It has been two days since I was suspended. Ever since then, I have been working here at the cafe to keep myself occupied. Nothing really exciting going on, just the daily routine of getting and serving orders.
I felt a vibration in my pocket. I checked to see who it was and it was Kate.
'Hey! How've you been doing, Lu? We heard you got suspended. That's why you haven't been in school these past few days. Damn, we only got to feel your aura back and now we're cut off again. Anyways, hope you're doing fine. Chat us if you need anything.'
Kate has been awfully clingy since the day I called her in for a favor but it really cheers me up that she's a bit clingy to me. I also got a few messages from Valerie asking where I was and what happened after the suspension. I told them that I've been staying with Grandfather even if it wasn't really the case. That way they won't bug me to join them to do something or whatever that comes into their minds.
It's been a while too since I have worked for straight days in the cafe. I really don't mind it all. At least this way, I don't always have to look over my shoulders because no one really knows me here in this side of town. Plus, I don't have to think about Nate.
Well, speak of the devil. I just received a message from him.
'Take care,' was all the message contained. A part of me is happy to receive something from him despite him being away because it just showed me that he still thinks of me, but at the same time, I feel guilty. Guilty because I can't reciprocate the efforts he has been showing me ever since I have pushed him away.
I put back my cellphone in my pocket and continued working. The bell rang on the door, which signaled a new customer arrived.
"Welcome to Cafe Blooms!" The staff greeted me, including me.
I tilted my head to one side trying to figure out where I had seen the man with platinum hair. He looked so familiar. His hair was long and tied up in a half-man bun. He got his two ears pierced with black circle earrings on them. On his right ear, beside the black circle earring, is another earring dangling from it. He looked like a celebrity. Yet, those eyes. I've seen those oceanic blue eyes once before.
The guy was talking with his friends. They were a bit rowdy. I turned around and just ignored my recollection of memory. I think I need some vitamins to help my brain remember stuff.
After a while, I felt someone poking me by my shoulder. I turned around to see the platinum-haired guy right in front of me.
"Long time no see," he said with a gleeful smile.
A name came across my mind, but no way, right? He totally looked different. "Lu-Lucas?" I said in doubt.
"Haha! Yes, it's me. Long time no see, Selene! Last time we met, you ditched me on the streets," he joked. I was a bit lost for a second why he called me Selene and remembered that that's how I introduced myself to him.
"Oh my god! I almost didn't recognize you. You… You look so different," I said in awe.
I was surprised when he took a step forward and put his index finger on my chin, lifting it up slightly to make me look at him directly in his eyes.
"How different? More… handsome?" he asked with a bit of a serious tone, but I jokingly pushed him away and said, "Still the playboy." We both laughed.
"Hey Luc, who's this?" a guy asked while hanging his arm over Lucas's shoulder.
"Oh yeah, you haven't met her yet. Her name's Selene. I met her at the public library. She was having a hard time with her classes, and I helped her out," Lucas explained.
"Hi, Selene! Name's Jax. Short for Jackson. I'm Lucas's best friend. You better be careful around this guy. Meeting him wasn't a coincidence, especially when it was in a public li--" Jax couldn't finish his sentence because Lucas hit him on his abdomen with his elbow.
"Don't mind him," Lucas said. I scratched my head, trying to figure out the situation.
"Selene!" Ms. Ava called.
"Well, I'm still on the clock. Enjoy your time here in our cafe," I said and walked away, thinking that I'm grateful that Ms. Ava called.
Lucas and his friends were hanging out for an hour or so already in the cafe. I didn't bother them since Lucas and I weren't really that close. Besides, he is a freshman in his college year.
The only time that I went to their table was when I cleaned it up. The moment I was about to walk away from them, I heard that Jax teased Lucas saying, "She's a catch." I rolled out my eyes, now understanding what Jax meant earlier.
Lucas most probably is a known playboy on their campus, and I was just one of his targets in the library. Seeing that he is smart, he could easily attract women who are having a hard time with their classes. Smart move, I dare say.
