Cassiopeia

Hot Chocolate at a Coffee Shop- Benji

I walked downstairs to find my parents glued to the TV, watching an old episode of Who's Line is it Anyway. I grabbed my jacket and walked out the front door, without them even noticing. I walked down the street, on my way to an old cafe.

The cafe was covered in vines, and had plants growing up the brick walls. The cafe had outdoor seating, but it was closed during the winter months. I walked inside and heard the bell ring, letting everyone know I was there.

"Hey!" Naiomi said. She had been working at the store for three years, and was always there. For all I know she has never missed a shift.

"Hi!" I responded and walked up to the counter. "Could I have a blueberry muffin and a hot chocolate."

"You know most kids your age get a coffee." She said while typing in my order.

"Yeah, but hot chocolate is better." I insisted.

"If you say so." She laughed and went over to grab the muffin. I heard the bells ring behind me, I didn't turn to see who it was, because honestly I couldn't care less. Naiomi looked up and frowned. "Aaron why are you here?"

Aaron? I thought before turning around. And there he was, star boy.

"I just wanted a coffee, jesus." He said. He looked over and caught my eye. "Oh, uh hi!"

"Hey!" I said.

"Ignore my brother, he's very annoying." Naiomi told me.

"Nah, star boys cool." I replied, I could see Aaron's cheeks going red.

"Star boy?" Naiomi asked, not even trying to hide her laugh. She handed me the bag with the muffin, and the hot chocolate. I went over and sat down at one of the tables, Aaron right behind me.

"So that's your sister?" I asked.

"Don't remind me." He laughed. I took a sip of the hot chocolate and leaned back in my chair.

"So star boy, tell me about yourself." I asked. Naiomi walked over with a coffee and slammed it down on the table.
"Well uh... I'm fifteen, I have a cat, and I'm not very good at talking." He said shifting in his seat. "Why are you drinking hot chocolate at a coffee shop?" I looked down at the warm cup in my hand.

"Why not?" I responded.

"Because it's a coffee shop, there are so many kinds of coffee, but only one kind of hot chocolate." Aaron explained.

"I like hot chocolate." I told him.

"You're not going to say something complicated like 'why be the usual when you can be unique' or something." He asked, like he was actually surprised.

"Complexity is overrated." I laughed.

"The stars are complex." He responded.

"Not really, the stars are just stars. Why do they have to be complex?"

"People like to make things complex." He told me.

"People are dumb." I smiled. "So the answer is, I like hot chocolate, so I'm going to drink it, even though we are in a coffee shop." He contemplated this for a minute before looking up and smiled.

"It's slow again." He told me.

"What is?" I asked, confused. But he didn't respond, he just drank his coffee and smiled.