roses ⇾ chenry oneshots

twenty four ⇾ the coffee shop

the chilly air whipped against his skin as he walked down the sidewalk, holding the strap of his bookbag very tightly. the heavy bag made his shoulders hurt and he wanted nothing more than to put it down, but he was blocks away from his family's apartment.

the cold wind began to pick up again, the pink tint on his cheeks and nose increasing in color. he began to shiver, the thin hoodie covering his body no longer doing it's job of keeping him warm.

he began to pick up his pace, slightly jogging, causing the heavy bag to slap against his back. he groaned in annoyance as he felt small water droplets pelting against his glasses.

he was beginning to regret staying at the library past seven but he knew that the grade on his u.s history test tomorrow would convince him it was for the better.

he wasn't far from his apartment but the rain was beginning to fall harder and he was not going to risk getting his books wet, so he ran into the lonely coffee shop across the street.

the moment he stepped into the small shop, he wanted to gag. he despised the smell of coffee. it was number two on his list of least favorite smells, the smell of cigarettes being number one.

he walked towards the counter, a short blonde haired girl standing there, her bored expression being hard to miss.

"one hot chocolate, please." he muttered, pulling his  wallet out of his back pocket.

"$2.07." the barista stated, taking the money from his hand.

he looked around the mostly empty room, looking for a seat where he would feel most comfortable.

"name for the order?" the barista asked, his gaze quickly falling back to the girl in front of him. "huh?" he responded, completely missing what she had said.

"your name?" she repeated, her tone obviously annoyed.

"oh, uh, henry." he replied, sheepishly.

"okay, i'll have it out in a minute." she stated, henry's eyes averting to her name tag: jessica. he didn't like to stereotype but she acted exactly like the other jessica's he knew so her attitude didn't surprise him.

he mumbled a 'thanks' and then headed towards a small booth near the big window facing the city streets. he placed his bookbag on the table and took a seat.

minutes later, jessica placed the cup on the table and walked away. the hot liquid swished in the cup, droplets cascading down the sides from the impact.

he grabbed a napkin and wiped the cup and the table. he looked to his wrist, the watch telling him it was a quarter past eight. he quietly groaned knowing he was going to be in a heap of trouble for missing dinner.

he looked out the window to see that the sky was even darker than it was minutes prior, lightning now accompanying the rain.

he was really hoping that after next week's pay check, he'd finally be able to afford a car. he could not keep walking everywhere and he was not going to start taking the bus, those things were filled with all types of strangers.

knowing that he was going to be at the coffee shop for another good hour, he pulled out his textbooks and notebooks and began to do next week's english essay.

the coffee shop was silent, so when the little bell above the door rang, it was enough to pull henry's mind off his work and gaze towards the door to see who was entering the shop.

once he saw the school logo and initials embedded onto the center of her uniform, he averted his eyes.

he hated seeing people from school in public, especially those who were considered 'popular'. the hierarchy of the school putting them at the top and leaving the rest at the bottom.