Chapter 8: Third Home
"To the world you may be one person, but to one person you are the world."
~Bill Wilson
Marco
...
"Welcome to my home," I smiled at Jake, who was looking around the cafe in awe. He glanced at all the tables to the black chalk wall decor and finally he landed his gaze on me. He cracked a smile, his two little dimples forming on his cheeks. I couldn't help but smile.
"Uh, so, what do we do now? Just stand here?" He asked, scratching the back of his brown hair. I stepped behind him and pushed him to my favourite table, the one next to the window, table seventeen. "Sit down! You look like a big oompa loompa," I sneered. He pulled out a chair and sat down, I did the same.
"So what do people usually do in coffee bars or whatever?"
I frowned.
"Don't tell me that this is your first time to a cafe. Is it?"
"I mean, couldn't you tell?"
I chuckled. "Well, for starters, you order something. Usually something that makes you feel warm and fuzzy. Like tea or some hot cocoa," I explained. Jake sat there listening and staring at me confused, as if he didn't understand a single word I just said.
"What do you recommend? I wanna get an expert opinion," he eventually spoke.
I looked at him. "Uhhh, I personally love the chai tea lattes, especially on a day like this. It's perfect."
He nodded. "Give me one of those then."
I smiled and stood up. I walked towards the barista counter and waited. I pulled out my phone and started to scroll through OutsaGram. A voice spoke up. "Marco? How do you do?"
I put my phone away and saw Liam looking back at me. I almost forgot about how beautiful those eyes were. "Oh. Hi there, I'm good. Just taking a friend out, his first time to a cafe. So that's that."
Liam cocked his head. "Anyway, what can I get for you?"
"Two chai lattes please."
"Alrighty. That'll be five thirty."
I fumbled around my pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill and squirmed around for some change.
"Don't worry about the thirty. It's on me."
Liam grinned.
"Huh? Really? Thanks man!"
He whipped around and started getting to work. I looked over my shoulder and saw Jake looking at me. Jake gave a little wave. He tapped on his wrist. I rolled my eyes.
"Alright! Here you go Marco, have a nice day!"
I grabbed the two steaming hot drinks from the counter and walked towards Jake. He eyed the cups carefully.
"Don't worry, they aren't that hot dude."
He smiled and gently grabbed one from my hands, I pulled my chair out and sat eye to eye with Jake. Almost losing memory about what happened at the park and at school. It was almost surreal. Seeing him smiling at me, with his dimples that I never noticed before standing next to his lips. His freckles beautifully dotting his skin. It really was weird, for all the years that we've been friends, I've never saw him this way.
He was... different.
"Now what do we do master?"
I stared at him. "Master?"
He gave a nonchalant grin, slowly sipping his latte. "Yo! This is some good shit! You're like gifted in tea crap or whatever. We should really come here more often, like holy crap! And uh, yeah. Marco, what do we do now."
I clutched my own piping hot drink in my hands. "Now we talk."
And we talked. We talked about how he moved, about how he acts with his sister, about school. But he didn't talk about the "incident". He acted like it never happened, which was completely fine by me. His voice was soothing. There was something about his voice that comforted me.
"Now, your turn. Who was that guy you were with at the end of the day?"
I shook my head. "I'm sorry what?"
"You heard me. The guy you were with, he seemed awfully comfortable with you."
"Oh! Him! That's Preston, he's gay. And he's bullied a lot. So we just talked in the field underneath the bleachers. And he seems like a nice guy and all that, but he just doesn't have any friends, so I want to introduce him to you and like Ashley."
I left out the part that he liked Jake.
"Wait, what happened today? Specifically."
"Well a bunch of assholes decided to knock him around. And I just felt really bad. How could some fuckers treat an innocent person like that?"
"I see. You get their names?"
I glared at him. "Well of course! Before they walked away I politely asked them what their names were and they politely answered!
"That's great!"
"No you idiot, I didn't get them."
After the lengthy conversation. We kind of just sat there, rambling about nonsense. Ranging from dogs to homework. I couldn't stop but smile whenever he had something to say. His voice soothing me and entertaining me at the same time. He joked and I would laugh. I forgot how this felt. Being around a friend that could make you laugh and feel comfortable at the same time. I missed being friends with Jake.
"So, this may be weird to say, but... I missed this," Jake whispered.
I looked up and smiled.
"Dude! I was just thinking the same thing!"
He in turn, grinned back at me.
"Remember those days when we would just walk down the streets and talk. And don't forget the ice cream."
"And that was before I was lactose."
"Wait, don't lattes have like, milk in them or something?"
I shrugged. "It's worth it."
He laughed and I couldn't help but smile. His laugh was so much different from him talking but gave the same amount of comfort.
"How are you enjoying the tea?"
He raised his cup up and shook it. "Empty. It was amazing." He set his cup down and looked at me with a daisy smile.
He put his hands on top of mine.
"I really want to do this again. How about tomorrow?"
His dimples have showed up again.
— New chapter is coming soon — Write a review
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone