Lonely Hearts - Luke Hemmings

Chapter 1

You sigh and looked at the time. Time was dragging on. You were stuck at work and it was so boring. You worked at a little café in New York City. You lived in an apartment and attended NYU as an Art major. Your dream was to be an art teacher.

You sigh as you heard the bell ring, signalling that someone has walked in. You look up and see a tall blonde boy with beautiful blue eyes walk in and walk over to you.

"Hello, welcome to Daisy's Café. How can I help you?" You ask him.

His eyes linger on the menu for a few seconds before he looks back at you. "Can I have an iced coffee and a chocolate chip muffin?"

You nod and ring him up. "$6.00."

He takes his wallet out and hands you a five dollar bill and a single before putting cash in the tip jar. You put the money in the cash register before starting to make his drink. When you finish making the drink you put his muffin in the bag. You hand it to him and say, "Here you go, have a nice day."

"Thank you." He says grabbing his things and walking to the door. You watch as he goes and sits at one of the tables outside.

He had a really nice accent. You believed it was Austrailian, but you weren't completely sure. You watched as he just sat there eating small pieces of his muffin and sipping his coffee. He seemed to look off into the distance a lot. He looked sad and lonely. The more you stared at him the more you realized that he looked familiar. You couldn't put your finger on what his name was. He was probably from one of your classes or something. He looked like an artist type.

You shrug and start to wipe down some of tables that are inside. You wanted to do all of this now so when 6 o'clock hit you could leave. When you finish with that you pack up all the pastries and clean up the coffee machines. It was 5:30 and its usually dead around this time. You swept the floor and did everything else you had to do. Five minutes left to go. You yawned and decided to count your tips. You gasp as you realized that the guy outside left you a $100 bill. You know it was him because everyone else usually leaves a quarter or two if your lucky. You looked up to see if he was still there but sadly, the spot that he was sitting in was now empty.

You clocked out before leaving and locking up the café. Your boss Daisy trusted you to open and close the café because she knew you wouldn't steal from her and that you would take good care of her place.

It was a short walk to your apartment so you quickly walked there and went inside. You put your things down and walk to your room. You changed out of your work clothes and went to the kitchen to find something to eat.

All of your roommates were probably out studying or with their other friends. You lived with your three friends. Their names were Sadie, Rachel and Brittany. You had met Rachel and Sadie when you first came here and you had met Brittany in kindergarten. Rachel and Brittany are cousins so Rachel allowed you two to move in with her and her friend Sadie. That's how you met those two. Brittany has always been your best friend since day one. You were ecstatic that you two could go to college together.

You heat up a frozen burrito and go and work on some homework. After a while you hear Brittany come home and you look up from your work. "Hey."

"Hey." She says. "How was your day?"

"Fine. You?" You ask.

"Stressful." She says.

"Tests?" You ask.

"Yep." She nods. "But i'm seeing Sabrina tonight and I know she'll relieve the stress." She smirks.

When we were in high school Brittany would sleep with anyone who would look her way, boy or girl. She recently came out to you as a lesbian. You were fully supportive. You just wanted her to be happy. That's all you cared about. She met Sabrina when we moved here. They were both crazy about each other. You loved them together.

"How was work?" She asks you.

"Boring." You answer honestly, but you couldn't help but think of the blonde Australian boy you had met. He was strange. You were never one to judge someone but you have never witnessed someone just sitting there and staring at nothing the whole time. You wondered if he'd ever go back there. Also why would he tip you $100? He didn't know you and he barely said 5 words to you. Either he's rich and $100 is nothing to him or he felt really generous. Maybe he was from one of your classes and knows your a struggling college student? Either way, you were grateful and happy because now you had some of this months rent. You'd just need some more but you might have extra money to buy more food or clothes.

"Are you okay?" Brittany asks.

You nod. "Yeah, sorry. I was lost in thought."

"Nickle for your thoughts?" She asks.

"It's penny." You say.

"Who's Penny?" She asks.

"No.. the phrase is 'a penny for your thoughts.'" You say.

"Ohhhh." She says. "That makes more sense."

You nod. "Anyway, I'm fine, I was just thinking about this boy I met earlier."

"Is he hot and single?" She asks.

"I mean yeah, he's really hot. I don't know about the single part though. He tipped me $100." You tell her.

"Wow, a big spender." She says. "You need to marry him ASAP."

You laugh. "He's probably taken. He also looks so familiar but I can't place my finger on who he is. He might be in one of my classes. I'll look in my one class tomorrow."

"Good." She says and checks her phone. "I have to go, Sabrina wants to get down and dirty."

"Too much information." You laugh and fake gag.

"Oh shut up." She smiles.

"Have fun." You tell her.

She thanks you and walks out of the apartment. You always loved how Brittany was fearless enough to talk about anything. You were a virgin but you feel like it would be awkward to talk about it out loud when you finally lost your virginity... but then again, who knows.

You finish up your homework soon and get ready for bed. It was now almost midnight and you had class at 8 am the next day and then work right after it. It was exhausting but you loved both school and the café. It got tough around times of the finals but you managed to make it work.

You fall asleep soon, dreaming about being done with school for the summer and driving to find a beach and just relaxing.

————
A/N-

Book dedicated to KaitlynHare

Main character's name: Kaitlyn

- Sammie