Maisie turned up to work completely out of breath. Hair tied up into a messy bun, eye bags prominent beneath the chocolate coloured irises she bared. A boy her age just moved into her house, after all. In fact, he was sleeping in her room. Her private space. The only other time she had ever let another person sleep in there was when she was ill and Lyla offered to comfort her, oblivious to the fact that she would most likely catch the sickness too.

  If the girl wasn't so generous and sympathetic, JJ would not have even stepped foot in the house.

  But she was.

  "Hey!" Maisie greeted the customer that stood before her, "What would you like today?" she asked, smiling as much as she possibly could. Elderly people in Obx usually preferred if you were welcoming towards them, otherwise they'd lecture you about respecting your elders.

  The customer lightly pushed her purple glasses down her nose, squinting as she eyed the menu on the screen behind Maisie. It was quiet for a moment, the sounds of people eating being the only thing Maisie could hear, until the woman sighed, either in relief or exhaustion. Hard to tell.

  "I'll take a croissant and a flat white please, dear." she spoke up, a crooked smile on her lips.

  Maisie lifted her head into a nod, "Of course." the teen responded, tightening her ponytail before turning around and heading towards the coffee machine. She never understood why people liked that stuff, she thought it tasted like shit.

  Her job wasn't hard. After all, all she really did was give people their orders and make sure they didn't get too impatient.

  Fortunately, the elderly woman was very grateful. And so were the rest of the people that came up to the counter, which was a shock to Maisie. She usually witnessed at least one person complaining, but they didn't. Perhaps it was because there were no loud teenagers strolling through the area.

  "Excuse me?"

  Maisie jumped, her heart thrashing in her chest as she met eyes with a pretty boy before the counter. He was wearing an orangey t-shirt, his hand clutching onto what looked like the handle of his backpack.

  She set her hand on her chest, "Sorry! I didn't see you there. What would you like?" Maisie queried, and her grinned, showing off his perfect teeth.

  It was definitely a day she wouldn't forget. He was gorgeous and definitely her type, but she couldn't think of that. He was a customer. One that she'd most likely never see again, knowing her luck.

  Or so she thought.

  "I uh —" he had an Australian accent. Maisie could tell straight away, "I'm not actually here to order, I'm here for a yarn with the manager." he told the girl, chocolate coloured eyes observing the room. Yarn? Maisie had never heard that expression in her life.

  Furrowing her eyebrows, the redhead clutched the bottom of her apron, "I am the manager." she teased, straightening her posture. On the outside, Maisie was trying to seem confident, but on the inside, she was regretting all her life choices.

  "Oh!" he exclaimed, "But you're yo —"

  "I'm just kidding," she smiled, "I'll go get him."

  As she spun on her heel, she internally kicked herself. Her jokes, or at least, her attempts at joking, sounded like something from a horror film. "Sir!" Maisie called, and when she didn't get a response, she rolled her eyes, "Sir!"

  Stumbling into the room with crutches in hand, Mr Podge groaned, "Mhm?" Ever since he broke his leg, he napped a lot. And sometimes, even if it sounded impossible, Maisie thought that him falling off his bike did not only cause damage to his limbs, but also to his ears.

  She had experience with hearing impairments. After all, she was partially deaf in her right ear. It was actually one of the reasons bywhy her uncle got annoyed at her sometimes. Not because she couldn't hear, but because she never wore her hearing aid.

  When Maisie was young, the girl would practically lose it every week.

  "I — I was wondering if I could try out here?" the polite Australian stated, making the older man widen his eyes. That was something he wouldn't usually hear, especially nowadays.

  With one eyebrow raised, Mr Podge chuckled, "Sure." he replied, no hesitation in his tone whatsoever.

  Maisie wasn't even surprised. She knew he was desperate for more workers since well, only three people were working behind the counter, including Maisie. It used to be a ton of people working there, but as soon as Ward Cameron started dissing the place, certain workers grew scared of how their actions would give them consequences.

  The boy, however, was shocked. He hadn't had many jobs in his lifetime, but he didn't expect to get an invitation so soon.

