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“Nice to meet you,” Elise says as she holds out her ring-covered hand. “I still can’t believe this idiot is going to college, but whatever,” she laughs.
I say, “Nice to meet you, too,” in a polite way. With all of her piercings and her blunt attitude, she seemed a little intense. I kept smiling, though, because I didn’t want to judge a book by its cover. Felix looks around the coffee shop, which is surprisingly crowded. I was so focused on my homework that I didn’t even notice how crowded it had gotten.
“Do you mind if we sit here? I don’t see any other tables open, and I want to be able to do my homework,” he asks with big, hopeful eyes. I want to say no, but when he looks at me with those puppy dog eyes, I can’t say no. I don’t usually get work done when I’m with other people, but I’ll try.
“Sure,” I say.
“Great. I’m going to put my bag here and go order. It looks like there’s a line. Elise, I know what you want. Calla, do you want anything?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head because I don’t like that he wants to buy me something when I don’t know him well.
“I insist. It would be the right thing to do if I got you something because you let my sister and me sit at your table.” He smiled in a silly way, which made it hard for me not to laugh at what he was doing.
“Okay, that’s not how ethics works, but it’s nice that you’re trying. I’ll have a white mocha with extra whipped cream.”
“Sure thing. I’ll be right back,” he says.
Elise sits down across from me and spreads her legs out in the seat next to her as soon as he turns away. “So, how do you know Felix?” The way she asks me makes it sound like he can’t have friends or he’ll get in trouble for knowing me.
“Oh, um… We met in Ethics yesterday, like he said.”
“Okay. Felix doesn’t talk to people, so that sounds a little off to me,” she says, looking at me closely and making me feel a little uneasy.
“I was late yesterday, and the only open seat was next to him. When I sat down, I asked him what I missed in class. We talked a little more about an assignment we were given, but that was all.”
I feel like I’m being questioned. She looks at me for a little longer, then smiles widely. “Don’t freak out, babe. I believe you. It’s just that I’m his twin. We’ve been connected at the hip for forever. He’s never one to start a conversation with someone, so I was surprised to learn he made a… friend. And a baddie at that,” she smirks.
“I am not a bad person,” I say. “I was late once. It was an accident. I slept too long—”
“Calm down, girl! You don’t need to have a brain aneurysm. I can’t put my brother’s first friend in the hospital. He’d never get another one!”
We laugh with each other. It looks like I passed Elise’s test because she’s now joking and laughing with me. When she smiles, she doesn’t seem as intense. I like her a little when she smiles.
Felix says nervously as he gets closer to our table, “I bring coffee!” There are three coffees and two hot paninis on a coffee tray. The smell of the sandwiches makes me remember that I haven’t eaten since this morning, and it’s already one in the afternoon. My stomach growls so loudly that it makes my cheeks turn a bright red. I put my hand on my stomach, but that doesn’t stop the embarrassing noise.
Felix and Elise make fun of me, which makes me even more embarrassed. Felix sits next to me and gives me half of his sandwich. “Here.”
“I can’t take your food. You already bought me coffee. I’ll go get something…” I say again.
“It’s okay. Take it. If I’m still hungry, I’ll get another. I’m still kind of full from breakfast,” Felix says with a smile as he pushes the food into my hand.
I smile back and accept the food. I know he’s lying, but it’s nice of him to be so nice. I remember what Elise said. Felix doesn’t talk to anyone. It’s already a shock that he’s talking to me and being nice to me. He doesn’t really have friends, at least not according to what she said. I don’t want to make him go back into his shell.
We all talk, eat, and get to know each other. I heard more stories about how Felix and Elise grew up. I shouldn’t have been surprised that they were twins, but I was. I thought twins were supposed to be the same, but Felix and Elise are very different. Their styles and personalities are very different from each other.
Felix asks if we can do our homework together after we finish eating. I agree to work on it together as long as he does the work and doesn’t ask me for all the answers. Plus, he can’t just ask for all the answers because a lot of it is based on opinion. Elise looks through her phone.
Skyler calls me three-quarters of the way through the assignment. “Guys, wait a second.”
I pick up the phone on the third ring. “Hello?” I say.
“Hey, Calla! What are you up to? I’m so bored!” Skyler says.
“Not much. I’m at Steamy Bean Cafe with some friends doing my homework. What about you?”
“Oh my goddess, I’m so bored. Ezra is gone, and I don’t know what to do with myself. I can’t bother him because he’s still on that flight with Jaxon. But now I can bother you! Can I come? Please!” He keeps asking until I finally give in. I don’t pay attention to the “oh my goddess” comment. Is it a gay thing? I don’t know. I think it’s a little weird that Ezra is with Jaxon too. I didn’t know they were coworkers.
