Running from the entry

Javiba's was one of the lesser known cafés in New Jersey. Everything, from drinks to donuts, was priced below 99 cents. Despite this, it was not too popular with either the wayfaring travellers or the locals.

Karyn Werth had a small family and her elder sister, Nancy worked at Javiba's as a cashier. When Karyn had complained about the noisy students in the school library, Nancy had been quick to suggest that she bring Marley to her workplace. The proposition was agreed upon by both Karyn and Marley and two days before the project was due, the two girls could be found researching the native languages of the Gulf of Mexico.

With less than two hundred square feet of grey tiled area, the café was a cosy place. The smell of freshly baked donuts and brewing coffee lent a homely aroma to the place. Nancy manned the cashier and two girls switched places between acting as a chef and a waitress, depending on the time of the day and the number of customers. The café had tastefully done interiors, with beautiful water-colour paintings adorning the light green walls. The counter had a marble top and at short distances, tiny, red tables were arranged in a semicircle pattern. In the middle, there was a mini stage, where local bands played on the weekends.

The café was overall, a very colourful place and it was always effective in cheering up the mood of its customers, including a certain depressed brunette.

It was Saturday, the last day of the school week and also the first day of the weekend, which meant that at eight o'clock, the scheduled local band would start playing.

Karyn was furiously typing down her analysis while Marley surfed the web, on her laptop, for additional information. The two partners were busy in their own little world when a loud thud startled them. 

Marley whipped her head to look at the source of commotion and spotted a group of four tall boys on the mini stage. Apparently, they were the band which was scheduled to play that week and it was their lead guitarist who had dropped his guitar, resulting in a mini commotion of sorts. A white sheet pinned to a wooden board on the side displayed the name of the band and its members but from the distance, Marley could only make out their name: Stardust & Pixielight, written in glittery blue ink.

The ink reminded her of the days when she used to paint but her bubble of thought was busted when Karyn jumped up and rushed to the stage, tackling the lead singer in a bear hug.

Nower, her boyfriend, laughed and excused himself from his bandmates who were readying the equipment for the evening's performance.

As Karyn pulled him outside through the rotating doors, Marley shook her head and resumed her work. She knew Nower, he and Karyn were quite a famous duo on their school. It was only natural that they would be too, given their good looks and spunky personalities.

Marley busied herself in the reading up the cultural practices prevailing on the Gulf of Mexico, and time passed.

After thirty minutes, she cracked her knuckles and rotated her neck from side to side. Karyn was not yet back and the radiations coming from the laptop screen were beginning to cause a burning sensation in her eyes. She shut both hers and Karyn's laptops and walked up to the cash register.

"Can I please have a blueberry slush? And a chamomile tea for Karyn?"

Nancy looked up from counting the notes and smiled at her. "Of course, that'd be a dollar and fifteen cents."

Marley handed over the money from her duffel bag. It was not surprising that she had the exact cash and coins, for she had been travelling way too much on public buses. She had visited so many homes the last few months as the Wretchen House Captain. The number was more than she had ever visited in the sixteen years of her life.

"Thank you. Your order will be ready in ten minutes. Please have a seat," Nancy spoke robotically while counting the notes.

Marley chuckled. "No need to be so formal, Nancy."

She shot her an apologetic grin and at the exact moment, Karyn and Nower came through the rotating door, hand in hand.

Nower kissed her on the forehead and went back to his bandmates while Karyn rushed to where Marley stood.

Her auburn locks engulfed Marley as Karyn wrapped her arms around her.

"Oops! So sorry, Marley. I just ran off with Nower without telling you. Sorry!"

When she has detached her arms from the tight grip that Karyn held her in, Marley grinned, "No worries. I just ordered your favourite chamomile tea."

Karyn smiled gratefully as Marley continued, "And the research is finished. If you want, I can mail you the rest of the paper so that you can type it up at home. It's getting late, I should be leaving."

"Oh no! Please sit out for Nower's performance. You said that your parents are out of town. Come on, stay for a while!"

Anyways, Pattie will start hounding me as soon as I reach home. I might as well enjoy myself tonight, Marley thought before nodding.

"Okay, I'll stay."

Karyn squealed and grabbed her hands in hers. Her eyes landed on Marley's wristwatch. It was seven forty in the evening.

"Come on, let's go out for a while. Stardust & Pixielight will start performing in half an hour, we'll go grab some fresh air."

"But the drinks?" Marley pointed at Nancy.

Karyn waved her off, shouting over her shoulder, "Nancy! We'll be back in thirty minutes."

Nancy did a thumbs-up and requested one of the girls to hold the blueberry and chamomile order.

Marley watched in wonder as Karyn dragged her out of Javiba's, her eyes glued to the window where a familiar figure stood with his back to the glass.

As the two project partners rounded the corner, four boys stepped onto the pavement lining Javiba's. They were Yazdi Rahman, Ned Cundiff, Zack Peterson and a certain somebody who was known to be a woman's charmer.

Gordon Ellis was back in town and the summer would be ruled by him and his gang of boys.