Chapter 7-Boys of Summer
I dropped Desi at school the next day, making sure that she was there 10 minutes early. My mother was enraged after the meeting and chastised me for not sticking up for her. How could I though, when part of me agreed with Mrs. Hawkins? She insisted that she take Desi to school to prove a point, but there was no way I was agreeing to that. I was not leaving Desi in the hands of my mother when the threat of the government loomed over our heads. The only person taking my sister away was me.
I watched Desi run off with her friends as I sat in my car, wondering what I was going to do with my rare day off from the yacht club. As sad as it was, I was not use to having free time. If I wasn't working, I was taking care of the house or going to school or hanging out with Drew, but school was over, Drew was gone, and the thought of being at home with my mother while I do house work seemed like the worst idea in the world.
Suddenly, my phone started vibrating and Ruby's name appeared on my screen.
“Hello.” I answered.
“Meet me for coffee. I’m at the Brew.” She rushed through her command and then hung up on me. I had half the mind to blow her off for being so rude but then what would I do? I was pathetic and had no choice but to do what she said and meet her.
The Brew was the local coffee shop that everyone in town went to. Partly because it was open 24 hours so caffeine addicts could constantly feed their addictions and partly because it was the only coffee shop in town. The Brew was owned by the Devon twins, Peter and Patrick. They were in their mid-thirties and had dropped out of business school to become artists. When that didn't work out, they went back to their business roots and hopped on the coffee shop bandwagon.
I spotted Ruby right away. With her black pixie hair spiked all over the place, she wasn't hard to miss. She sat on a stool in the back corner, looking anxious. Before she saw me, I slipped by to order myself a drink. Patrick was taking orders at the register. He was the laid back brother, so I knew it was him when I witnessed him tossing and spinning a cup in the air.
“Hey Layla! The usual?”
“Yes please.”
“Grande Americano coming up.” He wrote my name on the cup and passed it along to the nearest barista with the same spinning move.
“I haven't seen you in a while. How are you? How’s Drew doing?”
I looked down at my hands. I guess he hadn’t heard about us yet. “Drew is in Europe this summer.”
“That’s awesome! How come you didn't go with him?”
“I had to stay and work. Plus, I have Desi.”
“Oh right.” His voice turned sad. “Still at the yacht club?”
I nodded. Luckily a customer came up behind me and broke up our awkward conversation. I silently thanked her as I sidestepped away from Patrick. I didn't want to be rude but I was not mentally prepared to answer questions about my ex and his amazing European excursion.
After grabbing my beverage, I approached Ruby’s table. She was distracted at first with doodling on the table top but when she saw me, she grabbed my arm and pulled me to sit down.
“Ow! I’m attached to that you know.”
“What took you so long?” she asked, her voice hushed.
“What do you mean? I got here in fifteen minutes.”
“Well it seemed longer.”
“Whats going on with you? You seem jumpy.”
“Jumpy? Who’s jumpy?” her eyes darted back and forth.
“How many of these have you had?” I grabbed her drink and a familiar smell rose through the top, making my nose twitch. “Is this vodka?”
“Vodka and coffee. Really perks me up.”
“I can tell.” I pushed the cup away from me and she took a large gulp from it.
Her eyes went to the opposite side of the room. “See that guy over there?” I turned my head. “Don't make it obvious!” I turned slower. my eyes scanned the room until it landed on a familiar face.
“Are you talking about Max?”
“You know him?”
“Yeah he’s my trainee at the restaurant.”
“That’s Max? Why didn't you tell me he was a god!”
I shrugged my shoulders. Her enthusiasm surprised me. She always seemed much cooler when it came to the opposite sex. “Pierce mentioned him to you last week. Dorothy Winchester showed interest in him as well as Cynthia-“
“Cynthia!” she cut me off. “Theres no way he’d be interested in her. Introduce me.”
“What?”
“You heard me. Go and say hey and then introduce me.”
“I cant just go up to him like that. I barely know the guy.”
“Well lets change that.” Ruby pulled me from my chair and pushed me forward.
“Stop pushing me or I wont go over there.” She backed off and I led the way. I thought about what I was going to say but nothing good came to my mind so I winged it.
“Hey.” Good one Layla. Max brought his head up from the book he was reading and gave me a huge smile. At least he looked happy to see me.
“Well if it isn't Layla St. James.” He leaned back in his chair. “I never thought I’d ever see you somewhere other than work.”
“A girl needs her caffeine fix and this place makes the best Americano.”
“So I've heard.” He raised his cup in the air showing me that he ordered the same drink. I took a drink of mine, unsure of what to say next when I was nudged hard by Ruby.
I coughed a little and cleared my throat. This girl was too much.
“This is Ruby. She works at the club too.” She shoved past me and stretched her hand out to an unsuspecting Max.
“Hi. I’m Ruby.”
