Page 41 of No Place Like Home

“Yeah, can I get two drinks? A hot caramel latte for me and Mrs. Riordan’s usual,” I said, forcing a smile.

“Sure thing. Coming up.” She beamed at me while she went back to work.

I stood to the side while I waited and looked around. The place was still yellow, but much more spacious. The black wall with the menus and quote of the day had a door arch leading to the dining room. Instead of just being tables, there were now booths. It looked so different from the place I once worked, but every time I walked in, I felt safe. It still felt like home. This place was my refuge.

“What do you want to do, Jess, once we leave this town?” Quincy straddled the chair as he looked beyond the window.

That was Q. He could be playful, but he was a deep guy a lot of times. I saw sides of him here that he never showed in school, and the pathetic part of me thought that somehow made me special.

“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied.

I had won a scholarship, but I would be turning it down. I didn’t know why I’d applied in the first place. There was no way I could leave Rosie with my parents. She needed me, and I needed to figure out what to do to make things better for Rosie and me. Maybe I could get a job at the Dunnett factory? I would hate to leave this place, but the factory paid more.

“What, Glooms?” He shouted the nickname I loathed, yet liked at the same time.

I hated it because it was surface-deep. It wasn’t me, but I liked it because it was the only nickname that wasn’t degrading that I had ever been given.

“You have to go. Shit, Jess, you won that damn scholarship. You deserve to get out of this town and do big things.”

I turned around because I didn’t want to look into his jade eyes. I didn’t want to see pity in them.

“Not all of us are meant to do great things. We are just meant to… exist.”

“Naw, I don’t believe that. Like Lil’ Wayne says…”

“The sky is the limit,” I said along with him, making him smile.

Things seemed so trivial back then. Never in a million years would I have imagined my family's future. When I looked up, Freya walked in with a pissed-off look. She passed by me and didn’t even say hello.

Well, okay. Guess I’m invisible here. No biggie.

“He’s killing me!” she said, loud enough that I could hear. “Jess, get in here!”

Freya didn’t look back at me but waved her hand at me to follow her into Emma’s office. Sighing, I did as she asked before she came out here and dragged me.

“What did I do?” I said as I walked into the little office.

It was pretty, white with all the appliances in yellow. It was sunny. It was totally Emma.

“Nothing. No one has done a thing.”

I took a seat because it tended to take a minute when Freya ranted.

“What have we done nothing about? My drinks are getting cold, and I need to go to Pete’s.”

“We have a bigger dilemma than getting lightbulbs, Jess,” Freya snapped at me.

I hadn’t realized this was a “we” thing.

“Okay, hit me. What’s so important?”

“It’s Quincy,” Emma said.

Oh, boy. I should have known this was coming. He was back, and his friends here were worried about him. He had his family, and he hadher. Lauren. He didn’t need everyone else in his business.

“Leave him alone.”

Both Emma and Freya gave me curious looks. “He doesn’t need to be alone. He needs his family beside him.”

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