A Phone Swap

chapter 2

|Maddie|

I walked out of the elevator and walked over to the mini wooden fence gate that was the entrance to the garden.

The garden was filled with flowers and you had to go through it before you could get into the actual building.

The landlord lady is a grandma. She was super nice and one of the prettiest grandmas I've ever seen.

Taking out my black iPhone X that also had a black case with 'that's the tea' written on it, I double tapped the screen to check the time. It was already 7:40 pm.

Putting it back in my pocket, I walked across the street to a cafe called Theresita's. It was open for 24 hours. The place was cute it was very pastel and there was a lot of wood. It gave of a homy vibe.

I sat down at my usual table, the one next to the window. The decor had changed as December was right around the corner. Well to be exact, it was November but we have already entered the 'ber months' which means every mall and place in the town was starting to decorate for the holidays.

I waited for one of the waiters, Maya Hensley. She was one of the people that I was close with. Her faded pastel pink hair complemented her light green eyes and fair skin. She was in the same college as Mason, my brother, but she was a freshman while my brother was a sophomore.

"What can I get for you, Mads?" Maya asked with a smile using the nickname she had given me when we started talking one day in the cafe.

"The usual?" I said unsure.

"Again? Girl, you got to try something new other than chicken pasta, a side of salad, and a coke," She said in a joking tone. Despite her complaint about my taste in food, she wrote down my order onto her little notepad and gave it to the cook.

"Your order will be here in a while, oh..and I forgot to mention, Theresita finally hired another barista," She said excitedly.

Maya was the only barista in the cafe and rush hour made her go mad at times, so she was very excited that the owner, Theresita, finally decided to hire another barista to help her make all the drinks they had in the menu.

"Are they here right now?" I asked wanting to test out the bartender's skill.

"Owh no, he doesn't start till Tuesday and today's Thursday," She said.

"Aw that's too bad. I wanted to see if he could make me my special," I said a tad bit sad. I couldn't meet the guy who was going to work with Maya.

"Your special drink, Mads, gave me nosebleeds you know? It's so complicated but the result is so delicious. How'd you think of a recipe like that?" She asked as she's always trying to make new drinks for the menu.

"I could help you think of some recipes or maybe..." I trailed off "Mr. New Barista Dude could help you?" I suggested trying not laugh.

"If you're implying that I should hook up with the dude, then that's a solid no," She said her face contorting into a face of disgust.

"What, why not?" I asked.

"Cause the guy's 18 and may I remind you that I'm 20?" She said. She was a freshman in college but she had taken a year off from school.

"Owh, but age doesn't matter?" I said trying to hide my amusement.

"Would you date a 16 year old?" She said raising an eyebrow.

"Well no..." I said taking back what I said

Just then a waiter I didn't recognize, must have been a new recruit, came to my table carrying a tray where a delicious plate of steaming chicken pasta sat on top, including a small bowl of salad, and a large glass of coke.

She set my order down on my table as I muttered a thank you. I waived to Maya who continued her work.

Smelling the delicious aroma, I immediately dig into my plate of pasta. I had ordered this the first time I came to the cafe, and I couldn't stop ordering it.

After I had eaten everything on my plate and finished my coke, I told Maya I'd talk to her some other day as I had to get some rest if we wanted to win tomorrow's fun fest.

Our school holds a fun fest every year just before winter break. The students from West View High would come compete with the students from our school. The fun fest is only for high school students with each grade competing against the same grade from the other school while the middle school, elementary, and preschool kids have Christmas related activities in their classrooms.

Last year, our grade got 2nd with the senior grade from the other school at 1st. We were so annoyed that we didn't win. This year Lily wouldn't stop drilling us about the fest and made us practice way too much for the games.

Though some games are different every year, Tug of War never changes. It only happens with the top six to conclude who the winner is. It grants 50 points which could lead to victory.

I always join Rapid Relay, which is almost always in the games list. It's basically jumping jacks, jump rope, bear crawls, limbo, and hula-hoop.

Going out of the cafe, I walked back across the street and got back in the elevator. Once I got to my floor, I went to unlock my door but not before noticing a neon yellow note taped to my door.

Thanks for helping me.

I smiled, furrowed my eyebrows, and thought to myself 'why go through the trouble of making a note'. Taking it off my door I placed it on my kitchen counter and got into my bathroom to take a shower.