just silently held my hair for me and waited till I finish.

"You okay?" he asked worried. I didn't say anything, just started quietly crying. How can I become a scientist, if I can't even look at a dead man?

The man wrapped his arm around me and I felt the great feeling of safety.

At that moment I didn't mind being in arms of a random man and apparently in male bathrooms.

"Are you.. you know, one of his relatives?" he said while caressing my cheek gently. I observed his strong features.

He didn't have a beard, but what he had was brown messy hair and beautifully jade eyes.

"Im Archer by the way," he said looking straight to my soul "Archer Parker".