Flirting with death

The Mary Celeste

The rest of the school day flew by quickly.  I had lessons as usual, but my mind kept wondering to Grim. 

He first struck me as terrifying and intimidating, but after meeting him for a while, I felt like he was anything but frightening. I even had to stop myself from laughing during Math when I thought of the look he had when he accidentally elbowed me in the face.

As the bell signaling the end of school rang, I quickly packed my things, and headed out to the school courtyard. I waved to Faith and her friends, and I hopped on my bicycle. 

I cycled to the busy streets, and navigated my way around the roads with confidence. In the distance, I saw a neat shop window at the crossroad. The Mary Celeste.

I grinned, and parked my bike at the nearest bike parking spot, and crossed the road to the neat shop. A bell jingled as I opened the door, and the warm wind welcomed me as I walked into the shop. People were chatting, working, studying, and sipping on their drinks. 

I smiled at some of the people who I always saw. I walked up to the polished counter and opened the unnoticeable "employees only" door. I walked in, put on my apron swiftly, and walked out to the counter. I joined my colleague, Emerson, at the drinks area. When he saw me, he gave me a quick hug, before turning back to the mango smoothie he was trying to make. 

"How nice of you to finally show up," He joked. I just rolled my eyes playfully, and walked up to the cashier, where someone was standing there waiting. Emerson and I would work the evening shift before closing the shop. 

As the sun set, more and more people entered the quaint cafe, and Emerson and I worked quicker. I mainly took orders at the cashier, and then Emerson would prepare the drinks and heat up the pastries. Then I would put everything on the counter for the customers to take. 

I chatted amiably to some of the customers who visited on a daily basis. As the line dispersed, I turned around and grinned at Emerson, who was watching me a moment ago. 

He held out two iced chocolate drinks, and asked, "Chocolate?" I grinned and nodded enthusiastically, and took the cup from him. 

We were chatting and drinking from our cups when someone cleared their throat. I put the cups by the counter, and headed to the cashier.

"An iced mocha, please," The man requested. 

I leaned into the cashier screen and punched in his order. 

"Credit card or cash? Both is-" I looked up, and stopped talking midway. Hadrian? 

I quickly came back to my senses. A shiver went down my spine again, and I quickly looked down. 

He handed me some cash, and I quickly printed the receipt and turned away to make the mocha. Emerson gave me a look, and I could feel my face turn red. 

He didn't mention Hadrian until the end of our shift.

As I was cleaning the counter and him cleaning the coffee machine, he asked casually, "So... That goth boy? You got a thing for him?"

"What?? No!" I yelled in my defense. "I mean... We just have the same extra Art lessons." 

He smirked at me, and then turned away. I stared at him for a while, before going back to cleaning. 

As I left the shop, I could see someone standing by the other side of the road. There was a certain something that made me shiver just looking at him. Could it be Hadrian?

As soon as the light turned green, I ran across the street. However, he disappeared in the blink of an eye. I looked around, but drops of rain started to land on my face and hair.