The Coffee Girl

Boo. The universal word indicating it was Halloween. I watched in bemusement as the little girl with pigtails flew past me, towards her mother’s open arms. In her small hands was a white balloon with a picture of a ghost on it. The kind of ghost that looked like an amorphous blob; something that seemed to be all the rage in my neighbourhood. More children zoomed by me with sheets over their heads and holes cut out for their eyes.

Is it weird to say that I loved Halloween? There was just something exhilarating about being a completely different person for one day. Underneath a Scream mask or in a muscular Spider-Man suit, you were untouchable; a person different than the one that lives their day to day life.

On a day when I could be something other than a college student and coffee girl, what was I doing? I was walking home with a bag full of food from Starbuck’s, ready to spend the night watching whatever horror movies they had on TV. The classics would definitely be better than the crap they have in the video store or theatre.

It wasn’t exactly dark yet, but more and more kids began filing out of their homes with pumpkin pails for their treats and their parents behind them, keeping a close watch. Tonight would have been a great night to spend with Rachel, pigging out on candy and watching scary movies. Too bad tonight was the night her older brother, Troy, had gotten food poisoning and needed to be driven to the hospital. Granted, if I got food poisoning I would want someone to forget that it was Halloween and get me help, but I needed some time off from reality.

Actually, what I needed was more friends.

In the pocket of my light fall sweater I could feel my phone vibrating. I was a block away from my apartment, so I wondered if I should pick it up now and risk dropping the food or just wait until I got home. What if Rachel needed help with Troy? I didn’t know him all that well, but he was my best friend’s brother. I pulled the phone out and slid it open without looking at the display.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Patrick’s voice said, “I’m glad I caught you.”

I swivelled around another speeding kid, trying to keep my balance. “What’s up?” I asked.

Pat took a breath and I could hear faint voices in the background. A party? No, it wasn’t loud enough to be a party. “What are you doing tonight?”

“Um...” the universal word indicating I was a complete loser and had no plans at all. “Nothing important. Why?”

“A bunch of us were going to the outskirts of Chicago,” he said with a small laugh. “It is Halloween, after all. Some of the guys are bringing beer and I said I’d bring the hot girls.”

I chuckled and shook my head, ignoring the strange looks parents were throwing at me as I hopped over their children. Patrick would never give it a rest, but that’s how I liked him. His complete lack of boundaries is what made him...him.

“I dunno...” I began, looking down at the bag of food then thinking about the endless movies waiting for me in the comfort of my home.

“Too bad,” he said, making the decision for me, “We’re already on our way to your place.” How does he know where I live? Malcolm never could keep his mouth shut. “Actually, we see you walking.” I spun around, almost dropping my phone, to see a giant, black pick-up truck driving my way. It stopped a few feet in front of me. Jonathan was in the front seat, a grinning Patrick in passenger, and the player I knew to be Kris Versteeg in the back.

“Nice ride,” I said with a soft whistle as I stepped off the curb towards the driver’s window.

Patrick shrugged. “It gets the job done.”

“And what Job is that?” I inquired with a laugh.

“Driving out of the city to get drunk with your friends,” Jonathan replied. I let out a snort, somewhat surprised at his humour. I didn’t know he had it in him. After a fair amount of arguing and debating (mostly from Patrick) I had given in and hopped into the car next to Kris. We shared the awkward introduction and those few clichéd sentences about what I did and where I went to school. Before I knew it, the windows were down, some random band Patrick liked was blasting on the speakers, and the sun had completely descended. Without the bright city lights of downtown Chicago, we were left in darkness. I didn’t know how Jonathan was driving so well, not missing a sign or sudden swerve of the road.

About an hour later, in the middle of nowhere, we stopped. The soft sound of crickets was clearly heard in the background. I only thought that happened in movies. The guys all unbuckled their seatbelts while I was still frozen in place. This was exactly how those horror movies on TV started. Out in the middle of nowhere, a group of young people ready to start drinking. Cue the scary music and masked, chainsaw-carrying, psycho killer.

“This is it?” I asked, still not ready to take off my seatbelt. Kris nodded and laughed at my obvious fear. “Where are we?” Patrick turned back to me and shrugged. Well, that was comforting. “Where’s everyone else? Are you sure we’re in the right place? What if we run into and animal or something?” I had never hyperventilated before, but if they continued shrugging off my questions I was sure I would.

“Aww,” Jonathan interjected from the front seat before hopping out and moving to my open window, “the city girl is scared.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. Now I knew what he was playing at. Around me and Patrick he barely said two words, but when there were more people he found the courage to bring out his humour. “I’m not scared,” I said whilst undoing my belt and hopping out of the car. “Just...worried.”

“Relax,” Patrick chuckled. “The others should be getting here soon.”

