HAILEY HELD THE cup steaming with hot coffee between her palms in an attempt to transfer some heat to her body which was ice cold — partly due to the heater of the shop which decided to ditch on one of the coldest days of the season and partly because of the anxiety of waiting.

She sat alone on the small circular table in the corner of the small shop - her favorite spot. She kept gazing at the door in her sight, wearing a pretty lilac sweatshirt paired with dark washed baggy jeans and a string of golden chain hanging around her neck. Her long brown hair was neatly curled and rested across her shoulder.

The window rattled as icy winds blew outside the small coffee shop named 'Josie's'. The day being one of the coldest ones, the place was impossibly empty and quiet. The eerie silence contributing to her thought spiral, increased her anxiety per minute as she started drumming her foot faster beneath the wooden table.

Her eyes wandered rhythmically to her phone, the gate, and then to the counter behind which stood a boy with soft blonde curls and light freckles, with a smile to die for.

Suddenly her phone dinged, making the tune echo around the creme-painted walls, as she picked it up hurriedly. Disappointedly, she clicked her tongue, after not receiving any text update from the new student she's supposed to work with.

"Maybe they're just running late," Levi said disturbing her overthinking session, as he walked to her table with a kettle in his hands - refilling her cup the third time in twenty minutes.

Or she's been stood up yet again. Hailey thought as she flashed him a small smile, adjusting her sweatshirt as she sucked in her breath in an attempt to stick her stomach in.

As if the baggy clothes were not enough to hide her insecurity, she used numerous ways to look 'skinny'. Admiring and watching models and actresses with perfect curves and stomachs as flat as an iron board, growing up she always despised her body shape — to an extent she broke the mirror of her room in frustration to avoid seeing herself.

She was not as huge as she perceived herself to be, but according to her, she never fitted in the description of perfect. No matter how much she starved herself, she could never be like her sisters and classmates —beautiful.

And that thought kept her up, crying for nights.

Levi smiled warmly as he poured the brewing liquid into the ceramic cup, making the aroma of it occupy the air around them. She glanced at him as she could feel butterflies in her stomach, anyone who would see him smile will feel the same.

She liked him for a pretty long time now, he's the reason 'Josie's café ' is her all the time to-go place —ignoring the fact that the only thing they serve good is coffee. Levi didn't go to the same school as her and they never even conversed much, but the way he smiled and talked made Hailey think that maybe this time it's not a one-sided crush.

She already had a fair share of embarrassing stories of how she made fun of herself by confessing to a one-sided attraction and got rejected — making her self-esteem land deeper into a gutter every time.

Maybe I develop a crush too quickly. she thought as she peeked at the boy in her sight.

"Thank you, Levi," Hailey gushed, he nodded and walked back to the counter, getting occupied with his work.

Now that she gulped down another cup, she was getting impatient. She glanced at the silver watch on her wrist - the student was forty minutes late. If it weren't for college credit she wouldn't have agreed or waited so long to do this.

Having no such creative talent and hatred for sports, she didn't have many options and hence had to do many different things to gain credit if she desired to go to her favorite university - doing this project counted as one.

She opened her phone once again, having no contact details of the student she huffed and dropped a mail to the teacher who assigned this to her. Letting out a deep breath she closed the binder sitting on the table in front of her and packed it in her bag.

She got up from the table — her legs feeling a bit numb from all the long sitting as she strolled towards the white painted counter and paid for her coffee.

She turned around and glanced at the door again, in the hope to see the person and not lose the chance.

The windows still rattled with the cold breeze as the thought of walking home and freezing to death on the way frightened her.

"Can I have a latte to-go?" she inquired as having a hot beverage on the walk back sounded better.

Having this much coffee was normal for her since this was the only thing that kept her 'sane' as she quoted to everyone who questioned her about it.

She walked down to the door, one hand holding the cup of coffee while her other held the phone, with eyes focused on it. The moment Hailey reached closer to the door to pull it — it got pushed in instead, as hastily strolled in a girl - bumping straight into her.

Hailey squealed in surprise as her cardboard cup crashed straight to the ground and she followed behind, falling flat on her ass. A chilling liquid spread all over her chest, making her shiver as she clenched her jaw, looking up to the source of all this.

A pair of startlingly, gleaming hazel eyes looked down at her — making her lose at the words she was about to yell.