Coffee and Cigarettes

I felt someone kicking my foot. I was about five more kicks away from kicking them back and taking them down to one leg.

Kick. Kick.

...

Kick kick kick.
Alright, that's it.

This means war.

With my eyes still shut and snuggled up in my sleeping bag, I swiftly kicked my legs around and whoever was kicking me landed right on my freaking hip. Which wasn't smart.

"Ow!" I could hear Libby whine. Of course, it had to be her. Who else would it be? Her parents wouldn't randomly start to kick me, they're too well mannered for that. "That hurt, Morg!"

I slowly opened my eyes and waited for them to adjust to the light. "I have to pee," I whined. "What time is it?"

"Noon," she yawned. "Bathroom's free. Just no peeing on my floor. Girls can miss too, you know."

"Only you, Libb," I smirked, scurrying off to the bathroom to empty my bladder.

Once I had finished all that business, I washed my hands (with soap, of course) and ran to get my toothbrush so I could brush my teeth. After I did that, and I washed my face and got dressed, Libby and I decided to go out to the coffee shop again to try and wake ourselves up.

"Ah, Collin's," Libby said, taking in a deep breath of air just outside the cafe. "My home away from home."

We walked into the cafe and noticed that the same cashier was here again. He glanced at us as we approached he counter from behind those glasses of his and said, "One chai, one coffee with two creams, three sugars?"

Libby and I glanced at each other and nodded awkwardly. He chuckled.

"I have a razor sharp memory. I hardly forget anything. I'll get your order, it's $5.57."

We handed him the money and he gave us our drinks. I glanced at his nametag. "Michael?" I asked.

He looked up from the register. "Yeah, that's my name. Everyone calls me Mikey, though." I looked over at Libby who glanced at Michael--I mean, Mikey--intently. I snorted a bit.

"I'm Morgan, this is Libby," I said while pointing to my best friend. "We're regulars, so you can expect to see us around pretty often."

"Awesome," he smiled, blushing a little at Libby.

We walked to our table and as soon as we were out of earshot, I hissed, "Libby, he's so into you!"

She was sipping her tea at the time and it almost came out of her nose. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you not see him flirt with you?" I asked accusingly. "You were eye-raping him, and he was blushing at you! Damn, girl!" I smirked. "I think you have an admirer."

She glanced out of the corner of her eye and I did as well, and we caught Mikey quickly looking down, pretending to clean something. We looked back at each other and giggled.

"Okay, so I'll admit that he's cute, but I don't know anything about the guy. He could just have this job to pay for the drugs he uses on the side! I don't think I want to get involved." Libby said, tapping on her cup.

I shrugged. "He seems harmless. I say you give him your number and see what happens."

She looked at me exasperatedly. "You're too trusting sometimes."

I grinned. "I see intense potential!"

"And I see a migraine," she sighed. "Anyway, let's talk about something other than boys."

It was silent for a good five minutes as both of us wracked our brains trying to think of a different topic. Finally, I burst out, "Go over and talk to him!"

Libby proceeded to bang her head continuously on the table. "Morgan, I don't want to! Sure, he's cute and seems like a sweet guy, but I know nothing about him, I've never met him before in my life, and...goddammit, it's New Jersey! Do you know how many people who look presentable turn out to be crackpots in this town?"

I shrugged. "One in ten?"

"Try one in five," she said in a I-know-everything-therefore-I-am-always-right voice.

I cocked one eyebrow at her. "How'd you come up with that statistic?"

She giggled. "Made it up. But you get the point."

"Mhm," I replied. "I get that you're a wuss who refuses to take chances. Come on, invite him to hang out with us after work or something. It'd be nice to meet new people."

She rolled her eyes and buried her chin in her hands. "If he turns out to be some crackhead weirdo, I blame you."

She got up from her seat and wandered casually over to the counter. After a few seconds, I saw her and Mikey talking, both of them smiling, one of them blushing (guess who), and soon, Libby came wandering back. And she was grinning pretty widely, too.

"He's going to hang out with us once he's done his shift," she said half-dreamily before snapping back to reality.

"Mhm," I chuckled. "And when does his shift end?"

She shrugged. "In around an hour. But we can wait here until then."

"Well, duh," I said. "We do it almost every single day."

"Unless we're at school, studying our asses off," Libby corrected.

There was a long pause before we burst out laughing. "Good one, Libb," I said, trying to catch my breath. "Speaking of school, I don't want to go back on Monday. School sucks, especially at Belleville High."

Libby nodded. "That school is rank."

We chatted about how school sucks for about an hour and before we knew it, it was Mikey's time to get off work. He hung up his apron and we all left the cafe together.

"So, um, where are we going?" Mikey asked, zipping up his hoodie a little.

"The park," Libby and I said in unison, and away we skipped.