“Max,” he replied “why don't you two join me?” He scooted over and she quickly cozied right next to him. Subtlety was never her strong suit.
“How come I've never seen you around the yacht club?” Max asked her politely.
“I work on the golf course. I drive around in the karts collecting balls.” Her voice emphasized the word “balls.” I had to bite my lip to stop myself from laughing. Max laughed though.
“You're a fun one aren't you?”
“You have no idea.” I rolled my eyes. These two needed to get a room. “So you work in the dining hall too? How’d you get the gig?” she continued.
“I have some experience as a waiter, which came in handy the other day,” he winked at me. “And Mrs. C liked my tenacity.” He chuckled.
“I’d love to see your tenacity.” Ruby flirted, her voice dropping an octave. This time I couldn't hold in my laughter which earned a death glare from Ruby and a laugh from Max.
“Layla's been a great teacher.” He said bringing her attention back to him. “She's so sweet and warm and attentive.” He was patronizing me.
“Too bad I cant say the same for some of my trainees.”
“Yeah Liz can talk your ear off.”
“I wasn't talking about her.” We stared at one another while we drank our beverages. Ruby, not liking the attention off of her, grabbed Max’s arm and ran her hand down his sleeve, complementing his shirt. His gaze went to her and I was back to being invisible.
After a few minutes of watching Ruby flirt and fighting the urge to regurgitate, I decided it was time for me to leave. I was just about to excuse myself when the front doors opened and two familiar faces strolled in. It was Jesse and the boat guy in all of their hot guy glory. Standing next to each other, it was easy to see that they were the exact opposites. Boat guy with his sandy blonde hair, tanned skin, and pleasant demeanor was the light to the strangers dark hair and brooding eyes.
“Max!” Boat guy called out. What was his name again? Max stood up and greeted him. Jesse gave him a head nod and I was reeling from the fact that they all knew each other.
Ruby whose jaw dropped turned to me and mouthed “oh my god” silently. I had to agree. The three of them in front of me was almost too much to handle. Like staring at an eclipse for too long and burning your retinas.
“Everyone, these are my friends Jesse and Leo Hayden. Guys this is Ruby and—“
“Hey deep thoughts.” Boat guy casually interrupted as he grabbed the seat next to me, his grin wide. He was practically giddy. Jesse flipped a chair around and sat at the end of the table. He was scowling at me.
“Boat guy.” I acknowledged.
“You two know each other?” Max asked with a look of complete surprise.
“Oh me and deep thoughts go way back. We practically spent the night together.”
I scoffed. Thats right, his name was Leo. How could I forget the name of such an arrogant bastard?
“You must have me confused me with someone else because the way I remembered it, you were an annoying gnat that wouldn't stop talking.” Leo just laughed at me and stole my drink like we were the best of friends.
“This shit is nasty.”
“Hey!” I yelled and snatched it back.
Max rubbed his forehead. “Hold on. I’m confused here. How do you know Leo?”
“I met him at the docks last week.”
“Layla was the girl you met that night?” Max asked Leo.
“Looks like it. She didn't tell me her name when we talked. It hurt my feelings.” He pouted his lip at me. “How do you know each other?” Leo then pointed to us.
“Ruby and Layla work at the yacht club. Layla is my trainer.”
“Hold up? Deep thoughts is also robot girl?”
“And Ice princess” Jesse, who had been silent the entire time, chimed in. I hated all of these nicknames.
“Damn deep thoughts, you've got quite the reputation.”
“My name is Layla” I said threw gritted teeth.
“Let me get this straight, all three of you met Lay and didn’t realize it?” Ruby was trying to work it all out in her head “Which I guess makes sense since Warren is the size of an ant but I still don’t get how you three know each other?”
“The three of us actually sailed here from Boston.” Max answered. “Leo and Jesse are cousins and I grew up with them.” Now it was starting to come together. Ruby was right. This town was the size of an insect. I looked at her and noticed her eyes were now fixated on Jesse which made complete sense since he seemed more her speed.
The Conversation went on as usual but I occasionally felt him glance my direction. Leo started absently playing with my hair and I shoved him off which made me him laugh. Max raised a questioning eyebrow at me but I didn't have an answer for him and Jesse stole my drink. This was exhausting.
“God that’s disgusting.”
“Then stop drinking it!” I scolded.
“Try mine.” Ruby leaned over Max and passed her cup to Jesse. He took a sip of it and smirked.
“Much better.” She smiled at him and I had enough of the one woman show. Right on cue, my phone chimed. It was a text from my mother that read 911.
“I have to go.” I stood up abruptly trying to remain calm but silently freaking out.
“Is everything okay?” Leo asked with concern.
“It’s my mom. I have to go.”
Max stood up. “Want me to come with you?”
“No. It’s alright. Thank you.” I grabbed my bag, bolted out of the door and sped home.