Chapter 2: Gotta Love The Friends That Make You Homeless
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I found myself just staring blankly at the counter, not really focusing on anything in particular, my hand still holding onto a paper cup that was all set to go.
The chaos around me hadn’t let up at all
...orders flying in, voices merging, the espresso machine still hissing like it had something against me today, but for a moment, it felt like all that was just background noise to this one conversation I couldn’t shake off.
"Well," Joey started, stretching the word out in a way that made everything feel worse, "you know how the stove sometimes acts up?"
"No," I replied flatly, snapping back to reality as I popped a lid on the cup and slid it over to the next customer with a quick, mechanical smile. "No, I don’t know how the stove acts weird because the last time I checked, it’s not supposed to act like anything."
"Right, okay, fair enough," he said quickly. "But just hear me out—"
"No, you hear me out," I interrupted, turning to grab another cup, my movements a bit sharper than usual. "I leave you alone for one shift..
just one shift, Joey—and somehow you’ve turned our dorm into... what? A bonfire?! A historical landmark? Should I be expecting a news flash that says ’Local Idiot Discovers Fire the Hard Way’?"
"Wow, that’s a bit much," Joey said, sounding mildly hurt despite everything. "Also, just for the record, I didn’t discover fire; it discovered me."
"Of course it did," I mumbled under my breath, gripping the milk pitcher a bit too hard.
"Large vanilla latte!" I called out, switching my tone so smoothly it almost caught me off guard, the brightness returning like it had never left. "Extra shot, right?"
"Yes, thank you!" the customer replied with a smile.
"You’re welcome," I said, handing it over before turning away again, my expression dropping the instant my back was to them.
"Joey," I said into the phone, my voice low again, controlled in a way that likely didn’t bode well, "tell me exactly what happened."
There was a pause, and I could practically hear him thinking, which never ended well.
"...So," he began cautiously, "I might have been cooking."
I closed my eyes for a moment.
"You don’t cook."
"I was trying to," he corrected quickly. "There’s a difference."
"What were you making?"
"...Chicken."
I exhaled slowly. "Chicken," I echoed. "You burned down our apartment... over chicken."
"It wasn’t just the chicken!" he defended. "There was oil, and the pan got super hot, and then—"
"And then you decided to have a disaster scene," I finished, pressing my fingers to my forehead before dropping my hand again. "Please tell me you at least tried to put it out."
"I did!" he replied immediately. "I grabbed water—"
"—You threw water on an oil fire?!" I nearly choked, my voice rising before I caught myself, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping too much. "Are you actually trying die or is that just your new hobby?"
"In my defense, I panicked!"
"In your defense, you shouldn’t be allowed near anything hot ever again."
"Okay, that’s a bit extreme—"
"Does the apartment still exist?" I cut in sharply.
Silence...not long, but it felt long enough.
My stomach dropped a little, even as I kept moving on autopilot, pouring espresso, adding milk, placing lids like I was somehow not learning that my living situation had just gone up in flames.
"...Define ’exist,’" Joey said weakly.
II actually laughed, the sound coming out lighter than I felt, edged with something that was close to humor, but not quite.
"Oh, that’s good," I said, shaking my head as I slid another drink across the counter. "That’s really great. I just paid rent, Joey. I just signed on for another year. You get that, right? I barely have enough for groceries, and now you’re telling me our dorm is what? Gone?"
"I said I’d fix it!" he insisted quickly. "I’ll figure something out! I’m already looking into places...temporary, cheap ones."
"Cheap," I repeated, almost absentmindedly, my mind hanging on the word stubbornly.
Cheap didn’t really exist, not for anything decent.
"What about our stuff?" I asked, the question slipping out before I could stop it.
Another pause.
"Some of it’s okay," Joey said, and the hesitation in his voice told me all the things he wasn’t saying.
Some...I nodded slowly, even though he couldn’t see me, my movements robotic as I wiped down the counter with a cloth that probably didn’t need it.
"Right," I murmured. "Of course it is."
For a moment, I didn’t say anything else.
I just stood there, staring at the faint coffee ring left on the surface, my mind suddenly racing faster than I could keep up with. Where was I going to stay? What would this cost? What if Joey couldn’t actually "fix it" like he claimed?
I didn’t have savings to fall back on. No family nearby. Everything I had, everything I relied on...was tied to that apartment that apparently didn’t fully exist anymore.
I swallowed, forcing my thoughts to slow down before they spiraled out of control.
"...You know what?" I finally said, shifting my tone again, a bit lighter this time, as if I hadn’t just mentally mapped out a dozen worst-case scenarios in under ten seconds. "It’s fine."
"It is?" Joey asked, clearly taken aback.
"No, you idiot." I replied honestly, reaching for another cup. "Not even a little bit. But I’m choosing to believe... for my own sanity, that somehow you’re going to pull off a miracle and not leave me homeless."
"I will!" he said quickly. "I promise. I’ll find you somewhere to stay, okay? Just trust me on this."
I let out a quiet breath, not quite a laugh. Trust him, that was... optimistic. But honestly, what other choice did I have?
"...Yeah," I said after a pause. "Okay, fine. Do that."
"I’ve got it," he assured me. "I’ll call you later with details."
"Please do," I replied dryly. "Hopefully with less fire involved."
"Wow, you’re never going to let this go, are you?"
"Not in this lifetime."
He laughed, a bit nervously, and after a quick, "I’ll fix it, I swear," the line went dead.
I slowly pulled the phone away from my ear, staring at the screen for a second before letting my hand drop to my side.
I stood there a second longer than I should have, exhaling quietly as I tilted my head back slightly.
How the hell did I end up with such a complete fucking idiot as my best friend?
A sigh slipped out before I could stop it.
Then, just like that, I pushed it down, straightening up and letting that familiar smile come back like it had never left.
I turned back to the counter, reaching for the next cup.
"Next order!"