It was my turn to be the cashier. It was already past three in the afternoon. I noticed that Lucas and his friends were about to go, but Lucas was walking towards me.
"Ordering for a go-to?" I asked when he was a foot away from me.
"Can I order your time?" he mischievously asked. I laughed at his corny move.
"Sorry, but I don't think you can afford me, sir," I answered, playing along with his game.
"Are you sure?"
"Definitely," I answered confidently.
"Well, you'll never know unless you come. I have a game tomorrow at our campus. The guys… want to see you there. Will you come?" he asked. His eyes seemed to turn to glass because he's giving me some puppy-eye look.
"Time?"
"5:30pm," he immediately answered with hope in his voice.
"No promises," I said.
"Enough for me. Bye Selene. It was nice seeing you again," he said and walked away. My eyes didn't leave his figure until he was already out of sight. I saw that Jax somehow asked him how it went, and Lucas just smiled, telling them that it went well, even though I really didn't give him a definite answer. They were teasing him, but he just walked faster than the others.
I giggled at the scene I was looking at, so much that I didn't realize Miss Ava was beside me.
"You're pretty popular with men," she said.
"Oh no! I… haha that… that was," I stammered, trying to hide my embarrassment. Miss Ava just patted my back, and I got back to work.
Somehow when working here on the west side, I feel a bit myself. I don't have to pretend to be someone else and just enjoy what I am doing. Honestly, I hated it - this work. But it somehow also taught me the value of time and money, which I wasted a lot back in my old days. Believe it or not, I see the silver lining of not having all the riches in the world. I have taken my life for granted so much that I became too spoiled and feeling too entitled to everything.
Still, living the life of not thinking about the next responsibility I need to work on, like bills, is a life that I truly missed.
⤬ ⤬ ⤬
I just came back to the cafe from the hospital. I had to message Mrs. Gibbs if she could look after Mom while I work at the cafe. She was glad to help. One thing off my plate that gives me a bit of relief.
"Hey, Selene. That guy from yesterday came in here earlier when you weren't around. He gave me this and told me to give it to you. He said that it's an instruction for you to get to their campus and a ticket to watch the game," Jessica explained. I thanked her and put the items in my pocket.
The cafe wasn't that crowded today, and we were pretty chilling most of the time in the staff room. Jessica and I were having our break time.
"Are you going to that game?" she asked out of nowhere.
"I'm not sure," I said.
"But that guy seems to be into you," Jessica teased.
"Are you sure that you're not into that guy?" I goaded.
"Hehe, his friend. Not him!" Jessica said admittedly.
"I guess you have to be that hot to be on the basketball team," I said without thinking, which gave Jessica another shot at teasing me.
"So you do think that they're hot. I thought that there was something wrong with your eyesight," she said. "So, are you coming?"
"Do you want to come with me?" I asked, even though it was already obvious that she badly wanted to come with me. She nodded her head, so that made me giggle because she was looking really cute.
⤬ ⤬ ⤬
We finished our shift around six-thirty in the evening and arrived at the campus by six-fifty. It wasn't really hard to follow his instructions, except when we arrived at their campus, it was so big that Jessica and I got lost.
"Do you think we will still be able to see them play?" Jessica asked in doubt. I too was doubting because we're definitely lost and the campus seems to be very quiet.
"Let's just find someone we can ask," I said.
Luckily we found a student who was roaming around. She was kind enough to take us to the gym. It was at the back part of the entire university grounds, where all the people were gathered. From a distance we could hear the screams of cheering and jeering.
When Jessica and I entered the gym, there were a lot of people. The entire gym was packed. Even by the entrance people were already standing just to see the game.
"Ahh I never thought Lucas would be playing this season," a girl said beside us.
"I know right. He's been MIA since our senior high school. I thought he quit playing. What could've pushed him to play again?"
"Who knows? At least we're seeing him play again."
