Salted Caramel Coffee (COMPLETED!)

Chapter Ten} Rętürñ

It's seven thirty in the morning when Blaze wakes me up. Dark circles hang heavily under her eyes, and her hair is pulled up into a messy bun at the top of her head. She's obviously given up on trying to hide her scar, which is now exposed, curling around the side of her face.

"Shit, Emma. I overslept! We open in like five minutes, you gotta get up." She says, shaking my shoulder violently.

I sit up in the booth groggily, stretching my arms out above me. "I could really get used to you waking me up in the morning." I chuckle, rubbing my eyes with the heels of my palms. "Or at ten at night."

Blaze pulls out her bun, letting her hair fall out and cascade down her shoulders. She shakes out her long waves before shoving on that horrendous Mario's hat over her knotty waves, matting it over the side of her face again.

"You know, you really don't have to cover your scar like that," I say, tugging on the hem of my shirt, "it's unique."

"Yeah," she snorts, "about as unique as a sunburn."

I bite my bottom lip thoughtfully, leaning up against the booth as I watch her frantically run around looking for her shoes.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit." Blaze mumbles as her socked feet patter on the tile floor. I like that sound. It's like ballet shoes on a stage. Not even dancing, just the sound of that little run that they do as they cross the stage.

The stage is nearly as elegant as the beauty that stands upon it, her hair- flowing quickly, the river grabs ahold of the poor child and pulls him in, not even giving him a moment to realize that something horrible is- happening in this house. Not now, and certainly not under my supervision. It's- reckless, is what it was. And she knew it too! Not that she even cared a bit. She was in love, and they say love makes you do crazy things. Does that count as- justification is not needed. All I want is an apology, a sincere one- too much was happening at once, and what I needed was a break. A break where I can just sit and eat a whole box of pizza and not feel guilty about it in the morning.

"They're under the table." I say, not even looking away from her.

Blaze's cheeks go completely red as she stops completely to look under the table. Sure enough, a pair of black and white Nikes lay underneath, right in plain sight. "Whatever." She mumbles, reaching for them.

Right then, the door to the kitchen swings open, and a familiar teenage boy walks in.

"Morning, Black," he shouts. "You know the drill, get your lazy ass up and start serving some pizza!"

My smile falls into my usual scowl at the sight of him, yesterday's memories popping right into my head.

Wait-
Wait a goddamn second-

"Did he just call you Black?" I whisper to Blaze out of the corner of my mouth.

She rolls her eyes, jamming her shoe on. "Yeah, I-"

     "Emily?" James' eyes narrow at the sight of me, his upper lip twitching. I cross my arms and shift my weight onto my right hip, blowing my bangs out of my face.

     "It's Emma." I say, looking him up and down. "Aren't you a bit young to have a mustache like that?"

     James returns my scowl, gritting his teeth. "Aren't you a bit short to have an attitude like that?"

     "Touché."

     Blaze stands up, out of breath for some reason, and claps her hands together. "Alright. I'm ready to work." She forces a grin, making me laugh.

     James doesn't release his death stare from me. He just scans me from a distance, his eyes tracing the outline of my body. "What the hell are you doing here? He asks finally. "We haven't even opened yet."

     I'm not sure if I should tell the truth or not, so I just go with my five star 'this is the only thing you could come up with on the spot" reply. "I don't know, what are you doing here?"

     "I work here."

     "Right."

     "Alright you two, not exactly the time. There's a car pulling up, and my guess is that they're coming in." Then, under her breath she adds, "although who would buy pizza at seven thirty five in the morning is beyond me."

     I scoot back into my booth and pull out my phone to make it seem like I just got here. Nobody's gonna question a kid at a pizza shop who looks like they're waiting for someone.

I absentmindedly begin to play Bricz, half paying attention to the game and half zoning out. The sounds of Blaze and James chatting slowly grow quieter and quieter, becoming background noise. I hardly even notice the little bell on the top of the door ring, and I don't even notice that the voices behind me immediately silence.

I'm too caught up in my thoughts, in my stupid game, to notice that I should run. I'm too engrossed in my head to realize that I really, really should start bolting out the door. So instead of sprinting through the kitchen and out the back, I stay sitting right in my seat, oblivious as hell, until the hand is right upon my shoulder.

Naturally, I shriek at the sight of a foreign hand on me. It grips harder the more I try to get away, it's bold red nails digging into my skin.

"Leave me alone!" I yell, throwing her arm away from me. "For the love of fucking God, let me be!"

Black's face falls, her eyebrows scrunching together as she purses her lips. "Emma..."

Blazes jaw drops, her hands balling into fists. "This is the bitch your mother shipped you off to?"

"I am not a bitch!" Black exclaims incredulously, "I may have messed up, but I'm not a bitch."

Blaze rolls her eyes, pulling off her Mario's hat and throwing it onto the counter top angrily. "You know, why am I not even surprised?" She laughs bitterly. "Torturing little girls is your specialty."

Black's nostrils flare. "Don't embarrass me, Grace. You know I didn't torture you. It was you who decided not to cooperate, not me." She says. "I get it, you were mad about your parents. That's no reason to be such a nightmare!"

I stand up, walking in between the two of them to stop their arguing. It's insane- they're fighting as if I'm not standing right fricking here. "Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on here?" If anyone gets to be mad, it should be me. I should be the one yelling at Black, and I should be the one running. But I'm stupid, and decide to hear them out.

     "Sorry, Emma. This is between Grace and I, and only us." Black says, her gaze locked on Blaze.

     "BS." Blaze spits. "She deserves to know everything. Hell, she deserves the whole world. Why do I get the feeling that you haven't given that to her?"

     I practically fall over.

     "You want to tell her? That's fine. But don't shove lies into her head while I'm not around, alright?"

     "Fine." Blaze hisses before turning to me. "Aunt Marlee, meet Emma. Emma, meet Aunt Marlee."

***

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This chapter was.... interesting. What do you think? I don't really know how to feel about it because I even shocked myself with this, but OKAY THEN! Sorry I keep feeding y'all short ass chapters, but I've been on vacation so this is the best I've got for now lol. Love you all💞

-Shayna