We Will Be Okay

Chapter 1 - His Coffee

I, for one, am not a fan of elevators. There is just not much space. They can get really crowded, smelly, and the mixture of desperation and anxiety of catching time really get into my nerves. Monday mornings are always like this in school. It is like all of the students decided to do a weekend pact to show up late for their first class so that they can all share the agony inside of these small elevators. This is my morning entertainment as I prop myself comfortably on one of the benches across the line.

Luckily for me, I don't have any classes that are too early for me to deal with this chaotic experience. I do go to school early though to meet up with my friends, Kelsey and Jordan, because one, they are the cutest couple in my opinion and two, they always bring me free coffee in the morning. Who doesn't like free coffee? 

"Enjoying the view, huh, Leo?" Sarah, the lady guard in the morning shift, asked me. 

"Nothing makes me happier than seeing people in despair, Sarah! It's on the top of my to-do list!" I replied.

"Your to-do list? You don't even have a notebook of some sort with you!" She said with a loud laughter.

"Everything is digital now, Sarah. I keep it all here." I waved my phone and winked at her. 

Sarah teases me more and then gets a call. It's almost 30 minutes before my first class but Kelsey and Jordan are not here yet. For someone who is completely impatient, I have learned to accept that my friends are terminally late for the rest of our lives. As the people slowly disappear before my eyes, I hear my phone ring. It's Kelsey.

"Hey, babes!" Kelsey said in the most upbeat tone. 

"You do realize that I need that coffee this morning..." I replied.

"What? Not even a good morning? Anyway, so something came up---" 

"What is it now? Diarrhea? A huge pimple on your forehead?" I cut her.

"Shut up, Leo! I have to meet up with my parents this morning and Jordan, he decided to come with me instead" 

"What? You could have told me that last night. I have been waiting here all morning!" I slightly raised my voice.

"Shocks, I know right? But don't you worry, I have already paid for your coffee last night. Just ask it from one of the baristas there. See? I remembered you!" She knows how to get away with things. 

"Ugh! Well at least I can still have my coffee. Alright then! I don't want to be late to class so I'll drop the call now..." And before she can add something else, the call ends and I'm already on my way to officially start my day.

One thing that I also hate about Monday mornings is that everyone seems to be really deprived of caffeine. The queue in the Starbucks where we usually get our coffee is longer than usual but since I'm also extremely deprived of coffee, I fall in line next to this boy who is too focused on this episode from the latest season of Chilling Adventures of Sabrina on Netflix. He barely moves so I always have to tap him so he can move forward and I can finally take a step closer to escape zombie mode and be human again.

As we get nearer to the barista, he walks backwards an inch and then does it again and moments later, he steps on my foot. 

He turns around and I just...

"Oh, I'm really sorry! Why are you even standing too close to me anyway?" He said in the softest voice. 

He's just...

"Hello? Are you okay? Hello????" He waved his hands multiple times. His cute white hands.

He's just so...

"Next, please!" The barista called.

"Oh, sorry! Hi! Can I get an Iced Americano, please-------"

The barista gets his order and I just stare at him for the longest time. As I try to memorize the corner of his face, everything around me turns silent. For a guy, his face is the prettiest I have seen. His skin is bright. His lips are crimson red. He has this thick eyeglasses on but it looks incredibly good on him. He looks back at me and my heart starts to beat louder. 

As I try my best not to look like a complete idiot, he smiles at me and signals me to the barista. He walks away slowly, or maybe everything in my world suddenly moves slowly, and waits patiently at the next counter for his drink. The barista brings me back to reality.

"Leo? You okay, man?

"Shit! I'm sorry. I was zoning for a moment..." I replied.

"Kelsey told me that you'd be here this morning for your coffee. Go ahead! I'll make it in a sec!" 

And here we go again. All of the sudden, everything starts to move slowly as I walk towards him. It's like I'm in a romantic comedy film when the male lead meets the female lead and then a soft lovely music starts to play in the background and everything around them starts to blur. 

I stand beside him as he patiently waits for his coffee. He scrolls through his phone and gives the counter quick looks from time to time. The barista comes with two cups of coffee on both hands. The other one is probably for me. I can only guess who gets the other. In a flash, he quickly grabs the coffee by the left without a look. I guess he gets his coffee here all the time that he doesn't have to check if it's his coffee or not. And in just a matter of seconds, he's gone. 

This is just like your ordinary meet cute story that does not develop at all. You see someone you think is highly attractive. You convince yourself that your moment with that person is special and that no one else in this planet has experienced the same. You savor every second of that moment with hopes that you will get to see this person again and will remember you. But sadly, those kind of stories only happen in the movies. I will not even pass as an actor. 

As I return to the honest truth of reality, the barista at the counter passes me the remaining cup and I walk myself out of Starbucks. This day is quite different. I just feel that there is something that is about to happen like a glitch that I will not be able to fix. If Kelsey is here, she will probably knock me on the head and say that I'm just overthinking things.

I rest that thought for a while to take a sip of my coffee. If you will ask me what seems to be different? Let me tell you that it's this coffee. Not only that it doesn't taste like my usual coffee at all, it tastes horrible! Who can ever drink such a coffee? Is this coffee for that cute guy I just met? I look around the cup and there it is, a different name. A name that is not familiar to me but gets my heart excited at the same time. 

In perfect barista writing, "June". It's his coffee.