Gifted Ones

Chapter 2 Haven

As soon as I step into the coffee shop I am hit with a warm blast of air, making me sigh in relief. It's freezing outside. I run my bare hands together, scanning the morning Starbucks rush for my friend Amber.

I find her sitting at one of the booth tables in the back. She has her nose buried in the open textbook in front of her, causing a curtain of immaculate blond hair to obscure her face. I shout her name and she looks up, her brown eyes confused. When she sees me she sends a little wave in my direction before going back to her beloved books.

Amber has all the smarts and all the looks, but she's not nearly as cool and collected as she seems. When we're alone she'll pour out her soul and rant like some one lit the house on fire, but in public she sits down and shuts up. I get in line for my coffee, smiling a little. That's Amber.

I drum my fingers on the counter impatiently as the fur coat wearing lady in front of me orders a Venti iced skinny hazelnut Macchiato with Sugar free syrup and extra shot, light ice, no whip. When I was on duty here, I hated people who ordered drinks with an obnoxious amount of modifications. That's one of the reasons I left in the first place. Once I bought the Corolla, my classes started to get harder and I was forced to quit. Honestly, I'm still a little bitter about the fact tat Amber's convertible VWBug was a present from her parents. She didn't spend a dime on it.

When the Macchiato lady gets her coffee I step up to the counter and order a caramel Frappuccino. My friend Benjamin drops me a wink from beyond the counter as he takes my order. I smile back at him familiarly. "Haven! I haven't seen you here in a while," he says.

"I've been busy recently, sorry. Can't get up early when you're studying 'til two in the morning."

His reddish blond head nods from where he works the Frappuccino machine. "It's been pretty lonely here ever since you quit."

"Yeah, I know. I liked it here." I tell him.

"Well, we miss you too." Benjamin turns around and sets my coffee on the counter. He leans in close and whispers, "the guy they hired as your replacement does not no know how to work the Cappuccino machine."

I laugh at that and hand him my credit card. He swipes it with a smile and hands in back to me without breaking eye contact.

"Bye Ben!" I call over my shoulder as I walk back to Amber's table. She has a huge smile on her face before I've even sat down.

"What?" I ask defensively, taking a sip of my coffee.

"You can't tell?" She laughs.

"Tell what?"

"The latte boy likes you."

I roll my eyes at her. "Benjamin does not like me." Amber usually has some sixth sense about these kinds of things, but I'm not sure she's right about Ben. We've been friends for a long time.

Amber rolls her eyes right back at me. "Wow Haven, you are so blind! He smiled at you and he said he missed you! He's a Senior, too."

"We're friends, Amber, just friends."

She laughs and shakes her head. "You're in denial. Anyway, what is it you wanted to tell me in person?"

I am snapped back to the present. "Oh! Right. Last night there was this lady staring at us from outside Bubba's BBQ . . ." I go on to tell her about my parents' meeting with Katherine and their conversation in the kitchen. By the time I am finished, telling her about the package, a deep frown has replaced Amber's smile.

"There's definitely something going on here," She decides.

I nod, a bit of the weight leaving my shoulders. I'm glad she agrees; I was half-afraid I might've been making things up.