Page 25 of A Vicious Rumor

"Miss?" the customer in front of me said in a bit of an agitated voice. People hooked on caffeine always seemed a little on edge.

"Sorry," I said, turning back to the woman. "What can I get for you?"

I entered the drink order into the computer and chanced another look out the window.

"Distracted much?" my friend Kate said, coming over to bump into me playfully. Kate and I had been working at the same Starbucks together for about a year now. We always tried to make sure we had the same shifts. It made the day go by a lot faster.

Kate had one of the most infectious personalities I'd ever met. Everything about her was happy and joyful. Her laugh was big, her smile was bigger, and her heart was the biggest. She had beautiful dark brown skin and wore her hair in dreadlocks that she'd been working on for quite some time, usually pulling them back with a bandana or headband.

"Who me?" I replied, grabbing the milk for a latte.

"Yes, you," she replied, throwing some ingredients into the blender. "Why do you keep looking out the window?"

"No reason," I replied, putting the carafe under the steamer.

Kate furrowed her brow and followed my line of vision. "Blue Jeep. Who's in it?"

"No one!" I replied, and she huffed.

"I thought we were better friends than that," she pouted.

I pulled the steamed milk out and cleared the machine before pouring it into the cup. "Latte for Jill!" I shouted, before turning back to my friend.

"We are. He's just a ghost from my past that's resurfaced."

"Your past?" Kate repeated dramatically. "You're like twelve."

"I'm seventeen, and I'm the same age as you," I replied.

"Yeah, exactly. We don't really have a past."

"That's not true. Not for you, and not for me," I said, knowing that Kate definitely had a past.

"Fine, but we don't really have a boy past, yet."

I shrugged. "We met when we were younger."

"Cute," Kate said with a sly smile.

"Don't tease!" I laughed at her. I chanced another glance over at the window, wondering when Tyson might finally come into the store. The butterflies quieted though, as I saw him pull his Jeep out of the parking lot altogether.

"Where's he going?" Kate asked.

I shook my head, trying not to appear sad. "No clue."

"Dammit, I wanted to give him the third degree," Kate replied.

"Probably better this way, then," I said, still trying to not look upset that Tyson had decided not to come into the store.

It was a weird feeling. I hadn't thought about him once the entire shift. Then, he appeared and suddenly I was sad that he hadn't showed up. Yet, had he not shown up, I wouldn't have been sad at all.

Emotions were strange.

They certainly knew how to mess with your head.

"You still coming tonight?" Kate asked.

Every Saturday evening, Kate and I volunteered at the local Senior Center. It was something I'd done for years now. Back when my mom had her AA meetings at the Community Center, she'd take me with her and let me explore the city campus area, as long as I stayed close. The Senior Center was connected to the Community Center, and at a young age, I found I connected with the older generation much better than I did with my own.

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