"But still, he's not fully in condition, he missed a lot of shots. He's not the usual King of the Court."
My eyes widened listening to the girls who were giggling and supporting Lucas. I guess Lucas was really famous on this campus. So suddenly, Jessica pulled me into the crowd which almost left me off balance.
"Come on," she said, pulling me in between people. Until we finally are settled in front of the entire entrance.
When I was able to compose myself, I glanced back at the court and saw that Lucas was giving a free throw. I looked at the score and their team is falling behind by twenty points. And there's already six more minutes left in the last quarter.
It seems like they're team was taking a beating. The crowd was cheering them as loud as they could, but when the whistle blew and Lucas took his stance to shoot, he missed it. Somehow it felt like he was giving up.
I glanced at him, somehow manifesting my thoughts to him to shoot it because if he's really the King of the Court, taking back that twenty points will be a piece of cake for him. Then it was as if he felt my presence because he glanced his way to me. Did he really actually see me?
The referee blew the whistle again and this time, he was able to shoot it. The crowd went nuts. They ran towards the other side as the opposing team was trying to gain another point from them. I saw Ian and Jax at the court too. Jax was trying to steal the ball from the opposing team member. When he did, he dribbled it and passed it to Ian. Ian almost failed to get the ball because another opposing team member was trying to steal the pass, good thing he got good reflexes and was able to catch it on time. The time is almost out and they need to shoot or else they'll have a violation. Ian passed it aggressively to Lucas, but two persons were actually blocking and guarding him. But thanks to his height and jump power, he was able to catch the ball and shoot at the same time giving them three points.
That's fifteen points more to go.
⤬ ⤬ ⤬
The game ended and the crowd were slowly moving out of the gym. I told Jessica that we should be going, but she insisted that we meet Lucas and the others since they've invited us anyway - well, me to be exact.
"Are you leaving without saying hi?" a familiar voice from behind said.
I turned around to see a man in his white jersey whose skin looked like it's glowing due to sweat. He brushed his hair away, showing off that muscle on his arm. This guy definitely knows his features and how to capture thirsty women because the moment I looked at Jessica, her jaw dropped.
"Sorry that you lost by a point," I said.
"Ouch. I got no sorry, but pity in return," he said, acting that he had heart pain by putting his hand over his chest.
"But you did a great job after that free throw. Nice play, King," I complimented. His eyes widened to hear what I just said. Ian and Jax came over and greeted us.
"Hey Selene and you are?" Jax asked while holding Jessica's hand to kiss. Gosh! These boys are a gang of casanovas.
"I--My name's Jessica," Jessica stammered, who was clearly at awe of the handsome men in front of her.
"Hey, it's you! You're the girl from the cafe? It's been a while since I saw you," Ian said. I smiled while greeting him.
"What? So, I was the one left out to know this beautiful raven-haired girl. Geez, no fun boys," Jax pouted. I laughed.
"You boys have a way with words, are you?" I said.
The three of them looked at one another. Jax noticed that Lucas was stoned on where he was standing. He waved his hand in front of him but he wasn't blinking.
"Yo, our Lucas here just got stoned!! That's definitely a first," Jax teased. Lucas who got himself now composed, he pushed away Jax and Ian. Jax was hitting Lucas by the elbow and Ian was just laughing at the fact that Lucas seemed embarrassed.
I told Jessica that it's becoming late and we have to go now. I need to be at the hospital to switch with Mrs. Gibbs.
I bid my farewell first before turning around to leave the gym, "Thanks for the invite. Still a job well done, you guys!" I said smiling. The three smiled and couldn't even see a hint of sadness in their faces. They are a gullible bunch.
Jessica and I were walking towards the door when a hand grabbed my wrist to stop me. I looked back to see Lucas.
"Won't you stay to celebrate?" he asked suddenly.
"Celebrate?" I tilted my head, confused at his question.
"I mean… would you like to go out with me tomorrow?" he asked.