And just like clockwork, another car pulled up next to Jonathan’s truck, then another, and another. Before I knew it, there were about 20 people all conversing and laughing while drinking their beer. I didn’t know anyone, what a shock. So, being the loner that I am, I stood by the rotten fence that surrounded whatever farmland used to be there. The cool air whipped through my hair, getting colder by the minute. I looked up and took a deep breath. This wasn’t a sight you could see in Chicago, not with all the lights. Stars barely existed there. Out here, little sparkling dots spotted every inch of the navy sky.

“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Patrick said from behind me, snapping me out of my other-worldly daze. I smiled and nodded as he moved next to me and leaned forward against the fence. “That’s why we love coming out here so much. You don’t see this kind of stuff in Chicago.”

I faced up again. “And I thought you guys came here for the beer.” He laughed then I noticed him shift his almost empty bottle of beer to his other hand before taking my hand in his. His fingers slowly wrapped themselves around mine. I looked at him and he smiled half-heartedly. “Patrick—” I began.

“Holding hands doesn’t have to mean anything, you know?” he said, cutting me off. I licked my lips and looked out at the horizon. “Consider it a friendly gesture. Something friends feel free to do.”

I nodded slowly and whispered, “Okay.” We stood there for a little bit longer, looking up at the twinkling stars and drowning out the sounds of drunk people behind us. After about 15 minutes, my legs had become numb from standing and I told him I was going back to the truck. The trunk had become the hangout of the night. People all sat there, drinking and laughing. But as I walked away from Patrick and back to the car, I noticed that the only person sitting in the cargo area of the truck was Jonathan. He had his arm propped up on his knee, his fingers loosely holding the bottle of beer, as he stared up at the sky.

This was going to be awkward, that much was obvious. But he was the only other person I really knew out there, in the middle of nowhere.

“Hey,” I whispered, hopping up into the trunk and sitting opposite him. The area wasn’t all that big, so his one outstretched leg almost reached mine as I sat down.

He snapped his gaze away from the sky and looked at me. “Hey,” he replied. Hey was such an overused word these days. What did it even mean? Then again, it was the first time Jonathan had actually, genuinely, said it to me so I assumed it was a good sign.

“You’re not shooting fireworks with the rest of them?” I asked, primarily trying to make small-talk, but also trying to figure out why he would rather sit, stargazing, instead of fooling around with his friends. He cocked his head over his shoulder to look at a few of the younger members of the team setting up a fire cracker then turned back to face me.

He shrugged. “Nah,” Not exactly a well-worded essay, but I knew that this was the most I was going to get out of him. That was good enough. Instead of pushing the matter farther, I just sat there, staring up at the sky. There was a long silence between us. “So, are you and Kaner dating now?”

That caught me off guard. “Wha—No! What are you talking about?”

He let out an airy laugh. “I saw you two holding hands.” He stared at me then diverted his gaze down to his jeans, picking at a small tear in the knee.

“It’s not like that,” I explained. “He and I are just friends. Friends can hold hands without it meaning something.”

A scoff. “Yeah, you’d probably slap me in my face if I tried anything like that.” Jonathan’s voice was almost a complete whisper, and yet the words seemed to echo as though we were on a mountain top. Is that what he thought? That I hated him? That if he tried acting friendly towards me I’d completely shut him down?

Hockey players are so confusing sometimes.

“Well, why don’t you try it?” I countered. He stared at me for a moment, his eyes searching my expression for something. He then looked back down at his jeans and took a swig of beer.

“Whatever,” he mumbled.

Figures. “Ugh, is that all you know how to say?” I mumbled back, diverting my gaze back up at the sky.

“Around you? Yeah,” he replied in a snarky tone. I snapped my head down to look at him, feeling the now colder air blowing against my face and chest.

I licked my lips. “You know, I would take offence to that if I wasn’t so freezing and tired,” I replied, letting a small yawn slip out. I had been up since 6 that morning, waking up earlier than my alarm clock for some reason. “Why did I agree to come? It’s, like, below 100 and I can almost feel my eyes closing—”

Jonathan groaned. “You complain a lot.”

I stared at him for a moment. 5 minutes we had been sitting together and we already managed to get on each other’s nerves. “And I thought you were grateful that I saved your ass.” I smirked whilst rubbing my arms to keep warm.

He sighed and leaned forward. “I am. I just...I don’t really know how to show it sometimes.” He continued staring at me then shifted over to my side, sitting a few inches away from me. He swiftly pulled off his jacket and handed it to me. His face was emotionless, but I knew that this was his way of showing how grateful he was. I smiled softly and took it from him, sliding my hands in the too-big sleeves, and smelling his cologne as it wafted up from the fabric into my nose.

We sat in idle silence for a moment or two.

“It’s okay if you wanna date Kaner,” Jonathan blurted out. He definitely wasn’t one with words.

I licked my lips and turned my head to face him. “I don’t want to date him. I—I don’t know what I want sometimes.” His brown eyes remained firmly on mine, making a strange feeling erupt in the pit of my stomach.

He licked his lips then looked back up at the sky before saying, “Okay.”