“Okay! You can come.”
“Yes! I’ll be there in 15.”
“Bye, Skyler,” I laugh into the phone and then hang up. I look up and see Felix, who looks worried. He opens his mouth to say something, but then he shuts it again. He does this for a few seconds while he thinks about what he wants to say. “Uh, I think we need to leave now. We have a family thing to do. We can’t be late.”
Felix quickly puts his computer in his bag, zips it up, and stands up.
“I-” I start to say, but Felix is already telling Elise to get up too. They both start picking up the rest of the trash.
“Are you sure you have to go right now? If you’re not comfortable, I can call Skyler.”
“No! I mean, it’s fine. We have to go anyway. His call just reminded me. See you in class, Calla.” Felix waves goodbye and walks out the door. He doesn’t even turn around.
Elise waves goodbye with two fingers and leaves Steamy Bean Cafe. She jogs a little to catch up with Felix.
That was sudden.
I can’t understand why Felix and Elise left the coffee shop so suddenly. Maybe Felix heard me ask Skyler to come with us and got scared? Elise did say he doesn’t make friends easily, so maybe he was scared to meet someone new. I really thought that Skyler and Felix would get along. Skyler was my first college friend, so I thought we could all be friends. I’m sorry for making Felix feel bad.
Fifteen minutes later, the door chimes as Skyler walks into Steamy Bean Cafe, just like clockwork. He yells from across the store, “I’ll get you something. It’ll be a surprise!”
People turn their heads to see who the loud guy is yelling at, just like in class. The mean looks make me put my head in my hands and pray that Skyler will stop bothering me. But I don’t think that’s going to happen in the future.
“Calla? Should I be worried?” Skyler asks.
I look up at him with my eyebrows furrowed and my head slightly tilted. “What?”
Skyler puts a cup of coffee in front of me and then sits down in the chair where Elise was sitting before. “Are you making up imaginary friends because I’m not spending enough time with you? Because if that’s the case, I will gladly clear my schedule for your mental health.” The only reason I know he’s messing with me is the slight lift at the corner of his mouth.
“Yes, they’re real!” I say angrily. “I swear! He got nervous about meeting new people after I hung up with you and ran away.”
“…He?” Skyler asks. He takes a sip of his coffee but never takes his eyes off me.
“Um… yeah. Is that a problem?” I ask. I’m not sure what to think. Skyler is questioning my choice of friends. Isn’t he a man?
“No, there’s no problem. I just thought you were with Jaxon,” he says carefully.
Skyler is making things so hard to understand. How does talking to Jaxon relate to meeting a friend for coffee? And I didn’t even get to have coffee with Felix! He came over with his twin sister, and we all started talking!
“I am. But he came with his sister and there weren’t any tables, so I told them they could sit with me,” I told him. Skyler looks visibly relieved after I answer. His shoulders, which were tight and raised, fell in relief, and his hand flew to his chest.
“Wow! You almost made my heart stop!” Skyler said, letting out a big sigh and then taking a big sip of coffee.
“Why?”
Skyler says, “Oh… Um… I’m really set on you and Jaxon.” “I thought you might have been on a date just now. Jaxon wouldn’t have liked it.”
My eyebrows go up right away, and if I were an animal, my ears would have perked up in interest. “How do you know Jaxon wouldn’t be happy?”
Skyler smiles. “I live with Ezra. Ezra and Jaxon are best friends. I know everything he knows, and I know that Jaxon is crazy about you. By the way, how was last night? Did anything happen? Did you two do it?”
I try to stop any of Skyler’s crazy theories about the night by sputtering. “Oh my gosh, no! Not like that!”
“Are you sure?” Skyler gives me a knowing smile. “Something must have happened. You guys were alone for the first time, right? Are you sure you didn’t just do it for real?”
“Oh my god, please stop!” I begged him, covering my face with my hands in shame. Why does Skyler always have to be so… rude?
“Come on! Tell me the juicy parts!” Jaxon wouldn’t tell me anything juicy; he just talked about how he felt.
Skyler’s words make me smile. Jaxon didn’t say anything about what we did last night. That makes me feel like he respects me and makes me trust him more. What he wants isn’t just physical, which makes me happy. He would have told his friend what we did if it were. Instead, he didn’t tell us the details and instead talked about how we felt about each other, not how we looked.
“Someone’s blushing! So, tell me what happened!”