  "Thank you!" Mr Unknown hummed happily, confused, but content.

  Maisie averted her gaze to the teenage girl standing behind him. Lyla. She looked as if she was about to explode, shaking and pacing in small circles.

  "Lyla?" Maisie shouted out, tilting her head to get a better view of her cousin. The boy who was standing in front of her quickly shuffled away, going off and doing his own thing which was speaking with the manager. Or, having a yarn, as he would say.

  Lyla, on the other hand, did not look ecstatic at all. She had her warms wrapped around her waist, almost hugging herself. Maisie walked away from the counter, silently apologising to Mr Podge with a wave of her hand. She headed towards Lyla, and the girl just collapsed in her arms.

  Accepting her cousin into her arms, Maisie sighed, "What happened, Lyla?" her tone was soft.

  A sob escaped Lyla's lips and she held onto Maisie tighter, "I-I've been seeing this guy and — we made out, even cuddled, and just now I saw him all over an another girl!" she cried, clutching the redhead's shirt as a source of comfort, although it didn't really help.

  Maisie was slightly disappointed Lyla never mentioned that guy to her, they always told each other everything. But then again, that wasn't the point and the guy in question didn't exactly sound like the most boyfriend material.

  "I'm so sorry." Maisie, not the very best at comforting people, stroked Lyla's hair, "That's men for you, babe." she added, turning her head to look at her apparent new co worker. He was trying, and failing, to tie his apron around his waist.

  "Men..." Maisie trailed off, shaking her head, before pulling away. She held her cousin's face in her hands, wiping the tears with her thumb, "You're better than him. He probably eats eggs for every meal." she didn't know whether that was an insult or not, but by the way Lyla chuckled, Maisie assumed it was at least a little hilarious.

  The boy noticed how the redhead was shamefully staring at him with concern in her eyes, his lips quirking up once again, "Arlo." he spoke.

  "Huh?" Maisie pondered.

  "Uh — my name is Arlo."

  Lyla wiped the rest of her tears away, pointing towards him, "Cute name!" she yelled out, trying her best to impersonate an Australian accent. It was bad, very bad, but it seemed to be entertaining for Arlo, so why not? As he giggled, Maisie nudged her cousin. The embarrassment was real.

  Not long after that, Lyla left and of course, Maisie was left to work with the new boy. Due to Mr Podge's situation, she not only had to interact with Arlo, but she also had to teach him the ways of the coffee machines and every thing.

  Religious or not, Maisie could've thanked god for choosing this guy to want to work here. Though, the only reason why was because he was so easy to teach.

  Time flew by and the shift finished with both of them  drinking a hot chocolate. Maisie couldn't lie, it was fun. More fun than any other day she had been there. Arlo thought the same, except this was his first time being there so it made his hopeful self believe every day would be the same.

  "Thanks." Arlo smiled towards Maisie, making her look at him, left eyebrow raised.

  "For what?"

  He let out an amused laugh, "For teaching me the ways of a barista, Kate." he added, and at first she was confused. Her name was Maisie and he very much knew that. But then she followed his eyes and remembered she didn't put her actual name on the name tag.

  "Right..." Maisie bit her lip, taking her hair out of her ponytail, "I got inspiration from Amy on Superstore — oh my god, please say you've watched that!"

  Arlo pursed his lips together, staring down at the floor and giving Maisie the answer she needed.

  "Watch it! It's on netflix, Arlo." she told him, before grabbing her jacket off the hook. He followed in pursuit, except his jacket was green, which was certainly not Maisie's favourite colour. She had to bite down on her tongue, otherwise she'd have said something mean about it.

  Nodding, Arlo tapped her shoulder, "I will do. Don't you worry." he assured the girl, following her to the door. God, if someone had no context to this, they would think he was like some kind of dog, following her as though she was the walker.

*ੈ✩‧₊˚

  As Maisie stepped inside the house, the only sounds that could be heard were the giggles of teenage boys, and unfortunately, they were coming from her favourite and most important space.

