Page 3 of Under the Waves

The two of them completely contrasted each other like night and day. Where Indie’s sharp, east Asian features and midnight black hair was tied up with a pencil atop of her head, the blond barista, orEas Indie had called her, embodied the essence of Rapunzel with her light-golden waves that hung just below her hips, and the softness of her pale skin that was painted with freckles across the bridge of her nose.

Even their outfits were wholly opposite with Indie rocking a pair of low rise, black cargo pants that hugged her waist, and a Calvin Klein black sports bra with white elastic banding. It was partially covered by a dark throw over which looked as if it had been crocheted by hand. The other girl, however, was styling a white sundress, a golden necklace with a little bee charm that hung low around her neck, and multiple golden bracelets around her wrists.

I didn’t think I’d ever been in a cafe with such a relaxed dress code. It actually made the atmosphere much calmer and gentler, despite the rush of people trying to grab their morning coffees. It was apparently run by one of the local students that attended Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy, aka the high school where rich parents sent their troubled kids hoping it would straighten them out enough so they could take over the family business as soon as they graduate. The thought puzzled me as an Elite kid was the last person on earth I’d expect to run such a down-to-earth cafe.

“Oh, hey Xan,” Lia smiled, giving a small wave to a dark-haired guy who looked like he had been chiseled by the hands of Greek Gods.

No kidding, his hands were genuinely wrapped up with white tape like a ring fighter, and all he was wearing was a tightly fitted black tank top that left nothing to be imagined and a pair of dark swim shorts. Even his hair was neatly trimmed on the sides with a longer length on top that sort of curled before slicking against his forehead.

“Lia,” he grumbled, a slight Polish accent slipping through. Despite his cold demeanor, the corners of his lips quirked upwards as he approached her. Instead of standing next to her, however, he stayed a few paces behind her like a bodyguard or an overprotective sibling would.

“You wouldn’t be here for say a particular blond-haired figure skater, would you?” Lia grinned widely up at him, teasing him from the way his eyes darkened. Was she referring to E? I really needed to start paying attention to people’s names in this town if I was going to be stuck here for another few years.

“No. I like the coffee,” he gritted out, eyes narrowed at the petite brunette who could not stop smiling at him.

“Yeah,” she drew out, “sure you do.”

“I do.” As he spoke that time, he unclipped the bow from her hair causing the top half of her hair that was held up by it to fall down her back.

“Xander!” Lia gasped as she realized what he had done and immediately pouted up at him. As she elbowed him in the side in a sisterly manner, Xander chuckled, shaking his head whilst he handed her back the bow.

Cheers suddenly erupted around the cafe as the ice hockey team made their way to the tables by the back wall, surrounded by tall, oak bookshelves filled completely to the brim. One of them I recognized as Benjamin Buckley, the town’s promising rising star and captain of the Hawthorne Hills Elite Academy ice hockey team. He was adored by the media and there was no doubt that he’d make the Oregon state college team next year.

Scouts were already looking at him due to his immense talent both on and off the ice, but I guess being the son of hotshot ice hockey legend Cade Buckley gave him one hell of a head start. There were countless clips of him online with his twin sister, Halle, and his youngest sister, Juniper—his family was a huge part of his image, and he had more than a million followers across all of his social media accounts that were full of pictures of him and his siblings doing fun trends and down to earth things.

Recognition sparked in Benjamin’s gaze as he looked past me and towards Lia. When she waved softly at him, it was all the invitation he seemed to need as he strolled over to where she and Xander stood. A navy-blue hockey jersey hugged hismuscular frame, and a backwards cap covered his brown, shortened messy hair.

“Well, if it isn’t blueberry muffin girl!” he grinned, nudging Lia with his shoulder. She grinned up at him, completely swallowed by his tall frame, as the two of them dove straight into a conversation. I didn’t fail to notice how Xander eyed Benjamin as he talked with Lia, almost as if he was daring him to lay a hand on her just so he could beat the daylight out of him. I was gathering that he had that look on his face more often than not.

Just then Indie reappeared with my drink and a big brown paper bag, which I guessed was the team’s lunch order. For which team, though, I had no idea. Following shortly behind her, the blond-haired waitress reappeared with a silver tray topped with a handful of cups and small vanilla cupcakes. I finally caught the name on her nametag as she walked by, mentally noting that she was calledEmmeline. I didn’t know how I’d missed that before as it was tagged right onto her pink apron and was written in what looked to be a sparkly pink gel pen of some sort.

Xander’s eyes slid almost immediately over towards her, utterly captivated by her movements, though I couldn’t tell if he was bored or inspired. The thin line of his lips wasn’t giving much indication.

Strolling over towards the counter, he innocently nudged her shoulder with his, sending her crashing to the floor. Cups smashed and coffee spilled all over the wooden floorboards as she tried her hardest to gather everything back onto the tray quickly as if she believed she was a nuisance to everyone else by just being there.

“Xander!” Lia gasped, stepping between him and the waitress. “What are you doing?” She turned around and immediately dropped to her knees to help the girl clean up. “I am so sorry for this, I swear he didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay,” she smiled but there was a saddened element to it, something I couldn’t quite place. “Accidents happen, don’t worry about it, sweetie.”

Lia apologized profusely, regardless of what the other girl just told her, helping her up from the floor and handing her fragmented pieces of what used to be a coffee cup. “Still, are you sure there is nothing else we can do?”

“It’s fine, honestly, don’t worry about it!”

“You!” Indie yelled just as Emmeline had finished talking. She made a headline straight towards Xander, jabbing her finger against his chest as she snarled, “Fuck off, Hawthorne, or I swear to the heavens I will knee you in the balls so hard you’ll see fuckingstars.”

“Inds, it’s fine, truly. I’m okay,” the other girl was quick to say, trying to calm her friend down.

“Still, E, he can’t keep getting away with this shit!”

Xander smirked at her comment, utterly amused by the chaos.

Though, Lia was quick to snatch the team’s lunch order from Indie’s hand, and before I could register what was happening, she was already walking out of the cafe, arm looped around Xander’s, almost dragging him out of the shop and away from Emmeline.

I hadn’t missed much about Hawthorne Hills, but I certainly hadn’t missed that.

Thedrama.

I hated how observant I was when I wanted nothing to do with any of what just went down, and I hated how quickly I could pick up on other people’s emotions before they even showed on their faces. It was a trauma response, and I knew it.