Coffee Shop Soundtrack

I woke up around eleven. There’s nothing better than sleeping in your own bed. After rubbing my eyes awake, I reached for my cell phone. All I had was a missed call from Ashlyn. I went through my recent calls and found that I had called Makenna about fifteen times the night before. I didn’t think I had called her that many times. Still, I hit the call button again.

No answer. I hung up.

I got out of bed and dragged myself downstairs. The house was empty so I took a box of cereal from the pantry for breakfast. When I finished, I jumped in the shower. As the water ran down my back I thought of Makenna again. I shut my eyes and thought of her face. Her long brown wavy hair that matched her deep brown eyes so perfectly. Her nose, and how she complained about it so often. The way she looked like she belonged on the front cover of magazines the second she woke up in the morning, no makeup or anything. Her smile. God, her smile.

I was snapped out of thoughts by the sound of vibrating against the countertop in the bathroom. I shut off the shower and jumped out, throwing a towel around me. I looked at the screen of my phone, but it wasn’t her calling.

‘Yeah, mom?” I answered.

“John, I’m just calling to remind you about dinner tonight,” she said. It was a good thing too, because I completely forgot. “If you go out just make sure you’re home by the time your dad gets home from work.”

“Alright. Thanks.” I hung up and looked at my phone for a few seconds before hitting the redial button.

“Hey, this is Makenna. Leave a message and I’ll try to get back to you.”

I waited for the recording and the ‘beep’ to end. “Hey, it’s me,” I said, “John.” I rolled my eyes at myself, I probably sounded like an idiot. “I heard you were in town. I just wanted to talk to you. I...” I trailed off, I didn’t even know why I was calling let alone leaving a message. “I just wanted to see you,” I said honestly. And I hung up.

I threw my clothes on and grabbed my wallet and keys. I went into the garage and looked at the car I’ve had since high school. It just sat there, untouched for weeks. I got in and opened the garage door, I put my keys in the ignition and listened to it start. I pulled my phone out of my jean pocket and dialed Garrett’s number.

“Hey, meet me at Donna’s?”

“Sure thing, I’ll leave now.” He said.

I hung up and threw my phone on the passenger seat. I backed out of the driveway and shut the garage before turning the radio music up. The drive to Donna’s Bakery was short and I beat Garrett there. I grabbed a coffee and sat outside waiting for him. It wasn’t long before his car pulled up.

Garrett sat down right away and sighed. “So what’s wrong?”

I laughed. “Why does something have to be wrong? Why can’t two friends just go out for coffee without something be wrong?”

“Because I see you every day and I can tell when something is wrong,” he said. “Come on, John. Just tell me.”

I was silent for a minute. I didn’t know exactly what tell him. “It’s Makenna,” I said.

“Ah, as I figured it was,” he joked. “What happened? Did you see her?”

I shook my head, “No. But we both know that I will. I guess I was just kidding myself last night when I said I probably wouldn’t.”

“Yeah, you’ll see her eventually,” he said. “So what’s going to happen when you do?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, man.” I took a sip of my drink. “Would you kill me if I said that.. I sort of want to see her?”

“Please tell me you’re kidding,” Garrett said.

I shook my head, “Maybe, I don’t know.” I sighed. “I called her. A few times actually. She didn’t answer.”

“Is that why you wanted to come here?” Garrett asked. “Donna’s. Just in case you ran into her?” Everyone knew that Makenna was basically obsessed with Donna’s bakery. In high school, she could hardly go a day without a cinnamon roll.

“I don’t know, probably.” I sighed, “So what do I do?”

“I’m not going to tell you what to do, John. If you want to see her, that’s up to you. But don’t do it like this. Don’t show up at her favorite cafe surprising her. Make sure she wants to see you too. And if you don’t want to see her, then you’re just going to have to wait until you both run into each other. At least then it will be surprising both of you.”

“Yeah,” I nodded, “Yeah, you’re right.” We were silent for a minute. “Have you talked to her?” I asked.

He shook his head. “But Pat has. He’s with her right now.”

“Of course he is.” If Pat had to choose between me and Makenna, he would pick her. He wouldn’t even have to think about it. But neither of us are the type of friends that would ever make Pat choose.

“Hey, it’s gonna work out,” Garrett said. “And anyways, you have Ashlyn. Having her around has to make everything easier, right?”

Ashlyn. I hadn’t thought about Ashlyn once since I saw that she called me. “Right.”

Garrett and I finished up and I got in my car about to head home, but I pulled out my cell phone first. I called Makenna’s number again.

Still no answer.

I drove home and watched TV until both of my parents had come home and we left for dinner. I loved my family. They were really the greatest, but not even dinner with them could take my mind off of Makenna right now. The entire nights conversations went through one ear and out the other as I thought about the freckles on her cheeks and the way her eyes got bright when she was talking about something that excited her.

We left dinner and when we got back, Pat was waiting in my driveway. I don’t remember making plans with him tonight but I wouldn’t be surprised if I did. My brother and my parents went inside and Pat was shutting the driver side door when I walked up to him.

“Hey, what’s up, man?” I asked.

“I was with Makenna today,” he said.

I nodded. “Yeah, I heard.

“John, she told me that you called her. A few times.”

I nodded. At least now I knew she was getting my calls for sure. “Pat, I just,” I sighed, trying to choose my words wisely, “I just want to talk to her.”

“I’m sorry John, but she doesn’t want to talk to you.” Pat opened the drivers door again. “She just asked me to tell you that. I’m sorry.” He got in and a I stood there and watched him turn his car on and back out before heading inside.

I went to my room and shut the door behind me. I laid back on my bed and shut my eyes tight. Makenna was once again all I could see. I picked up my phone and dialed her number. “Hey, this is Makenna.” I hung up and threw my phone down. What was I doing? I didn’t want to see her, I didn’t want to talk to her. But at the same time I did want to see her and I did want to talk to her. Pat was clear though, she didn’t want to talk to me.

I didn’t know what I was supposed to do. I didn’t know if I should just give up and wait to run into her somewhere or if I should keep trying. Although it didn’t seem like trying was getting me anywhere. I picked up my phone again and redialed. No answer. I hit redial again.

Halfway through the second ring, the ringing stopped and so did my heart. I sat up and listened to the silence on the other line.

“Hello?” I asked, my heart rate increasing.

I heard a sigh on the other end. “Stop calling me, John.” And she hung up.