Coffee Break

I pushed my way into the bookstore, thankful to be out of the wind. November was when it always got colder here, and this year the cold weather was moving in faster than anyone had expected it to. So were midterms apparently. It was only a week back after the Thanksgiving holiday and I was already buried in school work. But hey, nobody ever said college was easy. And if they did, they lied.

I maneuvered my way through the aisles, scanning the shelves for a book I was supposed to have picked up for class weeks ago. As usual, I left it until the very last minute. Maybe one day I’d learn to stop procrastinating. But for right now, it kind of worked for me.

As I moved around the end of one of the aisles, I came onto a space cleared of bookcase. It had four big comfy looking armchairs sitting in the middle of the floor, a little table beside each of the chairs. I looked at the chairs, contemplating sitting down for a minute. The walk over here had kind of tired me out. Hey, I may be skinny but I’m still out of shape.

I heard a noise and looked up to see a boy about my age sitting in one of the chairs. He had longish dirty blond hair, which was falling in his face. A book was clutched closely to his chest, open, but he didn’t seem to be reading it. His legs, which were clad in dark gray skinny jeans, were curled underneath him. He had earbuds in, seemingly oblivious to the world. I stood there, looking at him for a moment before he looked up, locking his eyes with mine. They were a gorgeous light brown color. But what concerned me was that they were bloodshot and a little swollen, as if he had been crying not too long ago.

His eyes narrowed slightly and I immediately felt awkward. I looked down, turning my back on the boy, pretending to look at the shelf of books behind me. I hadn’t realized it but I had sort of been starring at him.

I moved down the book case, scanning the covers of various books until I (finally) found the one I had been looking for. As I picked it up and was about to head towards the counter to check out, I looked back at the boy in the armchair. I don’t know what made me look, but when I glanced back I saw him leaned over, elbows propped up on his knees, his head in his hands. His bangs blew out a little bit as he sighed heavily.

I bit my lip, debating silently what to do. “Fuck it.” I mumbled to myself, taking a step towards the boy. I stood in front of him, clearing my throat I said, “Do you mind if I sit down?”

He didn’t respond. He didn’t even move for a few seconds. Then he looked up at me, a confused look on his face. “Sorry, what did you say?” he asked, taking his earbud out. Of course, he hadn’t heard me.

“Do you mind if I sit here for a minute?” I asked again, feeling my pulse quicken. What the hell, why was I getting so nervous? The boy just shrugged, sitting back in his chair, pulling the book out again.

“Look, I know I don’t know you,” I said, “And I know it’s none of my business but…are you alright? You just really don’t seem to be okay.”

“You’re right,” he said quietly, “You don’t know me.”

“Sorry.” I mumbled, feeling more and more stupid with every word we exchanged. “I’ll just go.” I stood up, about to leave when the boy spoke up, this time his voice louder, but only slightly.

“I’m sorry, that was rude. You were just being nice. You don’t have to leave. And to answer your question, no, I’m not really alright.”

I sat back down slowly, still feeling really unsure about this whole situation. “Do you maybe want to talk about it?”

A small smile made it’s way to his lips. His was truly a face meant to smile. “I don’t exactly know you, remember?”

“Well I’m Jack.” I said, smiling back at him. “What’s your name?”

“Alex.” he said simply.

“Well see, now you know me. So do you want to talk about it now?” He looked up, biting his lip. Suddenly, I got an idea. “How about we get some coffee from that café down the street? My treat. You can tell me all about what’s bothering you.” I said, hoping for some inexplicable reason that he’d say yes. I added, “I’m not a rapist or serial killer or anything, promise.”

Alex actually let out a small laugh, “Well I’d have no way of knowing if that was true, would I? But yeah, sure, we could go for some coffee. I think I’d like that.”

“Excellent.” I said, standing up and waiting for him to get to his feet. “I just have to pay for this first.” I said, holding up the book in my hand.

“Lead the way.” he said, smiling sadly.

I couldn’t explain why but I just wanted to know this boy. I wanted to know what was bothering and, if at all possible, what I could do to help. Maybe I could get it out of him over a cup of coffee. He was way too beautiful to be so sad. But of course I wouldn’t tell him that.

“So do you do this a lot?” he asked, walking beside me as we made our way to the check out counter.

“Do I do what a lot?” I asked, looking over at him.

He was smiling ever so slightly. But still, it was there. “Do you find people who are upset in bookstores and offer to buy them coffee a lot? Because I gotta tell you, that’s a little weird if you do.”

I laughed, “No, I can honestly say this is the first time I’ve done this.”

“So why did you?” he asked quietly. His smile had vanished again. Damn it.

“You looked like you could use someone to talk to. You looked like you need a friend.” I said, shrugging. Hopefully it didn’t think it was extremely weird. I couldn’t exactly blame him if he did because it was kind of weird to be honest.

“You’re right, I probably could.” he said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other as I paid for my book.

“Well that’s where I come in.” I said, moving to the door of the store and pushing it open for him. He smiled slightly as he brushed past me. I smiled back, matching his pace as we set off for the café.