  She strolled down the hallway, letting out a sigh as a way to mentally prepare herself. Teenage boys were — teenage boys. They weren't exactly her favourite kinds of people, especially not the ones that struggled with their maturity level.

  "JJ?" Maisie reluctantly called out, leaning her head against the door that had a collage of her favourite songs stuck on it. Most of them were either from the Neighbourhood or the Arctic Monkeys.

  "Who's there?" the voice on the other side of the door responded, causing Maisie to roll her eyes. It was obviously her and JJ was just showing off.

  "Sarah Cameron." she tried her best to impersonate the blonde girl's voice, making it as high as she could. She was beautiful and rich, the things Maisie felt like she struggled with the most. Though, that didn't mean she had a problem with her. Yes, Maisie may have felt some envy towards her at times, but that was it. Sarah couldn't help that their issues did not get along very well with each other.

  All of a sudden, the door swung open, sending a wave of air towards Maisie. She was expecting a boy with a messy, blonde mop of hair that had now become her roommate, but it wasn't him. The male standing opposite her had messy hair, however, it was brunette, not blonde at all.

  John B Routledge.

  His face dropped, "Oh..."

  "Sorry?" Maisie scrunched up her face, lightly pushing past him to step into her room, "You didn't really think she would be here, did you?"

  JJ lifted his hand in agreement, as though he was in a classroom, "You read my mind!" he exclaimed, and the girl cringed, shoving his arm back down.

  "Our minds are nothing alike." she forced a smile, dropping her bag onto her bed. It was so heavy, she sighed with relief. There was so much stuff in there that she didn't need, but in all honesty, who could be bothered to take that out? Not her.

  Clearing his throat, John B scanned the room, scratching the back of his head. He didn't mean to embarrass himself with that excitement, Sarah was just so — he couldn't explain it. "You know, your room is great. It's gonna be real ruined in a few days." John B snorted, JJ joining in.

  Maisie did not find it funny.

  "I was forced to accept —" she waved her hands in the air before pointing to JJ, "This." She was in fact not forced, unless you counted how bad she felt and how it led to her being extra sympathetic.

  JJ lifted his shoulders into a shrug as he reached inside a pocket, taking out a cigarrette. He then proceeded to grab the lighter from Maisie's night stand, not expecting any kind of angry reaction.

  Unfortunately for him, he did get one.

  At this point, John B had walked towards the two, clearly hoping the other boy would share it with him, but of course, he didn't, Maisie had snatched it out of JJ's hand before his lips could even touch the rolled up piece of drug.

  "Only I get to smoke in here." she told them both straight, her eyes flickering from one teenage boy to another. She loved giving the pair angry eye contact, it made John B so nervous, he started nodding like a terrified, obedient dog. JJ, on the other hand, just giggled to himself, shaking his head.

  "You think I'm joking?" Maisie pressed, now only staring at the more dumb of the two (JJ, if that wasn't obvious enough already).

  He pushed himself up from the bed, "What makes you think I'm gonna listen to you?" JJ asked, a smirk taking over his face as his eyes flickered up and down her body, "Hm?"

  Maisie was not phased. In fact, she crossed her arms over her chest and let out a scoff, one that made JJ's eyebrows furrow and his posture straight. "Nice try." she slapped his right cheek softly, copying his smirk that had now been wiped off, "You wanna stay here, don't you?"

  John B pointed towards the door with an awakened expression on his face, "I'm just gonna..."

  "Your uncle loves me. He would never let me leave!" JJ stated, although he wasn't fully sure of his own words. He never was, really.

  The redhead smacked her lips together, pretending to think by raising her focus to the ceiling, "Well, you see, my uncle is known for being two faced. I love him, but he can say something to one person and say the opposite to another." she opened one of her oak drawers, "Now shoo." she waved.

  And with that, both of the boys left.

  The sound of the twinkie's engine echoed across Maisie's yard, and she watched it leave. JJ wasn't in there though. As surprising as that is, he was in the kitchen, making his way through every single piece of food he could manage.

  As she witnessed the sight, Maisie gasped, her eyes bulging out of her head as they observed the empty wrappers scattered across the floor. Not even her old cat would have made a mess like this.

