Coffee Shop Soundtrack

The lights in the coffee shop with only the spotlight shining on the stage being the brightest of them all. The low hum of voices filled the shop as the next person for the open mic night prepared their set. The crowd, which was surprisingly which was something Cassie had honestly not been expecting, all had chairs in front of it waiting patiently. But instead of being in the middle of the crowd, Cassie found herself behind the counter taking care of the line that had formed now that there was a break between acts. Noah and Georgia were somewhere in the crowd with their friends, trying to ignore one another even though Cassie knew that they were slowly but surely getting past their differences and becoming friends. Even if they wouldn't admit it out loud.

"Cass is that large mocha ready yet?" Ryan asked behind her.

"Up in a sec!" She called as she turned back to the machine she was working on and saw someone walking behind the counter and tying a apron around their waists. "Noah what are you doing back here?"

The teen shrugged as he grabbed a cup and began to make the order Ryan had just shouted to them. "I'm freaking out just standing there with my guitar and needed something to distract me. And you two seem like you could use the help. I have never seen the line this big or this many people in the shop at one time."

She just shrugged as she took the finished cup of coffee and yelled the name written on the side and set it at the table at the pickup area. Turning, she watched Noah for a moment and could easily tell that he was nervous. His shoulders were tense and all his movements seemed robotic as he continued to make the orders Ryan yelled out to them. The teen was actually going to go and play a cover that night for the open mic. Cassie had encouraged him to do so when the two seniors had first caught wind of the event and Noah had mentioned that he played. She knew that he was very shy and maybe this would help boost his confidence a little. But now she was feeling bad, maybe pushing him a little too hard to perform. Maybe her meddling was getting a little too much for once. And now she needed to make sure he was actually ok with doing this and needed a pep talk.

When the line finally shortened and the next act stepped on stage, they finally had another moment to breathe. Noah was still behind the counter, biting his nails while Cassie and Ryan cleaned up the mess they had made during the rush. And as if knowing what Cassie was up to, Ryan suddenly handed Cassie a cup of coffee and nodded in Noah's direction mentioning he could handle the rest. She smiled in thanks and took the cup, walking over to Noah who was in his own little world and didn't even know that she was standing right next to him.

"A little liquid confidence?" Cassie asked as she offered him the cup. He moved his head to look at her, eyes finally refocusing after staring off at a distance with a look as if he was in another world. She watched as he looked at the cup as if it was a foreign object and she couldn't help but laugh at the face he was making. "Don't worry, it's just coffee. There's no alcohol or anything. Unless you want some, then I have some in my secret stash that Ryan doesn't know about."

The look on Noah's face when he heard her was priceless and Cassie burst out laughing. "I'm kidding, I would never offer drinks to a minor. I'm just messing with you. It's just coffee I swear."

"Thanks," he muttered as he took the cup.

She smiled in acceptance, "you're welcome. Are you ok? You seem a little worked up? Is it the moose again? I know it seems like it's staring into your soul but trust me, it's stuffed. I've had to go and poke it with the end of my broomstick a few times to make sure. But after the 50th time, I swear to you, it's not going to attack you in your sleep."

"No, it's not the moose head. I surprisingly like it." Noah cracked a small smile as he took a sip of the drink. Humming in appreciation. "I'm just nervous about actually going up in front of all these people."

Cassie sighed, knowing that that was what he was going to say. "I didn't push you too hard to do it did I? I didn't mean to, I just wanted to hear some of your stuff and I didn't mean to go overboard. Ryan always tells me that I do that too much and that I need to filter what I say. And I'm really sorry if that was what happened I didn't mean to-"

"Cassie!" Noah said, squishing her cheeks between his hands. "Shut. Up." She nodded slightly, finding it hard with her face being caught between two large football players hands. "I'm fine, it's not your fault. I'm just nervous about this thats all. I'm actually kind of glad that you pushed me to do this. I need to stop hiding behind this cool guy facade that I have and be myself for once. Maybe this is my chance."

"Well I hope it is too, and I know you'll do amazing tonight. So don't be nervous. Everything will be ok."

Noah nodded slightly and took another sip of his drink just as the guy who had been playing finished. Ryan appeared on the stage moments after the guy left and announced Noah's name. Cassie gave him an encouraging smile as he set his cup down and took a deep breath and made his way up to the stage with his acoustic guitar in hand.

He sat on the stool in front of the mic and strummed once to make sure that the guitar was tuned before clearing his throat and faced the mic. He gave a quick intro before placing his fingers on the frets and then began to strum. Cassie watched as with each note he played, his confidence seemed to grown and his stiff posture loosened as he put his whole heart and soul into the song he was playing.

When he finished, the whole coffee shop burst into applause, probably the loudest of the night and Cassie couldn't help but yell obnoxiously from where she stood behind the counter making the poor boy blush more.

"You just live to embarrass that boy don't you?" Ryan asked making Cassie grin.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Liar," Ryan muttered as the line started to form once again. "But in all seriousness, and I can't believe I'm admitting this, but keep doing what you're doing. You're slowly breaking that boy out of his shell and you're probably the only one who is able to do this. I really looks up to you. So keep it up."

They were both silent a moment, ignoring the line for a few more moments. Cassie gave him a small smile and then looked up and then frowned at the wall before turning back to Ryan.

"Dude, the moose is staring at me again!"

Ryan rolled his eyes, "you need to stop with the stupid moose. It is not staring at you."

She mock glared at him but she knew by the faint smile he had that he had caught the hidden look of acknowledgment at what he had currently said. But they both knew that she was bad with heart to hearts and they just left it at that, letting the fact that they had ignored the line that had formed long enough as an excuse to change the subject. Open mic night was surely giving the new Starbucks in town have a run for their money. The Grounds was there first and they were going to keep their title as best coffee shop in town no matter what. Starbucks could just eat their nasty used grounds for all they cared. And if they threatened their title again, Cassie was just going to sick the psychotic moose head on the shop so it could use it's voodoo magic and destroy it and they could live in peace and harmony once again.