  "You're fucking kidding me!" the girl shouted out, in complete and utter disbelief that one boy could make such a mess by himself. God, he even turned around and whipped cream was all around his lips from a hot chocolate he had made himself.

  JJ swallowed harshly, wiping his face with the pad of his thumb, ring shining in the light, "I haven't eaten since really early this morning." he ran his fingers through his hair, "I'm sorry. If you wanna kick me out, I totally understand..."

  Her face softened and she clicked her tongue, leaning down to pick up some wrappers, "You're right. My uncle would never let you leave." she mumbled, repeating his same exact words from a little while ago. The thing is with Derek, is that he had so much kindness in him, it was easy for people to walk over him willy nilly.

  "So..." JJ trailed off, chucking an empty beer can into the bin, "How was school?" he asked, and Maisie squinted, confused.

  "It's saturday." she assured him, but it only made things more awkward. The boy widened his eyes, starting to click his tongue in a repetitive rhythm. He never went to school so at this point, he never kept track of the days and the time.

Silently scolding himself, JJ walked away from the counter, taking slow steps into the living room before he stopped beside Maisie, his lips in level with her ear, "Forget about that. There's a kegger tonight and I'm sure my friends would like to meet the girl who is sleeping in my bed —"

"My bed." she corrected, straightening her posture, "And I don't go to shit like that. They're full of drunk man whores and tipsy girls who flirt as if their life depends on it." the girl admitted, making JJ raise his eyebrows, staying silent for a moment.

The real reason was because during the last kegger Maisie went to, she got so shit faced, she decided it would be a good idea to skinny dip. And in that moment, so many thoughts were roaming around her head, reminding her of how her ex friends would've acted if they saw her like this. They would've giggled and left her there.

Thinking that like that obviously sent Maisie into a breakdown and she was left to grab her clothes herself, looking like a right idiot.

"Hello." JJ spoke in an unusual tone, snapping her out of her thoughts, "Earth to Maisie."

She sighed, dropping her head to stare at the floor, "Look, I don't do friendship groups. They're toxic and I don't need that in my life." she spoke, and part of it was true. However, Maisie could've easily avoided his friends if she went to the kegger.

The blonde rolled his eyes, finally trudging past her, "Jeez, you sound just like Pope."

"The only normal one, you mean."

"How would you know? You don't do friendships."

Maisie huffed, "His dad always comes to the Cafe — and for the record, I do friendships. I just don't do groups. God, do you listen?" she raised her voice a little, and he chuckled in response.

"You always got a lot to say, don't you?" JJ mused, making a show of licking his lips, "I gotta admit, it turns me on." he mocked, his words making Maisie audibly groan. How she was going to live with this boy, she had no idea. Being around him for a second was torture, let alone weeks. Months. Days. However long it was going to take for his dad to actually learn to take care of himself and his son.

"That reminds me, actually. If you ever want to jerk off or beat the meat, as my uncle would say," Maisie winced in disgust, before continuing, "Go outside. I don't care if you get caught or your dick gets cold."

"Got it." was what he claimed. Although, JJ wasn't going to listen. He had a mindset of doing every thing he wanted as well as he damn pleased. "But is —"

  "I'd rather die than witness you doing that." she added, leaning back onto her bedroom door. For the record, if it wasn't more obvious, the Kay family lived in a bungalow. No stairs, no balcony. This wasn't figure eight, it was the cut.

"Beautiful words, princess. You're almost better than Shakespeare."

  Maisie shook her head, "I don't do witches."

  JJ's jaw dropped open as he held his hands up in front of his chest, "Woah." he let out, swallowing hard, "Shakespeare did witches? What a delinquent." he snorted at the last word, but soon stopped when he looked up at Maisie and realised she wasn't amused.

  In fact, she clicked her tongue, "You know, I knew you were stupid, but not this stupid. I meant he wrote about witches, clay brain." she corrected, making him chuckle.

  "Clay brain?"

  "You heard me." Maisie told him clearly, before turning around and striding into her room, not forgetting to slam the door. Shut.